Interesting Used Car for $15-16k?

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I have been thinking about a newer performance car to have as a toy lately, and have narrowed it to a few choices. The 2005 up Mustang GT/ 5 speed, Mitsubishi EVO VIII, Subaru WRX, and Nissan 350Z. I don't want a 4th gen F body or a new GTO as I don't like the way either looks. Sounds petty, but in a toy, it matters. I also don't like the looks of the RX-8, so I omitted it as well. The Honda S2000 is another car I like, but it is too small for my taste. I would take it over a Miata though as it's too girlie for my liking. I also considered a BMW 3 series, but the upkeep is staggeringly expensive so I'll pass. Basically, I want a rear or all wheel drive performance car that I could drive all the time if I needed to. Other suggestions not noted here are welcome.

From a driving standpoint, the EVO is far and away the best of them. It is one of the best driver's cars at any price, but it is kinda ugly. The WRX's early years are littered with the remains of weak transmissions, and the 350Z doesn't sound good when revved. So, that leaves the Mustang. It does not handle great, and performance is middle of the road, but it does look the best. It also has an interior that doesn't let you forget you are driving a Ford. Anyhow, given the choices, what would you choose?

This is not something I will do right now, but maybe a few months down the road. I also may or may not sell my Cutlass to do it, but will hang on to the Frontier as my daily driver. I may buy nothing, I may also just buy a cheap older 4x4 and go have some fun too.

 

[Blake442]

I voted for the Mustang.
At least it has a V8 in it. That and I can't stand the sound of 4 cylinders (6 in the 350Z's case).
While fun to drive, impressive vehicles, the WRX, Evo, and 350Z are all ugly.
Without a Fast and the Furious paint job, the WRX and Evo are just a souped up commuter car, so if you buy one, you might as well sell your truck. Pretty much same thing goes for the 350Z. You live in Florida, one of the few places where you can actually drive your "toy" year round, so why wouldn't this just become your regular car? If you're gonna buy something, drive it. You don't need to pay $15K for something that sits around while you drive your same old truck. That doesn't make sense.
At least the Mustang has a tad of style to it. But I haven't seen any new vehicle in the past 10+ years that I thought looked good enough to lust over, let alone buy until the new Challenger came along. Too bad I can't afford one...

P.S. I'd rather have a nice '85 Olds Cutlass than any of those newer cars...

 

[Ribbedroof]

Magnum R/T

But then, I'm partial to wagons.

And not as goofy looking (to me) as many of the "sporty cars"...no fart cans, no wings, no catfish front bumper, etc

 

[whitey]

I voted GT as it's the only North American choice .
Buy domestic...it's the right thing to do. 8)

 

[BrownGP83]

Just go buy yourself an older 4X4! Sometimes they can be more fun than any street car! I should know :lol:

 

[dan2286]

I voted for the Mustang. I have always loved the 350Z but I have heard that they have a nice set of problems. I hear that the manual trans usually does not last past 20,000 miles and they like to eat through tires because of how the suspension is set up. My second choice would have been the WRX only because I hate Mitsubishi, even though the Mitsu is better. I just have always liked the looks of the WRX more, and I love the sound of the engine with straight 3" exhaust.

Have you thought about the Volkswagon GTI's? Those are probably one of the more uglier cars, but they do perform very well.

The VW GTI is FWD, so I wouldn't even consider it. The R32, maybe.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I voted for the Mustang.
At least it has a V8 in it. That and I can't stand the sound of 4 cylinders (6 in the 350Z's case).
While fun to drive, impressive vehicles, the WRX, Evo, and 350Z are all ugly.
Without a Fast and the Furious paint job, the WRX and Evo are just a souped up commuter car, so if you buy one, you might as well sell your truck. Pretty much same thing goes for the 350Z. You live in Florida, one of the few places where you can actually drive your "toy" year round, so why wouldn't this just become your regular car? If you're gonna buy something, drive it. You don't need to pay $15K for something that sits around while you drive your same old truck. That doesn't make sense.
At least the Mustang has a tad of style to it. But I haven't seen any new vehicle in the past 10+ years that I thought looked good enough to lust over, let alone buy until the new Challenger came along. Too bad I can't afford one...

P.S. I'd rather have a nice '85 Olds Cutlass than any of those newer cars...

Well, the reason to keep the truck is what I do for a living, pizza delivery. The truck is stupid-reliable, and has no real market value as it has 310,000 miles on it. It's cheap to run and practical to have. I would use the newer car for anything but delivery work, which is about 8-10k miles a year. I deliver pizza 20-24k miles a year. I live about 1.5 miles from work, so commuting is a negligible thing, and if I did not deliver, I would not even need a car to commute.

 

[2000.malibu.ls]

I would personally go with the z, just because im going through an import phase right now lol. (kinda jump back and forth through ALL cars though) i just like the stance of the z, and the performance. cylindars mean very little to me and I like all exaust notes except some REALLYY crappy fart cans. The 05 mustang looks funny to me and the stance is too high and the hood doesnt look right. The evo and wrx tend to be pricey, however i love the awd and the fact that they are pretty rare (at least were i live).

 

[78mali350]

I voted for the EVO because it's one of my dream cars but you also did not say that the WRX was an STi version. Would have taken my vote if it was

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I have found some WRX's for VERY low prices, some for less than $10,000. None of those are STi's though as they tend to command a premium. If they were, I would lean heavily towards the STi as it gets a better transmission than the standard WRX, which shares it's transmission with the normal Imprezza/Legacy. For me, it really goes between the Mustang and the EVO. The EVO is more in tune to the way I like to drive (flat out and pissed off most of the time), but I like the Mustang's looks better.