Been racking my brain and CL/Autotrader for a couple of days now. after more chats with my wife we're leaning towards something newer that I can more or less drive into the ground over a decade rather than over ten days.
My parameters are:
- Sporty, but to the extent that I can still DD it. Needs to work all year round, although it will be supplemented by a Jeep for really bad snowstorms. Usable on snow with proper snow tires is a must, I can't have another winter garage queen.
- Reasonable insurance for a DD.
- Less than $25k; we'd have to borrow money for that but given that we've got fairly limited financial commitments and a good income I don't see $25k-$30k as a problem.
- I'd like something I can track and Auto-X a few times a year, preferably without breaking the bank so consumables shouldn't be too expensive
- Four seats nice, but not required
- Reasonable (ie, not Ferrari-like) maintenance costs with a potential for at least some DIY. Something that does require my salary to be direct deposited with the dealership doesn't need to apply. Expected mileage is around 15k/year.
- I tend to prefer momentum cars over the "one look at the loud pedal has you two counties over" type
- Reasonable backup both on Th3 Interw3bz, yo and with dealers/specialists
- Would be nice if it was built this century, otherwise we're back to old 911s or an Acura NSX
- Without trying to insult anybody around here, something a little more "grown up" (especially in the eyes of the law) and less susceptible to fart cans, non-maintenance etc would be nice
- Something that's reasonably DIY-friendly would be nice, even though I probably have most of the work done by someone else.
- I don't want new, thinking at least 2-3 years old so I'm not being hit by the main part of the depreciation. Low depreciation offsets higher cost of entry for me somewhat.
So far I've dug up:
- Miata. Hey, this is GRM.
- Boxster. Not a big fan of the looks, though. Prefer the Cayman but they*re a lot more expensive still.
- S2k. Looks like it's the most expensive of the lot (almost) but it's a Honda, so it should last.
For the three above, I'd most likely need a hardtop to be legal for SCCA HPDE as I don't think I'd pass the broomstick test in any of them without one. And hardtops help in winter anyway.
Unfortunately it looks like hardtops for both the Boxster and the S2k aren't that easy to come by (at least not cheaply) and as we know Miata hardtops are a grand a pop.
- RX8. I like rotaries, it's got four seats, there's a bunch for sale for not too much money and they drink like the proverbial fish. Errr.
- 996 911s. Maintenance costs scare me, although they're supposed to be somewhat lower than on an earlier car. Plus, I can get an AWD if I'm so inclined.
Subarus are kinda sorta out, I still have bad memories of my JDM Legacy GT twin turbo that don't need refreshing anytime soon. An Evo 8 or 9 looks good on paper but so far everything Evo-like I've owned (an earlier Evo in the UK and the Talon here) has been a massive headache.
The drive to work is via various mountain roads to something that doesn't drive on autopilot is fine (can't do that around here anyway), and something that doesn't make you fall asleep around 40mph-50mph would be even better.
What else should I be looking at that would keep me entertained for at least five years?
