Another what car thread

Hello,

I currently drive a 2021 Mustang gt 6-speed.

I am considering trading it in for a sedan, I am tired of crawling in the back to put my two toddlers in there car seats.

Budget is up to $35k

Manual transmission

4-door

RWD but may consider awd, no fwd.

Ive been looking at BMW 3-series mostly. If Genesis would put a manual with the 3.3t this wouldn't even be a question.

give me some ideas!

WRX STI? A coworker has a 2019 and it's pretty nice 

Not going to find much. Audi made about 12 B9 A4's with a manual. B8 was the last generation of S4 manual. BMW has a handful (maybe) of models still. Merc hasn't made a manual since the years began with a "19". Caddy had the CTS-V in the 00's, don't know what today has. Just about everything else is FWD or automatic. 

Can you get a used Blackwing for that money?

In reply to Cooper_Tired :

STI is definitely on my short list. I have liked the idea of them for awhile, but have never driven one

In reply to spandak :

Definitely not. I didn't find any decent CTS-V's in my price range either. I did find a Chevy SS manual in Texas, but $5k over budget and had moderate damage in the past. I would have to pay to get it shipped as well

In reply to Mattk :

Are you past the kid phase of rear facing carseats?  I ask because that is the seating configuration that demands the most rear seat room.  

One of my two kids is still rear facing. But, my wife is pretty short so I would imagine any sedan would work fine. My wife has plenty of room in the mustang.

edit to add- my wife drives a Jetta, she has plenty of room riding passenger with the rear facing car seat behind her.

Perhaps a VW Golf R?

In reply to Puddy46 :

I think the Golf R or Focus RS would be the ticket. For RWD, the Stinger came with a stick for a couple of years (edit: was thinking Genesis G70). There is the Cadillac ATS(?) as well. But, being OP is in a '21, I imagine they would like to stay fairly new. 

In reply to EchoTreeSix :

I'm not a big fan of the golf R honestly. It was to refined for my taste. Focus RS is definitely something I should look into. They didn't even cross my mind.

ATS-V is another one to consider, I'll have to see if they were available with a manual.

What year stinger came with a manual? As far as I was concerned they were all automatic 

There should be a few Chevy SS's in your budget, but you'll have to look a bit.

the ATS-V did come in a manual. 

The BMW F series was available in stick shift and you can find 8'ish year old examples for your price range.  

this one will probably end up north of $40k: https://carsandbids.com/auctions/9aBEWD4P/2018-bmw-340i-sedan but a quick look at closed auctions and the 340i stick shift is readily available for less than $35k

In reply to Mattk :

So I was convinced they existed in base 2.0t form. Dunno where I pulled that from but apparently not. Looks like I was thinking about the Genesis G70 with the 2.0t - last year of the manual being 2021. 

A filtered search on Autotrader for RWD/Sedan/Manual trans/ $36k max shows M3s, older M5s, Cadillac Vs, etc

If you add AWD, then it brings in a bunch of Subarus, Golf R's and $35k buys a Corolla GR with ~10k miles these days. Might be a bit more rowdy and playful compared to the Golf R.

I'd probably buy a WRX if I were in the market for a family sedan with a wild(ish) streak.

I'd also think that a used GR Corolla would likely fit the bill pretty well.

(If I had the means, I'd buy an IS300 wagon and swap in a manual transmission.)

Back seat of a Golf R/Focus RS isn't all that big, with a rear facing car seat someone is getting squished.  Build quality of an STi is really lacking in comparison to all your other choices, try and spend more time in that car on the test drive and examine it closely to see if you can live with it.