What car should I get now?

I have been driving my 1991 Miata for the last year and a half but it is time to move on. I absolutely love the car but it needs quite a bit of stuff put into it and the car is no longer practical in my eyes so I don't want to put the money into it. I have been test driving a few cars recently such as the Fiat 500 Abarth but I am not sold on it. I tend to get bored of cars very quickly so my next car needs to be something I won't want to sell in another year.

I don't have any BMW's on the list because my last experience with BMW ownership went horribly wrong. I know that it was because I was dumb and chose a lemon but the thought of making another mistake has kept BMW off the list for now.

Here are some of the cars I am interested in along with the pro/cons of each.

Fiat 500 Abarth (new) Pros: Warranty, great gas mileage, small yet it can mount a roof rack, I won't get tired of it quickly (I think).

Cons: Expensive, bang for the buck is low, according to MotorTrend the exhaust drones after a little while.

Volvo C30 (used) Pros: Looks great! newish, has decent space.

Cons: Expensive, hard to find, questionable reliability? expensive to fix, FWD.

Volvo V50 (used) Pros: It's a wagon, AWD, newish, incredibly practical.

Cons: Nearly impossible to find in a manual, reliability?

Acura TL (used) Pros: Not hard to find, Honda reliability? (I don't know much about these.)

Cons: Type S's are impossible to find.

Infiniti G35 (used) Pros: RWD, easy to find

Cons: Heavy, bad MPG. (I don't know much about these either)

Subaru Legacy GT (05-ish) Pros: Looks, AWD, my dad has a Subaru and loves it.

Cons: So-so MPG, very difficult to find, questionable history of used Subarus.

Subaru Forester XT (the one with the hood scoop) Pros: practical, AWD, smaller size.

Cons: Looks are blah, sorta hard to find, so-so MPG.

I'm sure there are a few cars I was thinking of that I forgot to add but I hope this is enough to get the conversation started. I like small cars which is why I want an Abarth but other than that there aren't many small cars that excite me right now...so I am expanding my horizons. I am about to go test drive a TL and maybe an Infiniti G25 too.

Give me some more ideas! Feedback on these listed cars would be great, let me know if my first impressions of them are true!

Buy my Z06, haha. Seriously, though, check out the Dodge Dart.

The honda 5 speed auto in the TL has questionable reliability. The 5 speeds last about 100k, this gets better the newer they are but they had issues.

I think you are going to have a really hard time getting a good deal on a Forester XT or a Legacy Gt with a manual. Those are both highly desired and command top dollar.

You make comments about FWD vs RWD and then talk about test driving a g25? You'll hardly be able to tell which end is driven with that motor. The term 'gimped' comes to mind thinking of that motor in that car.

Otherwise i you can hold out for the interesting versions of the cars you mentioned (i.e. optioned up turbo manuals) i dont have much bad to say about them.

Vigo wrote: You make comments about FWD vs RWD and then talk about test driving a g25? You'll hardly be able to tell which end is driven with that motor. The term 'gimped' comes to mind thinking of that motor in that car. Otherwise i you can hold out for the interesting versions of the cars you mentioned (i.e. optioned up turbo manuals) i dont have much bad to say about them.

I am so old. I remember when a 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds (like the G25) was pretty damn fast. I never even hit 50 mph on my daily commute, so it would still be fine with me.

I wouldn't suggest a Legacy GT. I had awful luck with mine (to the tune of $5,000 in repairs at 63k miles) and engine failures are far to common with the turbo Subarus.

I just drove a normal 500 and I thought it was a blast so I can only imagine how much fun a 500 Abarth is but I think they are all sold in the US.

New V6 Mustang?

A Toyobaru would be perfect for you if they were 5 years old at this point...Maybe check out an RSX, GC Impreza or 7th-gen Celica?

DaveEstey wrote: I wouldn't suggest a Legacy GT. I had awful luck with mine (to the tune of $5,000 in repairs at 63k miles) and engine failures are far to common with the turbo Subarus.

Counterpoint-We bought our '07 Legacy GT spec.B new and it now has 89k on it. Two wheel bearing failures both of which were covered under warranty have been the only issues. No oil consumption, no piston or turbo issues, nothing else to report. Probably justed jinxed myself but this one has been a good car.

wawazat wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: I wouldn't suggest a Legacy GT. I had awful luck with mine (to the tune of $5,000 in repairs at 63k miles) and engine failures are far to common with the turbo Subarus.

Counterpoint-We bought our '07 Legacy GT spec.B new and it now has 89k on it. Two wheel bearing failures both of which were covered under warranty have been the only issues. No oil consumption, no piston or turbo issues, nothing else to report. Probably justed jinxed myself but this one has been a good car.

Double Counterpoint: Two GRM members have recently bought LGT's that no longer had engines.

I'm not saying it's impossible to have a reliable one, but the numbers skew toward unreliability.

I considered the Dodge Dart but I am guessing it will be a little to tame.

I test drove a TL today that was loaded with an automatic, it was quick and handled well. The problem was I drove an e90 328xi immediately afterwards, there was no comparison between the two...

I have already ruled out the G25/G35, I am just not interested in them.

The LGT...well this might explain my desire.

There are several Abarths still available in my area.

The BRZ in town sold to another dealer before I could drive it.

Volvo c30 is a great car when I was shopping them, good reliability. Aftermarket is limited, which may be bothersome as the car has such a large potential, but it's still great stock. Not rare if you can internet shop and arrive-drive.

infinity g35 sedan or g35x is a wonderful car, I don't know anything about the coup, but assume its the same. My friend has a g35x sedan and gets 23-26mpg, and he drives like an idiot so I'm sure there is more mileage for a sane driver. I have done some maintenance on his, its a great reliable car. Ride is great, his is awd and fun to drive all the time.

I would pick the infinity over the subaru all day every day. The awd models still drive with a rwd bias, have more power and more luxury than the subaru. It is better than a subaru, but cost way more when new, not saying subarus are bad.

There is plenty more out there, but I feel these are the winners in your list.

Out of your list I say Abarth.

I saw a Dart out in the wild for the first time yesterday and honestly I had to take a second look at it just to make sure thats what I was looking at. The styling looks good in pictures but in real life it looks very bland.

Not on your list I would say for a new car Elantra.

Used I would say Jaguar XJR, just because thats what I've been lusting over lately.

In reply to daytonaer:

Have you driven a C30? Is there anything you would compare them to?

the fiance has a C30. she likes it, but not the local dealer where all of the service gets done.

it rides similarly to my old mazdaspeed3 did (same platform) and the 5cylinder turbo has plenty of getup and sounds sweet even with the stock intake and exhaust. hers is an auto but it is very responsive in manual mode (will give full lock up just off idle, for turbo spooling and full engine braking) and its not bad even when you let it think on its own. i have an aquaintance that has one with the 6-speed and she loves it too. downside is that there is no stock cargo cover and its $$$, there's no cruise control standard, and also most of the other "luxury car" standard features are not standard.

i've sat in an abarth and will say they are really neat, but smaller than the c30 by quite a bit. while in DC we saw a 500 parked next to a c30 and it was like new MINI/ old Mini size difference. I will second your thoughts on the v50, most of the manual equipped ones are the non-turbo variety. they will have the same/similar reliability as the c30, which should be pretty good as long as you take care of the turbo with regular oil changes.

the stock tires on the fiancee's c30 were michelin mxv4 all season POS. we just put a set of sumitomos on it a couple weeks ago after about 40k miles and they are so much better, really wake up the handling, and the ride and road noise is soooo much less. makes it actually ride like a car in that class should.

Good to know thanks for the input! The price of a C30 isn't that far from a new Abarth and it doesn't come with warranty... Otherwise I would already have one. Has anybody ever done a track day in one?

nicksta43 wrote: I saw a Dart out in the wild for the first time yesterday and honestly I had to take a second look at it just to make sure thats what I was looking at. The styling looks good in pictures but in real life it looks very bland.

Wow! that echos my experience exactly. How can something that looks so good in pictures be that boring looking on the road?

The new 278hp turbo gen coupe? V6 mustang, a '10 v8 mustang...... Those 3 are high on my current list.

ditchdigger wrote:

nicksta43 wrote: I saw a Dart out in the wild for the first time yesterday and honestly I had to take a second look at it just to make sure thats what I was looking at. The styling looks good in pictures but in real life it looks very bland.

Wow! that echos my experience exactly. How can something that looks so good in pictures be that boring looking on the road?

The interior is really nice for a car that price IMHO. I am going with a friend to test drive one this week.