I have to get a new car... help me choose

[D_Eclipse9916]

Mini Cooper S? <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=24450&endYear=2014&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=0&startYear=2000&makeCode1=MINI&transmissionCode=MAN&sellerTypes=b&transmissionCodes=MAN&searchRadius=200&maxPrice=7000&mmt=%5BMINI%5B%5D%5B%5D%5D&listingId=340328066&listingIndex=2&Log=0">http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale ... ex=2&Log=0</a><!-- m -->

please never recommend a mini cooper s unless you've owned one long term. if you have, i apologize and must wonder how many other vehicles you've spent time in.

rattley, always needs some sort of maintenance (which WILL be a complete PITA), rides worse than a civic on 750# springs pieces of shit. good driving dynamics, sure, but terrible in every other way.

Really? Do other people feel the same way? I love those vehicles, but of course never spent a long time in them.

[Jake]

Ask Joey what it's like to work on them. His war stories steered me as far away as I could get. I considered them as part of the ST buying process.

[Mike]

Really? Do other people feel the same way? I love those vehicles, but of course never spent a long time in them.

forealz. i can't wait to get rid of it. absolute POS and her's isn't a lemon or anything from my understanding. it's similar to owning an eclipse (except you don't have to remove the front clip for EVERYTHING so in that sense an eclipse sucks a lot less)... it may be fun and lots of folks do it and do so in a cult-like manner, but you must be a masochist or blinded by something that a common person doesn't see. near the top of my list of cars i would not want to own outside of warranty... and i do. hah.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Really? Do other people feel the same way? I love those vehicles, but of course never spent a long time in them.

forealz. i can't wait to get rid of it. absolute POS and her's isn't a lemon or anything from my understanding. it's similar to owning an eclipse

Hey now.... :lol:

[NTIman]

Really? Do other people feel the same way? I love those vehicles, but of course never spent a long time in them.

forealz. i can't wait to get rid of it. absolute POS and her's isn't a lemon or anything from my understanding. it's similar to owning an eclipse (except you don't have to remove the front clip for EVERYTHING so in that sense an eclipse sucks a lot less)... it may be fun and lots of folks do it and do so in a cult-like manner, but you must be a masochist or blinded by something that a common person doesn't see. near the top of my list of cars i would not want to own outside of warranty... and i do. hah.

What he said. Those cars are awesome, and I'd love to have one if I had a job where I could pay someone else to do even the simplist maintenance on it. I changed the oil in one at work. Never again.

[NTIman]

I always wanted an SVT focus. A couple friends had them and I enjoyed driving them a lot. I'd prefer to have the 5-door version though, and I'm not certain how hard they are to find, but I can imagine not too damn easy.

[BLINGMW]

:dunno: I guess the earlier NA Minis are totally different, we had one for ~2 years and it was great. I certianly didn't have any issues working on it (for what little it required). Yes for long trips it was a little stiff.

As far as a recommendation, your requirements are pretty open. But I'd vote E46 over E36 any day, regardless of intended use case. And they can be had for $7k. However, they're all horrendous in the snow, so if that's a concern then just get a cheap FWD or sure, a subaru.

[ScottyB]

I always wanted an SVT focus. A couple friends had them and I enjoyed driving them a lot. I'd prefer to have the 5-door version though, and I'm not certain how hard they are to find, but I can imagine not too damn easy.

they are neat cars. got a ride in one with a worked suspension and they are pretty uncanny. i looked at them very hard when i was looking for my last car. they can be a little maintenance heavy and are not terribly fuel efficient...but are among the best hot hatches of the 90s IMO.

the 5 doors aren't too hard to find, its just the color combos. blue/red/black/silver all day, but there are "special" euro-package colors only offered briefly....yellow and orange among others. those are rare....like double digit rare.

[WRXtranceformed]

That car is what originally got me into ImprezArs. I would still love to own one someday. I have incredible memories of hoonin around northern VA in AcquaCow's (David) RSTi...still one of my favorite cars ever.

[Mike]

:dunno: I guess the earlier NA Minis are totally different, we had one for ~2 years and it was great. I certianly didn't have any issues working on it (for what little it required). Yes for long trips it was a little stiff.

~2 years when new? totally different from 7 years.
yes, adding a supercharger into a tiny engine bay makes it much worse to work on.
yes, the s has a stiffer suspension.

[Evan]

maybe Im a stick in the mud but seems to me a college student's only car should have reliability, economy and utility. Horsepowerz and turbos and german machinery is fun to daydream about but a mazda3 hatch is the nobrainer pick for actually having to live with and not make you go broke while still providing for a decent amount of fun. (for example)

[V1GiLaNtE]

maybe Im a stick in the mud but seems to me a college student's only car should have reliability, economy and utility. Horsepowerz and turbos and german machinery is fun to daydream about but a mazda3 hatch is the nobrainer pick for actually having to live with and not make you go broke while still providing for a decent amount of fun. (for example)

True story. These things are great cars. Dead-nuts reliable, plenty of space for friends and kegs, and a certain "zippiness" that makes them pretty fun to drive.

[ViPER1313]

In the same school of thought as the Mazda3, I would take a look at the Protege5 - I really liked driving that car. Just look out for rust issues - Google around for more info.