My old Saturn has been a battle tank. I think it's around 225k miles, now. So, I've put over 150k on it. She's still going strong, but my recent promotion gives me the financial confidence to get something a little more fun as a daily. I may retire the Saturn to backup/loaner status or just sell it outright. Now, here's what I think I'm looking for:
- Price range is definitely sub $30k. Really, I'd like to be into the car for $20k or less, but extra money is acceptable if it's still excellent bang for the buck.
- 4-door that can be adult-y with non-embarrassing amount of room for colleagues & friends
- 6-10 y/o used with reasonable track record for reliability (no common expensive catastrophes like dropping LS7 valves, BMW V10's main bearings, etc...)
- Reasonable fuel economy (high-teens city/mid 20s highway or better)
- RWD or AWD
- Mid-size+
- Manual preferred, reliable auto with paddle-style shifters might be ok
- Fun! The sportier the better.
Cars I've considered to give an idea of where my head's at:
- Scat-pack/SRT8/SRT392 Charger was heavily considered, but is auto only, has cheap-car syndrome with delaminating door panels ($600), uConnect screen delamination issues causing a loss of control of interior accessories, and are in high demand. So, are pretty expensive. Low bang for buck on the used market.
- E60 ('05-'10) BMW M5: love that N/A V10 performance. Great handling car that handles amazingly well and set a 4-door sedan nurburgring nordschleife track record. Decided against because these cars have main bearing problems or vanos pump problems and brick their motors requiring a $25k replacement... ouch! The SMG paddle-shifted gearbox is a no-go, too, but there is an h-pattern 6-spd option.
- 09-13 CTS-V with the 550 hp 6.2 LSA engine. This is still very much in contention. They're fast, reasonably reliable, handle well, nice aftermarket & can be had with a manual. Only trouble is that folks want more than $30k for their 10+ y/o 100k+ mileage Caddies in this market. I'm considering a 1-2 year wait for the Used car market to come back down to earth for one of these cars.
- Porsche Panamera 09-13 Gen 2: awesome performance from their turbo, reasonable reliability from what I gather, similar in performance to the monsters above, but worried about super expensive maintenance, and the damn things are regarded as hideous! Interiors are amazing. Non-turbos can be had in the $20s. Turbos in the $30s. This was a $90k+ car with some really nice amenities and interiors. Not sure it's my style, but seems like a pretty good bang for the buck.
- Mercedes E63 AMG: probably need to read some more on this car. I just know it's the M5's direct competitor.
- '10-15 BMW 335i: I've come to respect the very reliable N55 3.0 turbo engine in these, unlike the M3s. Mileage would be very good @ over 30mpg on the highways. Still runs ~13.2@105-ish in the 1/4. Available in manual, and really nice handling with the M-sport suspension. Currently priced in the low $20s for the nicer ones, and before the pandemic, they were apparently in the mid-teens. I'm tempted here as it's probably the most financially prudent on the list while still adding style, comfort, & reasonable performance. Hell, it's almost as quick as my C5 Corvette was.
Anyways, just wanted to see if this generated any other fun 4-door ideas I haven't considered or real-world experience with these cars. This thread might be a dud in a Mustang forum, but what the hell?
- Price range is definitely sub $30k. Really, I'd like to be into the car for $20k or less, but extra money is acceptable if it's still excellent bang for the buck.
- 4-door that can be adult-y with non-embarrassing amount of room for colleagues & friends
- 6-10 y/o used with reasonable track record for reliability (no common expensive catastrophes like dropping LS7 valves, BMW V10's main bearings, etc...)
- Reasonable fuel economy (high-teens city/mid 20s highway or better)
- RWD or AWD
- Mid-size+
- Manual preferred, reliable auto with paddle-style shifters might be ok
- Fun! The sportier the better.
Cars I've considered to give an idea of where my head's at:
- Scat-pack/SRT8/SRT392 Charger was heavily considered, but is auto only, has cheap-car syndrome with delaminating door panels ($600), uConnect screen delamination issues causing a loss of control of interior accessories, and are in high demand. So, are pretty expensive. Low bang for buck on the used market.
- E60 ('05-'10) BMW M5: love that N/A V10 performance. Great handling car that handles amazingly well and set a 4-door sedan nurburgring nordschleife track record. Decided against because these cars have main bearing problems or vanos pump problems and brick their motors requiring a $25k replacement... ouch! The SMG paddle-shifted gearbox is a no-go, too, but there is an h-pattern 6-spd option.
- 09-13 CTS-V with the 550 hp 6.2 LSA engine. This is still very much in contention. They're fast, reasonably reliable, handle well, nice aftermarket & can be had with a manual. Only trouble is that folks want more than $30k for their 10+ y/o 100k+ mileage Caddies in this market. I'm considering a 1-2 year wait for the Used car market to come back down to earth for one of these cars.
- Porsche Panamera 09-13 Gen 2: awesome performance from their turbo, reasonable reliability from what I gather, similar in performance to the monsters above, but worried about super expensive maintenance, and the damn things are regarded as hideous! Interiors are amazing. Non-turbos can be had in the $20s. Turbos in the $30s. This was a $90k+ car with some really nice amenities and interiors. Not sure it's my style, but seems like a pretty good bang for the buck.
- Mercedes E63 AMG: probably need to read some more on this car. I just know it's the M5's direct competitor.
- '10-15 BMW 335i: I've come to respect the very reliable N55 3.0 turbo engine in these, unlike the M3s. Mileage would be very good @ over 30mpg on the highways. Still runs ~13.2@105-ish in the 1/4. Available in manual, and really nice handling with the M-sport suspension. Currently priced in the low $20s for the nicer ones, and before the pandemic, they were apparently in the mid-teens. I'm tempted here as it's probably the most financially prudent on the list while still adding style, comfort, & reasonable performance. Hell, it's almost as quick as my C5 Corvette was.
Anyways, just wanted to see if this generated any other fun 4-door ideas I haven't considered or real-world experience with these cars. This thread might be a dud in a Mustang forum, but what the hell?
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