What in the world should I buy?

[RhyminSimon27]

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys. I see why Taylor has been urging me to be more active on here. Anyway, it seems like I'm gonna have to search somewhere other than the tri-state area, because listings like the ones you all posted are impossible to find near me. IS350 and a4 have been on my list, I've just been trying to find a decent one. Hadn't considered a GTI, I guess the emissions scandal made me subconsciously automatically write off all VW's. That STS is super tempting...

[JPolen01]

That STS is super tempting...

I thought you said you were recent alumni, not retired?

[ispoonwithmugen]

^ I lol'ed. What about the newer gen EVO's or STI's. I can't remember reliability on the newer EVO's but those two may be good options.

[Ken]

^ I lol'ed. What about the newer gen EVO's or STI's. I can't remember reliability on the newer EVO's but those two may be good options.

That will be a tougher find, Evo X MR are coming down to near 20K but not in that price range just yet. Reliability was solid for me.

Better idea may be a Lancer Ralliart, I absolutely loved mine when I had it. Enough power to have some fun.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/...2327&Log=0

[JPolen01]

It's almost like Mitsubishi hasn't updated the interior in the Lancer since 2002

[Senor_Taylor]

It's almost like Mitsubishi hasn't updated the interior in the Lancer since 2002

Are those seriously pictures of two different years?

[ScottyB]

MK6 GTI with DSG. Great cars.

another vote. its a quick hatch with the best "auto" out there and the reliability is weirdly good. unless you absolutely cannot handle being in a FWD car its the best option by far from a practicality/fun/resale/reliability standpoint.

[.RJ]

MK6 GTI with DSG. Great cars.

Solid idea up until his last point about reliabilit

What is unreliable about them?

[*insertusernamehere*]

Infiniti g37x

[RawrImAMonster]

MK6 GTI with DSG. Great cars.

Solid idea up until his last point about reliabilit

What is unreliable about them?

Water pumps for starters. My friend is on his 3rd water pump and the car has less than 60k miles. All dealer installed under warranty, so it's not like he was messing up the install.

Honestly, I would probably get one of these for a daily if it wasn't for their reliability problems. All of my friends around here that have VW's have nothing but problems.

[Mike]

2009 A4 Avant. I'll sell it to you in a month or so.

[SlimKlim]

Honestly my experience with VWs has been no worse than my experience with BMWs. My VW ate a waterpump at 70k, my E46 ate two power steering pumps before 80k. Weird little shit would go wrong with the VW like the throttle body wiring shorting out and requiring replacement. Weird little shit would go wrong with the E46 like one of the brake calipers seizing shut and needing to be torn apart and reassembled before it could be driven again.

If you want a dead nuts reliable DD buy a Toyota or something. If you want to drive something a little more interesting, buy something with a good warranty on it and drive it until something breaks, drop it off at the dealer when it needs something and pick it up when it's fixed. :dunno:

[WRXtranceformed]

If you want a dead nuts reliable DD buy a Toyota or something. If you want to drive something a little more interesting, buy something with a good warranty on it and drive it until something breaks, drop it off at the dealer when it needs something and pick it up when it's fixed. :dunno:

Or, you could do both and buy a reliable, fun to drive, comfortable Acura:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2008-Acura-TL-Type-S-t31744#listing=144254322">https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-20 ... =144254322</a><!-- m -->



That's in Brooklyn too. It's FWD but it is a great handling car. Still one of the best cars I have ever owned. Believe it or not with a few light mods it was keeping up in a straight line with my buddy's old twin turbo 335i

[Ken]

Honestly my experience with VWs has been no worse than my experience with BMWs. My VW ate a waterpump at 70k, my E46 ate two power steering pumps before 80k. Weird little shit would go wrong with the VW like the throttle body wiring shorting out and requiring replacement. Weird little shit would go wrong with the E46 like one of the brake calipers seizing shut and needing to be torn apart and reassembled before it could be driven again.

If you want a dead nuts reliable DD buy a Toyota or something. If you want to drive something a little more interesting, buy something with a good warranty on it and drive it until something breaks, drop it off at the dealer when it needs something and pick it up when it's fixed. :dunno:

So, yeah, shit i never had to do on my Mitsu's. I know you guys are fully capable of dealing with it and consider it small stuff but most people don't and therefore, a GTI does not fit most people's definition of "reliable." Loved mine; but even during my ownership, with my brother before me taking it to all regular services, it still had coil packs fail at like 35K... wtf?

Suck it up, drive a stick. It's not that bad, I did it very, very frequently across the cross bronx which is some of the worst traffic you'll see around NYC. Get the Fiesta ST

[SlimKlim]

Honestly my experience with VWs has been no worse than my experience with BMWs. My VW ate a waterpump at 70k, my E46 ate two power steering pumps before 80k. Weird little shit would go wrong with the VW like the throttle body wiring shorting out and requiring replacement. Weird little shit would go wrong with the E46 like one of the brake calipers seizing shut and needing to be torn apart and reassembled before it could be driven again.

If you want a dead nuts reliable DD buy a Toyota or something. If you want to drive something a little more interesting, buy something with a good warranty on it and drive it until something breaks, drop it off at the dealer when it needs something and pick it up when it's fixed. :dunno:

So, yeah, shit i never had to do on my Mitsu's. I know you guys are fully capable of dealing with it and consider it small stuff but most people don't and therefore, a GTI does not fit most people's definition of "reliable." Loved mine; but even during my ownership, with my brother before me taking it to all regular services, it still had coil packs fail at like 35K... wtf?

Suck it up, drive a stick. It's not that bad, I did it very, very frequently across the cross bronx which is some of the worst traffic you'll see around NYC. Get the Fiesta ST

To be fair your Ralliart was leased new and you didn't have your Evo very long or put a ton of miles on it right? I have a feeling at 70-100k you would've been replacing things too. Also, your GTI most likely ate that coil pack because of the tune, my MKV did the same thing right after it was flashed.

Anyway the TL is a good idea. I drove a regular one once before I bought the first GTI and it was a sensory deprivation tank, but I never drove a Type-S. If it had stiffer suspension and an audible exhaust note I imagine it'd be pretty fun to drive for a 2-pedal DD.

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah the TL-S was a different beast from the standard TL. Upgraded suspension, upgraded sways I believe, a LOT beefier brakes, a little more power, better looks, magnesium alloy intake manifold, etc. It definitely sounded awesome too. I had a magnaflow resonator welded in to replace the stock one and added a Jpipe, it sounded mean. Dead nuts reliable too, the only thing to keep an eye on as with all of those transmissions was the pressure sensor switches. The TL-S IIRC had a transmission cooler so it was a lot better than the original 2G/3G TLs, but as a precaution a lot of people swapped those out every 60k miles or so. I don't remember reading about a lot of failures if any at all, but more of an anal enthusiast thing. I remember there was a guy on the boards that was spraying a 75 shot through his pretty much daily and it ran fine, and my buddy Trevor had one that he beat the PISS out of and it was running like a champ when he sold it.

I dug these up from the Photobucket archives. Back in the day apparently the TL-S beat some of its direct competitors (G35/IS350) around Willow Springs during a Japanese tuner mag comparo. What is super interesting that I never noticed was that they also included the RDX in this race??

[Maengelito]

Requirements:
- Automatic (I have to drive in manhattan a decent amount, so shush)

Maybe I'm straying a little off topic here but if you have to drive in Manhattan, does that mean:

-You will be living in Manhattan? If so, I'm sure you will probably never drive it since you can subway/cab/uber/walk most places you need to be. And if your car is parked in any major metropolitan area, it's bumpers/doors are going to get dinged, scratched, beat up.

-You will be commuting into and out of Manhattan? If so, aren't tolls insane to get in and out? I might opt for public transportation and drive something much more fun on the weekends when not going into the city. This way you don't pay an assload in tolls and parking while your car doesn't get all beat up when its parked.

[SlimKlim]

magnesium alloy intake manifold

OH SHIT.

[Ken]

Honestly my experience with VWs has been no worse than my experience with BMWs. My VW ate a waterpump at 70k, my E46 ate two power steering pumps before 80k. Weird little shit would go wrong with the VW like the throttle body wiring shorting out and requiring replacement. Weird little shit would go wrong with the E46 like one of the brake calipers seizing shut and needing to be torn apart and reassembled before it could be driven again.

If you want a dead nuts reliable DD buy a Toyota or something. If you want to drive something a little more interesting, buy something with a good warranty on it and drive it until something breaks, drop it off at the dealer when it needs something and pick it up when it's fixed. :dunno:

So, yeah, shit i never had to do on my Mitsu's. I know you guys are fully capable of dealing with it and consider it small stuff but most people don't and therefore, a GTI does not fit most people's definition of "reliable." Loved mine; but even during my ownership, with my brother before me taking it to all regular services, it still had coil packs fail at like 35K... wtf?

Suck it up, drive a stick. It's not that bad, I did it very, very frequently across the cross bronx which is some of the worst traffic you'll see around NYC. Get the Fiesta ST

To be fair your Ralliart was leased new and you didn't have your Evo very long or put a ton of miles on it right? I have a feeling at 70-100k you would've been replacing things too. Also, your GTI most likely ate that coil pack because of the tune, my MKV did the same thing right after it was flashed.

Anyway the TL is a good idea. I drove a regular one once before I bought the first GTI and it was a sensory deprivation tank, but I never drove a Type-S. If it had stiffer suspension and an audible exhaust note I imagine it'd be pretty fun to drive for a 2-pedal DD.

Yes, Ralliart was leased new but the Evo had the same mileage as the GTI and i owned it for longer and drove it way more. Also, not buying the tune excuse, the Evo was also tuned (and not as well at that since it was out of the box tune.)

TL is really good idea as well! :thumbup:

[Jake]

Another +1 for a 3rd-gen TL or TL-S. I like 'em.