Wife says I need a "real car"

Apparently "real car" means something that runs, has an interior, a radio, and more than 2/60 A/C. Truth being that we have a little guy now and my Mirage isn't going to cut it (even if I get it running). There are countless what car threads so I'll post up cars I'm thinking of and yes they will be somewhat random. Wife can't drive a stick shift so it is sort of a consideration but she has her own vehicle. I've had an early 911, big turbo B5 Passat, Eclipse GSX, MINI Cooper S with the A/T, and some random in betweens.

I'm over wrong wheel drive but I'll still ask about a couple FWD cars

2004 Acura TL with the stick shift. I know these have different front brakes and I think different front seats. How bad are these as a higher powered FWD car?

4 Door GTI with DSG. How's the maintenance on the DSG? Does the DSG suck after a while? I've driven an A3 which I assume is identical. Is it just better to get the Jetta GLI or Wolfsburg?

1st Gen CTS-V. I parked next to a regular CTS yesterday and like others have said it looks like the interior goes to hell in short order on these. The center console looked particularly cheap.

G8 GT. Is the 6 speed auto a slushbox? The GXP might as well be hens teeth so the manual is out.

Read through a thread or two about M5s and other 5 series. I'm a little scared off by some of the maintenance issues.

I like the E55s and C43s. Seems like most of these have a crap load of miles on them or cost a lot of money.

Can you fit a kid's seat in the back of a 996? I assume a forward facing seat might fit. Hey the wife got her minivan right?

Wife shot down a 940 Turbo wagon because it was "old". I had dreams of a big turbo RWD wagon but that's not going to happen. V70R is difficult to find and the wife might be allergic to wagons for some reason.

I also looked at an IS300 and it was too small, not enough power for the crappy mileage. I'm not against crappy mileage but it had better be quick (love those RX8s but wouldn't want to live with one).

Kid seats are huge and I'm 6'5" 235lbs, you'd be surprised what I don't fit in....Here are some samples of cars I've tried and not fit

Explorer Land Rover (not that I'm looking at SUVs but these things were exceptionally bad for legroom) E46 M3 Coupe E36 M3 Coupe Mazda3 (Actually owned one of these and my leg was against the center console all the time)

The best I've owned were the Passat, the MINI, and the 911.

The DSG on the Gti is pretty cool. A friend in my car club has one. They did take in for service under warranty. The dsg needed a new ecu. Apparently, where ever the hell they put that ecu is a complete pain in the arse to get to, as it took several days to swap out the ecu. All was fine afterwards. They seem to love the car, and the only real complaint was how long it took to swap out that ecu, as it was going to make them miss an event. I think that was as much a dealer service issue as it was a car issue. If you have a little one, consider a 4 door or at least something with a suicide door access. Doesn't matter so much when they are in the infant seat, but when they go in the rear facing child seat, you'll be glad you did.

Get a truck with a back seat. Then you can haul a race car trailer.

Take a look at a G35 sedan also. Nissan is known for their big backseats, and I love mine. Kinda big and heavy, but nice, pretty fast, and gets good mpg.

I orginally bought it to placate the wife, but it's grown on me in the last year.

In reply to racerdave600:

Good gas mileage? How good?

Guess it would depend on your priorities. The TL seems the most "sensible" choice. It's reliable, good resale, solid all around car. Not super sporty though, only vaguely.

My heart would go with the G8 GT. I'd love to have one.

Definitely add the G35 into the mix. My wife had one, she had the AWD G35x, with an auto slushbox. Even saddled by the auto trans and heavier AWD system, it was a great sports sedan. A 6 speed RWD sedan is awesome. It's on the same platform as the Z car. Gas mileage was the downside for us. It got about 18mpg with my wife driving...though she does have a heavy foot. It also ate brake pads quickly.

The last-gen G35S sedans are really nice cars. I'm going to throw my hat in that ring.

Saab!

In reply to bluesideup:

Kids without car seats fit perfectly in the back of a 996, or most all 4-seat Porsches for that matter. My kids always seemed safe and snug, but I guess it could be illegal. In any case, my wife was not a fan of the idea.

I think "real cars" should do just fine with minimal maintenance and repair. That eliminates just about everything but a TL (or a G35 as mentioned by others).

I will also throw my vote in for the G35. A friend of mine had a coupe and it was a really nice car.

I think the GTI, CTS-V, and G8 GT are all good ideas. If you aren't going to have the kids with you all the time you might also consider the '04 - '06 GTO. I loved mine. Had one of the nicest interiors outside of Cadillac and you could get a manual. No kids here but others on the GTO forums say getting a car seat in and out is not that hard.

Not surprised about the legroom in the Land Rover. My wife and I checked out some Mercedes and BMW SUV's for her and they had nearly zero legroom when the seat was in a normal driving position. We are both about 5'10" so we didn't even have the seats all the way back.

Sorta off topic but when I loaded the latest topics these two were at the top. They somehow seem related...

The monaro sounds like a good bet, and they can be had for cheap as well.... then again, lsx powered cars are like crack.....

Somewhat off topic - I've been looking at 2006-2007 BMW 3 series sedans for my wife. I am shocked at how many were manufacturer buybacks. I know they have fuel pump issue on the 335, but 325 and 328 seem to be commonly repurchased too.

I think I'll be focusing more on a TL or a G35.

9-5 or a G35.

new sho.......

replace turbos and tune, then let her drive it and scare the beejebus outta her......

GTO or even the G8 GT. The auto on that G8 is really good. I mean, still an auto, but it's a hard shifting box of awesomeness as those things go.

Bluesideup said: My car says I need a "real wife".

Took care of that for ya.

^^^ BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Once again, this thread title provides the laughs...

BS Up, lets see where this one goes.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/jetta-questions/32262/page1/

Dan

I just purchased a 2010 GTI myself, but with a 6 speed manual. The DSG is a great gearbox but it can have little gremlins sometimes and I didn't want to deal with them. The gearbox itself is very strong and can handle plenty of power. The issue, however, lies with the Mechtronics unit, which is the brains of the gearbox. As far as I know though, VW extended the warranty on the DSG transmission to 7 years/100k miles.

Other than that the car is awesome, and I get around 30 mpg 80% city/ 20% highway. And it's a very wife friendly car as well (no wife but my girlfriend loves it).

I'll go look at a G35, I've never been in one but the idea of RWD +6 speed goodness sounds like a good combo. The key is to see if I fit. A friend has one of the '08 Jettas and seems happy with it even though he has the 2.5. I couldn't see being happy with that motor.

The hardest part about kids is the rear facing child seats. With the Snap 'N Go child seat (think kid in a removable bucket for those not familiar) in our Mini Cooper I just loaded the kid + seat through the hatch. With the larger seat facing backwards there is no way that would work. You should see these things, it's like driving with a WRC driver facing backwards in your back seat.

I only drive about 3000 miles a year right now which is why I haven't needed a real car. I don't necessarily need one right now but the wife is tired of my garage ornament.

As much as I understand questioning my wife's sanity the Mirage is pretty stripped out and I wouldn't take our kid in it. It's sort of the definition of E36 M3box, a fast E36 M3box but E36 M3box none the less. I've had my Jeep for 18 years and it's not really a good DD any more.

My nightmare is to be the poor beaten down bastard in a gold Camry missing one hubcap and hating my driving life. Hell I'll autox the wife's Mazda5 if I have to.

We took my oldest son around in our G35 when he was a baby. The back seat is really roomy, it fit just fine. No, it wasn't as easy as loading a minivan, but for a sports sedan, it was a snap.

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to racerdave600: Good gas mileage? How good?

I usually get about 22mpg in town going to work and back, closer to 26 or 27 on the interstate. And I'm not the easiest on cars. For something as big and as much hp as it has, I consider that decent.

I'll sell you my 940 Volvo Wagon! It even has a big(er) turbo!

Seriously, though, with a kid get yourself something that you won't ever touch and has four doors. It doesn't have to be entertaining. Our PT Cruiser has been incredibly faithful.