HumblePie
Lifer
Oh the woes of buying a used car for a girl friend.
Basically unless it's a sports car it's ugly and she doesn't want it. Her favorites are convertibles which I hate. I don't like the fact anyone can cut through the top to steal your shit without it even looking like they did anything wrong at a glance. A small slit to reach the locks and it's easy to get into the car. Sure someone can break the window in on a regular car, but that makes a little bit of noise and someone glancing at someone that broke the glass window out on a car should be able to spot the broken window. That and it's easier to tie in an alarm to the window than the cloth tops.
Anyhow, all that junk aside, it's been a pain. She can't drive manual. Not because she doesn't want to learn, but her left knee is screwed up enough she can't operate a clutch properly all the time. So she rather not take the chance. But since she likes sports cars and most sports cars are manuals it's a bit harder to find one.
Also factor in the budget. Trying to stay as close to $10K as possible. I can go up to $20K but then I would be paying into the car as she couldn't afford the payments on her own at that point. She wants to pay for the car completely although I co-signed.
She also MUST have built in GPS navigation. Told her we could do that cheaper with a removable unit but she refuses. She also would like to have the rear cameras, but isn't hard set on those at least.
Finally colors. Black, Red, Yellow, and White. She wants no other color for her car. No brown, tan, or anything like that for inside the car. She doesn't car about leather or cloth at least. Too bad most sports cars come in silver or pewter paints 🙁
So we've been looking at the following cars.
C5 Corvettes - 1999 -2002 years with up to 110K miles. These run from $10K to $15K in cost. Finding one in good shape hasn't been easy. Corvettes are her dream car so she is a bit more lenient on options. She can go without a built in navigation on this for example.
Scion TC - 2001-2009 models. Up to 100K miles on these is my limit.
Mazda Miatas - 2001-2007 models. Up to 100K miles. Seen some decent prices on these, but man these things are small. If I have to drive the car from time to time I want to make sure I can fit in the damn thing.
Nissan 350z - 2003-2007 models. Up to 100K miles. Small, but not as small as the miata.
Pontiac Solstice - Any year. Up to 100K miles. Again small, but can fit at least.
Dodge Charger - Would do any year, but beyond 2008 they are around 18-20K+ in prices.
Nissan Altima - 2006+ years and she ONLY wants these if they have the nav systems and cameras. She is tolerant of the looks of these, but they aren't her favorite.
Acura TL - 2006+ years as it is the same thing as the altima to her. She can tolerate the later model looks so long as it is fully loaded.
Eclipse - pretty much any year works for her in terms of looks, but most of what I heard reliability wise on these has been hit and miss.
Mustangs - She tolerates the looks of them, but hates mustangs as a general "chick" car. Still we've kept them on the radar. I prefer only 2005+ year models as considerations only.
These are the ones that are out of consideration for now:
Infiniti cars. She doesn't mind the G37 looks, but those are too expensive. She can tolerat the SC430 looks but again too expensive. Everything else she's looked at from Infiniti she has hated.
Mercedes. She hates the looks of these including the SLK model.
Hondas. She like the S2000 models for looks, but of course those are all manuals. She hates the body stylings of every other Honda though.
Toyotas. She likes the looks of the late model Celica and the MR2's. She hates the looks of everything else. Finding a good celica or MR2 is damn near impossible though. If they are in still good condition the people that own them don't want to sell them. Just too old now for the market.
Hyundai. Likes the new Genesis, but those are too expensive. Likes the look of the Tiburons, but those are really bad pigs in terms of power. I hate them for that. I want a sports car because it has some pep which the Tiburons don't have. Everything else they offer she hates.
KIA. hates them all.
Mazda. Besides the Miata, and RX8 she hates them all. I am adamant about not getting her an RX8 though considering all the problems I've had with mine.
Audi. She likes the look of the new TT's and A6's but nothing else. The older models she can't stand.
Volvo & jag she hates them all.
Porsche she likes, but we haven't found anything even remotely good condition for our price range. It's like those cars exists in two states. Immaculate or scrap heap junk. So either the prices are ridiculous or not worth it for them to pay me to take the car.
Dodge. Likes only the charger. Actually hates the challenger. Not sure why.
Volkswagon. She hates them all
Chevy. She only likes the vette. Hates the camero.
Ford. Might "tolerate" a well equipped mustang so long as it is yellow.
I think that pretty much it when it comes to cars. Not sure if I missed anything but if I did please let me know. I've been trying to give her more options to chose from as it seems her field is a bit too narrow on what she is looking for.
Also out of what I posted she likes, anyone recommend any vehicle type over another in terms of reliability. I know the miata is the highest rated reliable sports car now for awhile. Just wish they weren't so damn small. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any one sports car being that MUCH better in terms of reliability than any others.
Basically unless it's a sports car it's ugly and she doesn't want it. Her favorites are convertibles which I hate. I don't like the fact anyone can cut through the top to steal your shit without it even looking like they did anything wrong at a glance. A small slit to reach the locks and it's easy to get into the car. Sure someone can break the window in on a regular car, but that makes a little bit of noise and someone glancing at someone that broke the glass window out on a car should be able to spot the broken window. That and it's easier to tie in an alarm to the window than the cloth tops.
Anyhow, all that junk aside, it's been a pain. She can't drive manual. Not because she doesn't want to learn, but her left knee is screwed up enough she can't operate a clutch properly all the time. So she rather not take the chance. But since she likes sports cars and most sports cars are manuals it's a bit harder to find one.
Also factor in the budget. Trying to stay as close to $10K as possible. I can go up to $20K but then I would be paying into the car as she couldn't afford the payments on her own at that point. She wants to pay for the car completely although I co-signed.
She also MUST have built in GPS navigation. Told her we could do that cheaper with a removable unit but she refuses. She also would like to have the rear cameras, but isn't hard set on those at least.
Finally colors. Black, Red, Yellow, and White. She wants no other color for her car. No brown, tan, or anything like that for inside the car. She doesn't car about leather or cloth at least. Too bad most sports cars come in silver or pewter paints 🙁
So we've been looking at the following cars.
C5 Corvettes - 1999 -2002 years with up to 110K miles. These run from $10K to $15K in cost. Finding one in good shape hasn't been easy. Corvettes are her dream car so she is a bit more lenient on options. She can go without a built in navigation on this for example.
Scion TC - 2001-2009 models. Up to 100K miles on these is my limit.
Mazda Miatas - 2001-2007 models. Up to 100K miles. Seen some decent prices on these, but man these things are small. If I have to drive the car from time to time I want to make sure I can fit in the damn thing.
Nissan 350z - 2003-2007 models. Up to 100K miles. Small, but not as small as the miata.
Pontiac Solstice - Any year. Up to 100K miles. Again small, but can fit at least.
Dodge Charger - Would do any year, but beyond 2008 they are around 18-20K+ in prices.
Nissan Altima - 2006+ years and she ONLY wants these if they have the nav systems and cameras. She is tolerant of the looks of these, but they aren't her favorite.
Acura TL - 2006+ years as it is the same thing as the altima to her. She can tolerate the later model looks so long as it is fully loaded.
Eclipse - pretty much any year works for her in terms of looks, but most of what I heard reliability wise on these has been hit and miss.
Mustangs - She tolerates the looks of them, but hates mustangs as a general "chick" car. Still we've kept them on the radar. I prefer only 2005+ year models as considerations only.
These are the ones that are out of consideration for now:
Infiniti cars. She doesn't mind the G37 looks, but those are too expensive. She can tolerat the SC430 looks but again too expensive. Everything else she's looked at from Infiniti she has hated.
Mercedes. She hates the looks of these including the SLK model.
Hondas. She like the S2000 models for looks, but of course those are all manuals. She hates the body stylings of every other Honda though.
Toyotas. She likes the looks of the late model Celica and the MR2's. She hates the looks of everything else. Finding a good celica or MR2 is damn near impossible though. If they are in still good condition the people that own them don't want to sell them. Just too old now for the market.
Hyundai. Likes the new Genesis, but those are too expensive. Likes the look of the Tiburons, but those are really bad pigs in terms of power. I hate them for that. I want a sports car because it has some pep which the Tiburons don't have. Everything else they offer she hates.
KIA. hates them all.
Mazda. Besides the Miata, and RX8 she hates them all. I am adamant about not getting her an RX8 though considering all the problems I've had with mine.
Audi. She likes the look of the new TT's and A6's but nothing else. The older models she can't stand.
Volvo & jag she hates them all.
Porsche she likes, but we haven't found anything even remotely good condition for our price range. It's like those cars exists in two states. Immaculate or scrap heap junk. So either the prices are ridiculous or not worth it for them to pay me to take the car.
Dodge. Likes only the charger. Actually hates the challenger. Not sure why.
Volkswagon. She hates them all
Chevy. She only likes the vette. Hates the camero.
Ford. Might "tolerate" a well equipped mustang so long as it is yellow.
I think that pretty much it when it comes to cars. Not sure if I missed anything but if I did please let me know. I've been trying to give her more options to chose from as it seems her field is a bit too narrow on what she is looking for.
Also out of what I posted she likes, anyone recommend any vehicle type over another in terms of reliability. I know the miata is the highest rated reliable sports car now for awhile. Just wish they weren't so damn small. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any one sports car being that MUCH better in terms of reliability than any others.
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