So my friend wants to spend $25k-ish on a used car....| Grassroots Motorsports forum |

z31maniac PowerDork
12/8/12 10:00 a.m.

Wants something fun to drive and possibly luxurious.........my obvious choice was to tell him to look for the newest/nicest 3 series he can afford and buy that.

Any other suggestions?

Keep in mind, Miata/E30/P71, buy a $5k car and keep the rest, buy a $10k car and keep the rest, buy a truck and Miata to track, etc etc....................all are NOT valid answers. OR something like buy a 12 year old M5, etc.

nocones Dork
12/8/12 10:02 a.m.

G35? Taurus SHO?

ransom SuperDork
12/8/12 10:06 a.m.

3 series sounds pretty awesome to me. Can that buy a truly nice E46 M3 yet? He could certainly have a very nice E36 M3...

EDIT: My Porsche ramble below probably should be excluded for the same reason as the "12 year old M5"...
I don't know how much luxury he wants and whether this fits the bill, but I bet there are some Porsches that would fit as well... IIRC, a coworker got a 964 C4 for 15k about five years ago, and I don't think it's given him any major grief.

z31maniac PowerDork
12/8/12 10:25 a.m.

He's not interested in having to buy something more than a few years old.

Ian F PowerDork
12/8/12 10:27 a.m.

Define "luxurious". As far as equipment goes, most cars sold today have standard equipment unthinkable 10 years ago. As such, its not hard to find something in that price range.

Are there other requirements? Family? Autocross? Occasional track day? Or just a pure daily driver? Is fuel economy a factor? As mentioned, you can find a pretty nice E46 M3 for $25k, but if he has to haul people/kids around or commutes 100+ miles a day that may not be a good choice.

z31maniac PowerDork
12/8/12 10:38 a.m.

Married, no kids. He's not interested in track or auto-x.

He does have about a 80 mile commute round trip, 5-6 days a week, but he's been driving a V8 truck, so anything will do better than that.

I've told him he needs to go drive the newest/nicest 330 he can afford and that he will likely take it home.

G35 is a good suggestion (although I was uninspired by my 350Z), I wouldn't think the new Taurus SHO is down in that price range used yet. They start at $40k+

codrus Reader
12/8/12 11:02 a.m.

So a 1985 Ferrari 328 is out of the question too? :)

I'd probably go with a B7 Audi S4, but the BWM 335 and 535 should be in that range. If he wants something a bit newer then an Acura TSX is nice too.

z31maniac PowerDork
12/8/12 11:15 a.m.

Datsun1500 wrote: That will buy a nice 3 series, nice Audi A4, decent A6. There are a lot of cars to pick that are a few years old and under $25k. What does he like? Euro? Japanese?

Yeah, that's what I told him........that price range and requirements gives him A LOT of options.

I think he's leaning toward a Euro, however, I could not in good conscience recommend him an Audi.

Jaynen HalfDork
12/8/12 11:16 a.m.

I'd go 5 series over 3 for 80 mile a day commute if its mostly highway

yamaha Dork
12/8/12 11:27 a.m.

You can pick up 2-3 year old shos for 22-27k around here.....some still under warranty.

I think he could find a nearly new 135i, 335i, or z4 s-drive for that kind of money if he looks hard enough. There's several nice benz products in that range as well.

GTwannaB Reader
12/8/12 12:32 p.m.

Acura TSX

amg_rx7 Dork
12/8/12 1:16 p.m.

I'd sooner get the C class Mercedes over the 3 series. Looks nicer IMO and is more luxurious.

I'd definitely recommend the Infiniti over the German cars though. If he's not into German car maintenance prices and parts costs.

Pontiac G8 might be interesting too.....

Teh E36 M3 Dork
12/8/12 1:34 p.m.

CTS-V.

mad_machine MegaDork
12/8/12 1:39 p.m.

I think I agree on the CTS

turboswede PowerDork
12/8/12 3:26 p.m.

Lotus Elise

Datsun310Guy UberDork
12/8/12 4:27 p.m.

Luxury? A 6-speed manual transmission Mercedes-Benz is my dream car. Reality for me? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010-MERCEDES-BENZ-C300-C-CLASS-NAVIGATION-PANO-ROOF-HEATED-SEATS-1-OWNER-/130815364176?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1e75340c50#ht_15217wt_948

MattGent New Reader
12/8/12 4:29 p.m.

With those kinds of needs he should go to a CarMax and drive all of them and pick what he likes best. Or pick one and go buy it CPO from a dealer, they often have great warranties.

dyintorace UltraDork
12/8/12 5:19 p.m.

I'd vote for a 335i or a CTS-V.

sethmeister4 Reader
12/8/12 6:41 p.m.

G37 S with the big brakes and a 6 spd manual.

ValuePack Dork
12/8/12 8:14 p.m.

Datsun310Guy wrote: Luxury? A 6-speed manual transmission Mercedes-Benz is my dream car. Reality for me? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010-MERCEDES-BENZ-C300-C-CLASS-NAVIGATION-PANO-ROOF-HEATED-SEATS-1-OWNER-/130815364176?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1e75340c50#ht_15217wt_948

Man, is that nice! I'd have to go for something with a V8 if I had the money, though... they just sound too good when uncorked.

Datsun310Guy UberDork
12/8/12 9:01 p.m.

ValuePack wrote:
Datsun310Guy wrote: Luxury? A 6-speed manual transmission Mercedes-Benz is my dream car. Reality for me? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010-MERCEDES-BENZ-C300-C-CLASS-NAVIGATION-PANO-ROOF-HEATED-SEATS-1-OWNER-/130815364176?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1e75340c50#ht_15217wt_948
Man, is *that* nice! I'd have to go for something with a V8 if I had the money, though... they just sound *too* good when uncorked.

In case you want the same car with an automatic - also you can see te price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010-MERCEDES-BENZ-C300-SPORT-CD-PLAYER-MOON-ROOF-/160931336786?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2578415252#ht_38939wt_982