legacycentral bbs

Hey guys,

Well for a few years now I've had my G35 sedan and used that for summers and my station wagon that I use for winters. Having two cars has become a bit of a nuisance for me due to living in a condo. Its also two car insurances, two property taxes, two registration taxes, etc a year to deal with.

I'm basically looking to unload my subie (not sure how I'm going to go about doing that) and trade my G35 in plus what I get for the subie plus some extra cash and maybe finance a small amount.

Heres my problem, I have no clue what to buy. I have a few basic criteria that are a must:

1. Must be AWD
2. Must not be older than 5 or 6 years
3. Can be a sedan or SUV, Can be coups or convertibles
4. Must come in at approximately 20k retail value (what I want to spend gross)
5. Less than say 90k miles
6. Preferred to be easy to maintain/fix
7. I'd like something different or less main stream

Heres what I've been thinking about but I'm all over the place.
- Infiniti G35x
- Lexus IS250AWD
- Older BMW X5 (not a huge fan of BMW's though)
- Maybe an older Audi S4 (eek with fixing an audi though)
- Mercedes C 4matic

So, what do you guys think? Any suggestions? What would you get for 20k?

Thanks,

Mike

What about the (4th gen) 05-09 Legacy GT or Spec B?

sqc151 wrote:What about the (4th gen) 05-09 Legacy GT or Spec B?

eh, thought about a legacy but would rather get something a little more "luxurious" so to speak

Volvo s60 r

sabin wrote:Volvo s60 r

hum, hadn't thought of those, not sure how I feel about Volvos but I'll take a peek at em.

Keep those suggestions coming

magicmike wrote: Heres what I've been thinking about but I'm all over the place.
- Infiniti G35x - played out.
- Lexus IS250AWD - me like (wifey drives a lexus)
- Older BMW X5 (not a huge fan of BMW's though) - not a fan of bimmers either. ive had 2... eckk.
- Maybe an older Audi S4 (eek with fixing an audi though) - nice, but expensive to fix.
- Mercedes C 4matic - had mercs before, to many electrical glitches.

i vote lexus from the ones u listed.

Yeah, the only down side is that its a little small and mostly a "chic" car lol. I would confidently buy one with 100k miles though and only expect to put tires and brakes into it.

My GF just got a 2007 with about 16k miles on it and its pretty nice.

And a 250 is slow as balls

Nothing really fits your criteria though...specifically 6/7 tend to contradict themselves.

If you're gonna go BMW I'd take an e46 330xi over the X5

Saab 9-2? I don't know. I can't think of anything I like with that criteria. What about a Rav4?

I vote 07-09 Legacy Spec B...those things are very nice and are basically an STi in a legacy body. 07+ have the 6MT just like what the STi's have.

I don't really like any of the options you listed either just like some of the others...they are either played out like honda civics or just way over-rated. I am not trying to be bias but I have always thought BMW, Audi, Lexus, etc are way too over-rated.

Honestly, the SPEC B's are very nice and they are definitely more rare than anything you listed, you have the AWD, luxury, function, style, etc. I agree with sqc151 on the Spec B.

What about a Forrester XT?

Helped my sister look for a car for like 4 months. She had an almost identical criteria. It came down to a g35x or is250 awd. I ended up talking her into an 08 infiniti m35 loaded. Very nice car. We also checked out the acura tl type sh.

What about a recent Acura RL? Friend got one for his wife. Not bad and they seem to go for cheap only a couple years old, even more than most premium brands.

I've been really happy with my G35. I love the car, its fun to drive, has a ton of balls its comfortable. The driving position is good and the stereo volume control is where it belongs (on the left side of the wheel )

I had originally planned on getting the same thing only a 2004 which was the all wheel drive version but I just want to change it up a bit.

The thoughts on the X5 were to have something like the station wagon that I'm losing and still be sort of cool. I dont want my DD to be a station wagon.

I think I will look into those spec b's and see if there are any around here.

As for Acura, meh, I owned a honda and couldn't believe the sort of stupid shit that broke on that car. I looked at going to the Acuras after that and they seemed too honda looking cheap (not to sound like a snob). I really think the infinitis are a good bargain.

I'd love a M35x but dont think I could find one in my price range with less than 100k miles.

I love the look of the BMW's and the Benz's but their maintenance costs scare the shit out of me.

I owned an 04 Volvo S60R for several years and it was fabulous. Mine was a 6M. The awd worked great and the seats were the absolute best I have ever sat in. It also had active suspension dampenings that were adjustable. Loved that car. Only downside, if youre going to mod it, your gonna pay!

Volvos always seem to have the most amazing seats. I'll have to get some for the car I build.

No RWD, huh? I like those 1st generation M45s. The front was kind of meh, but I thought the rest of it was subtly elegant and underrated. Liked it enough to have my main character drive one in Book 2. Of course, I wouldn't have him drive a Nazi car and the rest of the alternatives were even more boring than the Infiniti.

silver03 wrote:I owned an 04 Volvo S60R for several years and it was fabulous. Mine was a 6M. The awd worked great and the seats were the absolute best I have ever sat in. It also had active suspension dampenings that were adjustable. Loved that car. Only downside, if youre going to mod it, your gonna pay!

I did a quick search and there are a few that are pretty local to me for sale currently. I'll go take one for a test drive and see if I like it. I'd really prefer an auto trans though and I wouldn't be modding it.

ok changed the criteria of #3 to allow coups and convertables because I thought about my ultimate dream car...a Porsche Carrera 4s although dont think I could find one of those for less than 30-40k

BMW maintenance isn't bad, it's nothing like VWs, shops charge the same hourly rates and parts are about the same price as Subarus, maybe a bit more but nothing much different from anything else you're looking at. The only real thing to look for in a used BMW is the cooling system, they used some cheesy waterpumps and radiators that tend to crack in the I6's.

But if you're going for less mainstream, you won't find it in a 3 series

Things on my "maybe" list.....

Volvo V70R (the wagon)

The '10+ Outback/Legacy 3.6R is MUCH nicer than expected, but I don't think they are down to $20K yet.

The Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg are nice, but the good ones are likely still above $20K - way above for the v8 and turbo Porsche models. The turbo diesel versions are stump pullers. All are very heavy.

The newest V6 Rav4 sport models are very well rated and supposedly fun to drive. I'm leery of those statements without a test drive though.

Grand Cherokee SRT8? Dunno a thing about them, but they look cool and some of the Nasioc regulars drool.

Can you get the Volvo C30 in AWD? Nice car.


I've always had a soft spot for the '01-'03ish BMW M5s (V8 400hp) and the early '90s BMW 850 V12 models. I hear maintenance can kill you on those if your not diligent.

My .02.

- Drive a Lexus RX350 (same engine family as my Rav4's V6) - 0-60 6.7 secs. In '07 the 3.5 was introduced and may be in your $$. Won't handle like your G35, but will have some luxury.

- Drive the Infiniti FX35/45. Similar to the RX, but should be sportier....they put some pretty meaty tires on 'em. I wouldn't go too old as they have a lot of techno that can go bad. A friend has a 2003 and it's had a few issues (door lock$) start to appear @ about 100K .

-You might drive an Acura MDX, too...

Something to consider (which has probably been addressed) if you buy anything like you want for your price it'll likely be out of warranty. I'm going to show my bias and say if you want to avoid $$ repairs stick w/the Japanese marques....(if you can forgive Toyota's recall history of late).

Check out the 'leading consumers' magazine' for reliability on anything before you fall in love w/something you'll visit @ the shop, more than drive it.

Td

id love to help but your rule #2 pretty much nixes every suggestion I have...

If you're looking at SUVs, my friend's sister has an Acura RDX and it's actually really nice, I wouldn't mind owning one if I were in the market, I'm not a big fan of SUVs though.

Apex3 wrote:If you're looking at SUVs, my friend's sister has an Acura RDX and it's actually really nice, I wouldn't mind owning one if I were in the market, I'm not a big fan of SUVs though.

RDX...is that the Turbocharged CRV or the Larger on based on the Pilot?

I can see the CRV based one with a turbo being pretty fun and unique.

Redlined wrote:id love to help but your rule #2 pretty much nixes every suggestion I have...

Rule #2 is due to me living in the snow belt and no matter how good you take care of a car here they just wont last without starting to rot out. I know this has no bearing on a car that I'm purchasing as I could buy one from Florida etc. but I do plan on keeping the car for at least 5 years so the newer the better is how I see it.

I'd love to hear what you had in mind though