Thoughts on a new (used) DD?

[Freebeer187]

The GTP is approaching is past its half life and is at about 120K. It's paid for and runs fine for the most part, but it is showing its age. Ive got about 5K cash and I am thinking about getting a new car. I would like to keep the car, but I may end up selling it.

Regardless of the GTP, Ive got a few cars in mind that are within my price range with financing. I really want a RWD or AWD manual car, but for the cash I have I am having a difficult time finding something newer, that has not been molested.
- I do not want to settle for something like a cobalt, saturn, etc.
- For the love of god no more FWD!
- Something that is drivable in the snow is important too. No s2000
- Has to be made year 2000 +
- No LS1/2. I drive 50+ miles a day.

Here is what I have been looking at

- 350z - Theres allot of them and they can be had for 11K~17K. Not sure about driving in the snow though. Blizzaks required.
- G35 - Not really interested but once again that can be had for cheap.
- 2001 Impreza RS - These are hard to find with low miles, but I really like these guys and if I could find a gem with low miles I would consider it.

Here is the oddball. For some reason I cannot get this car out of my head. It's nearly the opposite of what I am looking for and I love everything about it.

- Lexus LS 430 - I know its an expensive car but the can be found with about 80K for roughly $15K. Super luxury with nearly no sport. I'm ok with that. I test drove one and its a grandpa car but its so comfortable I could live out of it. Gets about 18 MPG but I drive mostly highway.

I'd like to hear your input, as well as suggestions. Any recommendations? Im in no rush at all and still am happy with the GTP. I am considering visiting family in Florida and driving back a Florida car. If I went with the LS 430, I would most certainly pick it up from Florida.

Click to read more...

 

[radioguy6]

of that list I'd say G35 . Just keep in mind the manual 05-07 G35s and 05-06 Zs with the 'rev-up' VQ35 like to consume oil.

 

[Primalzer]

Jalopnik or someone did an article on the Infiniti M45 not long ago. Sporty, big, and luxurious. Gas mileage may be an issue though. Take it or leave it looks wise

EDIT: Found the article... http://jalopnik.com/why-the-infiniti-m45-is-the-next-future-classic-678729583

 

[Flyn]

Watch out for con artists if you look at the Florida craigslist ads. There are a lot of scammers down here. Run their phone #s through google and half of them come back as low life used car dealers.

You can find good deals; just do thorough research.

 

[Primalzer]

Well I guess I'll take a stab at the less oddball suggestions

S197 Mustang GT
- Decent power
- Good handler
- Well known DD, although winter tires may be a must
- Depending on your commute either horseshit gas mileage or merely decent

Audi A4/A6
- Well built interiors
- Good choices of motors
- Great in the snow (I'm assuming that you would buy a Quattro because not buying an Audi with 4WD is ridiculous)
- With the 2.0T/1.8T get decent mileage
- Outrageous parts and repair costs

BMW 3 or 5-series
- Well built interiors
- Good choices of motors
- Available with AWD
- Will get decent mileage
- Outrageous parts and repair costs
- Will start to become expensive trying to get into a 335, personally I would prefer a 330i

Subaru's (as you have mentioned)
- WRX would be nice if you could find a non-molested low mileage example, but as I've seen any Subaru is hard to come by low mileage for cheap.
- Good gas mileage
- Fairly reliable
- Great in snow
- Great resale values

 

[Egreen99]

2005+ Acura RL. It has SH-AWD very comfy good on gas, has navi, heated seats, sunroof, bose, leather, HID lights. you can find them all day long for 13-16k. 2 of my friends have them none had issues with their cars both are approaching 90k mark. Easily can run them to past 200k. nice and quiet on the highway and great cruiser.

 

[Mike K]

Just going to steal my own post from KJ's thread a few months back...

Alright, where to start. First off, other than the M5 I've never had a car that I've had a desire to get back as much as the Q45. It's an amazing value.

Unfortunately now that I look, the prices on them appear to have gone up but it's an obscure car with few people looking for them so I imagine most people will have a lot of negotiating room.

First off, the looks which personally I think are timeless. If someone said this was a 2010 I could buy that. I think the car has a timeless look.

Then there's the interior (this one is sporting the option reclining rear seats)

The interior is Lexus nice. It's not an Audi or BMW but it's very well built, soft touch all over, very quiet and very soft. I loved mine.

Power comes from a 340hp V8 which is smoother than butter. Seriously, I've owned nothing with the smoothness of that engine. It is amazing. Nissan does engines well and that engine was amazing.

For everything else I went to Google to search for my pasts posts about the car on this site. Oddly enough, the last post I made praising this car was this summer when you made an identical post to this one. So here's the quote from that:

I LOVED my Q45. Mine was an 02' but 02-06 were all the same body. 340hp, 5 speed trans, awesome interior, wicked gatling gun headlights, navigation, voice command, reliable, smooth as hell, great sound system and for what it is: cheap.

It was just a great car and I probably wouldn't have sold it had mine not had such shit paint. If the Audi is an 8 on a scale of 10 the Q was a 7. The only thing it didn't have was the prestige and the attention to detail but it was a beautiful car.

You'd have to add a few thousand on top of your 5k but for the money you seriously won't find a better car, plus reliability is amazing since it's basically a Nissan. Only problem I had with mine was the dash pad coming unglued and the hydraulic fans sprung a leak. I LOVED that car. I was actually going to try to talk my wife into one. Here's a nice example of one a bit over your budget.

Brilliant Silver 2003 Infiniti Q45 Luxury Sdn Sedan

 

[Yaj Yak]

^^^^ i was thinking of that post

 

[Primalzer]

I honestly haven't really researched the matter, what are the key differences between the Q45 and M45?

 

[Mike K]

The Q45 doesn't look really awkward and has bad ass gattling gun headlights. The M45 looks like a mix of 10 different styles and I don't think it's aged nearly as well as the Q. Other than that they are essentially identical.

 

[radioguy6]

is unbelievable how dirt cheap you can get a Q45 for. Those gattling gun projectors are so sick too.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Must just be me but that thing looks so blah

 

[Primalzer]

The Q45 doesn't look really awkward and has bad ass gattling gun headlights. The M45 looks like a mix of 10 different styles and I don't think it's aged nearly as well as the Q. Other than that they are essentially identical.

I like the general look of the M45, but I will agree that it is a bit awkward. I think that if they increase the wheelbase a bit, and got rid of a lot of that trunk and front end overhang it would look a lot less awkward.

 

[wombat]

The GTP is approaching is past its half life and is at about 120K. It's paid for and runs fine for the most part, but it is showing its age. Ive got about 5K cash and I am thinking about getting a new car. I would like to keep the car, but I may end up selling it.

Regardless of the GTP, Ive got a few cars in mind that are within my price range with financing. I really want a RWD or AWD manual car, but for the cash I have I am having a difficult time finding something newer, that has not been molested.
- I do not want to settle for something like a cobalt, saturn, etc.
- For the love of god no more FWD!
- Something that is drivable in the snow is important too. No s2000
- Has to be made year 2000 +
- No LS1/2. I drive 50+ miles a day.

Here is what I have been looking at

- 350z - Theres allot of them and they can be had for 11K~17K. Not sure about driving in the snow though. Blizzaks required.
- G35 - Not really interested but once again that can be had for cheap.
- 2001 Impreza RS - These are hard to find with low miles, but I really like these guys and if I could find a gem with low miles I would consider it.

Here is the oddball. For some reason I cannot get this car out of my head. It's nearly the opposite of what I am looking for and I love everything about it.

- Lexus LS 430 - I know its an expensive car but the can be found with about 80K for roughly $15K. Super luxury with nearly no sport. I'm ok with that. I test drove one and its a grandpa car but its so comfortable I could live out of it. Gets about 18 MPG but I drive mostly highway.

I'd like to hear your input, as well as suggestions. Any recommendations? Im in no rush at all and still am happy with the GTP. I am considering visiting family in Florida and driving back a Florida car. If I went with the LS 430, I would most certainly pick it up from Florida.

Buy my GTO!

 

[Freebeer187]

Watch out for con artists if you look at the Florida craigslist ads. .

Thanks ill keep that in mind!

Well I guess I'll take a stab at the less oddball suggestions

Audi A4/A6
- Well built interiors
- Good choices of motors
- Great in the snow (I'm assuming that you would buy a Quattro because not buying an Audi with 4WD is ridiculous)
- With the 2.0T/1.8T get decent mileage
- Outrageous parts and repair costs

BMW 3 or 5-series
- Outrageous parts and repair costs


Subaru's (as you have mentioned)
- WRX would be nice if you could find a non-molested low mileage example, but as I've seen any Subaru is hard to come by low mileage for cheap.
- Good gas mileage
- Fairly reliable
- Great in snow
- Great resale values

Thanks for input. The mercedes/BMWs are a little out of my league. I couldn't afford to repair it! However, I am really leaning towards a Subaru.

DAYUM! I am looking at these right now. To get a lower milage one it looks like you need 17~22K. I couldn't find one with the sex interior though. Im going to keep this one in mind!


I have found a bunch of manual Subaru legacys for sale. Low miles and year 09 to 11. Can be had for ~14-17K. This car so far seems to be the most realistic atm.