quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

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Originally posted by Gustofer:

Get yourself a restored muscle car. They can easily be found in your price range. They are classics, you can work on them easily if need be, and they really are historic.

Had one... a '73 Dodge Challenger. They can be a money pit. Mine certainly was.

Agreed, even when they were in their hey day.

They look good but that's about it. They aren't that fast, poor breaking, and evil handing compared to today's cars. If you buy one that has been "modernized" they are going to be made of hard to find parts and totally untested computer systems with untested sensors. Today's cars will drag those old bitch muscle cars down to the river, wrap an extension cord around their necks, and drown them. Oh, don't forget about emission standards, many states have them.

Out of your budget, but I like the newer Corvette Grand Sport. Like many car mag writers, I would choose that over the current Z06, which reportedly has overheating issues, and a lot of power to control. GS has the same awesome suspension with 450 hp, which is plenty.

New Camaro ZL1 also has that megnetorheological suspension. But....for $65 k +/-

For an older sports car I have thought about a Porsche 996, either turbo, or NA and swap out the main shaft bearing.

Charger/Challenger Hellcat...707hp. Granted out of your price range but worth the extra expense.

Miata.

I'd go with a Subaru WRX STi with a big ole wing hanging off the trunk.

Only old men buy and drive corvettes.

Don't believe me? Look at who's driving them (and not the replies to this response).

Geez, I am kinda in your boat too. I'm hoping to retire in March and am looking for a toy also. I have looked at some used Corvettes but I have never been a Corvette guy. I really like the newer Challengers and Camaros. I've also been looking at a 60's muscle car but in the end its still a 50 something year old car. At this point I'll just keep looking.

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Only old men buy and drive corvettes.

So who else can afford them?

Have you test driven a Viper? How big are your feet? I drove a 2005 and I had to take my shoes off (size 12.5) or I couldn’t fit them under there to manipulate the pedals. For me any mid life crisis mobile needs to be a convertible. How much are you looking to spend? Have you looked at the BMW Z4M. It’s a rocket and low mileage examples can be had for $20-25k. They are getting scarce and will be only going up in price.



My weekend car is tamer but still a lot of fun at 305hp.

Very cool, Dusty

As others have said, a good used Vette is the way to go. A decent C7 may even be in your price range.

I’m currently on my 4th Corvette, of which the first three were my daily drivers. My first was a red 78, my second was a Torch Red 97 C5 coupe, my third was a silver base model 09, and now I have a Longbeach Red Metallic 16, but that one barely makes it out of the garage.

Between the C5 and the C6, both are good cars and you can’t go wrong if you start with a solid used model. Of the two, I’d pick the C6 for what you gain in reliability and parts availability, but I think the C5 is a much prettier vehicle and it’s also a bit more forgiving when driving the car like it’s meant to be driven.

Of the C5’s, get the lowest mileage, latest model year you can afford. Vehicles before 2001 had some oddities in terms of electronic modules that aren’t forward compatible, and tended to go bad due to corrosion because of their location in the vehicle. Fortunately, it’s a very easy car to do a lot of maintenance on in the drive way.

I’ve had the LS1 down as far as removing the intake manifold (a 6 hour job) to replace the knock sensors (they go bad due to poor drainage). There can also be a lot of electrical gremlins, which are mostly prevalent in early model years. Things such as hazard switches, brake light switches, blinker relays, and many other nusciance items had gone bad over the years I owned that car. As far as the brake issue, it’s an electronic module under the drivers side frame rail that goes. There’s a company out in the Midwest that repairs them for 300 bucks or so, but new modules are available for 700ish if that’s the route you want to take. You can still drive the car safely with the module removed, you just won’t have abs and tcs. Keep in mind, all of the issues I had were over the course of 160,000 miles of driving.

The C6 is a reliable beast, and over the 100k I put on mine, I changed brakes, tires, oil, and spark plugs. Fortunately, plugs in the 6 are easier to change than in the 5, which requires a fancy socket tool and triple jointed arms.

In terms of driving, the C5 was more forgiving in that it’d let you know when you were about to get into trouble. Where the C5 will start to slide a little before it let loose, the 6 will go straight from confident traction to wild oversteer in a heartbeat if you’re screwing around with the traction control off.

Both cars are easy and cheap to change brakes on, and both cars suffer from the need to live on a battery tender. As far as interiors, the C6 was marginally better than the C5, but not enough to be the determining factor. Also, keep in mind that when buying used, make sure you’re getting a car from someone who babied it if you’re going with the manual transmission. A clutch change will cost north of 3 grand, as the entire exhaust, rear suspension, and transmission needs to be removed in order to do so.

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Originally posted by kr350psd:

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Only old men buy and drive corvettes.

So who else can afford them?

People with good jobs? I’ve always owned a corvette since I was 18 (I’m 32 now) and what made it affordable was the fact that because mostly old men owned them, the insurance premium was less than half that of a Mustang or Camaro. That more than offset the cost of a slightly higher car payment and made a Y body far more affordable than the same model year f body or s car.

Think you should at least drive a Mustang. You might appreciate the extra room and better visibility. You can mix/match the year and type to your budget. A clean GT500 from 2010-2014 would be cool or a newer GT. Boss 302 from 2013 too.

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Originally posted by AirmanJeff:

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Porsche Cayman S. Find a nice low mileage 6 cylinder.

I'd love a Cayman. Unfortunately I want to keep this car for several years and I just don't know if I could afford the maintenance long term. But my uncle has one and it's an amazing machine.

They are very reliable. Some think the Porsche is hell on maintenance. They are actually built remarkably well.

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After test driving damn near everything on the market (US, European, and Pacific Rim offerings) in early 2003 I found the high revving Honda S2000 to provide the purest enthusiast driving experience coupled with an exceptional reliability record.

My choice as well. I don't fit in a Miata, and the S2000 has a lot more power and a stiff chassis. I liked the high revs of my 2001 AP1 but prefer in my old age the greater comfort of my 2005 AP2. It's fun just going to the store for milk; on a back road it's a blast.
On the freeway...not so much.

I'd take Dusty's BMW over both choices you listed.

Dusty, that's a nice looking Z4. The changes are subtle to the untrained eye but the Z4 has really progressed to a gorgeous car compared to the earlier versions.

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Originally posted by stickman428:
I'd go with a Subaru WRX STi with a big ole wing hanging off the trunk.

That's exactly what I would would get in that price range. I need the backseats for kids

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:

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Originally posted by AirmanJeff:

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Porsche Cayman S. Find a nice low mileage 6 cylinder.

I'd love a Cayman. Unfortunately I want to keep this car for several years and I just don't know if I could afford the maintenance long term. But my uncle has one and it's an amazing machine.

They are very reliable. Some think the Porsche is hell on maintenance. They are actually built remarkably well.

After taking some time to get past the hyped fear, this is exactly the car (2015 GTS) we got to kill that itch (likely one last time) and have plans to keep it long term.

Maintenance is actually pretty cheap on these cars, and the basics CAN be done by a semi-competent owner.

Sure, if something very specific to the car goes wrong it may be pricy to fix if you can't source parts outside of OEM or have an indy perform. But that does seem to be really more rare than people think, and I can plan around a $3-4K hit every couple/three years in years 5-15. Way cheaper than chasing a newer replacement every 3-5 years as well.

For example, I just had the DSC control unit replaced in our M3. Not a lot of reliable options other than dealer, unless you want to pull out and send to some shop in CA to rebuild and still have to pay someone to program after install what is now an uncertain part. Yes, that was $3,200 all in. Yes also, this is on a 2008 M3 and is literally the first repair I've paid for.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Dusty, that's a nice looking Z4. The changes are subtle to the untrained eye but the Z4 has really progressed to a gorgeous car compared to the earlier versions.

I was never a fan of the Z3 but I always thought the original Z4 was an attractive car. I had a 2003 and it was great. Lighter then the new one and plenty fast. Both the e85/e86 and the e89 Z4’s have great legroom compared to the Miata, Z3, etc...