I hate my entire fleet right now and think I need to make a change towards the newer. The 944 S2 stays forever and the Q5 e-tron is Mrs. J's daily. What's left is the Cayenne S, 986 Boxster S manual, and a B8 Audi S4 manual. Those 3 seem to be perpetually broken and I think I want to get rid of all 3 of them and get 1 newer sport sedan that can autocross, track day, and transport 4 humans.
Here's what I'm thinking the options are:
A. Keep the S4 and sell the other 2 and do a ton of work to it so it can rock. Being the last manual seems to be equal parts curse and blessing. All of the issues are with the manual drivetrain.
B. Keep the 986 S and sell the other 2 and do a ton of work to it so it can rock. Being 22 years old and 145K miles is it's weak spot.
C. Sell all 3 and buy some $30-$35K sport sedan. Options include an S5 Sportback, and ??? Help me out here, 2013 and newer with oomph and handling.
D. Sell all 3 and buy something new or nearly new that needs payments. Ideas here?
I know I want RWD or AWD, and the ability to autocross is important. It has to carry 4 actual people, so things like a 911 are out.
Or am I crazy and sell the Cayenne and fix up both the S4 and the Boxster? Or sell the 986 and Cayenne and keep the S4 and buy a newer Boxster? Gah!!!
Did you notice all 3 are German cars?
Time for a Chevrolet SS or some kind of hot Mopar like a Charger RT with some bolt-ons?
If you keep the 986, what handles 4 person hauling duties? Other than that, selling the Cayenne and the Audi would pay for a lot of repairs including an IMS bearing upgrade.
If you sell all 3, $30k ought to get a pretty decent BMW. Or a Chevy SS - the sports sedan everyone forgets because it looks like an Impala.
Sorry, not serious. But couldn't resist.
What you need is this Granada ESS. The ESS stands for European Sports Sedan, after all.
https://barnfinds.com/euro-style-1978-ford-granada-ess/
Can you get a Kia Stinger in that price range in our current insane market?
Look at Lexus latest offerings. Enjoy all the time you will have of driving cars that dont break.
I'd fix up the S4 and see where that leaves you. Sometimes the problem is death by a thousand cuts, especially with three out of warranty German cars. Get one of them sorted, you'll feel like you accomplished something, and hopefully you'll have a clearer decision(s) to make.
M3 sedan? Or other 4-door BMW 3-Series?
pontiac g8?
docwyte
PowerDork
10/1/22 6:46 p.m.
What's wrong with the S4? That MT is pretty bomb proof. For me, if I wanted to simplify my life and was willing to take one some payments, selling all three and picking up an Audi RS3 would be the tops of my list. That thing is a rocket!
Selling all three and getting $35k to spend makes things harder because the used car market is still bonkers over inflated right now. Do you need awd? Or want rwd? MT only or ok with some sort of dual clutch? Can't really think of any decent japanese sports sedans of recent vintage. M3's are always nice, but they have documented issues...
nocones
PowerDork
10/1/22 6:53 p.m.
Given your interests in German car ownership this seems like a job for the fastest version of Porsche Panamera you can afford. Around me I've seen reasonable mileage V8 ones for $30-35k.
CT-5 Blackwing........spend the cache yu got it!!!!
In reply to Javelin :
Dip a toe into the Tesla waters?
I'd keep the Boxster to maintain as a dedicated track/autox rat and replace the other two with a cheap boring sedan type thing. Maybe something less German.
A Civic or something could do a track day in a pinch if the P car is broken.
John Welsh said:
In reply to Javelin :
Dip a toe into the Tesla waters?
May not be what you're looking for, but good way to be in contention for FTD at your autocross events.
Serious question as I don't know the situation...
So why do you need to have this car do autocross if you are keeping the 944 s2? If you autocross the S2 your search for a 4 passenger daily would be much simpler.
Tom1200
UberDork
10/1/22 11:19 p.m.
My vote is sell all of them and buy a nice Lexus.
I was going to suggest a Civic Si until you said no FWD. Go drive one. As long as you keep the power train stock they seem super reliable at all your goals. It's the added boost that breaks them.
Keep one porsche. Buy a civic si
Javelin
MegaDork
10/2/22 12:11 a.m.
Appleseed said:
Did you notice all 3 are German cars?
Still broken less than my last GM...
It's not that they need a ton of maintenance or work, it's just that they are all getting older and higher mileage and the time that I have to wrench in between events is at a premium, so having just 1 that needs upkeep instead of 3 would be huge for me. If I just drove them and didn't autocross and track day and off road them then I wouldn't have this situation.
Javelin
MegaDork
10/2/22 12:16 a.m.
Chevy SS / Dodge Charger / Caddy CTS are all too big to autocross. I want to stay as close to the size of the S4 as much as possible.
Good point on if I keep the 986 I still need a 4 seater. That might be an option, especially a less performance car to just be my DD and then go wild on the 986.
Tesla is certainly an option!
The S2 can autocross, but I also realize that it's almost 40 and has a quarter million miles and won't exactly be competitive without ruining it.
Si could be interesting. I'm not a FWD fan for performance stuff, but I have appreciated the older wishbone Hondas.
I know nothing about the IS-F. Is it good?
You really should check out the Kia Stinger. Close in size with the Audi S4. Tuning is not an issue for it either if you really wanted more power. They can be had with RWD or AWD.
