Another Danoff Car Purchase Thread - FX35 Purchased

[Danoff]

Well, the last one worked out well - I still love my RSX-S, so I figure I might as well have another go at a car purchase thread.

This car is for the wife - so it has to be an auto, and I have to have a reasonable amount of assurance that she's not going to die in it.

The budget is <=$25k. Mileage limit is 40k. Ugly cars (and some pretty cars that she thinks are ugly) will get tossed out for no other good reason.

Gas mileage is not a consideration, convenience/utility is a low consideration, performance is a medium consideration, handling is high, looks are above all (that last one you can't really help with, so pretend I didn't say it).

On the test-drive list for upcoming weekends:
- 350Z
- BMW 330i ZHP (she doesn't want to try it, but I'm making her)
- Audi A4
- Miata MX5 (power retractable hardtop)
- Civic del Sol (I know, it breaks the rules)
- Civic
- G35 Coupe
- G35 Sedan
- Audi TT
- Acura TSX
- C230 Sedan

What's missing from the list? Keep in mind that this is for a blonde girl in her 20's living in SoCal.

The RSX is off the list because I have one, and for no other reason. Hyundai, Subaru, Scion, Chrysler, and possibly Toyota are elimiated due to poor styling. Also eliminated is the RX8 (I tried), Mazda 6, and Camry.

Edit: Also, all soft-top convertibles are out.

 

[Leonidae]

if Del Slow is in, how about Micra CC..?

 

[TheCracker]

The budget is <=$25k. Mileage limit is 40k. Ugly cars (and some pretty cars that she thinks are ugly) will get tossed out for no other good reason.

- Civic del Sol (I know, it breaks the rules)

Why would you want 5 Del Sols

How about an S2000 or Z4?

*edit* - Merc SLK?

 

[Danoff]

This?

I should have mentioned that soft-top convertibles are ruled out.

Why would you want 5 Del Sols

It's not my fault it's on the list. Trust me.

 

[Famine]

I would say don't bother with the MX-5 CC, but that'd be if you wanted an MX-5 for all the MX-5 qualities...

The MX-5 CC is a Mk2 Focus made rear-wheel drive and built by Mazda. She'll love it to bits, as will your wallet.

 

[Jim Prower]

I'd rule out ANYTHING not sold in the United States of America. Gray imports tend to be frowned upon and difficult to get.

 

[ExigeEvan]

The Hyundai Coupe (Tiburon?) is out because of styling!?

 

[Roo]

This?

It's a retractable hardtop:

Z4 coupe? I'm not sure how much they are over there.

Are soft-top convertibles but with a hard roof in place allowed? Because then you could look at the likes of the Porsche Boxster and the aforementioned S2000.

I still reckon MX5 CC is the way to go though.

 

[Danoff]

I would say don't bother with the MX-5 CC, but that'd be if you wanted an MX-5 for all the MX-5 qualities...

The MX-5 CC is a Mk2 Focus made rear-wheel drive and built by Mazda. She'll love it to bits, as will your wallet.

Barely following here. The CC is the coupe convertible (looked it up), the Mk2 Focus is a Ford Focus that isn't sold here (looked it up) - so I don't really know if that's a bad thing.

Are you saying it has reliability issues? Or you like that option.

 

[Eric.]

Its a shame she won't drive a stick...You could get a Civic Si Sedan and have a more practical (and slightly better performing) version of your RSX. I feel that 1.8L Civics aren't priced very well in comparison to an Si, so I don't know that I'd even consider one with some of the other cars listed. Gas mileage can be 5-10mpg better, however.

Have you considered the Acura TL? I'm almost positive they'd be in the budget. I'd have to lean towards one of the Acura's in this case. The petrolhead in me should be screaming Z or G35, but it just wouldn't seem right with an automatic. Then again, neither would the VTEC scream from the TSX...I suppose exceptions can be made when a sport/luxury sedan is the subject though.

What does she have against the 3er?

Edit: @Roo: The S2000 only comes with a six speed. Even so, I'm going to guess that she'd prefer to at least have a 2+2 to be able to take a few more things/people with her on occasion.

Edit2: I know it might be a stretch, but how about an automatic Cobalt SS? They lose about 30 peak horsepower from the manual, but will be within budget and still be a damn good sport compact for the price.

And any consideration for VWs? GLI with a DSG perhaps? Or TDI Jetta? (Bah, California)

 

[Pupik]

Okay, I can offer a little Audi advice:

Audi A4 (This is also called the B7 ?)

Avoid getting a FronTrac CVT A4 2.0 car, since the transmissions have issues, make noises, and customers generally didn't like them. Most 2.0-liter front-wheel drive A4s were CVTs, so be on the lookout for that. There's no exterior badging to let you know the difference, but you'll feel the difference once you drive it, because you won't feel any upshifts/downshifts. Maybe she'll like the CVT, but they did have issues, and I replaced roughly one a month for Audi customers because they (the car) acted weird.

Now 2006-2008 2.0 A4s (both quattros and non-quattros) with DSG automatics are some of the best there are; quick up and down shifts, and they usually have the paddle shifters, which actually allow you to step in at any time and override the automatic settings. The DSG tranny is the best of both worlds, since your intended choice must be automatic.

The performance difference from a 2.0L I4 turbo to the 3.0-3.2 liter V6 is negligible, at best. See for yourself.

The S-line trim package have extra visible features, but no added performance benefits other than available 17"-18" tires.

1) Look out of transmission issues on CVTs, avoid CVTs altogether, in my opinion.

2) 2007-2008 2.0-liter A4s may have oil leaks and also oil pressure issues. I no longer work for Audi, but this was a big issue with their cars; low oil levels and pressures were detected. Non resulted in a dead motor, or anything catastrophic, but a few had oil leaks that were probably related to it. The funny thing was, most people who really drove their cars hard never had this issue, so said the owners. There may be a fix by now, since people were infuriated with this problem, which was also on 3.0 V6 Q7s, oddly enough.

Interior surfaces are generally good; leather seat trim holds up pretty good compared to a lot of other cars I've seen. But there's three common issues that go wrong, most well before the warranty has expired:

1) The A/C and radio buttons have a painted surface that peels within the first 3 years and 30,000 miles on every car, so if you're within the 4 years/50,000 miles of ownership, the dealer will replace the console for free.

2) The glovebox lid my not close, or not open.

3) Center armrest lid has a habit of breaking off.

If she wants the convertible, the top is always problematic in this car. They leak and tear easily, especially around the rear glass window. They are not cheap to replace, either.

Audi TT

I'm assuming you mean the 1999-2006 model years. They are fussy cars, and can be expensive to maintain. The steering is a lot heavier than you think, so it's not the "chick" car that everyone imagines it to be. The interior is a little quirky-shaped, with little room for much of anything to stash things.

They can be expensive to maintain, but I had several that were over 100,000 miles. The owners were a dedicated bunch, much like the original Lexus SC owners.

Get to know a technician at an non-Audi shop that knows German cars, if you're out of warranty.

Alternate Suggestion

I'm going to throw a late-2nd-generation or even 3rd-gen Lexus GS 300 into this mix: Not the most powerful of things, but you have a C230 and TSX on the board, so it has much power as they do. Good chassis response, they're absolutely bulletproof in terms of reliability inside and out (a few early factory campaign issues on the '06 GS 300). No really, they are fairly trouble free, and Lexus owners are a discerning bunch when it comes to the fit and finish and noises and reliability of their cars.

Sometimes a GS 400 might fall into this, it has the V8, and are comparatively rare. Car & Driver named them 10 Best from 1998-2000, as a plus. Cons are that she might be associated with an older crowd (although we had some young GS drivers), and it's looks are polarizing; some think it's weird, some think it's unique and classy. You didn't completely rule out Lexuses, so I thew that out there. It's also a little bigger (though not by much) than a C-class.

Do not bother with ES 300-330, maybe an IS 300 (old one) or IS 250-350 is more her thing, though. IS 250s are not that quick for the money, though they are feature-rich.

The Others

My brother-in-law has a G35 sedan, and 70,000 miles later, he has no issues. Nice car, better than the GS in some ways. I've nerver driven the coupe, but I tooled around in a 350Z once, on a test drive. More of an obvious sports-car flavor. Miatas are good, but an automatic just spoils that car's flavor. Sheesh, my sister even learned how to drive stick in order to enjoy one to its fullest.

The TSX is nice, ask Duke. He's the expert on that one.

Well, the Civic will save you some money compared to the rest; if she wants any performance, the 2007-Now Si is the only one that will do; two or four doors available. Maybe she'd like a VW GTI, in that case.

I drove an 2008 Jetta for a week, and it's basically a Corolla with a VW badge, save the DSG. Nothing radically special, unless you plump for the GLI model, then it becomes attractive.

I don't have any reservations on the BMW 3 series, but compared to a Lexus IS series, it's really the same car, although BMW offers more handling packages, and is a little more track-oriented. If those things do not and won't matter to her in the future, it's a push.

 

[FoolKiller]

Take the Civics out of that list and I think any of those are good choices (not that Civics are bad, but I would take any of the others over a Civic).

It is hard to say. From other comments you have made about your wife I woudl guess that she is not typical of stereotyped blonde girls in their 20's in SoCal, what with a brain and all.

I have had personal experience with the G35 Sedan, A4, TSX, and Miata (although not hardtop). I could easily recommend any of them from my brief interactions. Preference will be up to her, of course.

I will take a wild guess a VW Eos is out? 07's can run under $25,000 and have retractable hard tops. Hurm, Edmunds only lists manuals, so likely not.

 

[Leonidae]

Don't even consider Boxsters, unless you can shell out 15k for engine replacement. as much as 20% of Boxsters and 996s with M96 will eventually suffer engine failure in one form or another.

 

[Stotty]

Don't even consider Boxsters, unless you can shell out 15k for engine replacement. as much as 20% of Boxsters and 996s with M96 will eventually suffer engine failure in one form or another.

Where on earth did you get that statistic from?

To quote Hartech - one of the biggest and most respected independent Porsche specialists in the UK (note, I say independent, not a Porsche dealer)...

"Of our local regular customers the only 996 engine problem we have encountered was a broken valve spring (so not actually a full engine rebuild) and the only Boxster engine problem that required a rebuild was caused by some previous work that had been done poorly elsewhere beforehand. Other local cars had a snapped timing chain (relatively easy to fix) and we have had a few that were smoking badly and condemned as knackered elsewhere that we fixed without even stripping the engines. I believe that RSJ also reported a relatively small number of failed engines recently.

As a result our records show that of our local regular customers with 996's only 0.24% have had any slight engine problems and 0.87% gearbox problems - i.e. a lower ratio than all the previous models (and we use these statistics when costing our Maintenance Plan and hence its low cost &#8211; we are not stupid!)."

 

[Keef]

Don't get a Del Sol. It wasn't until I got my Si that I realized how terrible a car the Del Sol is. Horrible. Don't even consider it. Edit your post and take it off your list.

EDIT:

Barely following here. The CC is the coupe convertible (looked it up), the Mk2 Focus is a Ford Focus that isn't sold here (looked it up) - so I don't really know if that's a bad thing.

Are you saying it has reliability issues? Or you like that option.

Famine is saying that the PRHT is too heavy, too refined, and too sloppy. Because it has become refined and "comfy" it has lost all it's Miata-ness, making it pointless. Might as well buy an SLK. But anyway, who actually calls a Miata an MX-5? People do that? Weird.

My contribution to your list:

The GTI engine and DSG; typical SoCal paint colors plus a couple girlie selections; beige, gray, or black two-tone interior leather; available park-distance thingie for blondes packaged with must-have SoCal xenon headlights with "Adaptive Front lighting System" to SoCal brag to her SoCal friends; numerous wheel design and color options, including two very SoCal 18s; interior upgrades like an iPod interface, DVD nav, and premium stereo (drat, the nav removes the stereo and iPod--so the nav is out for lack of SoCal), floor mats, trunk liner, and a VERY SoCal price tag.














$40,019......Brah.

So, that's way out of the game. Never mind. Just wanted to illustrate how much VWs cost these days and poke fun at SoCal a lil' bit.

 

[Leonidae]

Where on earth did you get that statistic from?

google Boxster engine failure, and you start seeing horror stories and estimate of 20%. and if I understood right, early Boxsters shared engine design etc with 996. It's been bigger issue in US than in Europe.

 

[Philly]

I'll second the whole line of VWs and the S2000 and the Boxster. Engine failures? Fixed for MY 2000, so that wouldn't be a issue if you can find newer ones.

 

[Danoff]

It's a retractable hardtop:

I'm quite confident the looks will kill it, but I'll mention it.

Z4 coupe? I'm not sure how much they are over there.

I spotted one on autotrader for $28k. That's a bit higher than I wanted to go - but I'm surprised that they're in the ballpark. It's tempting to me, I'll see if I can tempt her.

Have you considered the Acura TL? I'm almost positive they'd be in the budget.

She's leaning away from the larger cars. TSX is probably about as big as she wants to go.

What does she have against the 3er?

She's been driving a very boring "everyone has them" car all her life. She wants to drive something slightly less common. 3-series are everywhere here.

Edit2: I know it might be a stretch, but how about an automatic Cobalt SS? They lose about 30 peak horsepower from the manual, but will be within budget and still be a damn good sport compact for the price.

I'll add it to the list.

Okay, I can offer a little Audi advice:

Audi A4 (This is also called the B7 ?)

Avoid getting a FronTrac CVT A4 2.0 car, since the transmissions have issues, make noises, and customers generally didn't like them. Most 2.0-liter front-wheel drive A4s were CVTs, so be on the lookout for that. There's no exterior badging to let you know the difference, but you'll feel the difference once you drive it, because you won't feel any upshifts/downshifts. Maybe she'll like the CVT, but they did have issues, and I replaced roughly one a month for Audi customers because they (the car) acted weird.

Now 2006-2008 2.0 A4s (both quattros and non-quattros) with DSG automatics are some of the best there are; quick up and down shifts, and they usually have the paddle shifters, which actually allow you to step in at any time and override the automatic settings. The DSG tranny is the best of both worlds, since your intended choice must be automatic.

The performance difference from a 2.0L I4 turbo to the 3.0-3.2 liter V6 is negligible, at best. See for yourself.

The S-line trim package have extra visible features, but no added performance benefits other than available 17"-18" tires.

1) Look out of transmission issues on CVTs, avoid CVTs altogether, in my opinion.

2) 2007-2008 2.0-liter A4s may have oil leaks and also oil pressure issues. I no longer work for Audi, but this was a big issue with their cars; low oil levels and pressures were detected. Non resulted in a dead motor, or anything catastrophic, but a few had oil leaks that were probably related to it. The funny thing was, most people who really drove their cars hard never had this issue, so said the owners. There may be a fix by now, since people were infuriated with this problem, which was also on 3.0 V6 Q7s, oddly enough.

Interior surfaces are generally good; leather seat trim holds up pretty good compared to a lot of other cars I've seen. But there's three common issues that go wrong, most well before the warranty has expired:

1) The A/C and radio buttons have a painted surface that peels within the first 3 years and 30,000 miles on every car, so if you're within the 4 years/50,000 miles of ownership, the dealer will replace the console for free.

2) The glovebox lid my not close, or not open.

3) Center armrest lid has a habit of breaking off.

If she wants the convertible, the top is always problematic in this car. They leak and tear easily, especially around the rear glass window. They are not cheap to replace, either.

Audi TT

I'm assuming you mean the 1999-2006 model years. They are fussy cars, and can be expensive to maintain. The steering is a lot heavier than you think, so it's not the "chick" car that everyone imagines it to be. The interior is a little quirky-shaped, with little room for much of anything to stash things.

They can be expensive to maintain, but I had several that were over 100,000 miles. The owners were a dedicated bunch, much like the original Lexus SC owners.

Get to know a technician at an non-Audi shop that knows German cars, if you're out of warranty.

Alternate Suggestion

I'm going to throw a late-2nd-generation or even 3rd-gen Lexus GS 300 into this mix: Not the most powerful of things, but you have a C230 and TSX on the board, so it has much power as they do. Good chassis response, they're absolutely bulletproof in terms of reliability inside and out (a few early factory campaign issues on the '06 GS 300). No really, they are fairly trouble free, and Lexus owners are a discerning bunch when it comes to the fit and finish and noises and reliability of their cars.

Sometimes a GS 400 might fall into this, it has the V8, and are comparatively rare. Car & Driver named them 10 Best from 1998-2000, as a plus. Cons are that she might be associated with an older crowd (although we had some young GS drivers), and it's looks are polarizing; some think it's weird, some think it's unique and classy. You didn't completely rule out Lexuses, so I thew that out there. It's also a little bigger (though not by much) than a C-class.

Do not bother with ES 300-330, maybe an IS 300 (old one) or IS 250-350 is more her thing, though. IS 250s are not that quick for the money, though they are feature-rich.

The Others

My brother-in-law has a G35 sedan, and 70,000 miles later, he has no issues. Nice car, better than the GS in some ways. I've nerver driven the coupe, but I tooled around in a 350Z once, on a test drive. More of an obvious sports-car flavor. Miatas are good, but an automatic just spoils that car's flavor. Sheesh, my sister even learned how to drive stick in order to enjoy one to its fullest.

The TSX is nice, ask Duke. He's the expert on that one.

Well, the Civic will save you some money compared to the rest; if she wants any performance, the 2007-Now Si is the only one that will do; two or four doors available. Maybe she'd like a VW GTI, in that case.

I drove an 2008 Jetta for a week, and it's basically a Corolla with a VW badge, save the DSG. Nothing radically special, unless you plump for the GLI model, then it becomes attractive.

I don't have any reservations on the BMW 3 series, but compared to a Lexus IS series, it's really the same car, although BMW offers more handling packages, and is a little more track-oriented. If those things do not and won't matter to her in the future, it's a push.

Thanks for the detailed writeup! I'll be on the lookout for those things. The A4 is an early favorite.

Sheesh, my sister even learned how to drive stick in order to enjoy one to its fullest.

The sad part is that she knows how to drive a stick. She just doesn't want to do it.

Don't get a Del Sol. It wasn't until I got my Si that I realized how terrible a car the Del Sol is. Horrible. Don't even consider it. Edit your post and take it off your list.

I'm hoping the test drive will prevent all future discussions about how cute the Del Sol is.

My contribution to your list:

The GTI engine and DSG; typical SoCal paint colors plus a couple girlie selections; beige, gray, or black two-tone interior leather; available park-distance thingie for blondes packaged with must-have SoCal xenon headlights with "Adaptive Front lighting System" to SoCal brag to her SoCal friends; numerous wheel design and color options, including two very SoCal 18s; interior upgrades like an iPod interface, DVD nav, and premium stereo (drat, the nav removes the stereo and iPod--so the nav is out for lack of SoCal), floor mats, trunk liner, and a VERY SoCal price tag.














$40,019......Brah.

Ouch.

The convertible is not really a plus in any case. She doesn't want one, but sometimes it can be hard to find a small sporty car without looking at them - which is why the miata is on the list.


Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I think we've got an incredible amount of test driving to do. This is going to be a very long car purchase.

 

[Stotty]

google Boxster engine failure, and you start seeing horror stories and estimate of 20%. and if I understood right, early Boxsters shared engine design etc with 996. It's been bigger issue in US than in Europe.

Do you believe everything you read on the internet and then just spout it out as fact?

If Porsche had suffered 20% engine failures on the 996 and Boxter they'd have gone bankrupt through warantee claims long before they made a fortune out of the Cayenne and out hedging the hedgies with VW shares.

BTW, I have a 10" willy, obviously true coz it's on t'internet... feel free to tell any women you know.

 

[Leonidae]

[OT]Of course they have replaced most of the engines where the flaw occurred, but not all of them. One of the unlucky owners said that getting Porsche to admit these failures is bit like trying to get the Germans to talk about WWII and Hitler. There's always a bit of truth even in the internet, and this case is probably bit like GT-R transmission issue, blown out of proportions. but, that is irrelevant to this topic..[/OT]

 

[Pupik]

If Porsche had suffered 20% engine failures on the 996 and Boxter they'd have gone bankrupt through warantee claims long before they made a fortune out of the Cayenne and out hedging the hedgies with VW shares.

I worked next to a Porsche dealer (same owner), and the Porsche service advisors never spoke much about Boxster engine issues. I was wondering about one, for future reference (maybe 5-10 years down the road), and although I heard on one guy calling CarTalk about a Boxter's engine making odd noises, it wasn't a regular issue, the advisors said to me. But batteries were $400!

An engine issue was rare, but it did occur (some guys race the 'dern things, ya know?). But my guess is that a certain batch of parts was bad, at worst. It happens to all automakers.

On the other hand, Porsche "knows" the average owner can afford an out-of-warranty hit like that, and still buy another Porsche in the future. Most other marques aren't lucky to have that kind of disposable income combined with strong brand-loyalty.

 

[Leonidae]

The engine issue seems to be mostly about the 2.5l engine, thus, the older Boxsters before the engine update suffered from poor engine castings which resulted as loss of oil pressure etc etc..

 

[Famine]

Barely following here. The CC is the coupe convertible (looked it up), the Mk2 Focus is a Ford Focus that isn't sold here (looked it up) - so I don't really know if that's a bad thing.

Are you saying it has reliability issues? Or you like that option.

If you're after a sharp-handling, RWD little box of fun, getting a Mk3 MX-5 will be an error. But if you're after a comfy, RWD little box of joy which also handles quite well, getting a Mk3 MX-5 will be just fine. And it'll be reliable and dependable and lots of other words ending in -ble.

It's just not quite an MX-5. But that's not a bad thing unless you're specifically looking for an MX-5.


Okay, that doesn't make much sense, I'll concede. But she'll love it. I wouldn't, Milford wouldn't, but she probably would.

 

[McLaren]

Well, the Civic will save you some money compared to the rest; if she wants any performance, the 2007-Now Si is the only one that will do; two or four doors available. Maybe she'd like a VW GTI, in that case.

Si won't work, mate. Stick.


Dan, I would choose either of the Infiniti G's. Nice cars. I'd mimic Eric on the TL, but my bias would say go for the S which may be just a tad out of your range. I like the base TL's, but modding them would become a priority. Of course, your case is different, so consider Eric's suggestion. She may like it. TSX isn't bad either.

 

[Danoff]

If you're after a sharp-handling, RWD little box of fun, getting a Mk3 MX-5 will be an error. But if you're after a comfy, RWD little box of joy which also handles quite well, getting a Mk3 MX-5 will be just fine. And it'll be reliable and dependable and lots of other words ending in -ble.

It's just not quite an MX-5. But that's not a bad thing unless you're specifically looking for an MX-5.


Okay, that doesn't make much sense, I'll concede. But she'll love it. I wouldn't, Milford wouldn't, but she probably would.

So your problem with it is handling/weight concessions made for comfort...

Yea I imagine she'll want the comfort. She's not super interested in performance. We'll see how the test drive goes...

 

[Famine]

Kinda. It diverted from the MX-5 ethos a bit - it gained some weight (the Mk4 is alleged to shed it) and that meant bigger, more powerful engines (which also helped with the current "Ooooh, carbons!" whining, in that the lazier engines made for better 56mph cruising fuel economy). It's also a little tall from the factory (fixed with the Eibach suspension options) and the wheels are, as with everything these days, stupidly large.

Basically, if you're in the market for "an MX-5", the Mk3 isn't the car for you.

BUT it meets your criteria perfectly and, while not as sharp as the older cars, still gives most other vehicles a handling lesson. So while "it's not really an MX-5" is a huge drawback for MX-5ers like us, that's not a consideration from your point of view and should be discarded.

The Ford underpinnings lend value, reliability and ease/cheapness of replacement. So again, while that's a complaint from our point of view ("It's just a backwards Focus!") it's a non-issue from yours. Or even a plus!


Incidentally, I mentioned this to Mrs. Famine. I said "Mrs. Danoff is after a Mk3 MX-5." and she said "Noooo! Get a Mk2!" until I told her the requirements. She then said "I suppose she could do worse. Much worse."

 

[Danoff]

Kinda. It diverted from the MX-5 ethos a bit - it gained some weight (the Mk4 is alleged to shed it) and that meant bigger, more powerful engines (which also helped with the current "Ooooh, carbons!" whining, in that the lazier engines made for better 56mph cruising fuel economy). It's also a little tall from the factory (fixed with the Eibach suspension options) and the wheels are, as with everything these days, stupidly large.

Basically, if you're in the market for "an MX-5", the Mk3 isn't the car for you.

BUT it meets your criteria perfectly and, while not as sharp as the older cars, still gives most other vehicles a handling lesson. So while "it's not really an MX-5" is a huge drawback for MX-5ers like us, that's not a consideration from your point of view and should be discarded.

The Ford underpinnings lend value, reliability and ease/cheapness of replacement. So again, while that's a complaint from our point of view ("It's just a backwards Focus!") it's a non-issue from yours. Or even a plus!


Incidentally, I mentioned this to Mrs. Famine. I said "Mrs. Danoff is after a Mk3 MX-5." and she said "Noooo! Get a Mk2!" until I told her the requirements. She then said "I suppose she could do worse. Much worse."

Thanks for the explanation. She's definitely not a purist. What about this part?

I have to have a reasonable amount of assurance that she's not going to die in it.

I know someone personally who sustained severe permanent brain damage in a miata accident and have had something of a (probably unreasonable) safety stigma against them ever since. Any thoughts?

 

[FoolKiller]

Basically, if you're in the market for "an MX-5", the Mk3 isn't the car for you.

Are you back on your fun vs tool kick?

Thanks for the explanation. She's definitely not a purist.

At least she likes something remotely nice. My wife got a Yaris. Everytime I drive the thing I feel like a piece of my soul has been cut off.

I know someone personally who sustained severe permanent brain damage in a miata accident and have had something of a (probably unreasonable) safety stigma against them ever since. Any thoughts?

If safety is a huge issue I would definitely check out some VWs. A guy I work with, during our recent ice storm, failed to stop his Jetta and slid into highway traffic. His car is totalled and he doesn't have a mark on him.

Not to mention the insurance savings that came with my VW. Liberty Mutual even has a special savings program for 09 VW owners, according to Das Auto magazine.

 

[YSSMAN]

Okay, its not the best idea but stay with me...

2009 Pontiac G6 GTP Convertible

1) Retractable hard top
2) The rear seats hold stuff
3) Overall, pretty reliable car
4) CHEAP!

MSRP should run you about $30K, but I'm willing to bet that in these crazy times you could easily knock $7-10K off the sticker price and still come out "ahead" with the five year warranty and the knowledge that ladies like these cars. A lot.

Hell, it being California, I bet you can find '08 models that they're pleading with people to get off the lot (regular coupes and sedans too)... They'll probably give you a nearly-loaded GT or GTP model for well under $25K without any problem at all. OnStar, XM radio, leather seats, five year warranty, and all that jazz; A tough deal to beat.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

...Otherwise...

2007+ Lincoln MKZ

1) Its one of the top-rated cars in quality and reliability right now
2) The used car market has been good on resale values, you can find them for well under $25K right now without too many miles
3) Its actually a very nice place to be, and thats not being nice just because its an American car
4) I'd drive one, so you know its cool!

 

[Azuremen]

Eeewwww, automatic? Make her learn to drive stick

Honestly though, a lot of those smaller cars lose a lot of feel when you go over to the automatic. I'd suggest a 2005 Celica GT-S, but with an automatic would be dull. Still, females seem to like how they look. Then there is the Civic Si, and so on.

With an auto, V6 or turbo 4 cylinder is at least required, if just so you have enough torque to make up for the automatic's feel.

On the safety stigma with a roadster, roll bar helps a lot. Something I need to get for my MR-S before I kill myself with it. Actually, that makes me think. You could probably find an 05 MR2 Spyder with the 6 speed SMT. Driver still has to hit the paddles to shift, but no clutch to work with.