Looking for a weekend car, question

Basically i'm looking for a weekend car that will also share 1 or 2 days a week to drive to work. Have an 80 mile total commute so I need something to share miles with.

I understand that there probably is alot of posts like these here and I don't know how they are received on this forum so...

I've mostly been looking at smaller coupe euro cars either "new" classics (late 70s~80s) or up until the 90s, want to spend ~10k or less. If its something uncommon that is a bonus, heres what i've looked at so far that I am interested in.

Triumph TR8 - 3.5l V8 Buick 215 derivitive, seems there is plenty of aftermarket due to the wedge shop and the parts prices even from UK don't seem bad to me. Motor seems mostly reliable which is my primary concern. I don't want somthing that has issues with failing internals or expensive replacements and rebuilds. This car will need some upgrades asap for even DD use IMO such as bigger brakes but fortunately kits are readily available. Failing electrics doesn't really scare me and the first thing I would do is a 4bbl swap if it's an EFI car anyways.

Porsche Boxster, been seeing sub $10k examples around lately. Am afraid of issues i've been hearing about them and motor failures especially on such cheaper high milage examples. Friend has a caymen, is in a porsche club, does track days with them. Only reason i'm considering still after reading about these so called 'ims' issues. Probably is likely that if I buy one in my price range I will hate it later due to the price of fixing everything and parts.

Z3 M coupe/roadster - seems these cars have several issues but it all looks like work I can handle (suspension, subframe bushings). Havn't read anything bad about the S52. Lots of aftermarket as it's bmw.

Alfa GTV6 - saw one for sale near me with a 24v 3.0 V6 swap done. Hear they are reliable, with that swap, but you have to do some nightmare level timing belt work every 30k levels or your engine craters. Also I hear the trans on these are terrible, which is a major issue as to why one isn't in my garage right now since I like it quite a bit otherwise.

Toyota MR2 Turbo - Hard to find one not beaten to death by kids, but it seems I can find one if I want but if I wanted one I would have one in my garage right now. They have a nature that attracts me to them, 3S-GTE, mid engine, small and relative lightweight, easy to mod. They also have a nature that makes me shy away from them. Not into the JDM scene or anything like that and everyone of these I see around here in Vegas are untastefully modded, hellaflush, and owned by 18 year olds. I want a car that I could maybe get involved with some kind of a car club with.

The primary Japanese car that I would consider are still too expensive from what i've seen, S2000. And like I said I mostly want to buy something europeon because i've been driving Japanese cars and nothing else all my life and I already own a new WRX.

Is there anything else I should consider or does anyone have any experiences or suggestions about above?

I think a gtv6 would be great, not a 24v swapped one if you are worried about reliability and parts cost, it is far more difficult and expensive to replace a 24v timing belt than on a 12v, which is actually pretty easy and doesn't cost that much. I haven't driven a gtv6, but I had a Milano for a couple years (almost the same), and the transmission was fine. Probably the most expensive parts are windshields and clutches. Other than taking the torsion bars out if they happen to be stuck they are pretty easy to work on too. If you get one it is very important to change the timing belt right away, and replace all the fuel line(and clamps too if it doesn't have the right kind). You can easily get a gtv6 for way under your budget, and if you get a somewhat decent one and can work on in yourself it should have no problem doing what you want it to. Check out alfabb.com for more information on them too.

Travis_K wrote: I think a gtv6 would be great, not a 24v swapped one if you are worried about reliability and parts cost, it is far more difficult and expensive to replace a 24v timing belt than on a 12v, which is actually pretty easy and doesn't cost that much. I haven't driven a gtv6, but I had a Milano for a couple years (almost the same), and the transmission was fine. Probably the most expensive parts are windshields and clutches. Other than taking the torsion bars out if they happen to be stuck they are pretty easy to work on too. If you get one it is very important to change the timing belt right away, and replace all the fuel line(and clamps too if it doesn't have the right kind). You can easily get a gtv6 for way under your budget, and if you get a somewhat decent one and can work on in yourself it should have no problem doing what you want it to. Check out alfabb.com for more information on them too.

Thanks for the info, i'm glad that the transmission garbage I kept hearing might be bs. I'll read that forum too, thanks.

Also thanks for the info on the 12v vs 24v. The reason why his 24v interested me is that the guy whose selling his has a stock motor that makes like 215hp crank or so, don't recall the exact number but it was from a 164S. Basically was told that a 12v would have to be highly modded to equal a stock 24v and around 200hp is what I would like to have in terms of my power goals on a car this light so that appealed to me somewhat. If the 12v is really that much easier to maintain and the trans is not bad I will definately pick one up, i'll do some more research on this car, thanks again.

Looking at that site at first glance looks like I can easily grab a car with a 12v 3.0l and still have tons of extra money for mods with the amount of cash on hand I have. Awesome.

The Rover V8 used in the TR8 has a bit of a reputation in the UK for eating its cam lobes if the oil hasn't been changed regularly. This might not be that big an issue over here in the US as most people tend to change engine oils much more often here than in Europe. Just keep that in mind when looking at TR8s.

The IMS in the Boxster can be fixed and IIRC there are a couple of possible fixes around so that wouldn't put me off. I actually looked at a low-ish mileage Boxster last year and I would recommend that you drive one to see if you like it. Also keep in mind that most of the sub-10k examples are "regular" Boxsters; a lot of people prefer the Boxster S.

Out of your whole list I reckon the car that might be easiest to find in good condition and that I'd consider the most fun out of the ones I have driven (I haven't driven the Z3M/M Coupe) is the S2000. I'd be tempted to save up my pennies for one.

BoxheadTim wrote: The Rover V8 used in the TR8 has a bit of a reputation in the UK for eating its cam lobes if the oil hasn't been changed regularly. This might not be that big an issue over here in the US as most people tend to change engine oils much more often here than in Europe. Just keep that in mind when looking at TR8s. The IMS in the Boxster can be fixed and IIRC there are a couple of possible fixes around so that wouldn't put me off. I actually looked at a low-ish mileage Boxster last year and I would recommend that you drive one to see if you like it. Also keep in mind that most of the sub-10k examples are "regular" Boxsters; a lot of people prefer the Boxster S. Out of your whole list I reckon the car that might be easiest to find in good condition and that I'd consider the most fun out of the ones I have driven (I haven't driven the Z3M/M Coupe) is the S2000. I'd be tempted to save up my pennies for one.

I would love an S2000 but they seem to hold their value quite well. It doesn't seem to matter on the year either, can't find one that isn't riced out for less than $14k locally.

On the Boxster i heard the ims is expensive to fix, and have a friend with a Cayman and I do like the car quite a bit.

TR8 was really the front runner for me. I like the Rover V8, dad is a british car fan and has experience with MGBs and Triumphs so I have someone i know that could help with issues. I just need to wait for the right one to be sold locally, otherwise i'll just end up paying to have one shipped here eventually. I am in the air guard and have a TDY starting this weekend and am going to purchase after that sometime.

The GTV6 and the TR8 interest me the most really. If I can't find a TR8 that interests me i'll probably end up getting the GTV6 since i've read that the issues I was told they have and this guy here saying that what I was told was mostly BS.

You'll have similar "clubbing" options with the MR2 turbo and S2k. The S2k's higher price and noob-unfriendly handling keep it away from the riceboys one way or another, and this is the car I'd recommend if you don't want any drama, it'll be worth the extra up-front cost.

If you do want drama, go for the Triumph. This will also get you into the clubs with the coolest old guys

The stock engine for a gtv6 is a 2.5 with ~150hp, you can swap a 12v 3.0 in without too much trouble, the flywheel is the only difficult part to find to do that. You can get a surprising amount of performance suspension parts for how uncommon a car they are, and engine parts like headers, cams, higher compression pistons, etc are available too.

i CAN get you a helluva good deal on a C4 that is mechanically new. wink wink, nudge nudge.

You can get a mercedes 450slc 5.0 or 500slc for around 8-10k. 240hp all aluminum engine, either 3 or 4 speed auto transmission. If you want something cool consider one of these. The only real issues are they rust something fierce and if it needs engine work you are talking money with a capital M. It would be kind of important to keep the original engine also.

I've got a C5 you can have for ten-five.

around here you could pick up an AP1 s2k for between 8 and 12k, depending on year and miles. not sure that would be my pick for a long commute, unless it was in a winding mountain road type area.

for a long highway commute i'd be looking at a Q-ship like a bmw 5 series or C or S class merc. also don't rule out the GTO, which can get close to 30mpg on the highway.

Boxster or S2000