That 5 series looked nice and that aero would be sweet but it sounds like it was beat on hard if he had to replace the manual trans. May not be the best to drive with that exhaust but it would be quick and fun if it's been well maintained.
My personal fave is that first e30 you posted, it has the ultra rare V6 engine!
Late 90s A4 with the 2.8 V6 or the1.8 Turbo, 5 speed, and Quattro. 4 doors and can find them for under $4k more and more often.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/1226824706.html
http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/1221507045.html
http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/1218586934.html
http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/1216981471.html
Tuna55, that 1st saab sounds like a good deal. The second one didn't seem too bad, either..... looks like it was well taken care of, despite the transmission being replaced.
The one cheap MX6 looked like a decent deal, too.
I wasn't horribly impressed by any of the others. Maybe the 5-series.
Yeah Paul, that rare V6 engine came with the 7 speed manual and way more torques.
The SRT4s are great, not cut the price in thirds for me.
I don't think the Saabs stand a chance against junkyard dogs Volvo unless I can find a 3/5 door. You guys turned me onto the 9000 and therefore off of the 900s, which I can easily find 3/5 door versions of, of course.
Oh I dunno... SHO? That 5 series was nice, wasn't it?
-Brian
In reply to tuna55:
Those 2 9000's you posted were 5 doors. The sedans are called the CD/CDE, as opposed to the turbo/aero/CS/CSE designation of the 5 doors. The 5 doors are far more common than the sedans
I guess never seeing them in person I thought that was a sedan... it doesn't have the hatchbacky goodness like the 900 does, huh...
Seriously though.. SHO?
MX6 is officially off the list, just for rear seat room. Four door is ideal, but on a 325 (upright coupe) it could be okay.
So:
9000 five door manual (fast, pretty, quirky, fwd, fragile compared to others in this list)
SHO V6 manual (slightly mundane but quick, neat but fwd)
Volvo Wagon (junkyard dogs car) (rwd, lots of cargo space and reasonably fast, but big)
325i/is/318ti (E30 or E36) (smallish but great suspension and steering setups and RWD)
525i (E34) (larger but has most of the driving dynamics of the 3s and RWD)
-Brian
I would drive the e30, e36 and e34 before making the call. All are great cars in their own right, but nowhere near as similiar as you might think. I'd argue the e36 is a "better" car than the e30 (and I love my e36 M3), but the feel of the e30 is pretty unique, with it's upright seating, loads of window space, and narrow feel. Both cars enjoy great handling, with the e36's limits being significantly higher. Steering goes to the e36, but that can be fixed on the e30. "Classic" appeal goes to the e30. We own both, and love them for very different reasons. For what it's worth, the M3 (for example) is much faster in every category, and gets better fuel mileage.... I expect the 325/328 wouldn't be that different in that regard.
My wife and I drove a 535i and came away disappointed, solid feeling, heavy feeling car....but it was admittedly a poor example. It's a significantly bigger car than the e30!
There's a 5-speed e34 wagon in Montreal that I've seen for sale that has me wanting to give them another try.
njansenv wrote: Blah . . .blah . . There's a 5-speed e34 wagon in Montreal that I've seen for sale that has me wanting to give them another try.
You bastid!!
:) I think you could get it for $3k USD, and it's CLEAN.
I can't do it. I just bought another e30.....
The Saab 9000 isn't a fragile car.... especially when compared to a V6 SHO. 
Even if its not my car, I think a turbo brick is the way to go.
Not that I'm biased or anything
^I saw his turbo brick on the Louisville forums. It's beatiful. I'd buy it and start assembling stuff for a manual conversion.
93celicaGT2 wrote: ^I saw his turbo brick on the Louisville forums. It's beatiful. I'd buy it and start assembling stuff for a manual conversion.
Actually, I have everything needed that I'm also selling 
Get on that, Tuna!
I'm working on it...
A "what car" thread turned into a "buy this one" thread...
Who knew? Now to get some actual money. Think he'll take a combination of monopoly money and long distance calling cards?
So I chatted with the wife, and she gave me bad ideas (no, not those kinds of bad ideas, I have them on my own). For the same price I can get: Junkyard Dogs 91 940 turbo wagon, a 98-99 Legacy GT Wagon, a 99-00 Saab 9-5 Wagon, or a 850 Volvo Wagon
She likes the newer stuff because of the interior. It matters slightly to me, but that stuff is obvious in pictures. What separates these cars in the GRM world?
Thanks -Brian
tuna55 wrote: a 98-99 Legacy GT Wagon, a 99-00 Saab 9-5 Wagon, or a 850 Volvo Wagon... What separates these cars in the GRM world? Thanks -Brian
Drive wheels. You've named all the cars I'll be looking at as a replacement for mine simply because they have the traction I'd need for an emergency trip to New England in a blizzard.
Some other thoughts: I've yet to see a 9-5 wagon in this price range, let alone with a turbo 4 instead of the dreaded V6, and the cargo area is puny compared to a Volvo. The Subaru won't be a factory turbo in those years iirc, but its supposedly very easy to swap in a turbo drivetrain. The 850 Volvos are dogs without a turbo, but thats true of the 940s as well. All are hard to find with a 5 speed but at least they did have it available. Unlike my car 
If the interior matters that much to her, don't let her sit in a 9-5. The seats are great, things are nicely laid out, and they seem to hold up pretty well - fantastic interior for long distance cruising. That said, the interior is the best part of the car. A 99-00 2.3t is smack in the middle of the 6-PCV-revision-dodgy-oil-pump-sludge-monster range. If the owner has the latest PCV in it and can show records of synthetic oil changes no more than every 5k miles, you might consider it. But good luck finding a manual wagon with records in that price range. And run screaming into the night if it's a V6.
Just a comment, jydog, I used to live in Syracuse, NY. Trust me, in a blizzard, the worst of them, up hills, the worst of them, RWD is just fine. I shouldn't be convincing you of this, as I am obviously interested in your car, but with a Camaro I made it through many blizzards just with big snow tires. My 2wd long bed fullsize pickup, with no weight in the bed at all, has passed stuck 4wd trucks up hills, again, with good, skinny snow tires (185/70/R15 on an eight inch wheel) . If you can drive (can't all GRmers drive) and handle a tailslide situation, a RWD is actually my preference in the snow with skinny-as-all-get-out snows. Here is why:
Think of the traction circle. If a tire is doing something like turning with all of it's grip it cannot provide any tractive effort (accelerating or braking), right? Well if you are spinning the tires in FWD you cannot turn. If you are struggling to get up a hill with a turn, you may end up in a ditch off to the side of the hill (which I have seen many times) because the driver is trying to go up, and turning the wheel doesn't really do anything unless you lift and coast back down. In that same situation with rwd, you control the rear end spin with the front tires, which are just hanging around waiting, because all that they do is brake and turn. Asking the same set of wheels to accelerate, brake and turn can be dangerous on occasion, except in AWD applications. FWD is undoubtedly better in 'going' applications, but if you've ever driven in real snow, you know that getting the car moving is often the least of your problems. And, as I've said, RWD vehicles can do that too with the right shoes.
Anyway... I suspect many of you are right about the 9-5 and the prices for cars with good service records. I have seen some for around 3 grand though, but the service records are key. If I find one and look for sludge and see none, am I ok? I am fine with frequent synthetic oil changes if that's all it takes.
The Legacy Wagon is the wildcard, but head gasket and timing belt problems seem to be a stopping point. How bad were they, really? A Legacy GT Wagon is a nice piece otherwise...
-Brian
^Just want to second the driving experience in Syracuse, NY.
Another Syracuse escapee?
Yessir.
There seems to be a few of us around here.
Lucky you've escaped. My time in SC has been amusing with regards to snow. When it does, three days in three years, nobody born below the mason-dixon line makes it to work.
In my RWD Nissan hardbody, hehehe.
Anyway, what car again?
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