HELP! GRM'ers, help me buy a car

The Focus ST would be my top pick, especially if you want room and track work. If you want daily giggles and unbeatable traffic-weaving potential, then the Fiesta ST would be in your driveway. Keep in mind, the roads of Southern Ohio are at your beck and call now. Something fun on the road should be a priority, especially as the kid gets older and your free time diminishes.

I would also look at the VW GTi and R32. The interior is light years ahead of anything else, and while more expensive, the level of quality you get is a step up IMHO. They are more "grown up" and less "boy racer" than the Focus if you ask me. Tons of room and practicality too.

A Mazdaspeed 3 is not available in the current model, and that's a shame because the standard model is so damn good.

Another thought at your price point would be a V8 Pontiac G8. Plenty of room for the commute, a killer track car, and with good snow tires...OK it might suck in the snow but it has a 400PH V8!

Ok ok, I might actually have to take a look at the GTI...

$20K for the best S4 you can find and $3k for extended warrantee. $5K for power boosts and various tidbits.

You're in a nicer, faster, more comfortable car than anything listed yet and cheaper to boot.

Drive German, it's worth it.

In reply to KyAllroad:

I'm so anti-German car. I dated a girl with an E46 325, and married a girl with a C230. German cars are the worst cars to work on to fix anything out of every car I've ever worked on. Plus I don't hear great things about Audi reliability. Or VW reliability, for that matter. Or any company's reliability...

But the point is I need the most fun packed in a decent sized chassis that I don't have to worry about fixing or modding to enjoy. I've got too much going on to worry about that, despite how much I like it.

So maybe the question should be what's the most bang for the buck in sheer fun for a stock vehicle these days that can carry a car seat and kid stuff when needed.

I'd love to say Mustang for RWD, but there is no way you will fit a rear facing child seat in one. I'm nuts and we we had two successive Mustang convertibles as family cars for carrying three teenagers on the school run. But teens have legs that go down. Rear facing baby seats just wont fit any Mustang, Camero, 911 etc.

Someone mentioned the Mazdaspeed 3. BAck when MAzda and Volvo were both owned by Ford the Mazdaspeed 3 was 100% the car for me, right up until I drove it. It's a great enthusiast car, it's awesome for back road hooning, great for Autocross. But the shock valving and NVH while great if I was 20 something was just way too harsh for me to consider as a DD in my late 30's and 40's. I'm not a Bob Costas, but honestly an air cooled 911 on Bilsteins has a better isolated ride than a brand new Mazdaspeed three.

Good info from all. I have appointments to drive a 2015 GTI and a 2015 Focus ST today.

Can anyone comment on the resale value of the GTI and ST? I know the WRX holds it value very well. Just a thought.

Egghead Racer wrote: Good info from all. I have appointments to drive a 2015 GTI and a 2015 Focus ST today. Can anyone comment on the resale value of the GTI and ST? I know the WRX holds it value very well. Just a thought.

I don't know how long you keep your cars, but I never worry about resale on my DD's. I tend to aim for keeping a DD 10 years with a min consideration of 8. By that time it's long paid off, fully depreciated and the value is the least of my concerns as they will have over 100K by then.

Mustang 94-01 - sold
Focus 01-06 - Totaled
SVT Contour 06 - 08 - Bought used as a stop gap
Volvo C30 08 - TBD - At lest 2016, possibly longer, will never be sold though. Currently has 95K miles

Now, I'm lucky in that I get a company car from Ford that my wife drive daily and we swap every year. But before that we would keep her cars for 100K miles as well, but that was typically less than 4 years.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

Typically, a long time. In a practical sense, I unfortunately need something this year. My current car is not long for the world. Resale is only a consideration because there are a lot of sweet cars due in the next couple years that might rock my world. I would love to just wait, but the kid means I need something reliable now. Say I buy a GTI, love it, and don't want to get rid of it. Problem solved. Say I buy a GTI and see the Focus RS, pine away, and want to swap it out. Is that situation better with the GTI, WRX, or ST? A thought experiment, if you will.

I hate car shopping. I hate no being able to just have a Corvette more. Responsibility is a real pain sometimes.

Adrian's comments about a stop gap car got me thinking. What if you bought something nearly fully depreciated so that you had something to pull you through until you were ready to evaluate the Focus RS? I am thinking like an early G35X or an Acura TSX. Or...maybe a Saab 9-2X Aero might be the answer to "WRX that's not been bro'd out"?

szeis4cookie wrote: Adrian's comments about a stop gap car got me thinking. What if you bought something nearly fully depreciated so that you had something to pull you through until you were ready to evaluate the Focus RS? I am thinking like an early G35X or an Acura TSX. Or...maybe a Saab 9-2X Aero might be the answer to "WRX that's not been bro'd out"?

I'd love a Saab 92, the best Subie ever made

996TT!!!!!

Cotton wrote: 996TT!!!!!

I vote you buy $35k worth of Maserati BiTurbos.......consider it a case study on attendance rates for the job driving an unreliable car.

Focus RS. Ford is really making some of the best cars right now. They've let Ford Germany loose on the american market. I'm a die hard Chrysler guy but if I had to buy something 2015 model year it'd be a fiesta/focus ST.

In reply to moparman76_69:

Man, if only it were out now I might.

I drove a GTI and an ST yesterday. After driving the WRX, it was an interesting experience. The GTI was a very comfortable car, seemed well made (with the exception of how they do that stereo) and was a solid performer. But it was also supremely boring. Practical, but unengaged.

The ST was the polar opposite. It was an unrestrained brutality packaged in a little orange happy face. It was pure fun, but at the same time, almost difficult to drive fast and well. I will grant that coming from a Corvette, I am likely the reason for that and I could get used to it and probably a lot better. I'd pick the ST over the GTI, which makes me pine for the RS.

The WRX was somewhere in the middle for me. I thought it was more responsive to what I wanted it to do, but it's also at least half RWD, something I'm more used to I think.

So if I can milk the current car in health until the RS arrives, I may do that. If it starts to fail me for the last time, I'll get a WRX and see about trading up when the RS shows it's nasty.

Thanks all for the help. I really appreciate the inputs and the effort to push me beyond my comfort zone there.