Hope this is the right place to post this… 
As some of you may have read in the Pit, I was in a car accident. I’ve yet to find out if my car is totalled, but- for fun’s sake- I’ve started looking into new cars. I’ll find out Monday for sure, but my car was in pretty bad shape.
So, I have turned to my favorite people in the world 
to help give me ideas for new cars.
Some info:
*My car I got in the accident with was a 2004 Honda Accord LX- it was a lease
*We’ll probably lease again- so if you know of anywhere with good deals right now, feel free to share.
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The Accord is BIG. Not that I want a small car (and after the accident I’m sure my dad doesn’t want me to have a small car), but maybe a slightly smaller car. The same size is fine too I reckon.
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My monthly payment on the Accord was $225. I think overall the car is valued at $24,000? Something within that range would be nice.
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I was the primary signer, but my dad had his business co-sign (he owns his own business)
So Dopers, help!
Having driven an accord for many years, I recently test drove a Mazada 626. Felt about the same size, but seems alot sportier. s Sport edition will run MSRP 24,000 ish.
Drive ALL of these before coming to a decision. They’re all slightly smaller than the Accord. Don’t bother if that dealer can’t supply a manual-box car for a test drive - you don’t want to deal with him
In rough order of merit,
- Subaru Impreza WRX
- Mazda6s
- A 3-year-old BMW 330i
- Dodge SRT-4
- Mazdaspeed Protege (some left on dealers’ lots - and it was discontinued two years ago. likely to be VERY cheap)
- Nissan Altima 3.5SE
- Toyota Celica GT-S (ok, a lot smaller, but it’s a go-kart and they haven’t sold well so this one should be cheap as well)
These cars are all a few thousand less (330i, 6s, WRX, SRT4, Altima) or a heck of a lot less (Protege, Celica).
If you can find an older BMW M3 or Volvo 850/S70 Turbo, go with that instead.
Twenty grand is also marginally 964 911 money as well. Anything you lose on servicing costs you’ll make up in depreciation - because there won’t be any on an older Porsche.
We have a 2000 BMW Z3 which is always insanely expensive to repair. It needs repairs few and far between, but when it does- it’s almost always upwards of $1000. So, even though BMW’s are good cars- the price to fix them simply isn’t worth it.
Great ideas though! Thank you guys! I think I’m going to go wander the automall today and look around.
Well, maybe it is…
Say you buy a new Toyota (expensive to own, cheap to maintain) for $20,000 tomorrow. It costs less than $2500 to maintain and repair over the five years you owned it. At the end of five years, you sell it for $7500. It has thus cost you $15,000 in depreciation and maintenence.
Say you buy an old Porsche 911 (cheap to own, expensive to maintain) for $20,000 tomorrow. Unfortunately for you, it turns out to be a real shitter and you spend $5000 on an engine top-end rebuild the first year, $2000 to replace a bunch of electronics the second year, and $1500 per year on other minor maintenence over the five years. At the end of its time with you, you sell it for $19,500 (not a bad bet - a decent 911SC is worth the $13,000 it was worth a decade ago). It also cost you $15,000 in depreciation and maintenence.
PS: The real bargain on that list is the Mazdaspeed Protege. If you can find a new one mouldering on a dealer’s lot you could own one of the greatest drivers’ cars ever sold in America for under $15,000.
PPS: Don’t buy a car this month. Rent one, or buy a $500 clunker and run it for the rest of the month. It takes an honest two weekends to find the right new car; it takes a couple months and some luck to get the right used one.