Pick car you would choose with this in mind...

[tjZ28]

@ssdragon

An update on the list:
The Audi A6 is being replaced by the Audi S4. So any votes on the A6 will be taken as for the S4.

Also, the car that will be bought will most likely be automatic for ease of daily driving and drag strip use.

Okay, maybe I was wrong about you wanting a car that handles. An Auto E36 M3 is gonna suck and take away a lot of the fun in driving it. And it will not be fast.

@ssdragon

is the m3 reliable, ive heard german cars to be iffy on reliability?

See my post above. They are very reliable (better than any later BMW) but again, they have issues. There’s the stuff I listed above, and also the fuel pumps fail (forgot about that one in my first post) and there are some electrical issues, the on-board trip computers quit but they’re basically useless anyway.

@DTMVENG24

I see the M3 is high on the votes but heres my opinion

1.Nice car
2.Wouldnt be cheap to mod
3.wouldnt be cheap to fix
4.Not really that cheap to find one used. I still see these going for decent $$
5.If hes going to rwd y not a mid 90’s GT,Z28 etc?? Def be cheaper can be upgraded for fairly cheap. The aftermarket for those cars are enourmous also.

Some of those cars on the list are nice but if hes looking to have a nice dd and take it to the track i dont think a eclipse,tiburon,madza 6 will have him totally satisfied. It might at first but then he will realize what he could’ve had for the same (atleast at the track) amount of money but had more performance. In the end its up to him and for his sake i hope he makes the right choice:bigthumb:

1. Yeah, they’re cool.
2. Eh, they are pretty cheap to mod. They have a giant aftermarket and since most everybody mods them the common stuff is cheapish.
3. Depends on if he can do the work himself or not. BMW-specific shops tend to have outrageous labor rates. But you do want to consult a BMW shop since the thing with these cars are the problems are all “well known” and can be addressed before they are bad. That being said if you reference these (I race w/ the Edge guys a lot and know Eric the owner, very good guys): http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311638 & Auto Repair, San Ramon CA | EDGE Motorworks
4. True, they do hold value very well. But they are pretty reasonable on the used market these days.
5. I don’t see buying a 3rd Gen Fbody as a good move for a DD. They are cheap, you are right. There is a huge aftermarket, you are right. And they can be fun fast cars. But from the guy’s posting so far they don’t seem like “his thing” so much.

@bgblockelcamino

the BMW is crap IMO
if buying a daily that would be my last choice.

Why do you say that?

@ShalerPunk

an early Lexus IS300.

end of story.

The 1IS’s are pretty cool. But I doubt it’s going to be in his 10k range. If he could make a stick IS happen that’d be pretty awesome.

@JackdUp

If it were me, out of that lineup, GTP hands down for me.

Fantastic aftermarket support, it’s GM so it’s not going to break the bank if something does go wrong like a German car and it’s relatively easy to put a pulley, adjustable shocks and springs, stickys and go fast in a straight line as well as good daily characteristics.

If (and apparently that’s still a big if) he cares about handling I don’t see the GTP as a great platform. Nose-heavy FWD GM.

@OLDS ROCKETMAN

get something RWD and stop bleeding out ur vagina

Truth.

@ssdragon

i dont know, my friend made this list of the cars he likes, i originally had the mustang gt and camaro z28 on there but he didnt want an 8 cylinder due to fuel costs but he didnt want a 4 due to low torque so he settled in between on the 6.

FWIW when I got my '99 Z28 forever ago my buddy got a '95 M3 2 weeks later. We both had the cars for about 6 years. He had more issues than me, but nothing too major and he was sort of bad about regular services. But, I always got MUCH better fuel mileage than him. The M3 was in the higher teens usually average on a tank. The Z28 I could do 28+ freeway and average tanks with mostly city driving I would do about 20. Keep in mind a E36 M3 has a 1:1 5th gear (no overdrive) in it’s 5spd but the LS1 cars have a .75 5th and .5 6th (4th is the 1:1) so at 65mph you’re barely turning 1,500rpm.

-TJ