Ian Lochbihler

I recently purchased a 2008 C4S as a fun car. I intend to use it as my primary summer car when weather and distance allows. I understand super short drives are not good for its long term health. My only car up until this point has been a 2007 GTI. It doesn't owe me anything and has been in my good graces (mostly) since I purchased it used in 2012. I believe that I will be parting with it over the next year.
I do love the utility of it over the years on home depot runs - can't hold a sheet of drywall but 2x8x8s fit in with the hatch down and 2x8x16s ride like a I'm trying to take out a knight on a horse at medieval times. I'm all but done with a renovation project and don't demand the utility of the hatchback but I've definitely enjoyed it; I'm not against another hatch.
I'm interested to hear what the rest of you folks use as the "other" vehicle in the garage. For my purchase, I'm trying to stay around $30K USD and nothing really older than 2013 - but I would like to hear about all of the insanely awesome secondary cars. I live just outside Toronto so snow and crappy weather is a consideration. Any recommendations are good recommendations!
- RS7 would be the dream but not close to reality from a $ perspective - unless someone has a spare for sale for way too little, drove an A7 - it was nice
- Golf R/newer GTI seems logical but I'm not overly excited by it, drove a 2018 R and did like it
- The UK RS3 hatch checks all the boxes but not available in Canada
- RS5 is the one I keep circling back to but drove an S5 and didn't seem all that peppy, I assume the RS5 is a completely different monster
Thanks in advance!

bronz

If i were you i wouldnt consider anything sporty at that price point. I dont know your lifestyle but i have 4runner as my secondary car and i love it. Plenty of room to haul anything around, do home depot runs or go camping. Perfect car for dailying/bad weather.

gulshan

My daily is a mk7 2016 gti. If you get any gti 2018 or later you get the people first warranty.. 7 years !! If you get cpo another 2 years .. total 9 years warranty !! Worth it for that alone.. Hard to beat the value and fun factor bang for buck with a Gti..

Ian Lochbihler

Thanks Bronz - sending some karma points your way. Hope the rebuild goes well. I admit I do like small cars. There are days my GTI feels big.

anthony42hat

My daily is a 1500 Ram 4x4 p/u that I honestly couldn't live without. I hunt, fish, tow a boat, mountain bike, haul the dog around, haul all kinds of crap from here to there, etc. If something had to go it would be the Porsche as I couldn't function without the truck.

nwGTS

The answer gets asked about twice a year here. The consensus is that a 4Runner or Pilot as the daily winter beater win out for most frequent response. Dozens of outliers from there depending on budget, car vs SUV, size requirements, marital/family status, etc

You need to provide more info. What's your situation? $30k budget we've got. Kids to haul? If so, ages? What's your parking situation? Looks like you're set on a car and not SUV?

I can't tell if you just want to start a conversation or want to solve an actual problem. Help us.

voiceprint1

I just visited Toronto, and the roads were slushy/dirty. I have the 2017 GTI sport, it's mostly fine, hardly exciting though, I am really not a fan, to top it off it's horrible on gas. For 30k get a nice used cayman.

JasonKM

I agree with others on the SUV point. When I bought my 2007 C4S back in 2008, I purchased a 2005 Grand Cherokee in Dec 2008 as a winter beater. Best decision ever since it's great in bad weather, great utility vehicle to put stuff in, I can tow with it if needed. Last year I sold that 2005 Grand Cherokee and bought a 2018. Reality is that I use that Grand Cherokee daily all year to run errands, drive to beer league hockey (summer and winter) and my GF drives it all the time. Also great to take the Jeep to the grocery store or Home Depot and not worry about someone parking too close. I keep the 2007 C4S for summer driving only and appreciate the car that much more in terms of performance and handling.

Also, non luxury brand options will be much more reasonable to maintain

kellen

I'd go SUV for second car. Lexus RX or LX, Toyota landcruiser or Range Rover would be in my 3rd garage spot as beaters if parking wasn't 60k per spot up here.

That or a 356......

bronz

Thank you. You know i used to be like that too, i used to drive a4, s4, wrx sti etc... and never ever considered a bigger car. But once i bought one, it literally made everything so much easier.

Tim_Perley

G.I.G.

I agree with bronz, I would stick with an affordable/reliable/practical car as an alternative to a 911. Although everyone's situation is different.

I have a 4Runner as well and couldn't be happier with it. It's not sexy, but it's the reason I'm even considering a 911 now. I bought my 4Runner brand new in '07 and have almost 160k miles on it. It has been by far the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. Since I plan on keeping it for at least another 4-5 years, I can consider something fun and less practical now as a second car.

@Ian Lochbihler Funny you should mention Audi. I was initially looking at S4's as a fun, yet practical alternative to my 4Runner. Since it has 4 doors and all-wheel drive, I was thinking that would be the easiest to sell my wife on the idea. I went to a local, reputable indy that specializes in German cars and asked them what their thoughts were on A4's/S4's. Surprisingly, they said the 2.0T in the A4's (and in a bunch of other Audi and VW's) is more problematic than the S4's 3.0T. I was telling them a little about my situation and why I was thinking about an S4. I was relieved to hear about the S4, but they said Audi's still have their quirks and they see them in the shop a lot (along with BMW). But then they said "Don't rule out Porsche or Mercedes, especially Porsche". My ears perked up, because I have always wanted a 911 but just assumed they were money pits. They said that most Porsche's are surprisingly reliable and pretty straight forward to work on. A month later and dozens of hours on the Internet reading up on 911's, here I am.

And @bronz , I have no doubt the 4Runner will take good care of your during the downtime with your 911. Best of luck!

Fined

Agreed. I don't do big cars. Not interested. My daily is a 987.2 Cayman S.

422flatsix

4Driver4

Daily driver duties are split between my 245k mile 2003 Audi S8 and 2008 PRHT Miata. Serious winter beatings (read: fun stuff) happens in the 2000 Passat Wagon FWD that I just bought on Craiglist for $550.