Daily driver under 15k

Shopping for an '11 Mustang GT 5.0 with my buddy today.

40k miles, $18k asking. Seems to be on point for the market. How flexible is your budget?

#badinfluence

AWSX1686 said:

I drove my buddy's E46 the other day and I'm pretty sure my NA miata has more leg room...

Speaking as somebody who until recently owned both at the same time, either you and I have very different bodily proportions, or there was something wrong with your buddy's driver seat.

Duke said:

AWSX1686 said:

I drove my buddy's E46 the other day and I'm pretty sure my NA miata has more leg room...

Speaking as somebody who until recently owned both at the same time, either you and I have very different bodily proportions, or there was something wrong with your buddy's driver seat.

Perhaps it was something with the seat. It was his 323i and it had a ton of noises and the power steering was heavier than I thought to be normal. His e46 330i ZHP does seem a lot nicer in almost every sense, but I haven't physically driven it. 

Lots of good ideas here - thanks everyone.  I had forgotten about G37 - used to have one and enjoyed it immensely even though it was auto with paddle shifters. Ruled it out initially in this search because subsequent to the Infiniti ownership I had an Armada and Nissan would not stand behind a dangerous life threatening brake problem of which they were entirely aware. Had to fix myself to the tune of $1200 and sold the thing. Left a wry bad taste in my mouth about Nissan products. But I digress. . . .

Stangmaros don’t seem right without a V8 but I could check out a v6. A lot of the other suggestions are unfortunately fwd but appreciate the ideas nonetheless. 

Another ridiculous idea entered the equation last night - 2011 550i. Stick shift, luxurious, really nice car. $18k for one fully loaded with 75k miles. And then I googled problems with N63. Is there any modern day bmw engine that isn’t a hot mess out of warranty?

M3racer said:Is there any modern day bmw engine that isn’t a hot mess out of warranty?

N51/52.

This thread makes me aware of how few RWD MT cars there are. Basically it's G35 /37 or Z, GM products (GTO, Camaro, CTS), Mustang, BMW, and that's it.

What about one of the earlier Cadillac CTS-Vs? There's a nice GTO in my area for $14ish with a lot of nice mods. I have no idea how reliable they are though.

I don't like Nissan much either, but for this application, I would think the G35/37 is probably the best bet. Modern BMWs with turbos are... just too finicky. 

You said AWD could work, so what about a Mazdaspeed 6? Or a WRX? Maybe an Audi A5?

The best bmw e36/e46 alternative with 8/10 ths  of the driving experience?

and checks all of ur boxes except one, price.

it's cheaper and very reliable.

you could have an immaculate Lexus  is300 manual for way less.

don't buy some riced out kids ride, find an adult owned well maintained one, they are out there.

for 12000 bucks u could have a car that will have every possible maintenance item taken care of and give u a 100k plus miles of trouble free driving .

I was looking at e46 zhps and base e90s and they drive amazing but they don't make them like they used too.

engines seemed to have gotten too complicated, electronics don't seem to last.

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Only problem is the newest one is 2005

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Can you overlook the back seat? 

Ive been daily driving a $10k, 100k mile c5 corvette for the past 1.5 years. If you really search you could find a c6 for 15? My dad picked up a mint 65k mile c5z for 15k. Other then a lack of back seat the corvette checks all your boxes, I average 23 mixed mpg, has tons of cargo room in the back, goes like stink, fun as heck and it's a small block Chevy so nothing too crazy on maintenance 

Well - this turned out to be the answer.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1gtqfttzk2spj6g/audi%20-%20Copy.jpg?dl=0

Obviously I went over budget, but the difference between a $10-15,000 car and a $20,000 car was enormous and worth far more to me than the $5000 difference. Everything I was looking at up to 15,000 was close to 100,000 mi and/or going to require me to travel and/or ship.  

2010 S4, only 55,000 mi, tasteful mods (AWE Tuning touring exhaust with resonated downpipes, ROC-Euro intake, lowered and S5 rums) Prestige edition with Sport differential AND 6 MT. Perfect blend of luxury commuter and badass sports car. I Absolutely LOVE it and just resisting the urge not to modify it and be upwards of 400hp with a tune. Oh and try not to get arrested as I can't believe the acceleration on this car. 

Thanks everyone for your help.