Need some help deciding on a new (used) car

[Chapbass]

Okay, so heres the deal:

Right now I own a 97 Trans Am, and its getting to that time to get something new. Even though the miles are getting up there (125k), the thing still kicks pretty good. The problem is that I no longer own my winter car (89 Riviera). Last year was the first winter I tried it in the T/A, and while I mightve been able to pull it off with some snow tires (I dont drive much atm), who knows.

Now, I'm not a big racing guy, to be completely honest I bought the TA because I absolutely love the look of them. I DO enjoy a pretty quick car for fun and such, but I definitely dont need a street monster (even though I love to try and justify it ).

The other biggie, is that while right now I'm living between Iowa and Chicago (home in chicago, school in iowa), I recently graduated college, and may have a job lined up in Minneapolis. SOOOO its new car time!

Unfortunately, alot of the cars that I prefer are RWD, but I've heard differing opinions about each individual cars ability in snow.

Anyway, here was my ORIGINAL list:

G35
Charger
Crossfire (SRT if i could swing it)
RX-8
MAYBE gto


now, this was before I heard about the whole Minneapolis deal, so now its changed a little. I LOVED the g35, but I seem to hear a ton that its rough in the snow. The g35x is a possibility, but really the sedan just doesnt do it for me like the coupe does. Two nights ago I went over to a local carmax and looked at a bunch, as well as test drove a couple cars.

Test drove a Cadillac CTS, Acura TL, and a BMW 325i (semi just for fun). The TL felt the quickest in a straight line, but it also felt the least stable (which mightve also made it feel quicker than it was). The BMW I enjoyed, but I really feel the interior was very blah.

Okay, I know im all over the place so far in this thread, but I'm just saying things as they come to me. My price range is around 17-21 with MAYBE being able to go to around 23k.

After looking at them I really enjoyed the CTS (i drove an 04 with the 3.5(6?)L v6). The look was sharp, it was decently quick. Do you guys think the CTS is a. able to handle alright in the snow (yeah, its RWD, but it also is heavier than some of the others), and b. too "old man" for a 23 year old?


Oh, i forgot to mention, that I may or may not need to drive some people around semi regularly for work, so it would be used a little as a business car. I dont think a sedan is necessary, as most of the time it would just be one other person, but I would like something pretty classy.



Alright, I've rambled for a little. Anyone have any suggestions about other cars?


Some quick cliffs:
Need a car that can make it in the north (possibly minneapolis)
G35 coupe I like, sedan eh not so much
Really enjoyed a CTS
Need something classy, possibly sedan
More suggestions to check out



Thanks guys!

 

[Vette73]

I have a 04 CTS with the 3.6L motor. They do better then most think as there is a snow setting. Should be a button with a snowflake on it. Push that for snow/heavy rain driving.

But even with that it still is a RWD car so having a set of snow tires for winter driving and putting it in snow setting would go a long way.

But the biggest thing for driving in the snow is the driver. Most of the cars/trucks I see in teh ditch are either 4wd/awd. Its the drivers that think well its got... insert snow option/awd/etc... so i can drive like a sunny day.


The CTS is nice, IMO, and since the new one came out it pushed the price of the old ones down a good deal. Just don;t get a 2003 as that only had the 3.2L motor. You want either the 3.6L or even a 2.8L. The 2.8L is a smaller version of the 3.6L motor.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Crossfire is the bargain of the group and used SRT's with under 20K miles can be had for $22K now. New leftover '06 Limiteds can be had for $20K or less.

Its a very compact car, very comfortable, lots of amenities but small. The SRT susppension is considered very firm. Fast, yes, damn fast!

Most any RWD car you buy, you will need snow-tires. Remember that!.

I'd also add the GTO to your list.

 

[T2urtle]

a g35 with snow tires will handle better then a FWD with all-season tires in the winter.

its been done by many of my friends with g35c and sedans in chicago weather. my co-worker drives a charger hemi with winters tires and he hauls butt in the winter on the highway to work downtown chicago.

dont have too much experience with the other cars. i just turn 22 and i've been looking at the CTS as well and never once have i thought "old man" i've thought "big baller" a couple of times. One question would be can you drive a manual and would you perfer it. subaru WRX/ legacy comes into mind AWD gets you anywhere u want in the snow pretty much. Also a rx-8 with an auto is horrible!!!!

this board has a lot of BMW fans here so you will get a couple of 330 suggestions. lincoln LS model would be comparible to the CTS.

 

[Chapbass]

Just a few quick responses.

The CTS's that I looked at were either 04 or 05's. Most of them were around 20k with around 15-30k miles on em.

I'm not that aggressive of a driver, especially in the winter, so I really feel like I'd be okay....hell, I made it through the winter in a TA without winter tires OR sandbags in the back and only got stuck once.

The rx-8 seems like it will take a back seat. If i'm gonna get something like that (lighter, rwd), id get a g35.

Yep, i can drive manual, my current TA is a 6 speed, been driving it for years . Whether I prefer it....while I might prefer it, the lady friend might not . And as much as I would say I dont care about that, if something were to happen to me and we have my car somewhere, Id like to know that she could get me to the hospital in under 10 hours.

For some odd reason, honda, toyota, and subaru just doenst do it for me. who knows.


The guy at carmax suggested an audi, but honestly i dont know much about em and thought I remembered hearing something about reliability problems.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Crossfire is the bargain of the group and used SRT's with under 20K miles can be had for $22K now. New leftover '06 Limiteds can be had for $20K or less.

Its a very compact car, very comfortable, lots of amenities but small. The SRT susppension is considered very firm. Fast, yes, damn fast!

Most any RWD car you buy, you will need snow-tires. Remember that!.

I'd also add the GTO to your list.

i always liked the crossfire and was sad to see it go.

OP - the crossfire is no longer made, just in case you didn't know, so finding parts in the future may/may not be difficult.

also, the Crossfire SRT does not come with a manual transmission. i don't know if this is a requirement for you or not.

Good luck in the hunt! Quite a list you have there


edit: audi's are very classy (see sig ) and can be very reliable if you take good care of them

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Crossfire is the bargain of the group and used SRT's with under 20K miles can be had for $22K now. New leftover '06 Limiteds can be had for $20K or less.

Its a very compact car, very comfortable, lots of amenities but small. The SRT susppension is considered very firm. Fast, yes, damn fast!

Most any RWD car you buy, you will need snow-tires. Remember that!.

I'd also add the GTO to your list.

i always liked the crossfire and was sad to see it go.

OP - the crossfire is no longer made, just in case you didn't know, so finding parts in the future may/may not be difficult.

also, the Crossfire SRT does not come with a manual transmission. i don't know if this is a requirement for you or not.

Good luck in the hunt! Quite a list you have there

Haha, thanks fenix. you shouldve seen the carmax guy last night. I was all over the place. Even looked at some suv's/crossovers...but i still dont know my opinion on that yet.



Heres an almost spitting image of what I drove a few nights ago. The more I look at it the more I like it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...hash=item170215101962&

So the consensus is that I'd be okay in minn. with some good snow tires? (i see a lot of people use blizzaks?)

 

[alpineranger]

They sold a lot of crossfires/SLKs, so I'd assume parts supply won't be a problem (MB is generally good about that) - parts price is a different story.

 

[Chapbass]

Okay, after thought this afternoon, its down to the CTS and the g35.

G35 is sportier (somewhat), but its smaller, arguably not as classy.

I do like the interior of the g35 more than the CTS, but the exterior of the CTS is mighty fine. The CTS i could probably grab for a little cheaper with less miles as well.

I've heard the CTS has some interesting things going on behind the dash, which may or may not pose a problem. I plan to eventually put a carpc in it, so who knows.

Anyone know which would be better in the snow? I would plan on putting snow tires, and if needed sandbags, on both cars. Both seem to have their traction control systems (stabilitrak, VDC, etc)....

Oh one other question. I test drove a g35 last week, and it had TERRIBLE road noise. I thought my trans am was bad, but this was just unbearable. Not so much when accelerating, but when coasting (it was a manual) to a stop, especially from like 40mph down to like 25, it just got VERY loud. The car I was driving had aftermarket rims, which the salesperson assured me was the culprit of the road noise, but im not so sure. anyone have any input about this?

Thanks again guys!


EDIT: also, i would love to keep the crossfire in there, but I just cant seem to find one period, much less a SRT. which makes test driving them quite difficult. We'll see if one pops up though.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Chapbass

EDIT: also, i would love to keep the crossfire in there, but I just cant seem to find one period, much less a SRT. which makes test driving them quite difficult. We'll see if one pops up though.

30 crossfires within 75 miles of me... CPO 2007 with 2800 miles... $20k :Q

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: Chapbass

EDIT: also, i would love to keep the crossfire in there, but I just cant seem to find one period, much less a SRT. which makes test driving them quite difficult. We'll see if one pops up though.

30 crossfires within 75 miles of me... CPO 2007 with 2800 miles... $20k :Q

where you lookin, like ebaymotors?

 

[thedarkwolf]

Charger can be had with AWD

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Charger can be had with AWD

yeah i know, but for one they seem hard to find with awd, and secondly, the interior is completely underwhelming, which is why i kinda nixed it.


not to mention i test drove one about a month ago and man that thing is HUGE. geez.

 

[Vette73]

Caddy CTS 2003-2007 Forum


That is the forum i use for my CTS questions and help.



The only problem i have found to hit a lot fo CTS is a squeak in the front control arm. A bushing needs to be added to get rid of the squeak but it will not affect performance or life of any part.


Other then that I don;t know of any major problems. The V8 CTS's (CTS-V) do have some diff issues but that is more due to people driving them hard and i have seen a lot of those with the 6 speeds. Also there was/is a recall on the 05-07's for a bad diff seal. So that was part of the problem as well. The supplier changed the seal a little and it caused a leak in the diff. Free repair if you get a CTS that has not had it done yet.


The thing I did not like myself was I thought it was a little soft, esp in the corners. There are aftermarket sway bars and also you can put the CTS-V sway bars on as they are larger. I went with the CTS-V bars as you can find them pretty cheap since some CTS-V owners upgrade theirs and have the factory ones as left overs.

 

[radioouman]

The Crossfire is absolutely awful in the snow.

 

[sjwaste]

Personally, I love the CTS and I love the TL. Of the cars you named, they'll be the "classiest" in looks inside and out.

If you're looking to spend about 20k, the '05 TL's are getting near that price point. I've been waffling on cars for a while now and the TL has just entered the fold for me. Hell, a new one is going below invoice b/c the 09's should hit soon. Without nav, under 30k on CarsDirect (about 32 with).

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Personally, I love the CTS and I love the TL. Of the cars you named, they'll be the "classiest" in looks inside and out.

If you're looking to spend about 20k, the '05 TL's are getting near that price point. I've been waffling on cars for a while now and the TL has just entered the fold for me. Hell, a new one is going below invoice b/c the 09's should hit soon. Without nav, under 30k on CarsDirect (about 32 with).

I really dont know about the TL. something about the look of it just didnt scream "wow" to me. same thing as when im driving. I dont really notice the TL's very much. The CTS and G's however...

The more I stare at the two of them the more I think g35...but I dont know why I have this mental block in my head that the CTS will be a ton better in the snow than a G.