Is a 2000 chevy monte carlo a good first car?

the V6 versions were pretty good cars, i'd avoid the four-cylinder though. GM used their 3.1 and 3.8 engines in dozens of cars for over 15 years. they made decent power, mpg wasn't that bad, and they had very long lifespans. the four-cylinder Montes from this period used the 2.2 Ecotec, this engine was used mainly in a lot of Cavaliers and Sunfires. i personally think that these engines are sh*t and don't hold up over time nearly as well as GM's V6s from this period. aside from that, they really didn't give much of an mpg improvement when used in larger cars like the Malibu and Monte Carlo.

If you want to try and race, heck no. It's a front wheel drive with a 4 or 6 cylinder. I would go for an 80 monte Carlo ss if I were trying to go performance, but if your just looking for wheels, I don't see any problem. I'm a car nut and I can't drive for 2 more years... Look at Craigslist. You can find some pretty cool wheels for less than your budget. Just a suggestion, look up a 1996 caprice/impala ss. They put in corvette lt1's and you can find them Dirt cheap. Equivalent is a Buick roadmaster. The station wagons are awesome because the third row seat faces backward out the rear window. Just look em up before you buy one of those.