https://york.craigslist.org/cto/d/03-audi-allroad/6460274293.html
NMNA, and not a stick shift but this one looks really nice and the common failure points have already been addressed. Stage 1 tune is FUUUNN in these btw. They do all weather interceptor better than any car I've owned before or since.
Mazda 3 five door or Mazda Protege5. I own the predecessor, the Protege5, and I’m amazed at how well I fit. I’m 6’6”, and I fit perfectly into my little wagon. Driving it like I stole it gets me about 19mpg in town, but it’ll do better if I stay off the throttle. Fun to drive without tons of mods, reliable, and handles well from the factory.
I dd a rwd 5 speed e46. Mine has a 3.0 in it though. It's a great car. Mine has been beat and led a hard life and keeps working. The chassis is at 420km. It's got lots of little electrical problems, but it's still lots of fun to drive and hasn't left me stranded. I basically use it as a pickup truck. I've towed an 18' boat with it, managed to fit a standup jet ski in it with the hatch closed, I'd recommend one. I'd probably keep mine for a lot longer if it wasn't so rusty.
I was looking for inexpensive manual hatch commuter a little while back. I found that 2nd gen 2.4L Xb's seems to have been built in a lot of manuals. No idea if its any good to drive as I've never been inside one. Im guessing its high on the reliability scale, and low on the fun scale.
Other thoughts in order of increasing mpg.. PT GT, Caliber srt, 2008-2010 TSI 2.0 Passat wagon, and I 2nd that Vibe GT manual idea if you can find one.
8valve said:I was looking for inexpensive manual hatch commuter a little while back. I found that 2nd gen 2.4L Xb's seems to have been built in a lot of manuals. No idea if its any good to drive as I've never been inside one. Im guessing its high on the reliability scale, and low on the fun scale.
Other thoughts in order of increasing mpg.. PT GT, Caliber srt, 2008-2010 TSI 2.0 Passat wagon, and I 2nd that Vibe GT manual idea if you can find one.
My ex wife has an xB. Your assessment is spot-on. Nothing has failed in 200k miles except the muffler. Driving it is like driving a Tercel. It is slow, whines like a child on the highway with its 4.27 gears, and gets blown around like a kleenex in a hurricane. It ticks all the right boxes, except the soul-sucking econobox part is tough to live with.
dannyzabolotny said:I'd get the E46 wagon with 166k miles. It sounds like it's had a lot of the maintenance work already done, and it has a relatively new clutch too. These M54 engines are quite robust as long as you don't overheat them— they'll easily go past 200k miles without too much fuss. I haven't heard too many complaining about the older xDrive systems, they're pretty simple and tend to work pretty well. Plus a RWD conversion isn't hard either if that's something you would be interested in. You definitely want the sport package, the non-sport seats and steering wheel suck.
I know I need to reframe my expectations on mileage, but 166k could be fantastic or it could be a money pit. I also notice it doesn't have the winter package (heated seats) or the premium package. Not that those are required, but its really easy to change seats and a steering wheel. Its not easy to add the options that come with premium and winter packages.
Manual options are hard to come by these days...
Here's another E46 AWD wagon. Sports seats and steering wheel, but no winter/premium.
Aaaaand manual E91. Might get sold quick.
Boom. E91. Heated seats. Manual. AWD. And 'only' 138k miles. It's just in Geneva, NY. Idk how far away from you that is.
If gearbox feel matters to you, I'd drive a Volvo with a manual trans before getting too excited about them. I think their gearboxes are awful. But if that's not important to you, proceed.
It does. Most of my experience with manuals recently has been with a T56 with an aluminum bushing and billet short shifter. I can't expect that level of precision, but it is important. Not sure if it will prevent me from getting one since I'm sure something can be done to improve it, but its good to know.
FuzzWuzzy said:Manual options are hard to come by these days...
Here's another E46 AWD wagon. Sports seats and steering wheel, but no winter/premium.
Aaaaand manual E91. Might get sold quick.Boom. E91. Heated seats. Manual. AWD. And 'only' 138k miles. It's just in Geneva, NY. Idk how far away from you that is.
Oooh... that E91 is calling my name. I can't imagine scraping up enough money for it though. Not unless I find a real sucker to buy my Impala SS for $8000.
Here is a copy and paste of what the option packages get. Bold indicates what I would really want. This is mostly for my benefit, not sure why I'm pasting it here, but it helps me organize.
Premium:
Cold weather:
Sport:
I highlighted all of the Sport package, but honestly I'm not sure I care. With the exception of the springs and dampers, all of that stuff is super simple to add. I also can't imagine an e46 without cruise control.
Is it safe to assume that the wiring is all there regardless of the option? Like is there a harness for heated power seats under the carpet in case I were to add seats with those options?
In reply to yupididit :
Ha... that e46 in Silver Lake looks like its on my buddy's street. I'll ask him to go take a look at it.
Both the 6's look good. And under 100k..
You definitely don't want an E39 525i wagon, even with a manual. The engine in that is criminally underpowered for a car that heavy. The 528i wagons are better if you're looking for a 5 series, they have a lot more usable power and can be had with a manual as well. Though if you want something truly sporty then a 3 series wagon is still your best bet as they're far lighter and more nimble.
I wish I could take the time for a fly and drive into LA. I miss my CA friends. Unfortunately I can't imagine that happening until July with my schedule.
I have nothing against Mazdas. I've been looking at them as a functional thing, but I find them to be hideously ugly. The bimmers just look sweet, and with their depreciation it seems like I can get about the same amount of vehicle for the same price. Sure, the Mazda will be a little more reliable (OK maybe a LOT more reliable) but I just really love the bimmer.
Not ruling out the Mazda, just that the BMW is so much "more." Handling, comfort, looks, style.
But, convince me.
Even if the rest of the car was no different, the BMW Sport seats would make the package worth finding.
I have nothing against the Mazda looks, I just don't like FWD.
Duke said:Even if the rest of the car was no different, the BMW Sport seats would make the package worth finding.
I'm thinking that the sport seats would be an easy addition... provided the wiring harnesses are in place if they're power/heated.
I'm not even worried about the power seats, but SWMBO has heated seats in her Suby and maaaann... they're nice.
Retrofitting the sport seats is easy, it's retrofitting the heating function that is a pain in the ass, because the heated and non-heated seat cars have different wiring harnesses and switch panels. If you find a good wagon with heated non-sport seats you can easily swap in some heated sport seats and that'll be plug and play. M3 seats are plug and play as well— they have more bolstering and adjustable lumbar support for additional comfort.
Ok, good to know, thank you.
Also super simple to add wheels and tires, so that part of the sport package is not an issue. Springs would be more involved but I could do it.
In my list above with bold type of the options I want, do you know how easy those things are to add? I'm trying to figure out what's easy to add so I know better which packages to lean toward. For instance, if I buy a Premium package car assuming I can add the sport/premium steering wheel only to find out they aren't compatible I might be butthurt.
Truth is, most of those options I could live without but it would be nice to know which ones can be added easily and which ones are a pain to help guide me toward what I want.
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