[Nati0n]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

That's only if it's gold with a beige interior and clearly old enough to be out of warranty.

Thank you for calling

Microsoft

[P1]

Originally Posted by Nati0n

Thank you for calling

Microsoft

This is exactly what comes to mind when someone tells me "Camry".

[Nati0n]

My mom used to drive the facelift version of that car, a 2000 Camry XLE V6 'fully loaded.' To be honest for as little maintenance as she put into that thing and overall neglect, the car NEVER skipped a beat. Oil changes every once and a while kept that thing running strong past 170k. They're so simple and light, that car would coast and maintain its speed like nothing I've ever driven. Boring as hell, inconspicuous as any other car, but gotta give it to Toyota. Too bad their quality and reliability has gone down with the addition of new technology (recycled from the Germans like every Korean or Japanese car) in recent years.

[335m]

I can't believe I am actually saying this but have you looked into Kia?

Those optima's don't look half bad, and I thought I saw something recently about 20year/200k mile warranties on them.

[954Stealth]

Mazda6 got good reviews

[P1]

Originally Posted by 335m

I can't believe I am actually saying this but have you looked into Kia?

Those optima's don't look half bad, and I thought I saw something recently about 20year/200k mile warranties on them.

A 200K warranty? You'd buy that just to rag the FOOK out of it!!!

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by P1et

It would be hard not to get a GTI over a Ford...

New ST has close to same euorpean pedigree as a GTi. I'd still pick the Gti simply because I owned a MKIII and it was a blast until it hit 125K on the clock then imploded but that 125K was driven hard all day every day.

[Nati0n]

Originally Posted by P1et

A 200K warranty? You'd buy that just to rag the FOOK out of it!!!

You realize Kia is one of the worst companies when it comes to actually honoring their warranty, a lot of complaints about that I've heard. You can warranty anything for cheap then deny the claims after that.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

I'm down to:

Accord - Maybe the safest bet of my picks?
Mazda 3 - Never thought about actually buying a Mazda. Reliability? Quality?
Passat - I'm concerned about reliability/quality
Camry - Boring, but good car?

Brother in Law has a 2 year old Passat, has lots of issues with fuel delivery stalling at lights etc.. It was the V6 version only experience with it, has a ton of room though.

[P1]

Originally Posted by Nati0n

You realize Kia is one of the worst companies when it comes to actually honoring their warranty, a lot of complaints about that I've heard. You can warranty anything for cheap then deny the claims after that.

Good point. A warranty is utterly useless if it's not being honored of course.

[Bobble]

KIA/Hyundai (parent company) warranty is 10 years 100 K powertrain.
As far as not honoring it, only know the Hyundai side and had no issues what so ever but never tried to get them to warranty stuff that was obviously not the mfger's fault.
To be fair my son is a Hyundai Master Tech and yes they deny warranty claims for engine knocks when the oil has never been changed in 45000 miles or suspension components broken when you slammed into a curb or the numerous other horror stories I've heard in the last 6 years from him. Bottom line the people that buy them want a cheap car to buy and operate and hardly any of them takes care of them. The dealer ship he works at also has a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep store now he has some stories about those.

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by yakuza70

Mazda 3

+1. Maybe the closest thing to a 1-series for $20-25K.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com.../Mazda_Mazda3/

"If you value a cushy ride, there are better choices out there. If you want the most cargo room you can get, you can spring for the Golf or even Mazda's own CX-5. But if you want great driving dynamics and a complement of hitherto-unobtanium advanced technology reserved for the most sybaritic of luxury cars, the Mazda3 is well worth the look. It certainly looks like it's worth it." -- AutoWeek

[ASAP]

Accord Sport Sedan - 25k dead

u cant go wrong

/threadend

[JasonCSU]

I was going to suggest a BRZ until I saw the "no coupe" restriction. In addition to the Mazda3, you may check out the new Mazda6. It's supposed to be the "drivers car" of the current reasonably priced sedans.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Nati0n

I love the GTI idea for everything mentioned above but reliability, no GTI owner I know of personally has had a problem-free GTI. It's still a German car, it's more expensive, more maintenance, less reliable (especially being a turbocharged engine), and overall probably not your best bet.

If you want something that's an appliance car, that will get you from point A to point B reliably no matter how much or how little maintenance you want to put into it, go Japanese. They're meant for that kind of thing.

Now which one you get will dictate how much of a weenie you will look like pulling up places, Civic Si isn't a bad choice, Accord is a nice option, FRS/BRZ is as well though less practical but tons of fun. Camry isn't a bad choice either.

. I want one as a dd, but seriously disappointed it's made in Mexico for 31k. Buy an Accord and there will be nothing to complain about. 10 yrs later the only gripe will be how ugly and boring the car has been and how you didn't get to spend any time at the dealership in the service dept.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Nati0n

Thank you for calling

Microsoft

You guys may find this hard to believe, but '97 Camrys were back ordered and sometimes they sold for list. I tried to get a rare black 5 spd and the dealer in Westchester wanted over list.

[Nati0n]

I believe it, I think for being a 14 year old car the facelift versions still don't look terrible compared to other 14 year old cars, and they really do run forever no matter how you treat them. Good cars but not my style, boring and uninspiring - perfect for a cheap snow car or DD. Fail wheel drive (FWD) is my biggest gripe with most Japanese cars.

[persian54]

Originally Posted by pgviper

Base GTI starts at a smidge over $25k. Seems to be out of OP's price range.

yeah but from what I've heard, you can have them for muccchh cheaper nowadays

[dtwyim]

I doubt OP will fit in the Mazda 3. I am 6'2" with long legs and barely fit in one with moon roof.

If he does go for the mazda, definitely get the bigger engine.

[Helltime]

Kind of surprised at the no VW thing. I came from VWs before I went bmw, nothing wrong with the ones I had (just normal maintenance). Main reason I left vw for BMW was fwd bores me...I need my rwd fix daily!

[batchelorc]

http://www.fiatusa.com/en/abarth/

[Ehwnnc]

I just bought a brand new Jetta for 15k. Its boring as fuck but thats the point for a daily. It has the old school 2.0 which everyone knows are slow as fuck but will last forever. Hard to beat the price.