What car - DW edition

DukeWife is getting interested in replacing her 2004 TSX. There's nothing wrong with it, but we've owned it for 12 years, it's a little out-of-date in technology, and we'd both like to get new (or lightly used) cars that can be both be paid off before we retire, but which will have plenty of life left at that point. Plan is to buy her something in the next year (or maybe 2) that we can keep for a long time.

The TSX, after doing everything we've asked of it, only has just over 60,000 miles on it. Her commute is short but we tend to take her car on weekends and trips in order to even out the mileage and exercise it. If you do the math, it gets about 5,000 a year on it now. Once she retires in maybe 7 years, it will likely get even less.

The sensible button would be to get something like a Lexus ES and drive it forever. But the kids are grown, we have the Concert Coach in the garage for seating capacity, and we don't necessarily have to be that sensible. She enjoys driving and neither of us wants an appliance, no matter how nice an appliance. We can afford to have some fun, but we don't want to be stupid. Here's the general criteria:

• Budget $30,000-$35,000 max
• New or under 25,000 miles used
• Automatic or DCM - no 3-pedal cars
• 2-door or 4-door car - no CUVs/SUVs
• 4 seats preferred
• Possible convertible or PRHT?
• Any drive layout is acceptable (possible mild preference for AWD?)
• Good all-rounder - crisp handling and decent ride
• Fun to drive but doesn't need to be a performance monster
• Small-to-mid-size - the TSX is about right
• Long-term reliability under light use

I have some preliminary ideas, but I'll keep them to myself until some suggestions are on the table. Thanks!

Infiniti G37 (or whatever it is now...Q50 I think) convertible

Man with a 35k budget your choices are pretty unlimited.

Audi A5 Convertible?

BMW 3er retractable hardtop?

Second the vote for the A5 convertible. You've made it to a place in life to really enjoy the drive so why not do it right?

In reply to Storz and KyAllroad:

Because I think we're going to have a hard time finding either an A5 or 3 Series convertible under $35k with under 25k on the clock. An A3 or 2-series, maybe.

Also, the car will likely live outside, so if it is a drophead, I guess I prefer a PRHT to a cloth top.

Not really. I paid 26 for my 328I convertible with 17K miles on it. Mind you it was 6 years old at the time but they are out there. Now I wouldn't recommend one but that is another story all together.

http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12458334&AVi=0&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=78753&N=4294963045+4294961379+4294963139&Q=ee3837b3-c01d-429e-9703-be9fcc77a059&Ep=search:results:results%20page

http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12482861&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=78753&N=4294963045+4294961379+4294963139&Us=4&Q=ee3837b3-c01d-429e-9703-be9fcc77a059&Ep=search:results:results%20page

Just as a couple examples.

Really, There are just so many options out there in that price range for new and lightly used.

The wife and I love our G37. You could do a Pony car in that range. Heck, Is there a reason to give up the TSX? It seems like it still fits the needs.

Gotta be some garage queens out there with low miles...

My dad was on the development team for these, I've got a lot of seat time in them and they are fantastic.

bmw88rider wrote: Not really. I paid 26 for my 328I convertible with 17K miles on it. Mind you it was 6 years old at the time but they are out there. Now I wouldn't recommend one but that is another story all together.

Why not? This is exactly the kind of stuff I want to hear.

The wife and I love our G37. You could do a Pony car in that range. Heck, Is there a reason to give up the TSX? It seems like it still fits the needs.

The G37 wasn't even on my radar, but Klayfish brought it up right off the bat. It's in the running now.

Replacing the TSX is a strategic decision. It's mostly a matter of timing, in order to acquire something much newer and somewhat nicer that we can pay off before, say, 2021. DW plans to retire by 2023 or so. That means I can do the same with a car for me by 2025, by which time I'd like to be retiring too.

Even if we do replace the TSX, we probably won't part ways with it. It's too clean to let it go away. Either we'll give/sell it to DD#2, or maybe I'll ditch my somewhat ratty E46 and drive the TSX for a few years, even though it's an automatic, not a manual.

Why Not,

The Vert was well over 4000 LB without us in it and you felt it in everything the car did. It steered good but even with the run flats changed, it was not a smooth ride. It felt lethargic. It acted like an ex pro football player that has done nothing but drink beer and eat burgers since retirement. You could tell at one point it was athletic and sporty but there was now too heavy and out of shape to really play when you wanted to.

We also found it to be very noisy. It was something that you could never escape. It wasn't wind noise. It was a lot of road noise. I think partly because of this, it never felt luxurious either.

We felt it was too complicated for it's own good. Stuff that should be simple were over engineered and you needed all of these steps or computer interfaces to do what should be simple processes/maintenance.

My wife fell in love at the test drive but after a year and a half, she couldn't wait to get rid of it.

Cadillac ATS is a good choice. As a bonus, the initial depreciation is huge!

Is the Answer the answer?

In this case it may be...
Keep the TSX and get a new ND PRHT (assuming its available at the time).

Dare to be different.

If you want to go new, this may bump your budget limit, but what about the 2016 Buick Cascada?

jstand wrote: Is the Answer the answer? In this case it may be... Keep the TSX and get a new ND PRHT (assuming its available at the time).

It's within budget and on my short list; DW thinks it might be too low / small for a long term daily. Her only experience with The Answer is the Manic Miata, which is a semi-hardcore NA on coilovers, with race seats, harnesses, and a HDHCHTDD rollbar. She promised to testdrive an ND before deciding.

pinchvalve wrote: Dare to be different.

Pretty, but already too old and I'm worried about long term parts availability. This may be the last car we ever buy for her; at any rate we tend to keep them 10 years at a minimum, and longer if feasible.

Klayfish wrote: If you want to go new, this may bump your budget limit, but what about the 2016 Buick Cascada?

I saw that too, and even saw them listed within the higher end of the budget. Not bad looking at all, but it would have to be a lot nicer than a lightly-used G37 I think, since they seem to fit the same ecological niche and the G37 is probably more fun to drive. Worth a test drive, definitely.

Thanks for the input, everybody! Some great discussions already. Please keep them coming.

Thinking about it a bit more I'd be real hesitant to spend big money on any convertible/PRHT. As it has been pointed out many times, as soon as the top goes down they all "equalize" quite a bit. Unless she is really dedicated to the topless lifestyle (sorry, I couldn't resist then a real roof is going to be a better "car".

*I say this about the PRHT offerings because, while they look really cool doing their transformer dance, just a little problem in one of the many hinges/motors/actuators/clamps/etc and the whole thing grinds (expensively) to a halt.

You can buy a fantastic DD sedan/coupe for 30K and pick up a nice stock NB for 4K for sunny afternoon toodling about in. My vote is for moar cars!

Z4?

In reply to KyAllroad:

That's why the convertible / PRHT option is only an option. But the planned fleet already includes 4 cars for 2 drivers, so I'm not sure I can justify a 5th.

We've always had a convertible to ride in, but not one she can drive by herself. The Poncho had manual drum brakes and took some... dedication to bring to a stop; the Miata is a little too Manic, and she doesn't like to drive a stick. So I thought I would start looking at dropheads, and back away from that if necessary.

We went through the same process when shopping for the TSX, except at that point the kids were kids and we definitely needed both dailies to have 4 doors and a trunk. We don't really need that now.

Duke wrote: We've always had a convertible to ride in, but not one she can drive by herself. We went through the same process when shopping for the TSX, except at that point the kids were kids and we really needed both dailies to have 4 doors and a trunk. We don't really need that now.

I am oh so jealous. My wife and I have mostly (but not always) had a convertible of some kind over the years. But we sold our last Miata a year and a half ago. Our current situation of work, commutes, kids activities, etc.. makes a Miata almost useless to us. When I was shopping for my new DD a few months back, I so badly wanted a convertible. Mustang GT crossed my mind several times, as while the back seat is silly small, it could be "passable" for my needs. But practicality and common sense won out, and I wound up with my FoST. Brought the family to the Atlanta auto show on Sunday and my wife remarked how she would like a convertible. I'm now poking around CL to see if I can find a nice one for peanuts... A well kept older Sebring convertible sells cheap. Looking to find that needle in a haystack, a car that some older couple bought new and kept for years and years. Saw a '99 Mustang V6 like that the other day, but it sold before I could get to it.

I'm guessing that this TSX is not a six speed?

Woody wrote: I'm guessing that this TSX is not a six speed?

No, it's not, unfortunately. I taught DW how to drive a manual, but she doesn't see why she should have to if the car is perfectly capable of doing it itself.

In its defense, the 5-speed ATX is a very nice automatic.

In reply to Duke:

That's a shame. I find the idea of a 60,000 mile, one owner TSX within driving distance to be very appealing.

Woody wrote: In reply to Duke: That's a shame. I find the idea of a 60,000 mile, one owner TSX within driving distance to be very appealing.

It would be to me, too!

Lexus has a convertible that seats 4

Too bad every current Lexus has been dipped in ugly sauce with extreme prejudice.