BigTyla goes car shopping!

[IPD]

veloster turbo.

[R/T93]

veloster turbo.

So you could own one of the worst rated "hot hatch" available?

From the phone.

[BigTyla]

My sister had an RX8, nothing but a POS.

You said Corvette, have you thought about adding a CTS-V to that list?

It is actually on my list, but apparently I forgot to post it.

Re RX8: thought about test driving it just to give it a shot, but I'm not a fan of them at all.

Re Chevy Volt: honestly not what I'm after. I'd rather just continue to drive the Explorer as a daily than do that since it's paid off anyway. This car is for me to have fun in and do it reliably.

Re Veloster Turbo: do not want, even with a 20 yr/200k mile warranty.

[AdamVR4]

veloster turbo.

How did you end up owning a 3S with such terrible taste? Does not compute.

[vroom4]

Mazdaspeed 3.


/standard plug.

[BigTyla]

Copypasta from me addressing a local forum that I'm also sharing this experience with:

...if I were to buy an FR-S though, I'd want to ride the warranty as long as possible. Would I be able to leave the motor alone for five years? With my DSM in the stable, it is possible, but then again, it keeps getting harder and harder to find the time to work on it, so that has to be a consideration as well.

With the Evo, I get a car that is pretty much out of warranty but is typically reliable and very fast with a simple tune and exhaust work. That said, cost will likely come to only a little less ($1-2k tops) than a new FR-S, and the car would attract a TON of unwanted attention wherever I go.

The Mustang gives insane bang for buck value, but it will cost about $31-32k for a new one with the Track Pack, and while it handles okay I couldn't help but feel a lack of connection with the car. It felt pretty heavy, but is that something that you get used to after awhile? Would this honestly be a good car to autocross?

And of course, if I'm honestly considering an FR-S, I HAVE to look at an S2000. It's basically the same car only without a roof and a little faster in the straights. You can get one under 60k miles for $16-19k, so at the highest range you're saving $6k compared to the FR-S but missing a warranty. That said, the S2000 is damn near bulletproof and is a track monster.

I'm actually leaning more toward the $30k max range now. I could afford a Z06/CTS-V/etc right now but I'd really like to put that extra savings toward the house for the time being.

To be honest, it's really the Evo and FR-S above everything else right now. When I drove the Evo, there was something in me that said "this is the car." The power, the handling, the looks - it has the perfect balance of everything. Then I drove the FR-S and put it at a very close second, but it's a car I would be happy to own. To be honest, the big thing keeping the FR-S close to the Evo is the warranty. Similar price to the Evo but with five years of replacing anything that breaks? That's hard to pass up for someone that wants to do as little maintenance to his next car purchase as possible.

[AdamVR4]

We did the minimum warranty on our FR-S (3 yr / 36K) because, as the wife told the finance guy at Scion, "This will be a fun car that we modify." I think they had warranty options up to 10 years, but I didn't pay much attention to it.

I wouldn't be able to justify another Mitsu. A dealer supposedly just set up shop in Austin again, but since we didn't even have a dealer here for ~3 years, I'm not optimistic about Mitsu's future support of its cars.

[IPD]

How did you end up owning a 3S with such terrible taste? Does not compute.

if you're assuming i have terrible taste, then yes, it makes perfect sense.

[whitedragon]

Whatever you get, make sure it has a 2JZ! Those are so reliable, you won't even need a warranty.

[BigTyla]

We did the minimum warranty on our FR-S (3 yr / 36K) because, as the wife told the finance guy at Scion, "This will be a fun car that we modify." I think they had warranty options up to 10 years, but I didn't pay much attention to it.

I wouldn't be able to justify another Mitsu. A dealer supposedly just set up shop in Austin again, but since we didn't even have a dealer here for ~3 years, I'm not optimistic about Mitsu's future support of its cars.

Doesn't it also come with a 5 yr/60k mile on the powertrain? I would also eschew the extended warranty.

Regarding Mitsubishi in general, I understand and share your concern. There isn't a Mitsubishi dealership within 2.5 hours of me, and the Evo is so rare around these parts that if it breaks, I'm on my own. That's a big consideration for me to keep in mind.