Help my friend find a car.

  • Thread starter Thread starter phillgt2002
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phillgt2002

phillgt2002

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Well this is the scenario.

My friend recently moved to California, and is working for his cousin. His cousin is loaning him $15,000 to get a car.

Here is the catch.

Quoted from my friend "My cousin is only buying me a car to make me look good in California"

His cousin wants the car to be somewhat modern, sleek, and probably foreign.

Fire away with some suggestions.
 
For 10K, you can get a 2006 or 2007 Miata. That leaves 5K for wider rims, wider tires and a suspension upgrade. It won't be the fastest car around. But it will drive and handle better than an 80K Porsche. And not to mention ... convertible. You can turn these cars into track monsters without too much money.

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I'd probably say an MX-5 or similar.

Alternatively, $15k should get a one owner and/or low mileage example of a BMW Z4. 2.5 or 3.0L, doesn't matter really as the Z4's more for the cruising type than the racing.
 
Yeah, when in doubt, if you're looking for a car that is fun to drive, inexpensive, easy to work on and has lots of customization options then go to your local autocross and just see what everyone is driving. Every car that I can think of to recommend will be represented. S2000s. WRX. Miata. MR2. 350Z. Etc.
 
If appearing to have money is a form of looking good, then a pre-facelift ($15k doesn't quite buy a low mileage post-facelift yet) LS430 is a good choice. From my experiences, a twelve year old Lexus makes people think you're made of money.

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Hell for that kind of money you get one badass classic muscle car.
 
Any six cylinder E36, an M3 if he could afford run and insure it.
 
What does he plan to do with this car? Does he do his own maintenance? Does he plan to modify the car? What does his commute look like? Will this car need to transport objects and/or upwards of 2 people?

If you just give people a number they'll just tell you what they would buy. Whether their suggestions are any good depend on the slim chance your needs are similar.
 
In other words, his cousin wants him to get a car that'll make him look trendy, fashion-conscious, uppity, and generally uncool.

Tell him him his best move is to buy an old muscle car and install Cherry Bomb mufflers, to annoy said cousin with deliciously lower-class V8 noise.
 
@White & Nerdy He needs something to make him look cool, and that will be nice to own and use. As has been previously proved, your opinion of cool is pretty much opposite that of most people.

A Lexus or Jag would certainly work well, though the Lexus would be much more reliable. I don't thin of the G35 as much of a status car, but I suppose a 350Z could work.
 
Well most of the problem here is wanting a foreign car just to show off. First, owning a foreign car isn't really special anymore. Second, you're showing off status, not performance - the intended effect on passerby is "wow, that looks expensive", not "wow, that looks fast".

So, double uncool.

Of course, there is still the image problem with just about any car that fits his cousin's apparent conditions.
 
I'm going to try to nip this one before it hijacks phill's thread.

Discussions between the majority of GTP members and W&N about what constitutes a good/cool/desirable car never get anywhere. This will be no exception.
 
One day, a thread in this sub forum might manage to get by without being completely derailed by this nonsense.

Today, clearly - isn't that day.
 
White & Nerdy
Well most of the problem here is wanting a foreign car just to show off. First, owning a foreign car isn't really special anymore. Second, you're showing off status, not performance - the intended effect on passerby is "wow, that looks expensive", not "wow, that looks fast".

So, double uncool.

Of course, there is still the image problem with just about any car that fits his cousin's apparent conditions.
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My ex girlfriend never believed me when I said muscle cars were all that fast until she watched me get drag raced in a 1970 Mach 1 :lol:

I agree though in part about the status thing...it's that way with too much anymore.
 
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Get a Jaguar S-Type in gold. Then get sensible chrome wheels. I saw one once, and it was easily the best customization job I have even seen... besides, of course, my own truck.
 

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