Dootz said:
In reply to Knurled. :
Yeah, wtf? How did my post get interpreted into me trying to avoid maintenance? lol
I just want to not have to do a lot of adjustments to fix issues that the factory should have solved. In other words, cars /9like the Miata and Civic) that can be modified cheap enough so that the total amount I'd have spent wouldn't go high enough into purchasing a far superior vehicle in the first place.
Issues I have with the Miata itself is feeling cramped and a necessity to bracing the non-rigid chassis (for NAs, at least). Mustang? Crap suspension all around. Camaro? Crap differential. RX-8? Crap rotary. Civic/hot hatches? FWD. BMWs? Cooling system problems and subframe tearing. Anything else that doesn't have these problems seemingly has a boat-anchor of an engine that should be swapped to an LS
Something akin to a Porsche on a budget - maintenance needed, but that's it. A car that doesn't leave you feeling like something could be improved
Vehicles are made to appeal to certain buyers while making the manufacturer profit. Imperfect humans are involved in every step of the process, and the results are (unsurprisingly) imperfect. They're not intended to be the best of everything all the time that will last forever. There are sacrifices made in the design and manufacturing process for nearly everything, and the things with no sacrifices cost a ton of money and hold their value so they never get to your <4k price point. The McLaren F1 was a single man's vision of automotive perfection with a "No compromises" approach to it's design and production. They're not going to be <4k ever because of supply and demand. Everybody wants as much as they can get for as little as possible, and that's exactly why things with fewer flaws cost more and things that are cheap have more flaws.
You're asking why isn't there a cheap, perfect vehicle out there (Your idea of perfect) and the answer is that things that are good cost money. You can buy a cheap thing and spend money addressing areas that the factory compromised on, or you can spend more upfront and get something with fewer compromises for your specific tastes. But even a vehicle with fewer compromises will never be perfect. The only way to make something that's perfect to you is to make it yourself.
A 4k Mustang is going to need suspension freshening anyway. There are plenty of options in the aftermarket to improve the "crap suspension" to be good enough for whatever you're doing with the car.
A 4k Camaro probably needs some differential servicing, new axle bearings, etc anyway. Take that opportunity to upgrade the rear axle and get the perfect gear ratio.
Go through the coolant system on the BMW with better than factory parts and make it good for another 100k+.
Pick the things that are most critical to you that you're unwilling to sacrifice (engine, drivetrain layout, exterior design, "ideal" suspension design, reliability, fuel type, etc) and look at the vehicles that have that. Then, look at the areas that will need improvement on those vehicles and see how difficult/expensive/possible it might be to "fix" the problem areas. Go through the vehicle and fix the weakest links one by one until the whole is better than when you started, and you get closer and closer to your idea of the perfect vehicle.
