I started to look for a new car. I am not exactly sure what I want yet but I got it narrowed down to the following:
MID-LATE 355
TT Lotus
Early 200X C5
I am looking for a car that will ONLY be driven on the weekends and sit in a garage most of the time.
Any one familir with the TT Lotus? I am more interested in the maintenance issues. I will not plan to modify any of these besides maybe an intake or so.
No to all of them. 355 will be a maintenance nightmare.
C5 is and old guys Civic.
Lotus isn’t as special as it appears to be.
Give me a price range and I can find the best car for you lol.
C5 was a very good bang-for-buck when I drove it. Nice combo of power, looks, price, etc.
Up to 90K
I hate to say it, but there is no reason not to go with the Skyline. Only thing it does not have is the status symbol factor.
It has uniqueness, performance, warranty, fan following, potential, relibility, and the fact that it’s brand new.
With that budget though possibilities are nearly endless.
You have to narrow down your criteria a bit.
Seating room, engine layout, is the status symbol important, uniqueness, reliability, upgraded potential, new or used etc.
I mean most fun with your pants on is ariel atom, but it won’t fit many criteria.
I agree with all cossey’s points, lotus is really a nightmare.
Suggestions I’d throw out there… NSX, C6, Skyline, Atom, M5, any 911.
If you will just drive it on weekends and don’t mind spending a few thousand a year on maintenance, I’d say get the 355 over anything else. There is a price premium but then it holds its value better than the Esprit. Esprit looks cool, is pretty fast, but if you can find the F-car get it.
That said, you could get a nice C5 Z06 too for 30K and it would be probably be pretty reliable and track worthy too out of the box… All depends what you want to do.
I’m not sure what your goals are, but let’s just say if I had 90K and those three cars were on my list, I would try to find a 355 for about 80K or so and keep the rest for maintenance for the next 3 years. This is not from personal experience (though I wish it was), but I hear from everyone who has driven one that if you drive it through a tunnel nothing else matters and you won’t think for a second about the $.
Unfortunately any 355 will be out of the warranty period, which means it depreciates somewhat but almost every Ferrari holds its value, esp. the ones made in the last 8-10 years.
Have you ever driven a 355? Hugely disappointing, one of my friends had one for a while, his car whore ways put everyone on this board(cumulatively) to shame. $10k probably won’t maintain it for a year let alone 3, ferrari maintenance is foolishly expensive.
Vlad has some good suggestions, but its hard to say what is best for you with out knowing more. What do you want to do with the car, is it more about status, going fast or having fun while driving? They are all very different and most cars don’t combine them.
I’m a huge Porsche fan, and if you want something not as common, don’t buy a 996 or 997(even though they are great cars), be patient and find a mint 993 turbo, not only is it a fantastic car to drive(minus the slight snap over steer) it will probably appreciate if you don’t molest it or drive the crap out of it. If you don’t mind blending in a little more a 997 C2S is about as good as it gets for under $100k. NSX are fun to drive, cheap to maintain, but are far from “fast” by todays standards, I think a 987 S is a better car for around the same money today. The Atom is in a league of its own, but clearly some compromises have to be made to live with one even as a weekend car. There are new Elise and Exige models coming out this year, with more power, if you’ve never driven an Elise its great, almost as much fun as an Atom.
If you want the best in terms of performance, I think it will be hard to beat the new skyline, however, I also believe it will be hard to get a new skyline for even close to MSRP for a while. The C6 is the best vette to date, but its still fairly heavy and uses a crude suspension(yes it gets the job done, but a car like this should be more refined), relatively numb steering compared to the other cars mentioned and a terrible interior. Its easy to recommend someone buy a C6, its often a very different scenario when it comes time to putting your own money down on it.
One I’ll throw out there that no one else has mentioned, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, beautiful car, fantastic exhaust note, first rate interior, with fair performance and handling, not the benchmark in its price range but many are willing to live with that due to how much fun it is to drive an Aston. If you want a similar car with more performance, the Jag XKR may be something to consider.
If it were me I would look at the new 240 hp supercharged Elise/exige, great sports car, exotic looks with toyota reliability, a hard to beat combo that is an absolute blast to drive. Or if I wanted something a little more refined, the Porsche Boxster S(987 only) a great car to drive, classic styling, the only people who talk shit about them are the idiots who have never driven one, it is as fun to drive(if not more fun) then a 911 due to it being balanced much better, and is super comfy to drive with high quality materials all around you; it is not the same boxster that was released in the late 90s, the 987 S is more of a complete vehicle that gets over looked to often due to its image.
I know most of you guys dont know Shawn personally, so I’ll try to say it in a nicest way possible.
Shawn’s physical dimensions limit him from small cars. :shifty
I agree with pretty much everything Timmay said however.
Corvette - you get the performance, and price, but not luxury, new technology or much status.
NSX - you get price, styling, technology but no performance especially if you think your 11 second car is slow now.
Atom - you get a dedicated track car.
Ferrari - you get performance, and status, but lose out on price and reliability.
Skyline - you get performance, warranty, technology, reliability, but it’s going to be right up there at your price range, and in a certain way, it’s not much different from your car, 6cyl, TT, AWD, AWS, so if you want something very different setup wise, it’s not for you.
Vantage is a great idea, completely forgot about them.
Honestly I would suggest downloading some TopGear episodes and watching them as research. They have tested most of the cars we mentioned and many others which were also great. Plus reviewed them all as well.
I am 6’ about 310LBS but I have very large shoulders. I been dropping weight but my upperbody is still the same.
With that said, my car that makes decent HP is a dog to me but I am not looking for that. I want sound, comfort, and decent performance.
Corvette - you get the performance, and price, but not luxury, new technology or much status.
I agree. It was a really impressive car for the money. I am sure C6 is better but not sure it’s worth the extra money.
NSX - you get price, styling, technology but no performance especially if you think your 11 second car is slow now.
Not going to happen. Sorry. 
Atom - you get a dedicated track car.
Amazing performance but I won’t use it for what it is intended for and shines with. It’s also too small. Insurance in NYC for this is going to be a back breaker.
Ferrari - you get performance, and status, but lose out on price and reliability.
Exactly. The maintenance is what scares me. I worry about nothing with my car as long as I don’t do repeated redline dumps.
Skyline - you get performance, warranty, technology, reliability, but it’s going to be right up there at your price range, and in a certain way, it’s not much different from your car, 6cyl, TT, AWD, AWS, so if you want something very different setup wise, it’s not for you.
Definately considering but hate 1st year production cars. There are always issues. Although, this car is very impressive.
93.5 - 98 supra?.. can be had relatively cheap in your price range, the block is bulletproof… why the fuck not? :nod
I dislike the interior and I’ll be tempted to mod it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-LAMBORGHINI-VT-DIABLO-ROADSTER_W0QQitemZ350008957201QQihZ022QQcategoryZ157068QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/V8-Vantage-Hot-Rod-Many-Options_W0QQitemZ200186271031QQihZ010QQcategoryZ157057QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
maybe even
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/07-M5-507HP-HUD-FULL-MARINO-ALL-POSS-OPTS-MINT-m6-e55_W0QQitemZ140191002051QQihZ004QQcategoryZ133182QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
just for a different twist on things…
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FLORIDA-SPYDER-XENON-INT2-LEATHER-LOADED-LIKE-NEW-L-K_W0QQitemZ360007896910QQihZ023QQcategoryZ6313QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
hows bout any of them?
Um… hello? 996 GT3 or Turbo? Duh?
Define maintenance nightmare. Do you want a civic or do you want an exotic sports car that will make a backroad its girlfriend?
You could also get a new BMW M3 Sedan. I could almost see your immediate first post after your first driving impression:
“So I went around this turn… Fast. And it felt good. Fuck that straight line bullshit.”
Any Italian sports car is going to be a money pit to maintain. While riding with a friend in his 1999 Diablo SV he told me he just changed his clutch, OEM, for $4500 :wow
If you want something with status and reliability that is relatively inexpensive compared to Ferrari or Lamborghini, get a Porsche.
But if you want to stay with an Italian car that is cheaper than the other two I mentioned (which is understandable because Italians are the shit) go with Maserati.
I personally know for a fact that I will own an Italian sports car someday in the future (still in college), however I have made peace with the fact its going to be a BITCH to maintain but hey, im up for the challenge.
Here is a rough idea for you though, my friend with the Diablo, wrecked his Coutach when he met a telephone pole head on. The car had to be shipped directly to Italy for repair. Your going to cry, $125,000 to fix!!! If it didn’t hold sentimental value to him he would have totaled it but he didn’t.
It’s all on how much money you have in the bank my friend.
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/939
That mimics the experience my friend has experienced with his ferrari ownership, he had a 512TR in the mid/late 90’s and a 355 around 01 after that he had enough. Enjoying driving and paying foolishly to maintain it do not go hand and hand. Keep in mind he has at least 12 cars at any moment(and they are all nice, the biggest roach is an older 911), 2 homes(one in Westchester county, one in France) and he made 8 figures last year and even he felt the maintenance on his ferraris was too high.
If I were to go with a preowned ferrari I think I would lean towards a 348, but they are HUGELY expensive to take care of and its hard to justify it based on its performance and “fun to drive” factor.
I strongly disagree, I cannot see frittering money away like that. You certainly can’t take it with you, but there are so many better things I can do with money then putting a ferrari techs kids through college.
Cars are a terrible investment. Shawn’s knows all this stuff, and he’s not going to drain his bank account for an exotic.
Buying a Porsche/Ferrari/etc isnt like financing your first Sentra during your junior year of college. It’s going to cost you big money to keep enjoying it. Gotta pay to play.
New BMW M3.
BMW’s 5yr/50k ‘Ultimate Maintenance’ program.
Shawn needs a big American V8 or a turbo motor he can mod the hell out of when he gets bored. The M3 wont be NA mod friendly and he prob wont do an aftermarket FI setup. It needs to be a gradual progression. ;D
i think its funny that he wants to drop 90k on a car but the insurance on an atom is the “backbreaker” lololol