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  • Nitroracer

    Feb. 3, 2010 12:00 p.m. Nitroracer Dork

    So I've been trying to find a replacement for my wrecked focus, and being that its winter time in pennsylvania most of the interesting cars seem to be in hibernation somewhere. I have looked at a 98' Trans am, which was fast but the interior reeked of cheap and the owner turned town $8k. I looked at a 99' miata which was cheaper, and had a nicer interior but lacked room and proper maintenance. After that it snowed, and on sunday pennsylvania won't let you buy a car.

    So I need to open up my choices if Im going to find something in a reasonable time frame. I was willing to sacrifice interior quality for the ls1 but other than that I want something nice to live with that handles well if I can't get power. I have a max of $8500 to spend, must have a manual trans, and want to keep under 100k. And it must exist and be for sale somewhere in PA-MD-DE. (Damn west coast GTO prices!)

    That lead me to Mazda3's (04-05), Maxima SE (02-03), and a (03-04) wrx if I can find one that hasn't been abused. What else can I open my search up to that gets me the most GRM car for my new found money?

  • Giant Purple Snorklewacker

    Feb. 3, 2010 12:05 p.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork

    $8500 will damn near buy an E36 M3 in nice shape and will easily cover a "needs love" example. I think it will buy a pretty clean E46 325i.

    $8500 will buy 4 Miatas, 4 1/2 E30s, or 8500 focuses.

  • 93celicaGT2

    Feb. 3, 2010 12:05 p.m. 93celicaGT2 UltraDork

    BMW 3-series? Audi S4? Toyota MR-S? Toyota Celica GT-S 6sp? Acura RSX-S?

    Got any other characteristics you need?

    Oh yeah... my completely irrational choice:

    You could EASILY get a beautiful clean low miles 90-93 Celica AllTrac for that money...

  • tuna55

    Feb. 3, 2010 12:12 p.m. tuna55 HalfDork

    A late C4 maybe? LT1 instead of LS1, but it's still pretty nice.

  • alex

    Feb. 3, 2010 12:21 p.m. alex Dork

    '04 SVT Focus? 66k mi, fresh top end, clutch, etc. Ping me if you're interested.

  • P71

    Feb. 3, 2010 2:48 p.m. P71 SuperDork

    04 GTO all the way

  • RossD

    Feb. 3, 2010 4:03 p.m. RossD Dork

    Maybe a RX-8?

  • Duke

    Feb. 3, 2010 4:08 p.m. Duke SuperDork

    I don't know where some of you are getting your prices, but I'll just say, not in this area you can't.

  • Bobzilla

    Feb. 3, 2010 4:14 p.m. Bobzilla Dork

    tuna55 wrote:

    A late C4 maybe? LT1 instead of LS1, but it's still pretty nice.

    • 1..make it an early one and swap in a truck LR4 with a cam and intake.
  • oldtin

    Feb. 3, 2010 4:34 p.m. oldtin Reader

    there's a couple of 2.5l boxters on fleabay at $8k

  • Bobzilla

    Feb. 3, 2010 4:37 p.m. Bobzilla Dork

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1995-Chevy-Corvette-6-Speed_W0QQitemZ130364293045QQ...

  • Will

    Feb. 3, 2010 5:14 p.m. Will Reader

    I recently bought a 99 Z28 hardtop with 62k on the clock, in great shape, and fully--I mean FULLY--prepped for ESP autocrossing (full Strano suspension, SFCs, LS6 intake, long-tube stainless headers, tune, etc). It also came with a second set of 315mm Hoosiers and 17x11 wheels for $8750. If you want such a car, they're out there in your price range for sure.

  • Capt Slow

    Feb. 3, 2010 5:23 p.m. Capt Slow HalfDork

    This kinda seems like to opposite of narrowing....

  • SupraWes

    Feb. 3, 2010 6:26 p.m. SupraWes Dork

    Duke wrote:

    I don't know where some of you are getting your prices, but I'll just say, not in this area you can't.

    Airplane tickets are cheap, have an adventure!

  • Feb. 3, 2010 6:45 p.m. paul New Reader

    Sn95 mustang prices is absolutely rock-bottom for the past year or so. You could get a 96-98 cobra, around 50k miles, lightly modded, full receipts, great condition etc for around $8-9k.

    And don't limit yourself to such a small 'shopping' area, traveling costs money, but you'll possibly loose out on a car that will save you significantly more in the long run.

  • Johnboyjjb

    Feb. 3, 2010 6:50 p.m. Johnboyjjb New Reader

    CRX - buy it cheap and use the rest of the money to put it back under 100K miles. http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/1564542913.html If I could see past those rims I'd kind of like the rest of the styling.

  • Nitroracer

    Feb. 3, 2010 8:50 p.m. Nitroracer Dork

    Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

    $8500 will damn near buy an E36 M3 in nice shape and will easily cover a "needs love" example. I think it will buy a pretty clean E46 325i.

    Looked for some M3's I found 2 but the miles were higher than everything else I was looking at, and one needed new door panels? 120-130k Miles.

    93celicaGT2 wrote:

    BMW 3-series? Audi S4? Toyota MR-S? Toyota Celica GT-S 6sp? Acura RSX-S?

    Got any other characteristics you need?

    Oh yeah... my completely irrational choice:

    You could EASILY get a beautiful clean low miles 90-93 Celica AllTrac for that money...

    Audi/VW, don't they have some electrical gremlins in the early 00s? Let alone crazy maintenance?

    Celica GT-S and RSX Im holding back on b/c I can buy a 00' GS-R with 105k for $5000 from a friend, leaving this as a back up plan if I run out of time. I figure I can get most of the performance of the celica and rsx for $3k less.

    RossD wrote:

    Maybe a RX-8?

    Great platform but not good enough on gas.

    SupraWes wrote: Airplane tickets are cheap, have an adventure!

    Too Busy with school at the moment, Id love to try the road trip though.

  • Nitroracer

    Feb. 3, 2010 8:54 p.m. Nitroracer Dork

    I test drove a maxima (gle,,,auto) and a mazda3 tonight as well. The mazda was nice because it was newer, but the maxima was much more impressive. I just just did a massive search for 6spd SE maxima.

    Two favorite deals right now

    1998 Z/28 100k $4800!

    2003 Maxima SE 114k $4800

  • 93celicaGT2

    Feb. 4, 2010 6:50 a.m. 93celicaGT2 UltraDork

    Nitroracer wrote:

    Celica GT-S and RSX Im holding back on b/c I can buy a 00' GS-R with 105k for $5000 from a friend, leaving this as a back up plan if I run out of time. I figure I can get most of the performance of the celica and rsx for $3k less.

    You should be able to haggle a Celica GTS down to $6-$7k, depending on prices where you are. I saw one for $5500 here a couple weeks ago in nice shape.

  • Vigo

    Feb. 4, 2010 11:43 a.m. Vigo Reader

    Im a big fan of 02-03 6spd maximas.

    I also like mazda3s but honestly its hard to be picky about one at $8500, they resale too high (because they are good).

    The camaro is powerful but i hate everything else about it. I bought a real nice v6 firebird for $400 that could have been ls motor swapped for probably $3k TOTAL, but after driving it i realized.. that i hated the size, the weight, the seating position, the interior, the engine bay, the storage space, etc etc etc so i flipped it for $1200.

  • belteshazzar

    Feb. 4, 2010 4:46 p.m. belteshazzar SuperDork

    I love my 03 maxima. 140k now, & it's needed a battery, brake pads, tires, & acc belts. The vq is just amazing.

 

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