Fun Convertibles?

Leafy wrote:

jstand wrote: I'm surprised I haven't seen the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder mentioned. Seems like it could be fun with the V6 and an auto, and a nice example should fall in your price range. My father has one he bought through the auction and it has been relatively trouble free and reliable. I haven't driven it, but he likes it and says it does decent on fuel.

I thought the 3g eclipses were supposed to be raging turd piles. No personal experience.

I know someone who has driven one for a long time, idk how many problems its had but it has been a DD for a non car person for at least 5 or 6 years and seems to still be doing ok.

Travis_K wrote:

Leafy wrote:

jstand wrote: I'm surprised I haven't seen the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder mentioned. Seems like it could be fun with the V6 and an auto, and a nice example should fall in your price range. My father has one he bought through the auction and it has been relatively trouble free and reliable. I haven't driven it, but he likes it and says it does decent on fuel.

I thought the 3g eclipses were supposed to be raging turd piles. No personal experience.

I know someone who has driven one for a long time, idk how many problems its had but it has been a DD for a non car person for at least 5 or 6 years and seems to still be doing ok.

My wife's coupe was a reliable car. Like I said, the interior was full of plastic, worse than GM vehicles of the same era. Other than that, it ran well and did it's DD job well.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: In reply to Vigo: To be honest, I'm not loving the FWD convertible options. However, I'm going to definitely keep the 3g Eclipse in mind because I know that car rather well from working on hers and that was what she originally wanted, but her dad told her she couldn't have the Spyder, so she settled with the Coupe with a sunroof. They are definitely in my price range and even though they have a heavy V6 out front, they handle rather well. The manumatic is actually kind of fun. The shifts are slow, but it holds the gear until you shift it. They are pretty stout for having 210hp. At that time, it was plenty enough.

If you are comfortable with that automatic, i dont have anything bad to say about them other than that and what you already know about the plastic interior. I think the motor is a really good motor. Ive owned the 2.5 and 3.5 versions and read up on all the non-mivec versions available in this country. It's really reliable and sturdy and the timing belt + water pump is not too bad at all. The auto versions are not nearly as fast as the 5spds but that whole car is fairly upgradeable due to being an eclipse, heh. So if you found it too boring it would be easy enough to majorly upgrade the handling and acceleration, brakes, etc. I personally prefer the styling of the 2g Spyder but that car has an even junkier interior and the available motors dont strike same power vs reliability balance that the 3g v6 does.

alfadriver wrote: '91-94 Alfa Spider. Of the ages of autos, that's the best one. 4 speed zmall ZF box. Still, Alfas are not for everyone, so if you think about it, go and drive one. While Auto Spiders are not all that common, the last series are more likely, since it had the highest percentage of all sold. It's a good car. And if you like Alfas, well, the looks speak for themselves.

This or the older Mercedes.

Of coarse that other thread has taught that the obvious answer is the PT Cruiser.

In reply to Uncoiled:

YOU! You get a hand slap for posting that hideous thing.

IMHO, if it's going to be "her car" then let "her" pick it out. After the g/f' bought the 850 wagon, I basically put my foot down and said I'm done wrenching on anything else she buys.

Of course, we're not really together anymore, so...

In reply to Ian F:

I know what she likes, so it won't be a big deal if I surprise her with it.

Not my first choice looks wise, but... PT Cruiser Turbo?