My nephew has some serious interest in cars, but hasn't had much experience. He has an 09 Corolla, but he's a workaholic and saved up some funds for another toy car that he can wrench and learn on. He's been looking at some older 3 series and also the Celica GTS. What else is there? Must be a manual trans.
You might find this is less about setting out to buy a specific model and more about choosing from what is actually available. There may not be much available.
If me, from my laptop I would head to Marketplace. I would choose Vehicles and then sort down to Cars and Trucks (to eliminate motorcyles), then I would put a price cap (say less than $10k) and then I would choose Manual Trans only. This should then show you all the current manual trans cars, in your price range, in your selected distance range. It wont take long to short through the few choices that grab your attention.
I started with saying to do this sorting from a laptop because it seems that FB by way of phone wont allow for a search of only manual trans cars.
Civic Si fits the bill nicely and is similar to what he is used to. Lots of options to pick from depending on the budget, none are bad after 06.
Miata.
They're fun, they're easy enough to work on, they're plentiful, and they're usually convertibles.
In reply to John Welsh :
That's exactly the plan. I was just looking for some stuff to keep my eyes out for.
If you want to shop for something that not everyone else is shopping...Ford Probe. I predict that these will be rising in price but are still low. The last years versions have aged gracefully.
Saab 9-3 sedan shares the same 2.0L turbo and 6 speed manual as the Chevy Cobalt SS. Often called the 9-3 SS.
NC Miata are a value sweet spot right now.
Mustang... If the answer isn't Miata, it has to be mustang... cheap, v8 noises, parts are cheap, simple to work on, etc.
$10k buys you a nice 2v 4.6l car, a running 3v 4.6l, and for a few k more you could get into a 5.0L
NC miata is the right value of fun car, decent power for HPDE and has a plentiful aftermarket of support. plus factory support thought mazda motorsports.
Celica GTS is a great motorsports capable car with low cost of consumables, but the power band isnt great for polite motoring. Light car, reasonably quick in vtec, aggressive gearing, and cheap camber.
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