Car recommendation time! ($10k, RWD, late-model)

Good morning!

I just discovered that my car is terminally ill with rust and low oil pressure, so it's time for another one.

It needs to tow a 1200 lb, 6' wide 5' tall open trailer up a freeway grade (3%) at 70 MPH with some power in reserve. I would like it to be RWD, post MY-06, stick shift, but...

... I am a Michael Andretti-level car killer. Every suspension bushing on my 3-year-old Fiat 500 Abarth was shot, I killed all the synchros and broke the front subframe on my C5 Corvette, countless Honda balljoints have failed, and I once closed I-495 by throwing a rod and spreading oil, coolant, and gasoline across all three lanes.

What'll stand up to the abuse? I think my credit union will trust me with six grand and I have four of my own.

Tacoma X-Runner?

Too bad the Charger doesn't come in a manual, it sounds otherwise like pretty much what you're looking for.

Sounds like you destroy everything. ^can you get the Tacoma that cheap? Our two at work have held up great.

chaparral wrote: ... I am a Michael Andretti-level car killer. Every suspension bushing on my 3-year-old Fiat 500 Abarth was shot, I killed all the synchros and broke the front subframe on my C5 Corvette, countless Honda balljoints have failed, and I once closed I-495 by throwing a rod and spreading oil, coolant, and gasoline across all three lanes. What'll stand up to the abuse? I think my credit union will trust me with six grand and I have four of my own.

A bus pass?

Is an 05-10 Mustang GT rated to tow 1200 lbs? Not that I think it'll stand up to what you seem to put cars through, but it's what I can think of that might meet all your requirements. Otherwise, get the best condition pickup you can find in the price range, and accept that you won't meet all your wants. Or a Crown Vic/Grand Marquis and look into beefing up the transmission.

Everything in your wish list except "stick shift" could be covered by an ex-police Hemi Charger. Might not even need the credit union. If a different Officer Bob every eight hours can't beat it into the ground, you should be OK for a while.

... And if rslifkin agrees with me, it must be true!

I'm towing two racing karts and a toolbox on a little open-deck trailer. It's just barely beyond the capability of a '99 Civic.

In reply to chaparral:

I'm not saying you need a truck for the payload capacity, more because when someone says "I have killed every vehicle I've ever owned" my immediate answer is Toyota pickup

You can get three 2000+ Ford Rangers for 10K. It'll probably take you longer to kill three of those than one of anything else.

Cactus wrote: You can get three 2000+ Ford Rangers for 10K. It'll probably take you longer to kill three of those than one of anything else.

I'm not going to say that this is the best answer, but it is true. You could have a 4WD one for winter/towing, a 4cyl/5 spd combo for daily driving/fuel saving, and a third to use as a play toy. They're not totally indestructible but they do take a ton of punishment. They're super easy to work on, parts are common and cheap. They're cheap to insure, etc.

$10,000 will buy you the nicest Crown Vic on the planet with plenty of cash left over for a 5spd. conversion.

Don't beat on vehicles as hard?

I went to fueleconomy.gov and used the Power Search function.
'06 to '10
RWD
Manual

Of all the results returned, the only thing with towing capabilities were small pickup trucks.
Tacoma, Frontier, Ranger, Colorado, etc.

Miata cant tow enough and BMWs are likely not what you need in term of cheap operational costs.

Stealthtercel wrote: Everything in your wish list except "stick shift" could be covered by an ex-police Hemi Charger. Might not even need the credit union. If a different Officer Bob every eight hours can't beat it into the ground, you should be OK for a while.

From several people I know in the industry the charger police vehicles have been less than reliable in service. In fact I knew a trooper that was doing everything in his power to hang on to his Crown Vic long enough for his department to make the switch from the Dodges to the Tahoes. He did manage to keep the Vic past it's retire date and the last time I saw him he was in a Chevy SUV.

XJ Cherokee will click all the button's.

Colorado/Canyon with the I-5? Beat on it as hard as you can. It might run and drive badly, but it will do that forever.

10 $1000 P71s

You can tow 1,200 pounds with an S197 Mustang. They're also pretty stupid easy to work on, and the number of bushings on them is minimal (because stick axle).

I'm going to go a different route here.... Or something similar.

PERFECT!

Add turbo and done.

Miata. It can tow 1,200 lbs easily enough and they absorb all the abuse.

Remember: Miata Is Alway The Answer

Sounds like you need a truck of some sort. You can get 2006 rangers with manual transmissions for about 6k nowadays. 70mph up a 3% grade in the capital area? Isn't the highest speed limit there like 55?

When I was there last month I was flying by everyone doing 75mpg (Cali minimum mph in fleeing traffic). Then I realize you don't find 65mph speed limits until you're about 35 miles outside of the capital beltway.

In reply to yupididit:

I'm not in DC; I'm outside Detroit.

"Where'd you guys do the high-speed testing on the new Belchfire 8?" "On I-696 like everyone else"

70mph up a 3% grade with 1200 lbs of trailer isn't terribly demanding power-wise. We're not talking about a huge, draggy enclosed trailer.

To put that in perspective, while climbing about a 5% grade with another one of itself on an open trailer (about 6300 lbs total), my Jeep would happily accelerate from 55 - 60 (2300 - 2600 rpm) in 3rd gear with maybe 300hp at the crank (at the time). I could have dropped another gear if I really needed it to get moving.

The car / trailer combo in question here will be less draggy than my combo was and will be a heck of a lot lighter than 11k lbs combined so the power requirement for the towing case isn't anything crazy.

What about a Hyundai Genesis? I'd recommend ditching your manual requirement and going for a v8 sedan to tow with, but the V6 coupe probably wouldn't have any trouble with your trailer load. I've not heard one way or the other on reliability, but odds are good based on who buys them new that the will take an awful lot of abuse.