Buying a car soon

[Insomniator]

Alright just got full time at my job and its an hour commute each way until I want to move closer (home saves money of course).

I want a car, but I'm not going to be practical and go the 2006 honda civic route. I know I know thats the best idea by a mile but whatever. If I'm spending two hours each day in my car I want it to be one I love, not my current 96 camry..

I want a wagon, stick, awd preferred. Certified/Used is obviously going to be my only choice if I don't wanna spend 50 grand on it.

I'm looking at Volvo V50 T5's and V70 R's (Love volvos.. had a 745t.. best car ever)

Subaru Foresters (dad has one, seems to be a great car so far..) make the most sense I assume.

OR I just noticed 2005ish BMW 3xx's wagons are going for around 15-20k with pretty low miles.

Are the beamers at ALL reliable? I know my mechanic would laugh in my face if I told him I wanted another volvo or beemer, since the last volvo I had (98 XC70) was literally the biggest piece of garbage ever made. I figure at least with a certified car I'd get whats left over of the original warranty plus some miles/years for being certified...


Are there any other cars like this out there? I wish Honda would sell wagons in the US again.

 

[StageLeft]

Beamers reliable? Maybe. Expensive to maintain? Bet your ass.

Get a Subaru WRX wagon. Forester is not fast unless you get the XT but even then it's hardly fast, just monster launches in the manual. Volvo won't be terribly cheap to maintain either (I think they used to be but are too luxury now).

 

[evident]

dont knock the 96 camry. that car is better than half the shit being made after it. how about the mazda 3 hatchback? no awd but it meets your other requirements... not as big as a wagon though

 

[Insomniator]

hey im not knockin the camry, its definitely an awesome car, for getting from A to B though. 28mpg and still smooth at 120k... I just can't stand driving a car I'm not really into ya know. Its slow, faded gold and cloth seats. No AC either.

My 88 Volvo 745 was a laughable car to most, but it had character. 250k (original turbo), black on black w/leather, sunroof, perfect paint. Rear end went and woulda cost like 800 to fix, wasn't worth it to my dad when the car its self was barely worth 800...
.
thats the kinda car I want again, but unfortunately the they haven't been made in ~17 years. As said before the 98 XC70 barely made it to 150 before blowing up. POS. That makes me wary of new volvos (thanks ford!)

 

[InflatableBuddha]

The Matrix is available with AWD and a manual transmission and should be reliable. Not as sporty as a Subaru, of course.

 

[MixMasterTang]

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha
The Matrix is available with AWD and a manual transmission and should be reliable. Not as sporty as a Subaru, of course.

I thought the AWD matrix was auto only, and the manual matrix was FWD only?

 

[Insomniator]

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha
The Matrix is available with AWD and a manual transmission and should be reliable. Not as sporty as a Subaru, of course.

I thought the AWD matrix was auto only, and the manual matrix was FWD only?

I just looked it up and you are correct.. how the hell did you know that?!

 

[MixMasterTang]

Originally posted by: Insomniator

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha
The Matrix is available with AWD and a manual transmission and should be reliable. Not as sporty as a Subaru, of course.

I thought the AWD matrix was auto only, and the manual matrix was FWD only?

I just looked it up and you are correct.. how the hell did you know that?!

I was looking at them a few years ago!

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Insomniator
hey im not knockin the camry, its definitely an awesome car, for getting from A to B though. 28mpg and still smooth at 120k... I just can't stand driving a car I'm not really into ya know. Its slow, faded gold and cloth seats. No AC either.

My 88 Volvo 745 was a laughable car to most, but it had character. 250k (original turbo), black on black w/leather, sunroof, perfect paint. Rear end went and woulda cost like 800 to fix, wasn't worth it to my dad when the car its self was barely worth 800...
.
thats the kinda car I want again, but unfortunately the they haven't been made in ~17 years. As said before the 98 XC70 barely made it to 150 before blowing up. POS. That makes me wary of new volvos (thanks ford!)

I think older volvos were good, not confident in the newer ones.

 

[desy]

Should be able to get a Mazda6 wagon or Dodge Magnum either would be comfy on long drives

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Originally posted by: Insomniator

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha
The Matrix is available with AWD and a manual transmission and should be reliable. Not as sporty as a Subaru, of course.

I thought the AWD matrix was auto only, and the manual matrix was FWD only?

I just looked it up and you are correct.. how the hell did you know that?!

I stand corrected. That's kind of dumb that you can't get both.

 

[vi edit]

Wagon + kinda fun + stick + AWD + reliable = .....

computing......

computing...

1 matches found:

Subaru Legacy GT

 

[SniperWulf]

I agree with VI. For what you are looking for, I don't think your going to be able to get around a Subaru.

 

[ViviTheMage]

A3, A5? Not exactly wagons, more like hatchbacks.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Beamers reliable? Maybe. Expensive to maintain? Bet your ass.

Get a Subaru WRX wagon. Forester is not fast unless you get the XT but even then it's hardly fast, just monster launches in the manual. Volvo won't be terribly cheap to maintain either (I think they used to be but are too luxury now).

They aren't very reliable now either.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Only other hatchback I can think of with AWD and a stick is the Suzuki SX4, with Touring Package.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: vi edit
Wagon + kinda fun + stick + AWD + reliable = .....

computing......

computing...

1 matches found:

Subaru Legacy GT

2005 was last and only year the gt (current gen 2005-2009) was available in manual. 2007 was last year you can get the gt as a wagon. You can't even get a legacy wagon of any sort anymore. Gotta go outback xt, forester or the impreza.

EDIT: Fail for subaru, they lost me as a repeat customer.

 

[MiataNC]

If AWD is a requirement, then go with your favorite flavor of Subaru or a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo or Ralliart.

There really isn't any other option.

If you want a car to love, then the WRX or Evo is a no brainer. The rest will be nice and practical with little more to offer than AWD over your Camry.

If you want a beast of a wagon and can give up AWD, the MazdaSpeed3 is incredible for what you pay. @$25K for the loaded GT with ridonkulous performance.

 

[mc866]

I was in the same position you were in 8 months ago, looking for a fun wagon with a manual transmission, AWD was a plus. I was coming from a 3 series sedan so I was aware of the maintenance costs of BMW, I had an Impreza before that and am a big fan of Subaru.

For European cars I looked at the following, keeping in mind that maintenance costs may be an issue:
A3, A4 avant, A6 avant, for the most part the Audi's were out of my price range and weren't as "fun" as some of the others I was looking at
3 series wagon, pretty rare in manual, out of my price range
V70R, pure awesomeness, trouble was the manuals are very hard to find and the only ones in my price range were 04's with very high miles

Japanese:
Legacy GT 05, as mentioned above, 05 was the only year that the LGT can be had with a manual, very hard to find
WRX wagon, fairly easy to find, though wagon's seem more rare depending on where you are located, great little car's but I wanted an 05 or better with the 2.5L engine so they were more difficult to find
Mazda Speed 3, no AWD but very has better spec's than the WRX wagon except for cargo area and no AWD

In the end I narrowed it down to the WRX wagon and the Speed3, ended up going with the speed3 and couldn't be happier. I survived 1 MN winter with FWD so far and didn't have any issues with the snow

 

[Insomniator]

I'll have to look into the mazda... AWD isnt required esp since it hurts mpg anyway. No way on Audis, definitely outta my range and I'd imagine even more expensive to maintain than bmws...


If I could get 20 grand tomorrow somehow I would buy this amazing freaking car...

Text

thanks for the advice so far!

 

[cheesehead]

The WRX wagon is a nice car. So is the Mazdaspeed 3.

I saw an '04 WRX wagon with around 70,000 miles for under $11k at a local dealer. Not an amazing deal, but not too bad either.

 

[compman25]

Or you could get this

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: compman25
Or you could get this

....so you could buy a WRX with leather seats for way, way more than the priced of a good, used STi?

PASS!

 

[VinylxScratches]

Dodge Magnum! I don't think they make them in manual though.

 

[lastig21]

Used Saab 9-2X? Just a rebadged Subura Impreza, with a bit more flash. I really liked the cars when I looked at them in 05/06.

I've no idea what they go for used, but they probably do not hold their value as well as a subaru. It might be a cheaper option for essentially the same car.