Buy a cheapo Toyota (I recommend the early 90s Corolla for ease of maintenance) and run it into the ground. I would budget between $1000-2000 for this kind of car, but prices may vary. For instance, here is a 1995 Geo Prism (which is the same as the Toyota Corolla) for $1500.

Hondas are the best if you're looking for a manual transmission, but be aware that Americans have a chronic inability to drive stick and you will likely be stuck with an automatic transmission. You must avoid Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge if you are purchasing an automatic transmission; they have a reliance on the A604, which is an incredibly finicky automatic that tends to break down very fast if proper maintenance is not performed.

Mazdas have the "sportiest" feel of the econoboxes, but service can be more expensive for them because of their lower sales volume. The Protege is one of the best handling front-drive cars and are massively undervalued both in insurance and resale price.

If you're really on a budget, pick up a Chevrolet Cavalier or something similar - parts are plentiful and cheap, but the car itself will likely have a ton of niggles that irritate you.

Hyundai is a lot better than most people let on; I would recommend them but only if you're willing to spend the extra time/money to get a good example. The cheaper a car originally was, the more likely people will treat it as disposable and ignore required maintenance.

My recommendation is to rent a car when you first get there, and then go around looking for cars to purchase from local Craigslist or ideally on-campus classifieds. Spend a bit of time going over guides on how to buy a used car to make sure that what you're looking at is solid, and definitely insist upon an inspection.

Craigslist is generally where people turn to after a last resort; if you're willing to barter I have had upwards of 40% knocked off the purchase price just by pointing out things that are wrong with a car.

A car with a salvage title (given after an accident or theft that "totals out" the vehicle) can be significantly cheaper than other cars, but you have to really insist on an inspection there. There are some excellent deals with salvage titles (theft recovery), but there is also a strong likelihood that you will end up with half of a car held together with epoxy (badly repaired accident).

Assuming you're looking for a car that requires as little upkeep as possible:
Cheap: Chevrolet Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire, Plymouth Neon, Hyundai Accent
Reliable: Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, Subaru, Ford Ranger
Avoid: Mitsubishi, 2000+ Nissans, Volkswagens, Audis, some Mazdas (Protege is OK), Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, 2000+ Saturns, Dodge (Caravans, Rams), Saab, Ford/Mercury (Taurus, Escort, Tempo, Cougar)

[Edited by - Ravuya on April 14, 2009 12:49:40 PM]

Quote: Original post by denver
This fall I'm traveling from Denmark to New York to do an exchange semester at RPI.
Since RPI is located in Troy, New York I will be needing a car.

You know, this really sounds at first like you intend to drive across the Atlantic ;)

Quote: Original post by Zahlman

Quote: Original post by denver
This fall I'm traveling from Denmark to New York to do an exchange semester at RPI.
Since RPI is located in Troy, New York I will be needing a car.

You know, this really sounds at first like you intend to drive across the Atlantic ;)

A bridge is on the drawing board, but with the collapse of the icelandic economy, there's no telling when it'll be completed.

Ravuya has got some good advice.

1990's style Honda Accords are pretty decent as well, so long as they aren't burning oil. They do have a tendency to get well over the 300,000 km mark before they fall apart (other than rust, which is inevitable for an import of that age).

I'm assuming by viable you mean relatively inexpensive, in which case I would highly recommend a japanese compact. Look for a Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Both get excellent gas mileage (I know the Civics will get more than 40mpg highway, my old one got around ~43mpg) and they will never ever break down. You can beat the crap outta these cars.