niphilli

Can find an off topic section on this forum any more, hope this is the right place for this:

Hello all,
I am having a hard time finding a second car to buy. I currently own an '03 Z06 and a 1994 Cavalier. The Cavalier is my daily and now has 130K miles on it, paint is peeling off, and I am staring to have to spend more money on maintenance than I am comfortable with.

I am having such a hard time because I am a car enthusiast and it is hard for me to drop 15-20K on a car that I do not enjoy, and am not excited about. Because of this I am looking in a price range from 15K to 35K. I am a 27 year old Industrial Engineer.

The car will be driven 70 miles a day (to and from work), in all seasons.

What I need:
-Good gas mileage
-Good utility
-Good reliability
-Good Value

What I want:
-Good Styling / Decent image
-Good performance
-Good stereo

Here is a list of the vehicles I have looked at, help me add and delete from it:

-Nissan Altima (leftover 06). - Great value ,good gas mielage, prooven platform quality $17.5K for a loaded 4 cyl

-Jeep Compass - Good value, great utility, good gas mileage, cool vehicle with lots of cool features. Poor quality interior, some quality concerns (not a big D.C. fan). 21K for a loaded 4 cyl

-Toyota Rav 4 - Decent value, great utility, good gas mileage, great quality, good interior fit and finish, styling is blah. 25K for a semi-loaded 6 cyl

-Pontiac GTO - OK Value, decent utility, good styling, fantastic performance, nice interior, not so great gas mileage, upper end of the price range. I am sure this will be a favorite here for obvious reasons. 28,300

-I have also considered:

-Saturn Aura

-Honda Civic

-Scion Tc

-The Nissan Altima offers more utility for less money than these contenders.

I had thought about maybe taking a look at the:

-Volkswagen GTI
-Mazda Speed 3

I am a GM man at heart and would like to support them, but they just dont offer much right now that is exciting to me in my price range....Lots of stuff in the pipeline, just nothing here right now

So what should I add/ delete to/from the list?

Rowdy94

iTrader: (13)

Cobalt SS? Solstice?

ICEMAN 31

A man who own a Z06 should never ever own a civic, hmm here are some suggestions

The scions, the VW, civic, Rav4, Mazda 3speed. - to me they always been girl cars (i know i am a macho pig)

Mustang GT - get the premium package of and it will compliment the Z06 in the driveway, its not as nice as an Trans AM (i know i am biast) but still nice

Wait for the new Pontiac Grand Prix

Pontica g6 - not the nicest looking car but nicer looking than most of those cars you suggested and the hard top convertible turns alot of heads

what about a roadster like the saturn sky or the pontiac slstice

The Dodge Nitro

GMC Envoy

GTO!!! sorry i love ponchos, but i might wait on this one to see what the next genertion looks like when it comes out with the new Camaro

I will try to think of more later, good luck

niphilli

I knew the GTO would be popular here, its my hearts choice but the brain is getting the way a little on this purchase (the heart won with the Z),


Actually the Sky Redline was my first choice but after some thought took it off the list because I would have 2 2-seat cars

niphilli

The cobalt SS is a very nice vehicle, but I think it is overpriced for what you get.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Judging by the group of cars you're looking at, I'd recommend the Grand Prix GXP, or if you want a coupe the Monte SS.

18/27 for a 300hp V8 with an auto trans isn't bad at all.

But neither of these cars really offer "Good utility", which you listed above. Then again, neither do many of the cars on your initial list.

1WICKDZ

iTrader: (2)

GXP or GTP

ICRAZY6

iTrader: (68)

I own an 06 Altima SE-R it's Great. Comfortable, big enough to carry 5 full adults with ease, huge trunk, Bose stereo with XM, V-6 with 260hp and still average 25-28mpg. The only thing is with the SE-R is has 18" rims and I had to purchase snow tires for it because it comes Hi-performace tires stock. You'll love the car and its faster than my girlfriends 04 GTP.

texinteg

iTrader: (4)

for the money the saturn aura is an awesome family car. very comfortable, lots of room, and plenty of nice features.

prdtr15

iTrader: (5)

As much as i dont like civics, its a better car then the VW, Scion, Nissan, but i dont know about the saturn. Why not go ahead and get a VP Accord? Dealers are a lot more willing to discount Accords then Civics, so price wont be much more and its a better, nicer, bigger car

bjamick

iTrader: (31)

Really i would look at the cobalt SS great price and also great gas mileage and pretty good performance. Also it would look very good for you if you were to get financed again through GMAC so when the new camaros come out you can just go and pick one out on the lot .