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(UPDATE: I got it!)if you had 20k to spend on a used car right now

mafia

mafia

Golden Member
I'm currently in the market for a used car for around 20k. I'm looking for something sporty, with good handling and power. I have considered many cars from G35s, Mustangs, to M3s. I can't make up my mind.

After doing some research and a few test drives, I'm now leaning towards a slightly used S2000, but I'm not 100% sure its the best choice. It needs to be a good daily driver, so I don't know if the S2K is a good choice considering that. (Snows in Chicago 🙁 )

If you were in my shoes (meaning that your looking for sporty/power/good DD), what would you get? Also explain why.

Thanks.

UPDATE: I bought a 2007 Honda S2000 with 29,208 miles! Gray and Red and Black seats! 1 owner, perfect service records! Its amazing!
 
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I was in your exact same situation like 2 years ago. in fact, I live in chicago too.

Bought a 2005 G35 coupe with snow tires for like 21 or so. couldnt be happier either, what a great car.

I take that back...only thing I could be happier is if some bastard didn't key all 4 sides of it. super cool kids! but thats going to be addressed soon.

Still, g35 all the way. The other cars in my list were all over the place, off the top of my head:

G35, RX-8, CTS, charger, mustang, GTO, TL, 3-series coupe, FX35

FX35 came in a close second (I'm a musician so sometimes hauling gear is needed...the drop down back seat is proving to be sufficient).

EDIT: As far as why? It came down to the fact that its an awesomely sporty little car, yet still classy enough to where if I need to pick up a potential client in it, I feel like it makes a great impression. At least it did (see the part about keying my car 😀)
 
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I also was in this position a year and a half ago and went with a '05 G35 coupe. Right now, I'd probably look at a C5 Z06.
 
Early to mid 2000s Mercedes CL500, hands down.

But expensive to maintain.

To those who suggested Corvettes or Cadillacs, give me a break.
 
Probably an 06-07 Audi A4 3.2 Quattro. Comfortable, sporty, and can handle snow just fine. Depending on your needs you can get the coupe convertible, sedan, or wagon.
 
I quite fancy the Mazda 6 MPS (Mazdaspeed6). It's a 4 door saloon with all wheel drive and a 275BHP 4-cylinder turbo engine. They look good, sound good and are supposed to drive very well. If you don't want something that big you could look at an older SLK or boxter, but they might be more than 20k for a nice one.
 
The only reason I am suggesting these cars is because you will be driving this in the winter, and I feel any decently-powered RWD sports car will have trouble in snow (from experience with my Firebird...).

Mitsubishi Evo VIII or above
Subaru WRX STi
Audi S4/A4/S6

And that is coming from someone who has never owned an import and probably won't for a while... I once got stuck in a snow storm in April (since I store my Firebird in the winter) and granted I had summer tires on, there was no traction during my whole drive. Luckily it was at around 2 in the morning, so no one else was on the roads. I was all over the road, the only thing stopping me from going off the road was the curb of deep snow on either side of the road. Scariest drive of my life.
 
96Firebird said:
The only reason I am suggesting these cars is because you will be driving this in the winter, and I feel any decently-powered RWD sports car will have trouble in snow (from experience with my Firebird...).

Mitsubishi Evo VIII or above
Subaru WRX STi
Audi S4/A4/S6

And that is coming from someone who has never owned an import and probably won't for a while... I once got stuck in a snow storm in April (since I store my Firebird in the winter) and granted I had summer tires on, there was no traction during my whole drive. Luckily it was at around 2 in the morning, so no one else was on the roads. I was all over the road, the only thing stopping me from going off the road was the curb of deep snow on either side of the road. Scariest drive of my life.
Click to expand...

I would agree if he lived in western NY. Rochester. Syracuse, Buffalo all get ~100 inches of snow a year and it's perpetual from December through mid-March. But Chicago? Meh. 38" per year wouldn't be enough to scare me from buying a superior car.

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/snowfall.html
 
Oh, I figured they got almost as much lake effect snow as we do here. God I hate winter...

In that case, a C5 Z06 or G8 GT would be very fun to own. S2ks are nice, but they have no low end torque which would turn me away. If you're looking for a street legal go-kart type car, I would search high and low for a Lotus Elise (or Exige if you can find one cheap enough). I've always wanted one of those...
 
For $20k I'd probably do what I am still planning on doing, 1998 240SX and drop a LSx engine in it with a T56.
 
Toyota Tacoma, access cab, 4x4, v6, towing package. Spend the rest on upgrades for truck or bike.

Do I need a truck all the time? Not really. But those times that I do need one, they are invaluable. For instance, moving down to SA I had to rent a penske and a dolly to tow my civic. Ended up paying a shload whereas I could have gotten away with a smaller trailer and thrown some stuff in the bed.

Maybe next year when I move I'll trade in the civic.
 
C5 corvette, that way if you had or decided to sell it in a few years you wouldn't take that big of a hit on depreciation.
 
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