I'm looking for a late 90's-newer luxury, 4door, manual trans, somewhat sporty car around $10,000. I've been looking at 3 Series BMW's, Audi A4's, Lincoln LS's, and some VW's. My question is, what is most practical for me in that price range? Also, how long do they last- milage/years? I've seen many BMW's with a little over 100,000 miles but I've heard tell that their motors last eons.

Thanks

Jon

BMW engines are extremely well built and reliable if properly maintained. While working on the BMW Driver Training program last year, I can tell you we had a fleet of E46's which were driven about 50 hours a week (every week for about 4 months) each in very demanding conditions (extremely hard accelerationg, braking, high speed manouvers etc). We never had one mechanical breakdown. And these were completely stock.

The only real area of conecrn with BMW's is in regards to electrical components such as switches etc. But that said, I know people that have over 200,000miles on their E36's. Look for one that has been well maintained.

nissan maxima, you can get a 4th or early 5th gen for that much. very nice reliable cars.