Hello fellow posters
I'm new to this site and this is my first post. I Recently sold my winter car a 1991 Audi Quattro Coupe and have been in the hunt for a new cars for the last four weeks. With a lot of deduction and thought I have come to a realistic budget and have narrowed it down to just a few cars but because I have no really first hand knowledge of what it is to own these cars in terms of longevity, reliability, electronic problems, cost of general maintenance, everyday drivability, extra unforeseen cost and maintenance such as oil hungry engines (audi), cars that go through tires more frequently etc
I’d also like to know if you can take any of these cars to any general mechanic or if a specialist mechanics is a nessesity and what kind of cost per hour I should be looking at and maybe a general overview of parts that may need to be fixed or simple rundown of bigger regular maintenance items that need replacing such as timing belts, transmission replacement, clutch replacement, exhaust replacement, brakes, shocks and struts and finally if the worse happens engine rebuild….. I say be prepared.
All right So basically I’m really interested in picking your guys brains and first hand knowledge of ownership of these cars. The ups and downs the pitfalls what to look out for and what might be the better buy out of the final five cars I have narrowed it down to. So without further ado here they are.
My price is based off of local adds and sites I live in Vancouver B.C. Canada
My budget is $10,000
In no particular order
01. 1990-1996 Nissan 300ZX - TT/Manual 2+2(if possible) great bang for your buck performance car. General market value LHD in the format I want the car in goes from $6,000 to $10,000. Also have been considering RHD which are cheaper and more readily available with lower KMS.
02. 1993 - 1994 Mazda RX7 - TT/Manual defiantly a little more wanted and upscale in terms of buying. Still it’s a fantastic performance bargain with a brilliant body. LHD just starting at $10,000 in good overall condition but not great . So I have more realistically been looking into RHD for this car which start at a more realistic price range of $8,000 for a good example and $12,000 more cleaner.
03. Dodge Neon SRT-4 - OK before some of you guys might dog me on this one. These cars are amazing bang for your buck performance four bangers factory built hot rods so to speak. Plus now dipping into the below $10,000 price range you can get these for as low as $8,500 with low KMS. Plus they’ve taken most if not all their depreciation loss.
04. 2002 Subaru WRX - Manual with no upgrades clean and original. Not sure exactly what price range to expect for latter version of the first generation to come to north america 2003 and up but I have seen low KMS clean 2002 for as low as $11,000.
05. If all else fails or a get trigger happy my fall back car is yes a Boring 2006 Honda Civic LX or EX for in and around 10,000
Cars that were very much in consideration but I have decided to for some
reason or another not to buy are:
2005 Cobalt SS Supercharged (would rather have an SRT-4 for same money or less)
Acura Integra Type R (the pro and con of this car is that there small numbers mean they hold there value strong but their getting up there in age and at 10,000 your barely touch a clean example)
2000- 2001 Audi S4 (Expensive to maintain and fix)
Datsun 510 (would have to upgrade to fuel injected which would probably mean going without a car for a while which I don't want to do)
LT1,Chevrolet, 6 speed Camaro, Firebird, Corvette (possible an early year LS1 not Corvette of course great straight line performance bang for your buck)
Porsche Boxster (not there yet but getting close to my budget)
Mazda Miata (Was one of the last choices to be taken out of the final list)
2nd generation BMW M3 (great car but realistically not affordable to own)
Porsche 928 and 944 (it’s a Porsche so its going to be expensive)
2000 Lexus GS400 (I don’t want an automatic transmission but I do love this car 300 hp/300 Ib-ft)
Volkswagan GTI or Golf Diesel (made to go fast)
2004-2005 Mazda RX8 (not reliable)
Last Generation Toyota Supra Non Turbo
Anything I should seriously reconsider and anything I haven’t considered would love to hear views as well.
P.S. Would like to add that I have never owned and RHD car so I am defiantly more hesitated to purchase one but I am considering it. So any driving experience or unique attributes to owning a RHD car are extremely welcome.
Anyways thanks in advance for any advice, recommendations, considerations, general info, reliability issues, cost to fix, pricing and any other suggestions and words.