Help me... with a car purchase!

Ok, and it can't be a Miata, E30 (have one) or a cop car.

I need to buy a daily driver. My work is such that I spend a ton of time on the road in the Reno area (plenty of trips to Tahoe also), and I am always wearing a suit and frequently carrying around other suits- so something leathery and clean is a requirement.

AWD is nice, but not needed. We have an AWD Explorer and a lifted Wrangler (and a 325 E30 Vert) when I need to go into the mountains.

I am looking under 50K ish miles and under 30K ish dollars (25 would be better)

I need something respectable and probably would go German (or possibly an Infinity)- but what do you all think?

I like 5 series, 3's are too small. A4's are ok- they seem bigger now.

Mercedes are pretty boring, but I have never owned one, so maybe.

G35's seem nice, but again, no real experience.

Opinions welcome!

I'd say a used 5'ver since you're a BMW guy. Maybe a newer 530i since I like the Bimmer straight sixes. Plenty of used ones in the recent Roundel mag.

if German, your choices are pretty limited so no use posting what everyone else will post. If non-German:

used caddy CTS (-V?)

used 2009 Maxima

used 07+ G35

09 Subie Legacy GT Limited (slightly used)

08 Hyundai Genesis sedan?

In reply to irish44j:

Good thoughts- I am a CTS fan for sure. Maxima- wrong wheels drive the car and ugly.

Subie, just can't. The seats don't work for me and something about the Legacy I can't get used to.

Genesis is interesting. I have heard not so good of a drivers car, but a great V8. I wonder what a set of rubber and some struts would do to it?

In reply to fornetti14:

Certainly a leader. I also love the I6.

Legacy GT limited is on the short list if I ever decide to go back to car payments. But, I will add, any of the lexus 4xx series sedans, if that's what you need for passengers, my old sc400 handled better than something that big had a right to, and the motor was sewing machine smooth, too smooth, if you weren't paying attention on the highway you could easily end up doing 90+ and not really notice it.

have the AWD supercharged STS-V's depreciated to that range from their original $80K sticker yet?

1st Gen CTS-V, Hyundai Genesis (Sedan or Coupe, your pick), and Pontiac GTO all pop up in my head pretty quickly.

Do you carry people? If no, go GTO. If yes, then look into the CTS-V.

Personally, I'd save the car payment and find an excellent Lincoln LS with the uber-rare V6/5-Speed manual combo. You get luxuries, understated good looks (plus the ability to fly under the radar), sharp handling (it is a Jaguar chassis), a smooth engine, and some other schmuck has paid all of the depreciation. Add a turbo for ultimate stealth/power.

Who said anything about payments?

In that case...

C5 Z06

V70R Turbo Wagon

Porsche 996

Boxster S

Ferrari 308GTBi

Lotus Elise (Hey, it has leather!)

This is an incredibly eclectic list...

I still think GTO will suit you the best...

400HP/400TQ, really nice Ozzie interior, IRS, respectable as both a GT and a muscle car, and it loves mountain roads. Immaculate ones are well below your price point as well...

Maybe even a G8 GT or GXP?

I really like the GTO, but I would occasionally need to use the rear seat- so I think it has to be at least an mid size 4 door at minimum. I like hte GXP thought... wonder if they are out there?

My dad is in the same boat to a certain extent... He will, occasionally, have to take clients/coworkers with him in his vehicle, so to him a Saturn Aura was out, but a Chevy Malibu in... Didn't pick either because of the FWD thing (but he ended up with a SAAB 9-5? at least it was stick)

Needless to say, we've been over this billions of times as we get the AADD (Automotive ADD)

My votes go to
-Obvious BMW's
-W124 Mercedes Benz... Really any of them, if they're in good shape, its an excellent car... The best car my dad has ever owned he says. For more spirited driving, look for a 500E (Porsche built the engine), or a smaller 190E 2.3 16. Either of these will probably be the best built cars on almost any list.
-G35. Awesome vehicle for the grown up in the real world.
-Caddy CTS
-Pontiac G8. I'd look real close at this one.
-I really like that Lincoln that P71 mentioned. Just a cool car to me in some way (a 20 year old digging a Lincoln? What the hell is that???)

You might also want to take another look at the subie Legacy if you haven't looked at a new one. Its quite a bit different from the "old" model.

One thing that I've learned from my dad and my grandpa is that there is something to be said for driving American if you are doing business, for relatively obvious reasons. Its probably even more relevant advice today.

If you like the Infiniti G35, consider a Infiniti Q45 which do to its less popularity can often be purchased cheaper than a similar mileage G35.
To me it seems like Q45's are a crazy good bargain for what you get.

The Q45 is a good idea- didn't think of that!

Hey mtn- I am not up on my MB information- what year 500E's do you speak of?

My short list at/around $15K includes

CTS-V
BMW M5
E55 Mercedes AMG
G35 manual trans
Q45 auto
STS
Jaguar XJR

Have you ever sat in the back of a GTO? I'm 5'10" ~230Lbs with a a tall torso and I fit with no issues. Really roomy and comfy back there (more room than an RX-8 for example). I've had to be back there for an Atlanta to Miami drive and didn't have any complaints, there's even A/C vents back there. I'd seriously check those out...

P71 wrote: Have you ever sat in the back of a GTO? I'm 5'10" ~230Lbs with a a tall torso and I fit with no issues. Really roomy and comfy back there (more room than an RX-8 for example). I've had to be back there for an Atlanta to Miami drive and didn't have any complaints, there's even A/C vents back there. I'd seriously check those out...

Right, it is not the space issue, but sometimes I will need to shuttle around 3-4 people and it is just not possible to be popping them in and out of the back seat-

Sorry... W124 would be an older chassis, back from when they really were the best car you could buy. So that 500E will be about a 92-95. It will be expensive for a 20 year old car, but it is also a car that I do not see loosing any value. Probably older than you are looking though.

mtn wrote: -W124 Mercedes Benz... Really any of them, if they're in good shape, its an excellent car... The best car my dad has ever owned he says. For more spirited driving, look for a 500E (Porsche built the engine),

Actually, Porsche built the whole car for MB and AFAIK did do a lot of engineering work to make it safe with that sort of power rather than just dropping the big engine in and hope for the best.

The main issues I would see with one of them - and I would love to own one - is that several of the panels are unique to this car (fenders, for starters). I'm not sure you can still get them and if you can, I would think the insurance co would have kittens when they found out how much they cost.

Still, I love the idea behind those because unless you look very closely, it's not noticeable what it is if the owner had the badge removed.

BoxheadTim wrote:

mtn wrote: -W124 Mercedes Benz... Really any of them, if they're in good shape, its an excellent car... The best car my dad has ever owned he says. For more spirited driving, look for a 500E (Porsche built the engine),

Actually, Porsche built the whole car for MB and AFAIK did do a lot of engineering work to make it safe with that sort of power rather than just dropping the big engine in and hope for the best. The main issues I would see with one of them - and I would love to own one - is that several of the panels are unique to this car (fenders, for starters). I'm not sure you can still get them and if you can, I would think the insurance co would have kittens when they found out how much they cost. Still, I love the idea behind those because unless you look very closely, it's not noticeable what it is if the owner had the badge removed.

Looks like you're right...

Wikipedia said: Between 1991 and 1995, Mercedes-Benz sold a sport version of the W124, the Mercedes-Benz 500 E, created in close cooperation with Porsche. Each 500 E was hand-built by Porsche, being transported back and forth between the Mercedes plant and Porsche's Rossle-Bau plant in Zuffenhausen during assembly — taking a full 18 days to complete each mode

Right then, G8 GT or GXP it is. If you're really good you can snag one of the ~100 left that are still new for a song.

P71 wrote: Right then, G8 GT or GXP it is. If you're really good you can snag one of the ~100 left that are still new for a song.

Yes, and I imagine some lightly used ones will be worth very little right now.

I looked at a new SHO the other day, it was actually a pretty slick car. I don't think it's for me, but I was impressed with the fit and finish and level of features for the $$

Good luck finding a 500E -- I don't know that I've ever seen a used one for sale.

You know you want a 5-series BMW. A 3.0 with a stick would be my choice.

How about a Lexus IS 250 AWD, this one is a automatic, 2006 with 56k miles, but is the closest I could find to reno, I guess if you went towards las vegas you could finder a car with less miles though. They don't seem to be having the current problems as well, unlike toyota.

Autotrader 2006 Lexus IS 250 AWD for $24k