I too am looking for a new car

[280Z Turbo]

The Danger Ranger has been good to me, but the handling is awful and the drivetrain is rather bitchy about how you drive it.

It also is not a good freeway vehicle. It does fine 0-55, but after that it seems to suck gas and vibrate a lot.

I'll be driving a lot between Kalamazoo, my house, and Grand Rapids, so I need something that does well on the freeway.

I'm looking for something under $6,000.

I have some slightly modified criteria from what I talked about earlier:

-NATURALLY ASPIRATED! NO TURBO! (turbos make me nervous)
-Good handling
-5 speed manual is a must
-reliable
-good on gas
-0-60 in less than 10 seconds
-NO RUST!
-fairly compact (I don't need 4 doors or cargo room)
-FWD or RWD (AWD is a waste of gas)

[Raghavan]

Miata or MR-2, 240SX, another Z ()

[280Z Turbo]

I have considered all of those cars, but there are problems:

-240SXs are getting hard to find and many of them are in bad shape.
-A Miata is a ragtop, which would not be so good in the winter.
-Z31s and Z32s still have rust problems, but they're much better than the earlier cars. I'd hate to take a nice Z and get it all rusty.
-MR-2s seem to have a problem with rust too, from what I've seen.

Remember, Michigan uses A LOT of salt.

That doesn't mean that I wouldn't consider those cars, but it is a problem.

[Run Away]

944s don't rust.

[280Z Turbo]

944s don't rust.

I noticed that European cars do much better than older Japanese models.

I was amazed at how rust free the Saab was. There was just a small spot on the hatch and some in the door jamb, but that's damn good for an '87 that has spent it's life in Michigan.

I'm a bit uneasy about buying Porsche parts. I'm familar with the Bosch engine controls, but the motor, drivetrain, etc. worries me. I know that Porsche parts can get expensive.

It's an excellent idea, however. B)  

[Raghavan]

Mustang

[280Z Turbo]

Mustang

Honestly, that's not a very good chasis and a V8 is really more than what I need.

I just found an N/A dark gray 944 by my house. I might go check it out soon.

[SJ_GTI]

Everyone else is suggesting sports/gt cars, but since you posted this in mainstreamers I am going to suggest a Mazda Protege5 (if you can find one cheap enough) or Ford Focus (ZX3/ZX5 should be had fairly easily).

I think a used Sentra (SE-R even) wouldn't be too bad either.

[Run Away]

Oh snap, I forgot.

The car you are looking for is the Focus. Might as well lock the thread.


My 944 suggestion wasn't all that serious BTW.

[280Z Turbo]

Everyone else is suggesting sports/gt cars, but since you posted this in mainstreamers I am going to suggest a Mazda Protege5 (if you can find one cheap enough) or Ford Focus (ZX3/ZX5 should be had fairly easily).

I think a used Sentra (SE-R even) wouldn't be too bad either.

Those are some good ideas. I'll be sure to check out some Foci.

[280Z Turbo]

My 944 suggestion wasn't all that serious BTW.

Hey, they're plentiful and cheap! It's a posibility!

Here's a Focus near me:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_...g=en&cardist=29

[Raghavan]

Weren't those the years with reliability issues?

[280Z Turbo]

I do recall a lot of recalls.

[MX793]

My 944 suggestion wasn't all that serious BTW.

Hey, they're plentiful and cheap! It's a posibility!

Here's a Focus near me:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_...g=en&cardist=29

Cheap to buy, maybe, but they are higher maintenance (timing belts and water pumps in particular) than a lot of cars and parts are not so cheap.

The Focus is a good suggestion.  

You also might want to keep an eye out for V6 Ford Contours.  Reasonably peppy for their size and it was a pretty decent handling chassis.  

[BMWDave]

My 944 suggestion wasn't all that serious BTW.

Hey, they're plentiful and cheap! It's a posibility!

Here's a Focus near me:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_...g=en&cardist=29

Cheap to buy, maybe, but they are higher maintenance (timing belts and water pumps in particular) than a lot of cars and parts are not so cheap.

The Focus is a good suggestion.  

You also might want to keep an eye out for V6 Ford Contours.  Reasonably peppy for their size and it was a pretty decent handling chassis.

There is a problem with them being so cheap.  Many owners bought them just so they could have a "porsche" and didnt keep up with the maintenance issues.  If you even look at a 944, make sure to get a PPI by a reputable Porsche shop.  There are some trouble spots with 944s, so try to get one that has had its clutch replaced (the OEM unit was rubber centered, and often didnt last too long), and timing belts are a must.  

If a 944 was taken care of, there is no reason it should be expensive to maintain.  But you'll have to do all the schedule maintenance, and since youre so mechanically inclined, I assume you know how to put in a timing belt, etc.  

[Tom]

I would think about a Neon.  You can make them fun  

[280Z Turbo]

I would think about a Neon.  You can make them fun

I could make the Ranger "fun" by swapping in a 302, but Lord knows it ain't worth it!

[footoflead]

Mustang

Umm that doesnt fit all of his catagory's, mainly the good handling one.

All mustangs handel great until you try to turn them at speed, thats when you fight understeer almost as bad as dare i say a FWD car! :ph34r: unless you just use your foot  of lead to give some oversteer but it doesnt work when your mustang is to unmovtivated to do that  

[footoflead]

I seem to remember promising us video of the danger rangers destruction

[El Barto]

Avoid mid 90's Jettas at all costs.  My Dad' 95 was a POS when it was new and my cousin's 96 caught on fire a couple weeks ago after having several thousand dollars worth of repairs done.

I second the Sentra SE-R idea.    

[Raza]

Fo...cus...

Teehee!
There are other choices as well, but the Focus is my first answer.  I'll do some more thinking.

ZX3 FTW!

:P

[Rupert]

Heh, for $6k, you can find a Miata and a removable hardtop.

[Tom]

I would think about a Neon.  You can make them fun

I could make the Ranger "fun" by swapping in a 302, but Lord knows it ain't worth it!

Neons are suprisingly capable.  Have you ever driven one out of curiosity?  If you're interested you might want to look at this: http://faq.neons.org/

It is also the cheapest option suggested yet.  This could either save you money or allow you modifications.

[280Z Turbo]

I would think about a Neon.? You can make them fun

I could make the Ranger "fun" by swapping in a 302, but Lord knows it ain't worth it!

Neons are suprisingly capable.  Have you ever driven one out of curiosity?  If you're interested you might want to look at this: http://faq.neons.org/

It is also the cheapest option suggested yet.  This could either save you money or allow you modifications.

I don't care. They're ugly, they're a Chrysler Corporation product, and look lifted, especially in the back.

[Tom]

I would think about a Neon.  You can make them fun

I could make the Ranger "fun" by swapping in a 302, but Lord knows it ain't worth it!

Neons are suprisingly capable.  Have you ever driven one out of curiosity?  If you're interested you might want to look at this: http://faq.neons.org/

It is also the cheapest option suggested yet.  This could either save you money or allow you modifications.

I don't care. They're ugly, they're a Chrysler Corporation product, and look lifted, especially in the back.

Don't you know about their offroading abilities?

[Raghavan]

I would think about a Neon.  You can make them fun

I could make the Ranger "fun" by swapping in a 302, but Lord knows it ain't worth it!

Neons are suprisingly capable.  Have you ever driven one out of curiosity?  If you're interested you might want to look at this: http://faq.neons.org/

It is also the cheapest option suggested yet.  This could either save you money or allow you modifications.

I don't care. They're ugly, they're a Chrysler Corporation product, and look lifted, especially in the back.

Don't you know about their offroading abilities?

And you can make TBR feel stupid!

[Laconian]

Heh, for $6k, you can find a Miata and a removable hardtop.

That's unpossible!!

[Champ]

early 90's Celica?

My buddy picked up a 1990 celica with 190k on it a few years ago and he still has it today around 270's, only had to change a clutch but otherwise good, A/C still works too!

[280Z Turbo]

Don't Celicas rust out though?

If I didn't care about rust I would go out and buy a Z31 in a heatbeat, but I can't stand to watch one slowly decay.

[MX793]

Don't Celicas rust out though?

If I didn't care about rust I would go out and buy a Z31 in a heatbeat, but I can't stand to watch one slowly decay.

Not the 1990+ models.  80s models I quite often see rust on, but the later ones seem to hold up better.