Hate to say but I'd look for a 560sl, 500sl, or 280sl mercedes r107. Parts aren't that expensive and you can find a decent car for around 6000$ take your pick. Good build, parts out there, once sorted they are pretty reliable. Buy the right car the first time. Women love the sl, put a solara up against a nice sl.
Can't speak to how it would be with an automatic, but I absolutely loved my FC3C (2nd-gen RX-7 convertible). It was one of the first convertibles to use a rear air deflector which made it fairly livable even at high speeds. At least with the 5-speed it would pull hard and rev like nobody's business like all rotaries. These days they're reasonably inexpensive, though there's the obvious caveat that you'd either need to have a shop that could work on the magic doritos or be able to do it yourself (which was half the fun of owning it for me...) and you'd want to look for a fairly rust-free example.
That, or find a Biturbo Spyder. 
I love my E46 vert.
BMW does a really good job on their converables. You really cannot go wrong with an E36 or an E46 vert
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.
'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.
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.
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.
That is possible, like I said I haven't driven it, just know that he has not had any issues. Next time he comes to MA from FL he plans to drive, so I will have to check it out.
Of course, compared to his Volvo car hauler with the head rack and stinger mount trailer almost anything would seem sporty.
I have 06' Mini S vert. There is not much cowl shake, the top does rattle when up quite a lot, but the car is stiff. It is not reliable. The auto in the S is just as much a time bomb as the CVT, because the valve bodies tend to fail at around 60-100k miles for about a $1500 fix. Otherwise it is a fun car. You can get a windblocker for $140 and drive at highway speed with no wind issues. You will not like a $5000 Mini vert because it will be clapped out nightmare. The cowl shake is a pre-2004 Saab vert is really bad. Think wet cardboard box. I could not live with that despite all the good about the rest of the car. You want a 2004+ vert. Parts are really not a problem due to increase support from SaabUSAparts. Finding one for $5000 would be an issue. $5000 e36 verts will also be hard to find in good shape. The thing with convertibles is that if they are good and problem free they sell for more than $5k. If less than $5k they will likely need a new top and mechanism that costs $$.
Caddy XLR?
Jag XKS vert? Or XK8 vert?
Lexus 430 (hardtop vert---- with maybe the best factory audio system ever put in a car)
Ok---- I hate them, but this is your wife's car right? New-retro Thunderbird
Budget?
Lots of decent options, what do you want to spend?
benzbaronDaryn wrote: Hate to say but I'd look for a 560sl, 500sl, or 280sl mercedes r107. Parts aren't that expensive and you can find a decent car for around 6000$ take your pick. Good build, parts out there, once sorted they are pretty reliable. Buy the right car the first time. Women love the sl, put a solara up against a nice sl.
Hmm.. I know where you can get one for a little above GRM Challenge money. Good condition, no rust, runs/drives needs very little to be a nice driver. Grey market 280SL with the 4 speed auto.
I will second the R107 being a great cruiser car. They are not particularly sporty but despite their age they are nice driving cars that hold up well get decent enough gas mileage and look approximately 10X as expensive as they are. Get one with good paint and brightwork and people will think it's a $40K classic.
My brother has an EOS.. It's a nightmare run from them the Cabrio was a better car..
I've always liked the A2 VW convertibles. Fun little cars although a bit underpowered with the Auto but VW lego's apply and easy power is availabe. Could go Aircooled if you would like that sort of thing. 5-6K buys a lot of Superbettle these days.
I had a 2002 9-3 SE convertible a few years back. It was a nice looking car (had the 6 spoke wheels that looked like to 3 spoke aero rims on top of one another) and drove fairly nice. I definitely had a few issues with it. Namely electronic issues. The sensors on the top went a few times, and there are a lot of them, the check engine light was forever going off, DI cassette, etc. It never left me stranded however. The ride was good, but definitely a lot of torque steer, especially in poor weather.
My sister swears by her '99, that has made it through the family a few times already. I see a lot of them on the market around here in the NJ/NY/CT area. Not sure if certain years are better than others or what else to look for one them. I know the "sludge" issue existed that would kill the engines.
I'm guessing for $5k you may run into some of the issues above, but none of them were terribly major (with the exception of the sludge issue that Saab expereinced) and nothing that a Saab shop can't handle. I'd consider another, but I honestly think the classic Saab convertibles (pre 1993) look way better, have that classy/classic appeal, and a few less electronic headaches. I would take one of those over a 9-3 vert and $5k would buy a really nice Turbo example that has been well cared for.
Joe Gearin wrote: Ok---- I hate them, but this is your wife's car right? New-retro Thunderbird
That was my first thought to. Not to be sexist, but for a non-auto enthusiast female looking for a larger auto trans convertible, I'd go T-bird or Solara. Sebring maybe.
I don't think she's going to care about what wheel drive it is, but since I am getting it for her, it's going to be RWD.
LOL, ok buddy, have fun with your e36 vert then. RWD pretty much slams the door on finding anything else you'd consider at a sub-5k price range. Thread=over, imo. 
mad_machine wrote: BMW does a really good job on their converables. You really cannot go wrong with an E36 or an E46 vert
I use a (stick-shift) E36 vert as my daily driver. Currently it's at about 205K miles.
Watch out for the tension straps losing their tension. It's supposed to be an easy repair; I need to make that fix to mine. The power tops on E36s are unnecessarily complicated deals with three separate motors and can be a bit finicky.
I'm sure you're aware of the E36 cooling system issues (short version: Expect anything plastic to have a 100K mile lifespan), but other than that, it's a very solid drivetrain.
Vigo wrote:I don't think she's going to care about what wheel drive it is, but since I am getting it for her, it's going to be RWD.LOL, ok buddy, have fun with your e36 vert then. RWD pretty much slams the door on finding anything else you'd consider at a sub-5k price range. Thread=over, imo.
Actually, FWD isn't out of the question, however I would prefer RWD if I could. That's why I asked for suggestions. I didn't word that correctly and it came off arrogant. No need to be an ass about it.
My wife used to have an '03 Mitsu Eclipse. She loved that car. I would consider getting a Spyder version of the same car, although the interiors on those cars were very plastic-y.
I had a loaner 2004 Spyder for a while when my civic was wrecked in college. It was decent enough and sort of fun (especially since I had the car through most of the summer). It was definitely plasticky and I much prefered the look of the previous generation (as well as its turbo) over that style. I vaguely remember it having decent enough gas mileage.
In reply to redhookfern:
I did some research on them a while back and they came in 4-Cyl and V6 versions for the Spyder. My wife's GS had the 2.4L in it and it was slow, at least the auto made it slow. I would opt out for the V6 this time around if anything. The V6 got 18/25 new, which was the norm for V6 cars of that era.
I didn't word that correctly and it came off arrogant. No need to be an ass about it.
Alright, glad to hear you would actually consider other options because when info like that doesnt end up in the FIRST post you basically end up with people thinking and spending time trying to offer you suggestions without knowing you would discard 90% of them out of hand (i.e. wasting their time). There are certain posters in this forum who start threads asking about something or complaining about something but never seem to actually want their problems to be addressed, they just like to hear themselves bitch. I dont think that way about you but im pretty sure i just came out of one of those threads when i made that post, so sorry for the snark..
I think a v6 3g eclipse spyder is a decent car. I like the motor well enough. I would definitely prefer a 5spd for reliability reasons but that's out of the question here. So, that automatic..
I dont think that automatic is a total POS but they are expensive to rebuild compared to a lot of other stuff and they ARE more likely to need it than, say, a Solara. Given the auto-only stipulation, that transmission would push the car down my list relative to other options.
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.
MadScientistMatt wrote:mad_machine wrote: BMW does a really good job on their converables. You really cannot go wrong with an E36 or an E46 vertI use a (stick-shift) E36 vert as my daily driver. Currently it's at about 205K miles. Watch out for the tension straps losing their tension. It's supposed to be an easy repair; I need to make that fix to mine. The power tops on E36s are unnecessarily complicated deals with three separate motors and can be a bit finicky. I'm sure you're aware of the E36 cooling system issues (short version: Expect anything plastic to have a 100K mile lifespan), but other than that, it's a very solid drivetrain.
Good advice there. My wife had a '97 328iC for about a year. I loved the car even after the blood, sweat, and tears I had in it. I fixed the rear window, the tension straps, the 'vert top cover lid thingie struts, and I forget what all else. The car was frickin' perfect when we sold it. Very nice driver, but the wife wanted something with more power and more curves, i.e. the E46M3. Still looking for one of those under our budget number. 
Ashyukun wrote: Can't speak to how it would be with an automatic, but I absolutely loved my FC3C (2nd-gen RX-7 convertible). It was one of the first convertibles to use a rear air deflector which made it fairly livable even at high speeds. At least with the 5-speed it would pull hard and rev like nobody's business like all rotaries. These days they're reasonably inexpensive, though there's the obvious caveat that you'd either need to have a shop that could work on the magic doritos or be able to do it yourself (which was half the fun of owning it for me...) and you'd want to look for a fairly rust-free example.
+1
Not the fastest car but I always got asked about mine and they are loads of fun to drive.
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