New car advice, bad ass 4 door...

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Brian Hamilton

I'm on the verge of touching myself inappropriatel
Hey guys,
Looking at getting a used car. $25-30k budget. Looking for a badass powerful 4 door car preferably standard shift. Any options? So far I have....

Cadillac CTS-V (Rear end problems plague these cars)
BMW M5 (Maintainence costs are high)
Pontiac G8 (favorite so far)

Laters,

Brian
 
Ron Earp

Ron Earp

Admin
New job, working in city two hours away, baby on the way - I'd suggest keep the car you have for two more years and think about it.

Jeff Y has a M5, don't recommend that. Maintenence costs are out of this world and there is a lot of shit to break on those cars.
 
K

Keith

Moderator
Why not a Prius Brian? I think Cliff has bought 2 so they must be good. :uhoh2:

Seriously, I think Ron's right. Stick with what you have until things shake out a little.. :)
 
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tom pritchett

If you will be commuting to work, I would consider a Jetta TDI. It is safe, reliable and 51 mpg. There was a racing series around these cars to prove that diesel cars can go fast and compete. I bet you could find some easy ways to upgrade the engine to make it fast as you wish and keep the milage for the distance driving.
 
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Brian Kissel

Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
I think Ron is exactly right. Drive what you have for awhile. I see it happen around here way to often. A guy gets a new job, then a car he can barely afford, then some crisis comes up and then everything's gone.
 
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domtoni

Keep what is cheap to own (reliable) and what doesn't cost a fortune to run. Of the cars noted in your list, I would go for the Pontiac but the LS engine will cost a few bob to run.

I really like the EU new diesels. What converted me was a trip I took about 5 years ago, I had a V40 Volvo Station Wagon with the 1.9 Renault diesel common rail engine. I filled up in Gossilles Belgium (the Cat plant), drove home (350 miles), the drive from London to my residence was 120 miles not exceeding 60 mph, and I burned for the trip 50% of my tank. If the tank was 60 liters, I burned 30 (8 gpm for 350 miles) litres of fuel. I became a diesel convert.
 
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Chris P.

Keep what you've got for now... the only reason I see right now to change cars is safety reasons with a little one on the way. Or, if you really have piss-poor gas mileage.
 
Ron Earp

Ron Earp

Admin
aero said:
Or, if you really have piss-poor gas mileage.
Click to expand...

Even with that it has to be a huge difference over a long time to take on a new car payment to make it ecomonical. I've looked at that a few times and it is difficult to justify solely on mileage, especially when you have a paid for car in hand. As I recall Brian has a Crown Vic, and those will get 13-16 mpg in the city which isn't horrible really. Big, roomy, fairly safe car.
 
IanAnderson

Ian Anderson

Lifetime Supporter
Seem to remember his Mrs just bought a new SUV

So to pay for 2 cars on HP sounds like a way to hell!

IAn
Paying off 2 cars!
 
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Brian Hamilton

I'm on the verge of touching myself inappropriatel
Well the car I have now is a 2000 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. It is right at 200,000 miles and things are starting to fail with extreme regularity. Getting very expensive. I understand the idea to keep the car I have now, and I honestly wish I could because I love it. Hehe. The fuel mileage is about 14, so it takes a half tank to get home and another half tank to get here. The damn Armada has better fuel mileage than the Vic. I'm just looking for something more reliable for the family and somewhat fun to drive. MUST BE STANDARD SHIFT!!!! I'm so damn sick of automatics! LOL The wife is driving my car back in Brownwood now and I'm using the Armada because I have to haul something home from here and she HATES it. LOL So, are there any badass domestic 4 door sport sedans out there?

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm not getting a new car like tomorrow. It would be a used car and probably will be making the purchase next year sometime or maybe later. I'm not just jumping on buying a new car because I got a job. LOL I'm not really that impulsive and stupid. LOL
 
Ron Earp

Ron Earp

Admin
Conquest351 said:
Well the car I have now is a 2000 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. It is right at 200,000 miles and things are starting to fail with extreme regularity. Getting very expensive. I understand the idea to keep the car I have now, and I honestly wish I could because I love it. Hehe. The fuel mileage is about 14, so it takes a half tank to get home and another half tank to get here. The damn Armada has better fuel mileage than the Vic. I'm just looking for something more reliable for the family
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Hey Man, I'm on your side, you want a new car, you want a new car.

But, it is hard to justify on reliability and expense. If it broke $300 of parts a month (and that would be damn hard on a Crown Vic, complete engines cost that much used) you'd still come out better to continue to drive it instead of getting a new car. Add it up, it works out. Old car is an old car, but cheap to repair, especially what you have.

Mercury Maraduer with a 6 speed conversion, that is my vote.
 
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Brian Hamilton

I'm on the verge of touching myself inappropriatel
I'm seriously debating swapping in a 396 stroked 351-W and a T56. Have access to both, reasonably inexpensive. The engine grenading is the only real concern I have about this car. Just had to replace the entire rear diff because the po9lice bent an axle tube and we didn't find out until it destroyed another axle bearing and axle within 2 years. When repairing it, we actually checked the diff and found it was bent up slightly. It showed up fine on the alignment machine though. LOL Anyway, I really like the Crown Vic because it is a Police Interceptor, but I just need to dump like $1k into it to fix all the little issues. Then maybe the engine swap...
 
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Chris Headon

Brian, not sure of what is available in the states, but if I was looking to fork out $30K on a second hand car with four doors and a manual gearbox there would be only a few options. Merc E class or even S class, Jaguar XJ, Big General motors car (big for UK) we have the Vauxhall VXR8 which is a rebadge of the Holden 6 litre saloon. Not sure what the prices are like in the US or even if those are available, but a decent European four door saloon will still do mid 20s or even 30s to the gallon and if you get the deisel then you are up in the 40s or even 50s. If you want something a little smaller but still four door and quick then get a Saab 95 aero, 240 bhp, can be tweaked to get 300bhp and around 30 mpg. This is a wolf in sheep's clothing and will probably lose you your licence in a week, a friend of mine has one and on continental trips he has hit 170mph.
 
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Tod

For what it's worth, I would look to spend $6-8000 on a reliable used car - like a Honda perhaps. They're reliable and solid to drive and you won't waste money on gas going back and forth home. It may not be flashy, but if you suck it up with this car for a few years, save some money, you can always move up in class.
 
Ron Earp

Ron Earp

Admin
Conquest351 said:
The engine grenading is the only real concern I have about this car.
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Dude, much as I don't like those 4.6l sohc engines they last a long time. I doubt that thing is going to blow up anytime soon if it is fed new oil every now and again. Do some preventative work - radiator flush, tranny fluid, diff fluid, oil changes, check hoses/belts, brake fluid, check bearings - and I bet that car will last a long time.

Fix the little issues and drive it like you stole it. Crown Vics can make cool project cars too. I've seen a few on Ford Muscle that are awesome.

If you want a new car then get one. But the "I have to get a new one because my old one that I own might break" rarely stands up to scrutiny.

Fun, economical, and cheap 4 door with great mileage? TDI Jetta, the version before the current model, like the 2000-2004 style. Less power than the current model, but, better mileage and you can fix the power issue if you want. Not sure about VW quality and reliability. I had a 2000 VR6 Jetta that was fine. But others have had nightmare experiences. I like your domestic idea better.
 
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