jlturpin

Help me pick the perfect car.

I am loosing my company supplied car after 12 years and need a dependable car that the wife and I will both use to haul the baby around, who is still in a child seat (20 months old). We have a Cayenne and a few 951's.

Below are a list of wants, with the top few being requirements, some are dreams and wishes.

• 4 Doors, not including trunk or rear hatch.
• Automatic Transmission
• 30+ MPG on 87 octane or diesel
• Pre-owned
• No damage history or paint work
• Cost less than 10K give or take.
• 2005 or newer
• Less than 50K miles would be nice
• Leather interior
• Sport Seats
• 250+ HP with nice torque

Have at it....

Scott H

Early 00's Acura TL-S? Hits most of your wants just off the top of my head. I think they got a face lift around 03 that made them look a lot better. It still looks like an accord, but hey, cops don't look at accords.

Edit: Wait, no, I just remembered why I didn't buy one for myself. The Auto trans like to go boom randomly. Honda will cover it (or they did), but they never fixed the problem. You'd have to talk your wife into a 2 door with a manual to avoid the problem

V2Rocket

audi a3 TDI

or a slightly older TDI. 50mpg.

/thread

Tedro951

Maxima/Altima

pontifex4

Don't TLs use premium fuel?

This is pretty tricky, actually. I think you'll have to look to GM, Ford or Hyundai to stay < $10K and >= 2005.

931guru

If you tweak your requirements a bit, you can have a very nice, safe Audi A6 Quattro with a 2.7T. With a manual transmission, I regularly achieve 28 mpg on the interstate, and run regular gas (87 octane) without a noticeable decrease in power. I bought one for 8K and one for 6K. I currently have 240K miles on one and 159K miles on the other.

JohnKoaWood

My room mate is working on securing / installing a new(ish) engine into an 05 Jeep liberty CRD (diesel).. he may be inclined to sell it once completed, in your price range, 4WD, Leather interior, good condition body and drivetrain.

He bought it from a friend, out diagnosis was a dropped valve seat caused irreperable damage to the engine, and previous owner kept trying to drive it after..

Replacement engine should be on the deck within a week or so, and should be going into the truck shortly after!

jlturpin

Had a TL type S, think it was an 01. Nice enough....

A3 sounds like something worth looking at, but may be to new and price may be out of range.

No go on a GM of any sort. Ford has nothing that interst me. Actually the new Sonata looks like a nice ride as does fit most of the criteria, except the only one I like is the 2011.
What year A6 with the 2.7T?

Like diesels, but not a fan of the Liberty or Chrysler for that matter....

User 52121

I considered suggesting this too - but most TDI owners *love* theirs. Hard to come by on the used market unless they have a TON of miles on them.

And I'd be SHOCKED if you could find an A3 for $10k - let alone an A3 TDI.

2005+, $10k, leather/sports/250hp... that's a tall order.

Maybe a 4th gen (2000-2005) VW Jetta? I think you might be able to get into a 2003-2005 Jetta GLI for close to $10k. 1.8T is only 180hp but can be chipped for an extra 30-50hp depending on chip, Recaro seats, BBS wheels, LATCH system for easy child seat hookup, nice looking, and can be solid cars if they have been maintained.

Otherwise (can't believe I'm going to suggest this): Maybe a used Impala (or Malibu?) SS with the 5.3L V8? Or Pontiac Bonneville GXP (with the same 5.3L V8?) Baby it and you can probably get upper 20s for fuel mileage (my old Z06 Corvette did 32 on the highway if I was gentle) and you can most likely find some of these for your price point. The 5.3 is based on the LSx motors, so they're solid. Only soft point is the transmission.

Otherwise - Civic Si 4-door? No torque though. Not sure if they can be had with an automatic.

Maybe a used Hyundai? Not at all "sport" but are cheap and have a good rep for reliability.

I think the $10k and 2005+ is ultimately what's killing you. Either consider going much older, or consider spending a bit more.

savowood

Jetta or Golf TDI. I have the 2010 TDI Cup and love it. I just drove from Austin to Dallas to pick up a friend the other day and got 53.4 mpg at 65-70 the whole way.

The older cars get even better, or so the owners claim. You can easily get into a slightly used one within your price range.

JohnKoaWood

Neither am I (other than my 03 Durango)..

BUT meets ALL of the must haves, MOST of the nice to haves, is in budget, is in age range (05), and is Diesel.. ECU will most likely be reflashed by Green Diesel Engineering for efficiency power and new injector coding..

Were I in the market, I wouldn't rule it out based on who built it.. at least it isn't a Hyundai!

theedge

VW TDI of some sort. Should be able to get most of those things fairly easily, but leather sport seats might be trickier.

I would buy something that matches most of those things. Stuff like leather sport seats can be bought online and swapped in later. No sense passing on the right car for such a minor thing.

67King

Newer diesels have to run cleaner. I don't know what VW did, but I can tell you what Cummins did. They put EGR on it, which means they had to add a throttle (yes, I am serious - they throttled a diesel). The EGR creates so much soot that they also had to add a diesel particulate filter to the exhaust system. I removed both and saw a HUGE increase in my fuel economy.

racerxrick

I sell cars (over 200 a year for the past four years) for one of the most reputable family owned dealers in the nation (since 1911!)...your requirements are all easy except one:

I'm anxious to see a suggestion that incorporates all those under $10k!

If there is a clear winner I'm happy to help you with your search...

Best wishes and Happy New Year!

Scott H

Another thought: Mazda6? The interior is very, very nice, especially with leather. The suspension is also really good for its segment. I'd say go for the 'speed version but they didn't make them in auto.

And whatever you do stay as far away from late 90s early 00 Saabs. You'll be like "WOW! A 260hp I4 turbo WITH an auto? And the most comfortable seats this side of Cadillac? Sign me up!" Please, please save yourself the despair, you will be repairing it every weekend. BTDT

This is another good suggestion. The V6 gives a nice shove in the seat at aswell.