hey guys, i’m thinking about buying a new car (or new used, more likely) – i’m not really a car guy and i just started doing research, so i’d like to open it up to any recommendations. what i am looking for: - probably japanese, possibly american – i don’t really care for european cars - sports car or at least sporty: fast, good handling, 2 door - no particular brand preference, but i seem to like acuras and mazdas based on styling - price does not really matter (within reason – not going to buy an NSX, for example) - looking for something with a good after market (easy to find parts, relatively cheap to fix) - probably confined to 2005 - current in terms of model year - that’s it, very open-ended thanks
Honda Accord coupe 2010.
Scion TC. - A proud owner since 2006.
You will not be dissapointed with a CPO E46 BMW M3 a 2008 BMW m3 can be had for around 50k Try to test drive a Porsche Boxter S or Cayman S Test a BMW 135i Test a Mazdaspeed 3 (not a coupe) Corvetter C6 Z51 can be had in the 30k range Honda S2000 Nissan 350/370z Infinity G35/37 Subaru Sti (not a coupe) Mitsubishi Lancer EVO (Not a coupe) New Mustang 5.0 (probably one of the best bang for your buck cars out right now) Used Pontiac GTO C5 z06 Vette You can even get 2004 Porsche’s for 30 grand.
You wanna buy my car? 2004 Vw R32 -Quick -Sporty -Understated (sounds amazing though) -AWD -Excellent handling (I stick to e36 M3’s on mountain roads) -Cheap to insure (hatchback) -Can haul a lot of stuff (hatchback) -Decent on gas (3.2l VR6 I get about 22 in the city and 28 on the hwy) -Never had a mechanical issue -Very rare (only made 5000) The bad: -49k miles -Made in 2004 -There are three scratches that are noticable if you look
I have a 350z, great car. Would buy again.
M3
Thanks for the recs, guys. Great list Asset – that’s a lot to work with. I would not be a Porsche buyer for a few reasons. The maintenance costs on that sort of car is absurd – I would describe myself as a value shopper and I hate to overpay for things. Yeah, maybe $30K for a used one (that’s fine), but you’re going to pay out through the nose for any work, and I don’t know how to do even basic stuff on a car, so I’d be paying for everything. I don’t like how European cars seemingly cost 2-3x to fix relative to Japanese cars (my experience, at least). The second reason is that the firm I work for has an unspoken policy of not being too flashy in your personal life. That probably sounds weird, but I guess the PM wants to make sure that people are staying focused on work and not buying really high-end toys that could distract them, including cars. Everyone here dresses modestly (no Armani suits, etc., in fact we all wear t-shirt and jeans) and everyone drives used or modest cars (even the boss, who is worth $400M or something “only” drives a Benz). If I showed up with a Porsche, that would be a bad career move. Anyway, thanks guys, and keep 'em coming if you have more recs. I will check all of these out.
Dodge Caravan Sports Edition, with spoilers
Ako Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > M3 /thread
bromion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The second reason is that the firm I work for has > an unspoken policy of not being too flashy in your > personal life. That probably sounds weird, but I > guess the PM wants to make sure that people are > staying focused on work and not buying really > high-end toys that could distract them, including > cars. Everyone here dresses modestly (no Armani > suits, etc., in fact we all wear t-shirt and > jeans) and everyone drives used or modest cars > (even the boss, who is worth $400M or something > “only” drives a Benz). If I showed up with a > Porsche, that would be a bad career move. Then buy my VW!!! I would say an M3 is not flashy at all, a nice 2006 E46 M3 Competition Package will give you all the thrills you can ask for and looks slighly different than a 3-series. To the casual observer you can’t even tell them apart. The newer M3 is a little more flashy I would say. If you’re dead set on American/Japanese I would go for an S2000 or Vette/Mustang
comp_sci_kid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dodge Caravan Sports Edition, with spoilers Flame stickers too?
Audi S Series Stang/Vette have some of the best performance/price, but this is teetering the flashy line.
I was going to reccomend an S4/5/6 However, the b5 S4 is probably one of the most headache Audis to work on. The b5 S6 is getting long in the tooth and finding a nice example is tough. The B6 S4 drinks gas like crazy and the S6 is still pretty $$$ The B6 RS4 is a great car, great motor but is definitely a flashy car and is rather slow for the price you pay (strangely, the R8 uses the same motor and is LEAPS faster than the RS4). The newest S4 is pushing 60k (loaded up) and is getting RAVE reviews. The new S5 is rather uninspiring (bad steering feel etc.) and the new S6 is just plain awesome but still pricey. Thus, you should buy my car. OOORRRRRR Buy a 2006/7 BMW Z4 M-Coupe (my current realistic dream car).
Nissan GTR
If you’re flexible on it being a coupe, I would go with AM’s Subaru Impreza WRX Sti or Mitsubishi Lancer EVO GSR suggestions. Neither is flashy, but both are very fun to drive.
Analti_Calte_Equity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Nissan GTR Not flashy or expensive… lol Maybe even consider an E46 330Ci ZHP Coupe 10+ hp over the regular 330i and sport tuned suspension.
I know you said no european but go drive an 06’ M6.
MoneyMan_CFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I know you said no european but go drive an 06’ > M6. Amazing car. I always felt that car would be better suited with a TTV8 and not the V-10. That V-10 was a PERFECT match to the M5 though.
Audi s5 cpo’d