As the garage door turns... (FIREMISSION)

[CaptainHenreh]

Many moons have waxed and waned since I last bought a car. My Mazdaspeed 3 has been most excellent transportation. Lots of cargo room, subtle styling, good radio...and it scoots like God's Own Chariot.

But now is the time to put away childish things. I'm closer to 30 than 20, and my student loans mock my financial liberty. So as any of you who can read the FS threads know, I'm selling my Mazda.

Probably to Carmax, because people are assholes.

Anyway. I need a new car. I'm not in any huge rush, as I have a car to drive until I find the right thing...but what is that thing?

That's where you guys come in: I want to hear all of your terrible suggestions. All your bad ideas. I'll probably reject most of them for one reason or another, but hey! that's the fun, amirite?

So let's begin.

First, things to not bother with:
SUV's of any kind. (Save two: Supercharged XTerra or Nice XJ. Because fuck you, that's why.)
Convertibles of any kind.




Apart from the above, I'll entertain any suggestion. The above, however, are non-negotiable.

My budget:
$7500 and not a penny more. If they can't be talked down that low, I just can't do it. The whole point of this exercise is to own a car outright, so I can pay off bad debt. Increased financial freedom. Wisdom and maturity. etc, etc. Less would always be better of course, but 7.5 is the max. Sorry, no Grandaddilac-V. :?

What I'm looking for:
A good blend of practicality, luxury, and performance. If it ran on kitten kisses it'd be even better.

Things I'd like:
Wagons would be cool, but not a requirement
Sedans are perfectly acceptable.
Keeping my "OMG TRBO" plate would be a plus.
Manual transmission is highly desirable.
A high degree of reliability. I don't want something I am going to HAVE to wrench on constantly.
A nice interior. Leather would be nice, but not a requirement. Moonroof, same. But I don't want ash burns and seat tears and lovestains and street people ass smell.

Things I don't really like:
Coupes are undesirable, but not an automatic disqualification.
Likewise, Automatic transmissions are undesirable, but again...not an automatic disqualification.
I really don't like rust. Rust is my enemy. Rust is the car killer. Rust is the embodiment of the inherent evil and hostility of the universe.
FWD V8's. Seriously, who thought that was a good idea?

Things I could not give two hoots about:
Fuel economy. (My commute is short. I just don't' give a fuck.)
Blemishes in paint. I understand you can't have anything nice up here. So dents and dings and scratches, meh. Crumbled body panels and bent frames, that I care about. Cosmetic stuff? Whatever.
FWD. I'm not bothered by this like I used to be. AWD is more better, but FWD is fine.

My perfect car would be this:


However I have been unable to find one in my budget. Saabaru, or Bugeye wagon or something, they're all just above my price limit. However, I'm eternally impressed at MM's ability to find a good deal, so I leave it to you.

Themes I've considered:
VIP: GS400 + Lots of tint. Reliable, comfortable, powerful, stylish. Nice cozy dick from the heated leather dick warmers. See also: E39, E46, ┬┐CTS?
Boy Racer: FWD Hondacura with a stock suspension. Cheap, fairly reliable, won't bore me to tears. Do TL's come in Manuals? Manual Maxima? Altima 3.5, how cheap are those?
Gravel Express: AWD Wagon. GC8 (or newer) Outback Sport. Megasquirt is hard at work on a plug and play for Subies, so possibility of modification down the road. I really like Julie's Subaru, just not sure if I can live with the P/W ratio.
Swedish Meatball: Saabs are cheap. I can get leather, 200horsepower, 4 doors and a hatch for well within my budget. Should be mostly GM parts, don't know if that's good or bad! Tank on Empty, whippin my momma Volvo. I had an old Volvo 930, and I liked it. S40 maybe? Can I get a Turba Volvo for my budget?
Fuzz: Are ex-Police Chargers in my budget yet? I don't think I could drive a Crown Vic, but I could be real tempted by a Charger.
Jag: Please someone help me to not buy an S-Type. Cheap, V8, cushy, and all Ford parts.

So. Team MM: Assemble! Form of: Car Finder!

I'll be driving my Grandmother's KIA in the meantime, so hubba hubba chop chop.

[Maengelito]

With that budget, I think the notion of going with any of the Euro cars on your list will negate the reliability requirement. I'd stick with the GS400, Maxima/Altima, or even a Legacy GT from the late 90s/early 2000s.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Interesting this topic came up Rex.. I'm in the process of preparing to sell my Kraut Wagon and the first vehicle I went looking for is Subaru Legacy/Outback model years from 1996-99.. If I could find a Legacy GT wagon I would be in heaven... I have immediately discovered that I cannot go back to a normal sedan or even tempt a coupe due to the fact that I LIKE SPACE.. and lot's of it.. My next vehicle will defintely be another wagon. So with that requirement it kinda narrowed it down to my options. The Legacy popped at me because it was AWD, wagon, reliable, cheap(er), good looks, and with UEL headers sounds so BA.. I've been pricing em out and your can find a lower mileage one for easily less than $5k.. My Vote Legacy Wagon.. I mean add a bunch rally lights and the thing just looks cool..

[CaptainHenreh]

Yeah, I need to talk to my local Subiexpert on what exactly to look for. I prefer Imprezas, but I'm not against a Leggie wagon.

Sadly, Maeng is probably correct. However, if it's in good initial shape, I can probably afford to maintain nearly anything. Reliability requirements are more about laziness than checkbooks.

[V1GiLaNtE]

I was looking for Imprezas as well.. Hell my perfect one two KO combo would be a bug-eye Impreza wagon.. Buuuuuttt, the likelihood of finding a <$7k subi impreza with lowerish miles is impossible.

[JustinG]

You can get an amazing XJ for that, so far I love mine. Get like 19-20 hwy, if you check the floors and rockers for rust. But a 97+ shouldn't be a problem. Supposedly a 99 is the best year but meh, anything 99-01 should be good. Highly recommended!

[.RJ]

E46. Fun, RWD, not horrible to maintain.

[JustinG]

GVR4......yea I said it.

[WRXtranceformed]

I was going to also say an older Subaru Legacy or GC8 would be a good bet. I mean those are just awesome, they are what got me into Subarus.

My other suggestions would be an older SC400? I'm pretty sure you can get those around your price range and they will definitely be reliable, have a V8 and RWD. If still out of the price range maybe the SC300.

Shoot I bet you could even find an old LS400 around that range and it would definitely be bawlin.

My last suggestion would be an early 90s Toyota pickup OR 4runner / Prerunner / whatever they were called then in immaculate shape for that price range. It doesn't have leather and it doesn't have a lot of your requirements but having owned two of them they are just so damned awesome!!

My $.02!

[Jake]

1999 BMW 540i/6-spd - asking $6900 with 115k. You said nothing about teh mielz so I'm assuming it's fair game.

You can pick up a nice (higher mileage) E39 for your budget. E46's are slowly dropping down there too. BMWs seem to be okay in terms of reliability - assuming you do the work yourself, they won't cost you tons of cash... the big cost is all in labor which I'm sure you already know.

TL's, Altimas and Maximas all came in manual trans. The Nissan VQ motor is in everything they made from like 2002 to 200Now and is pretty reliable. Find a Maxima SE with the 6-speed, that could be nice.

My dad has the 2002 Maxima wit rims anna body kit (aka the Infiniti version) and it's been dead reliable for the 120k that he's put it through. Has heated front and rear seats and a heated steering wheel. You can pick these up all day (auto only, wamp) for your budget. The 255 HP V6 driving the front wheels will do some great 1-wheel burnouts and if TCS is off, the car will yank itself violently to the right when floored from a stop. Pretty entertaining for a big ol' FWD sedan. We got 30 mpg highway driving to/from Greenwich, and that's with me and the Davids driving.

If you love you some Ikea and meatballs, how about a...



Tank on empty, whippin your Mama Volvo T5 Turbo Waggen....

1998, 96,xxx miles, 5-speed, OMG TRBO, asking $5200.

I'll post up more if I come across anything entertaining.

[JustinG]

Good idea on the turbo brick

[D_Eclipse9916]

E46. Fun, RWD, not horrible to maintain.

E46, NOT E39. E39s have multitudes of small problems when they get up there in mileage that wont necessarily be expensive but annoying little issues. (window motors, LCD ($700 ouch), same cooling issues as any bmw, crappy navi)

That said, you could always get a 98 4-door 328i in REALLY good shape for your price. As long as you replace the water pump and radiator within 60k miles, or just swap em to their metal components...they will be bulletproof. Decent gas mileage, of course fun to drive. Downside...it just looks aged at this point.

I like the idea of bugeye wagon, but you said it was out of your price range, I like the idea of the GS400 or GS300, apparenlty they get about the same gas mileage, so might as well get the ole v8 (its smooth as butter, I love the engine in the SC400).

[Apoc]

If I wasn't such an option snob, I would own a Saabaru right now.

[CaptainHenreh]

All excellent things to think about.

Someone talk me out of this:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2010399">http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2010399</a><!-- m -->

[Mike]

you don't want a project.

All excellent things to think about.

Someone talk me out of this:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2010399">http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2010399</a><!-- m -->

[JustinG]

Smells like a project not a DD.

[Jake]

All excellent things to think about.

Someone talk me out of this:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2010399">http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2010399</a><!-- m -->

I would say



butttt that looks mighty tempting. Standard warnings about buying a frankencar apply - make sure it'll pass VA inspection and emissions.

[HAULN-SS]

Go ahead and cross the S type off your list. My aunt bought a 2003 that looked really good, but had a ton of problems with the fuel system, and eventually the tranny blew out. All with relatively low miles.

[CaptainHenreh]

Go ahead and cross the S type off your list. My aunt bought a 2003 that looked really good, but had a ton of problems with the fuel system, and eventually the tranny blew out. All with relatively low miles.

Done.

Someone talk to me about that Volvo. Seems perfect. Almost too perfect. Why do they suck?

[JustinG]

Is there even anyone here that has a clue about volvos?