Was having this conversation with a friend today on F chat, and was curious to see what you guys think is a good car for 10K. So that not every single used car is mentioned, I will give you the following criterias: 1) Has to be fun to drive 2) Reliable 3) Not super expensive to maintain 4) Can be taken anywhere, and not fear of getting stolen 5) Putting stuff in it doesn't matter, so all 2 seaters/unpractical cars welcome 6) The sportier the better...though you can leave the Mr2 Turbo model and the 300ZX TT cars out, since most of them seems to be super abused. 7) No Korean cars. Lets hear them.
A 95-98 VW GTI VR6. Great car with a great engine. If you find one that has had all the maintenance done I think it would make for a great choice. I really enjoyed mine when I had it. The engine is incredibly smooth and it is a lot of fun to drive. I put 50K miles on mine w/o one problem. I had a 98 though. Also a used Miata is always a good choice. There are a ton available and I am sure plenty have not been abused.
I have to agree with the 944. Although they are not the cheapest to maintain but they are a blast to drive and parts are easily found. I do love Volvos maybe look for an 850R.
Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4 OR Dodge Stealth RT Twin Turbo Exceptional looking cars, 322 horsepower AWD, AWS Twin Turbos. Reliable cars from Mitsubishi, made them for 10 years starting in 91. Good luck!
Don't they eat transmissions and clutches? I'll put in another vote for the 944. At $10K, you'd still have money left over to maintain it.
Aw hell, any car with a manual tranny and an adventurous or inexperienced driver eats clutches. I'd personally never touch that car in an automatic. If you get the VR4, you get the "Active Aero" option where the rear spoiler tilts up at 60mph. Effective? Who knows? Cool braggin' rights on a $10K car? Absolutely. Plus, have you ever sat in one? It's like a jet cockpit!
For all-around fun I would probably go for a 2000/2001 Impreza RS - they are fun enough on the roads but a total hoot on gravel. On the roads - I am partial to Miatas.
91 and up Miatas, with a preference for a 93 if you want to add a cheap Greddy turbo kit for $1200 (gets you 145rwhp), or a 94-95 if you want to stay naturally aspirated or are willing to spend $3-5k on a supercharger or turbo kit (albeit one that gets you 200-245rwhp) . Might be able to find a 2000 for under $10k too. Avoid 1990-early 1991 due to a crankshaft design that's more susceptible to breaking if your mechanic is careless during a timing belt change. Second choice would be a E30 325is these should be easy to find for under $10k. E30 M3s would be nice, but are hard to find under $10k.
They're out there. You just need to go for one with 100k+ miles. I was surprised to see how many you can find that are still in nice shape. Sure, they have some miles but if properly serviced they should keep on going. Problem is, most of them have been tracked at some point in their lives. But good, $10k cars do exist and their worth every penny.
I have driven two of them. Pretty quick in a straight line once they're rolling. I know that they can be modded up to some impressive HP, but I thought that the car was heavy and kind of a pig. Sure, an inexperienced driver can eat clutches, but the VR4/Stealth was especially bad due to the transverse layout of the engine and transmission. Between the turbos and AWD, there's only so much room to work with. That car could really use another inch or two on the clutch. Also, if you want to get a fast launch, with AWD, you have to abuse the clutch. The transmission in the VR4 just can't take it. I have not personally worked on one, but after looking under one that was on a lift, I could see them being a b**** to work on. They packed a lot of stuff into that car. I wouldn't want to be maintaining an older one. The "active aero" option sounds to me like another thing that can break.
are they reliable? i have heard of many mechanical issues with these cars..but i dont know first had...always thought it was a steal for the money
I would stay as far away from these. I owned a 96, 2nd owner, bought it at 30k miles, and sold it at 100k miles. Issues I had with this car: 1) Once a year you have to replace the battery. This is consistant with other owners of 3kGT's. The stupid battery sits on top of the front shock, which makes it fall apart after a year. Its a pain in the ass to get stranded once a year cuz your battery's dead. WalMart has a battery deal that if it breaks in 3 years, the replacement is free. Four trips to walmart $??? 2) Clutch wore out at 70k miles (around average). $700 replacement 3) Blew the master and slave clutch cylinders on the clutch system. Basically couldnt drive it past 3k rpm cuz the clutch couldnt hold onto the flywheel. $1400 replacement job. 4) One day... the idle computer... just died. car wouldnt idle. It would start, rev, and run, but you had to hold the revs up with your foot. Talk about learning to heel and toe the hard way. $400 5) The car is easy to break into, as I found out the hard way. Simply place a screwdriver between the glass and rubber and twist, door swings open. $DontAsk 6) Paint work is not impressive, I had major clearcoat issues that basically wore out from been parked in the sun. 7) The clear covers over the front headlights turned a different color then the car. 8) The headlights would fog up. Beyond that, other 3kGT people have had major transmission issues, especially in the earlier models. I never had any issues, other then a clunky as hell shifter. I traded it for $6k after paying around $25-26k for it I think.
If it were me, I'd get this.... http://classifieds.s-cars.org/classifieds.php?a=2&b=244 btw, RUN, don't walk from the 3kgt's and stealths
WOW! I never have owned a 3kgt or a Stealth, but if I had $10K and ONLY $10K to spend on a car, that's the one I would have gotten. Looks like I was mistaken- I had no idea they experienced such problems. Beautiful cars though. Ford Probe GT's are pretty sweet looking too, 93 and up, inexpensive and fun if you can find one that hasn't been destroyed by teenage owners. Also- paint is a factor on those cars. Ciao- Nick
