Are there any reasonably-priced cool cars anymore? If your current car died tomorrow, what would you buy?
Are there any reasonably-priced cool cars anymore? If your current car died tomorrow, what would you buy?
I'm starting to get the new car itch, and I'm looking around there is just about nothing out there that interests me that is at a price I'd be willing to pay.
I've never really been in this situation before. I've always loved to look at what new cars are out and even think about what I'd buy if something happened to my daily driver, but man is the selection out there bleak as hell. New or slightly used. Here is my short list, but even the cars on the list all have at least one (and most have 2 or 3) thing I've not crazy about.
New Mustang. Never been a Mustang-guy before but I saw the new one in person and I liked it more than I thought I would.
New or slightly used Camaro. Like the Mustang, it's more impractical that I really want, but still tempted.
WRX. I still haven't forgiven Subaru for phoning-it-in with this redesign. I'm actually hoping a mid-cycle refresh solves this issue.
Genesis G70. I really want to like this car.
Kia Stinger. The lack of a manual is really the biggest issue - love the hatch design. There's just something about this car that feels cheap. Which is weird because in higher trims, it really isn't a cheap car.
CT5-V. No not the Blackwing. I wish. I'd definitely onky be looking at used ones. I feel it is underrated car. It's got probably the best proportions of any regularly priced car on sale today. That long hood, short deck proportions is phenomenal.
Chevy Trax. The new one. This one is a total left field pick, but I'm totally digging the super low price and small, but not too small, size. A neighbor has one ans it's lower than most other crossovers so the wagon-ness of it really appeals to me.
Nizzan Z. Like the Camaro and Mustang, this is very impractical but the old-school nature of it (manual, RWD) is incredibly appealing.
Toyota GR Corolla. Lots to like about this, but I get the feeling it would be unobtainium because I sure fuck am not paying a dealer markup.
What's your short list of cars?
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If my 2015 Mustang GT (base 6MT, non performance-pack) got t-boned by a dump truck tomorrow, I'd buy another 2015-2017 Mustang GT base. I might try to find a Premium. The 2018-2023 looks a bit better, can have active exhaust, and has marginally more power, but they screwed up the manual gear ratios; it's viable in automatic.
It's fast, loud, comfortable, surprisingly economical, and has a big trunk. It's not really a sports car (hence omitting the performance pack), but it's a damn fine grand tourer and a very livable daily driver.
I've tried a lot of the other options, for durations ranging from a test drive to a few years.
- Hot hatches are fun if you drive like an asshole but don't feel special if you drive them normally. Some people love that aspect, but personally I think it makes them boring too often.
- The GR86 is an absolute riot if you live near twisty roads and punishing if you don't.
- Corvettes feel huge and unwieldy in traffic even though they're not that big. The lack of even token back seats makes them a lot harder to live with, too.
- Camaros have lousy visibility.
- The Challenger drives like a moderately-quick truck.
- Kia dealers treat the Stinger like it's a Ferrari, so good luck buying a new one.
- The WRX is still decent, but I think it also suffers from the hot hatch syndrome where it only feels special when you drive it hard.
- I haven't driven a Z. My instinct is that it'll be years before the price gets reasonable on a new one, but the old models might be fun if you don't need back seats.
- I haven't driven a GR Corolla. No idea if it'll have the hot hatch problem or not, but I can't find one to try anyway.