Help Low decide on a new car!

Ok so me and my mx3 have had a hell of a run together but unfortunately I think time is taking its toll on her. She has NEVER left me stranded in all 6 years that we've been together. The check engine light came on for the first time ever 2 weeks ago and I nearly crapped myself (I was beginning to wonder if it even worked). However over time she's been burning more oil, gas mileage has dropped 2mpg, starting to rust, and she doesn't have the spunk she use to. She's still a lot of fun but I think she needs to be retired from daily duty. 

So Mrs. Low said I need to look for a new car. I don't want a car payment so my price is about 6-10k. It'll probably be around later February to mid March when I actually pull the trigger.  I'm wanting something performance oriented.

I'm a hatchback kind of guy but other than the mazdaspeed 3 (having a hard time finding one in my price range)nothing in that section had really caught my eye (focus st is to die for but way out of my range).  Any suggestions that may have slipped by me? Perhaps a Volvo c30 t5?

Sportscar: I've worked on several miata over the years and really enjoy driving them but they rust so easily that I would really only drive it during the summer and in that case I'd just buy me a crotch rocket. I like the 350z but after driving 2 different ones I wasn't impressed, they seemed to lumber about and braking was excessively heavy if you even thought about getting froggy. Early 2000s corvette is on my radar too but have you seen my driving record (and that's with only 130hp on tap!)

So I'm in a dilemma guys. What should I do? This is a big commitment and I'm wanting to get it right.  Don't let Mrs. Low see this but I'm probably spending more time on this than I did deciding on asking her to marry me (but that was a no brainer am I right guys? Guys?)

I think you should try to find an E36 M3.  My mom has one and I have driven it and it is great.  Or you could even go with any E36 3 series, get it for cheap, and drop some money into that.  My grandfather ended up buying a 1994 325i for $1900.  All it needed was brakes.  Or if you want something as an all year round car, (it's another BMW but hey, they're great friggin cars!) an E46 330xi.  The AWD really makes the car quick.  Or you can go 16 year old (think like me) and get an Impreza.  S2000s are also great cars but they are somewhat difficult to find.

I guess o should have mentioned it in my first post but no bmw's, vw's, or Mitsubishis. I've worked on them all and I hate them lol. I will concede that they are nice cars (bmw and vw) they are just not my type. I would love a r32 golf but I hate working on them. Mitsubishi on the other hand, well they just suck.

Maybe a Hyundai tibouron, early to mid 2000s.  Or maybe the same years for a mustang gt (love that body style).  Or maybe for a hatchback, a late 90s/early 00s SVT focus.  My mom, being in the car business, said that you could get a relatively new Saab 9-3 turbo for about 9-10k.

You should be able to find some good WRXs near you for around 10-15K on cars.com no matter where you live. You can also find a lot of early/mid 2000's muscle cars on there for less than 10K that run well and look like they are in good shape (my dad and I bought our GTO based on what we found online for less than 9K and it was in great condition). In the Chicago area, I was able to find loads of Mustangs, GTOs, 350Zs, WRXs, and even a BMW 850 for right around 10K. I also found a few 300ZX Twin turbos and Porsche 944s for about the same price. All of these have great modifying potential if you would like to get some kind of a project car. If you would rather have a hatchback, there is certainly no shortage of Focuses out there

I also forgot to mention that it will likely be very difficult to find an early 2000's Corvette for less than 15K. If you want to go the corvette route and don't want to spend quite a bit of money on it, you will most likely end up with a C4 corvette which is..... pretty damn shitty to say the least. That being said, I would highly recommend looking for either a Mustang or a GTO because they give you the most value for your money and there is always something you can upgrade with them for a rather small amount of money

Red Sniper 213 wrote:S2000s are also great cars but they are somewhat difficult to find.

I am rapid-posting here now haha.

As for the above quote, I tried looking for an S2000 when I was looking to get a project car, but the cheapest one I was able to find in any of the states around me was right around 15K. It will be very hard to find one of these for a good price

I remember hearing somewhere that Mustangs have one of the biggest aftermarkets in the world.  With the 98-04 Mustang had the 4.6 liter V8, which sounded really good but you couldn't get a lot of power out of it.  But I think that it was one the best looking Mustangs.  According to KBB, you can get an 02 GT Deluxe for around $5300 from a private party or $7200 for retail in good condition.

I love the looks of the c30. I saw one all decked out in a parking lot and fell in love. Its to bad about vw's, cause one of my thoughts was maybe a golf gti vr6. late 90's? you can find them cheap and get a lot of HP. Only thing is that they are FWD. Of course you could look into the ford focus V8. There are some out there.

There is a current obsession with more and more power with today's newer cars.  That is possible due to all of the electronic nannies keeping everything in check.  Take an older (~10 years or older) and start upgrading it, you can very quickly undermine the more primitive electro-nannies...

Get the Speed3...  But pick up the gen1..  It's the best one..  Lots of possibilities there and you'd be hard pressed to make the MX3 comparable for the same price...  Go with suspension, wheels/tires and brakes first...  Then hit the engine with high flow cat, sport exhaust, cold air intake, aftermarket blow-off valve and a custom tune....  After that, you could change out the intercooler and injectors, but the engine is pretty frigging solid as is..

That said, a Miata would be GREAT as long as it's a track-day/cruise with the wife car...  If it's your daily driver, it says something about you that you might not want to say...  LOTS of aftermarket here...

I like Corvettes, but TBH, they are not practical, and they are fast stock.  Sure you can upgrade them, but that makes an already insanely fast car even faster...  LOTS of aftermarket here too...

Not much aftermarket for the Volvo except in EU, but parts here will be EXPENSIVE!!

Chevy Spark....  Ummm...  Yeah...  WOOHOO...

BMW = Bring Money With...  ?Unless you have the money, stay away...

Honda S2000...  Good luck finding one at a decent price that has not been ragged all to hell and back...

2005/6 Pontiac GTO...  Good platform and still inexpensive...

One other car not to overlook is a late model Mazda R8..  Not a whole lot of torque, but it's a strong car for the street and the track.  Lots of aftermarket.  Only drawback is rotary issues with the seals going.

An older subaru WRX or 2.5RS is a good choice too..  Lots of aftermarket there as well...

Yeah I know the limits of my mx3, I just put that option in there to be silly. She will be retired to light duty, possibly even "chumped" out.  I thought about a Porsche 951 (944 turbo) because they are so awesome to drive but I don't know about owning an older car. I really am leaning towards the speed 3. I've come into a few extra bucks so I think I'm pretty much set on it. Oh and I drove one that a contractor at work owns and about pissed myself so yeah, it's awesome.

Hey Nub, how close are you to addison texas?