Recommendations for something fun under ~7k?

Hello everyone, I'm looking into getting something fun to drive with a budget of around $7k that is daily-able. I figure on spending around $5k for the vehicle itself and keeping the rest for short term maintenance/getting the car back into shape. I've been leaning towards either a E30 325 or I'd really like a E36M but finding a reasonable one nowadays at this price point and especially in sedan form is getting difficult. I'm absolutely fine with wrenching on cars myself, so getting a car that isn't in perfect mechanical condition is fine by me as long as its okay to drive home with. I will also have a backup car, so reliability is definitely of some concern but it won't be the end of the world if the car is out for a week or something while waiting for parts. I also want something that's reasonably practical, so I'd want sedan/hatches if possible. Some cars I've given thought to include Z-Cars (S30 up to Z31), a FB/FC RX-7, RX-8, or IS300. Thanks for the help.

If yiu look hard you can find 350z's for that money.

Generally not a huge fan of the 350zs because of their weight. Granted I've never personally driven one before, but I have driven a G35 before and didn't really like the DBW throttle touchy-ness and the weight. The engine is excellent however.

They are no where near as fat as the G35 coupe:

03-05 Coupe: 3,188 lb (Base) 3,197 lb (Enth) 3,217 lb (Perf) 3,247 lb (Tour) 3,225 lb (Track)

They are a really good performance value for what you get. Your other options are the RX8 which have miss and miss reliability in that price range, Maybe an older E36M but that is stretch for a decent one. You have the Miata as well or the MR2. Both are in that range. You can grab an odd-ball JDM mobile for a little more.

In reply to bmw88rider:

There is about 200-400 lb difference between the two, you are right.

I think the op really wants a BMW, but is looking for other odd ball suggestions. I think the 350Z is about the best performance value in the $5K-$6K range right now. E36 M3's are on the upswing, good e30's are hard to find, Rx7's are OK another good choice. Maybe the nicest CRX you can find? If you are lucky a c4 vette?

Boxster

In reply to markwemple:

good call.

+1 on the 350z / G35. Great cars and reliable so more budget to do stuff you want to do rather than stuff you NEED to do.

Where are you guys finding these decent 350Z's for cheap? I mean, <$10k sure...But all I'm seeing around here for <$7k is rebuilt/salvage title and/or 175k+ miles.

Although now that you mention it...I didn't realize that these were getting this close to Locost single-vehicle-donor status. Thanks for the heads up!

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:

I currently own a Mazda 2, so something different from a light FWD car is probably more of what I'm after.

I'm pretty sure the 350z's are pretty similar to the G35s at least in terms of weight (within ~150lb according to C&D figures). However, I'll give one a go if I can get a chance in the near future. For those of you who've driven one, how's the throttle response? I absolutely cannot deal with the DBW lag on the 2 at low rpms, and same story with 8th gen Sis.

AW11 Toyota MR2 all the way. Get it mechanically sound. Add boost. Smiles for miles.

Mr2 (every bodystyle is in budget and has it's own charm) or is300. Both are fantastic and reliable.

Mazda2

Mgb-GT

Or boxster... http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/cto/5516227909.html

If you want low end punch, a Mustang GT from the early '00s would fit your budget. Plus there is umpteen amounts of aftermarket support for them, so you can make it as fast as your wallet allows, and you can make them handle too.

Yea, a pony car would certainly be different from a Mazda 2. You could get a pretty nice LT1 Camaro or maybe even a ratty LS1 if you're lucky for that budget.

Since you kinda seem to be leaning towards something Bavarian, how about an e28 or, better yet, an e24? I mean, how sexy is that

chandlerGTi wrote: Mgb-GT Or boxster... http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/cto/5516227909.html

That is cheap and those are great wheels. The lightest Porsche made for that gen. I have a set on my 996

Klayfish wrote: If you want low end punch, a Mustang GT from the early '00s would fit your budget. Plus there is umpteen amounts of aftermarket support for them, so you can make it as fast as your wallet allows, and you can make them handle too.

Handle being a relative term here. Eh?

In reply to hli:

Since you mentioned BMWs and old RX7s, what about the German counterpart to the RX7? $7,000 should get you a decent Porsche 944/924S.

Would this be to replace to Mazda 2 or are you looking for a fun car to keep alongside the Mazda?

If you're having trouble finding an E36 M3 in your price range, that should get you a nice E36 328 and maybe room for some of the M3 go-fast bits. That ought to get you a decent C4 Corvette, at least with the TPI motor.

Lt1 or ls1 fbody. There are some dang bargains on LT1 cars right now, and I seriously love them but buy an LS1 fbody.

C4 corvette. I just typed corvette into clist with a max of 8k and found some really clean early c4s with gen 1 motors, and a handful of LT1 cars that looked noce enough to hop in and start daily driving.

I also found a couple of e36 m3s that were pretty clean.

And a 7k dollar s2000. http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5532414169.html

B5 Audi S4 gets you into fun at your price point.

Link

This one just popped up locally, you certainly couldn't build this kind of performance for anything like $7,500.

And a 7k dollar s2000. http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5532414169.html

"Plz don't be cheap, i know how much my car is worth, although maybe i didn't while i was doing the stuff that lowered the value to half of some other s2000s."

I thonk the low value is mostly because the salvage title.

Assuming it was repaired, id yank the wing and kit and daily drive the crap out of it.

I was shopping at this price range and the options I considered were.

Z31 300ZX - Decided to go for other options. I wanted more easy-mode aftermarket and parts availability.

944/924S - Wanted a turbo car so I rejected these. Would have taken a S2 thought they were too much money.

AW11 MR2 - I was going to do a turbo build on one of these. Decided I didn't want a major project and decided to buy:

MR2 Turbo - Tried to buy two of them, deals fell through. The cars were also well used for the $7000 I was going to buy them for.

RSTI - people wanted too much money for their RSTI swaps. Like around $12k. Ridiculous.

after the MR2 deals fell through I decided to import a "JDM" car and looked at these, I basically was a "here is a list of cars I wanted at this price, I will try to get the best car on this list". Only went after cars I could get parts for.

Mazda Familia GTR/GTAE - Bid on one of these and lost.

Silvia - There were a lot of options here but only CA18DET cars were available at the time. I wanted a SR20.

Skyline GTS-T - Found a nice low-option car and bought that cost me $7000 to my door, won't find that deal now.

If I were doing this now at $7000 budget I would import again but go after one of these:

FC RX7 Infini

JZA Toyota Supra MK3 (1JZGTE car), would go after the lowest optioned/lightest car.

Toyota Soarer - The 80s one or the "Lexus SC" era one.

Silvia K's, I would try to get a DIA. 180SX too if I wanted the 240SX look.

R31 Skyline GTS-R or Autech

TOMS R31 (saw one for sale, winning bid was $6000.) Rare, has a RB30DE. If I saw one of these again I would jump on it.

Nissan Pulsar GTIR, the previous mentioned Familia, Mitsubishi Galant EVO, Celica GT-Four, Legacy RS (all the early Group A cars)

A31 Cefiro - Similar to a R32 Skyline or Silvia, 4 door car.

Ford Capri MK3 - I like these quite a bit. Varies hugely in price (dirt cheap to holy E36 M3). If I want power, instead of the turbo cars, I could put a 302 in or euro turbo ford.

There are a ton of options but those are the "easiest" and the ones I like the most. If you literally do not give a berkeley about availability of parts or people to work on it you could go after non-Evo Delta Integrales (8v or 16v) or Alpine A610/GTA or cars like that.

All of those are reliable aside the Pulsar which has transmission issues. If you don't mod it all ridiculous you would be fine. It has a Garret GT2860RS turbo so you don't need to do much that make that 2400lb awd car fast. PPG makes stronger transmission parts for it.

All of those cars either have sufficient local market parts or are enthusiast cars with readily available parts on ebay and overseas.