First car. Need help.

I'm going to an australian university soon and want to get a new car. I was wondering if you guys could help me chose a good one, based on personal driving experience and price.

The car I'm looking for:
2 seater,
coupe or roadster,
has cruise control (preferable),
looks young and hip,
manual gear shift,
petrol,
has a respectable boot.

Are there any good ones? I know the 350Z(such a beautiful car) fits this bill, but it's kind of expensive. Thanks for your help! :)

Mazda RX-8 might work. Less expensive then a 350z, great handling, if not terribly powerful. If you were in America I would suggest a Mustang, but seeing as you are in Australia that won't work too well.

Used cars open up all sorts of options. You could probably find all sorts of oldish BMWs (Z3s, E36 M3s, E46 325Ci/330Ci) and such for the price of an RX-8.

Maybe a Honda S2000?

Maybe if you mentioned a few cars in your price range I might be able to advise you better.

As Top Gear would say, American cars can't turn. But Mustangs are sweet looking!
Since you recommended the RX-8, what then, except for the roof, is the difference between the MX-5 and RX-8?

And I'm not very paticular with Makes. As long as the car is good.

MX-5 is the Miata, its an inline four instead of rotary. much less power. i think around 140 or so in the mx-5 compared to 220-230 in the RX-8. I woulf guess the handling in the Mx-5 would be better but im not sure. Personally Id take the MX-5. Im fan of the smaller cars. Whatever you get try to be sensible about it unless you have loads of money lol.

As Top Gear would say, American cars can't turn.

You mean American cars like the Corvette ZO6, Ford GT and the Dodge Viper?

Anyway, SW20 MR2s and S13 Silvias are nice.

You mean American cars like the Corvette ZO6, Ford GT and the Dodge Viper?

Anyway, SW20 MR2s and S13 Silvias are nice.

As a general rule, American cars don't handle well compared to European and Japanese competitors.

The Cadillac CTS and Lincoln MKZ (Zephyr) don't come anywhere near the BMW 3-Series, Infiniti G35, Audi A4, or Lexus IS350. The STS is nowhere near as good as the 5-series or E-Class. The Ford Fusion or Chevy Malibu won't handle as well as the Ford Mondeo (American company, European car) or VW Jetta/Bora. The Mustang doesn't handle as well as the 350z or RX-8. American SUVs won't handle as well as an X5, ML, Cayenne, Toureg, Range Rover, etc.

Cars like the Corvette and the Ford GT tend to be the exception to the rule. They arn't great, but they can hold their own. Don't take anything Clarkson says as an absolute truth. He loves to use generalizations and stereotypes for comedic value.

As a trade off for handling, American cars have tons of power at low cost. The Z06 can keep up with and beat Ferrari F430s and Porsche 911 Turbos for 1/2 the price.

The MX-5 is usually seen as a bit of a girls car. The RX-8 has rather usable rear seats. Both are pretty fun cars.

Touche. But in terms of fuel economy, I'd choose Japanese cars, since their lighter than their european and cross-atlantic counterparts. On the long run, it's cheaper.
The problem with the MR2 is that it doesn't have a boot. And that's too savage for me. I think a second hand MX-5, RX-8 or S2000 would be good enough.

Are there any particular things to look out for when buy a 2nd-hand car?

Well miles on the odometer is the obvious thing to look for. Generally I think it is better to buy cars from older people rather then younger because they are more likely to maintain the car a bit better and they are less likely to drive the car too hard. I don't know if you have something like this in Australia, but we have a couple of online car record sites that will tell you about any accidents or repairs that a specific car has needed. carfax is an example of such a site.

Well, you see, there is *one* slight problem. I'm not in australia. I'm only going there for university.

So I can also infer that buying from a Catholic family is better than a bachelor drug dealer. What if I buy from dealers? Should I look out for scams like bad spark plugs, 5th hand brakes, etc...?