01-19-2008, 06:38 PM
The Saturn will not be in the stable much longer. Seeing as how the pimp mobile is a complete POS, it is now time for something nice. Something that won't cause me to smell like gasoline. A car that I can drive in without fear of suffocation or mechanical impalement, and free from the ridicule of children and the elderly.
Purpose:
My daily driver. 4 x 12 mile round trip per week, 1 x 200 mile round trip per week (mileage is reimbursed on the longer trip). Any long-distance driving without the dogs will likely happen in this car, but we will still have the Subaru for the dogs, hauling, bad weather, etc...
Budget:
$21k all in. I'm not committed to spending the full amount, but thats the maximum I can afford, including tax, tags, title, etc...
Must-haves:
Heated seats. 200+ hp. 25+ combined mpg. 4 doors. Automatic climate control.
Toss-ups:
Automatic/manual? I prefer a manual, but it wouldn't be the end of the world to have an automatic. I won't pay a premium for the auto though.
FWD/RWD/AWD? I don't care. None of the driving I'm going to do will exceed the limits of any of those systems, and the weather here in Central VA isn't so extreme as to mandate AWD. Besides, we've got the Subaru if things get really nasty.
Discussion:
Obviously at that price, I'm not getting anything new. So, reliability and maintainability are important too.
Tomorrow, I'm going to drive an E46 325i and a TSX. What else should I be looking at? What do you guys like?
Purpose:
My daily driver. 4 x 12 mile round trip per week, 1 x 200 mile round trip per week (mileage is reimbursed on the longer trip). Any long-distance driving without the dogs will likely happen in this car, but we will still have the Subaru for the dogs, hauling, bad weather, etc...
Budget:
$21k all in. I'm not committed to spending the full amount, but thats the maximum I can afford, including tax, tags, title, etc...
Must-haves:
Heated seats. 200+ hp. 25+ combined mpg. 4 doors. Automatic climate control.
Toss-ups:
Automatic/manual? I prefer a manual, but it wouldn't be the end of the world to have an automatic. I won't pay a premium for the auto though.
FWD/RWD/AWD? I don't care. None of the driving I'm going to do will exceed the limits of any of those systems, and the weather here in Central VA isn't so extreme as to mandate AWD. Besides, we've got the Subaru if things get really nasty.
Discussion:
Obviously at that price, I'm not getting anything new. So, reliability and maintainability are important too.
Tomorrow, I'm going to drive an E46 325i and a TSX. What else should I be looking at? What do you guys like?
My two feet.