Car you want and can get, but shouldn't

3rd gen RX-7

993

240sx swapped

Boxster S

Hmm...cars that I like and can afford, but scared of buying:

So let's say $10k is my cap for 'can afford:'

Another Corrado SLC, Audi S4, Porsche ., BMW M3 / 540, BMW 2002 (rust), X1/9 (rust), Supercharged MR2 (rust)

+1 for the BMW 2002.

I've always wanted one, specifically a 74 2002 tii in Cream. I know, everyone else wants small bumpers, chrome grills and round tail lights. Not me.

1987 a freind and I along with his girlfreind travel down to fall Carlisle Pa. in my E36 M3 box Chevy stub van. Me I've got $18k in my pocket...there is a mint Lime green 440 six pack Super Bird for $17500..... I came back empty handed....boy i regrete that every day.

44Dwarf wrote: boy i regrete that every day.

And you should... but I have a worse story: 1990. I deliver auto parts for a jobber house. One of the shops is a restoration shop specializing in Mopars. They have a "filler project" car for sale: '69 GTX 383. Not a numbers matching car, but it was done. Fresh paint. Ready to go. Just pay 'em and drive away. $3500.

I still kick myself...

edit - just noticed you said superbird... you win.

slefain wrote: XJ-R Can be had for $7k all day long. Just look at it. It would be a cruel mistress though, always going back to the salon for some touch-up work and sticking me with the bill. The kind of car that elicits gasps of ecstasy, but more often screams of hatred. It would be like dating my old high school girlfriend again.

That Jag (for $7k?) put bad, bad thoughts in my head for almost a week. Started looking, and it turns out they're all automatics. I'm feeling much better now, Doc.

If I'm wrong about them all being slushboxes ... well, not sure I want to know. That's one good-looking car, though.

Maybe I don't dream big enough but I want a 90s Volvo turbo wagon.

I can't imagine where I got the idea but I remember seeing an 850 model review in some magazine a couple years back and there is a forum I read on occasion where 700 series pop up on a fairly regular basis.

There is a green 94 850 with overheating problems on CL for $600 close by...
NO! Get behind me Swedish Satan!

NSX. I have been keeping a close eye on the NSX market for a long time now and prices are right about where they need to be for me to realistically buy one without over extended myself. Unfortunately they are just too impractical for me at this point in my life...who knows though I may end up buying one anyways! :)

CLNSC3 wrote: NSX. I have been keeping a close eye on the NSX market for a long time now and prices are right about where they need to be for me to realistically buy one without over extended myself. Unfortunately they are just too impractical for me at this point in my life...who knows though I may end up buying one anyways! :)

Man I've been there. They're a bargain right now. Until they start increasing in value

Gotsol wrote: 3rd gen RX-7

Bah, Why not? Whats the worst thing that could happen?

JeepinMatt wrote:

CLNSC3 wrote: NSX. I have been keeping a close eye on the NSX market for a long time now and prices are right about where they need to be for me to realistically buy one without over extended myself. Unfortunately they are just too impractical for me at this point in my life...who knows though I may end up buying one anyways! :)

Man I've been there. They're a bargain right now. Until they start increasing in value

The fact that prices have pretty much bottomed out is one of the few factors motivating me to buy one, haha!

You're all a bunch of enabling jerks. I waited five pages for someone to tell me I'm stupid for wanting these types of cars, but you all made it worse

So now here's my list, except it's for a "what can you reasonably expect to afford and just might have to buy"

They're pretty accurate right down to preferred color, trim and year, except the Esprit S4 and the RX-7 should be LHD.

I'll tell you, finding a picture of a stock RX-7 on the internet is hard

Snowdoggie wrote: A Monster Chevy Suburban. One that hauls four large dog crates and tows everything. Extra points for being a 3/4 ton or having a 454. If I find an old cabin cruiser that needs restoration I could tow it home with one of these. It doesn't help that every time gas prices go up they have one for sale on every block here in Dallas, with the older ones in the $500 range.

You mean one like this? ?????

benzbaron wrote: A mercedes 450sel 6.9l. I think high speed tires in 205/70r14 are about 400$ a pop. Not to mention 5000$ if the hydraulic suspension is dead. Lets not even talk about smog! A guy near me has a DMC12 that looks to be a daily driver, never see those. It even has the tiniest drivers side window.

Shhhhhhhh. Don't advertise my next car that I have been quietly seeking for years now... keep it quiet until I get one. And whatever you do, don't say anything about the 6.3 either, ok?

Any number of E30s that I run across. One of which is a 318i left for 10 yrs at a garage and the owner's supposedly dead...

Im pretty sure the 6.3 and 6.9 are cars to be scared of with good reason. I think they are the kind of thing you might go out and buy a ferarri becasue you want something thats a little cheaper to maintain. I guess the mercedes would be more reliable though.

mel_horn wrote: Any number of E30s that I run across. One of which is a 318i left for 10 yrs at a garage and the owner's supposedly dead...

Ah do it. They are fun cars. A bargain if there ever was one (at least for now)

a 4th $500 miata

Just recently passed on a 50,000 mile turbo Laser for $500. I was mightily tempted but visions of DSM horror danced in my head.

+1 on the Elise...but the wife might balk at a 4th project car

plance1 wrote:

Snowdoggie wrote: A Monster Chevy Suburban. One that hauls four large dog crates and tows everything. Extra points for being a 3/4 ton or having a 454. If I find an old cabin cruiser that needs restoration I could tow it home with one of these. It doesn't help that every time gas prices go up they have one for sale on every block here in Dallas, with the older ones in the $500 range.

You mean one like this? ?????

I've wanted to get one of those with 1-ton axles and add a duramax/allison into it, and prep it to drive to alaska. From Indianapolis.

I've been recently thinking about getting something w/more room than my Miata and what pops up? First a 05 C230 Kompressor (sp?) w/manual trans for pay off (~15k). Then a friend that owns a shop took in an E30 for payment for work. Need seat covers, shifter bushings and clear coat to be nice. Maybe stiffer shocks to fit my taste. Has 5-sp and cruise control. My 99 Miata doesn't and is hard on my leg on long drives. I travel some for work and often drive. Issue with it is I just can't seem to bring myself to replace a 1999 vehicle with a 1988 vehicle. Could probably get the E30 for just a couple hundred bucks but recently spent my allowance on Miata and Opel GT stuff. Maybe he'll still have it in a couple months after I resupply my car fund. If the C230 had an auto trans in it the wife would have her Camry replacement now. She refuses to learn to drive a stick.

JeepinMatt wrote: You're all a bunch of enabling jerks. I waited five pages for someone to tell me I'm stupid for wanting these types of cars, but you all made it worse

Hey, you only live once, and its just money.

WilD wrote:

JeepinMatt wrote: I'm not talking mortgaging your house or casually thinking about how nice it would be to have a Ferrari 328.

Actually, That car for me is a Ferrari 308 GTS. I expect the experience to be a disaster, but one that must be experienced.

Much like adolescence and the loss of one's virginity, I suppose.

Regarding the 308, my parents liked watching Magnum, P.I. when I was a little boy. I was destined for a somewhat expensive and rather awkward Italian car ownership experience (as if my Lancia hadn't been enough).

I've posted about this before, because it is simply the most badass thing ever to exist:

Well, turns out he's close by AND he has another complete shell for sale! Sonofacrap. He even kindly sent me some photos.
It's not challenge-priced, but it IS affordable. I reckon it'd be the perfect platform for my demented gas-turbine hybrid idea.

LalalalalaI'vegotnowheretoputthedamnthinglalalalalalala. I hate living in an apartment!

What tends to kill the deal for me on most of these cars: I can afford to buy it... and can kinda afford to maintain it...

...can't afford to insure it...

Then again... I wonder if Hagerty would insure a '91 NSX...