Car recommendations - under 15k

[irish44j]

Originally Posted by liqidvenom

wagons are gay, look at how extreme a wagon has to be power wise to be cool. e63 wagon, rs6 wagon, s4 wagon, etc


mazda 6 wagon....very gay

IDK, when I was in high school (early 90s) all of my friends and me all wanted Volvo 740/760 Turbo wagons, which were not "extreme" at all but still managed to hang with the luxo-sports in the ETC championships. I would venture that the Subaru Legacy GT wagons are pretty cool right now..especially for the $30k pricetag.

E36 3-series wagons were cool too, even with the fairly basic powerplant.....Audi A4 wagons too. Of course none of those are as cool as the more "extreme" ones....but a Maxima or a Subaru WRX aren't as cool as an s4 or e63 sedan either, so what's your point?

I will agree though that there are not many cool wagons around these days...all the people who used to buy wagons buy SUVs now.

And don't forget, the Maxima once came in wagon form

[Maximillionaire]

Subarus, imho, are overpriced, at least here in Canada. They're great cars, innovative to say the least, but they're just too expensive for the level of refinement that they're offering. In all honesty, however, I couldn't care any less how much more performant your car is. You could have the most high-powered, brand new Corvette ZR1 and I would laugh my *** off at how silly you are to have spent 150k on a car you can't let loose, unless you're on a track, but then you're insurance won't cover you if you total it.

Just my two cents on high-powered cars. I didn't buy my Maxima for the performance. I love the look, the interior refinement is nice, and it has a nice bit of agility when you chomp down on the gas pedal.

[liqidvenom]

Originally Posted by irish44j

IDK, when I was in high school (early 90s) all of my friends and me all wanted Volvo 740/760 Turbo wagons, which were not "extreme" at all but still managed to hang with the luxo-sports in the ETC championships. I would venture that the Subaru Legacy GT wagons are pretty cool right now..especially for the $30k pricetag.

E36 3-series wagons were cool too, even with the fairly basic powerplant.....Audi A4 wagons too. Of course none of those are as cool as the more "extreme" ones....but a Maxima or a Subaru WRX aren't as cool as an s4 or e63 sedan either, so what's your point?

I will agree though that there are not many cool wagons around these days...all the people who used to buy wagons buy SUVs now.

And don't forget, the Maxima once came in wagon form

i forgot about the volvo turbo wagons....

Originally Posted by Maximillionaire

Subarus, imho, are overpriced, at least here in Canada. They're great cars, innovative to say the least, but they're just too expensive for the level of refinement that they're offering. In all honesty, however, I couldn't care any less how much more performant your car is. You could have the most high-powered, brand new Corvette ZR1 and I would laugh my *** off at how silly you are to have spent 150k on a car you can't let loose, unless you're on a track, but then you're insurance won't cover you if you total it.

Just my two cents on high-powered cars. I didn't buy my Maxima for the performance. I love the look, the interior refinement is nice, and it has a nice bit of agility when you chomp down on the gas pedal.

a stock maxima has no form agility....none. i think it has negative agility actually.

im sure the owners of zr-1's will let there car loose just like any maxima owner...just that the maxima owner will have to wait longer and push hard to find a thrill.

[CoolMax]

Originally Posted by liqidvenom

i forgot about the volvo turbo wagons....



a stock maxima has no form agility....none. i think it has negative agility actually.

im sure the owners of zr-1's will let there car loose just like any maxima owner...just that the maxima owner will have to wait longer and push hard to find a thrill.

Hmmm...doesn't the thrill start with tq steer?

[CoolMax]

Originally Posted by irish44j

ugh....Mazda3forums is annoying. I used to go on there when we had the 3 and it's amazing how many 17-year-old morons there are on there. It's like a civic forum from 5 years ago. There's some good info and knowledgeable guys on there, but you have to read around all the bull****...and there is 10x more of it there than there is here.

I guess some of that behavior is to be expected with economy cars...and yes, there is a lot to sort through to find any useful info.
Any other forum suggestions?

[NYPD-Arnold]

I've been looking for an Acura TL for my cousin and I'm surprised at how inexpensive the car is today. I found him a bunch of low mileage 2005s (45k and less) for $15k.

[maxihari77SE96]

aaanyways...
Mazda 3 - that didn't work out.

Just bought 2009 honda civic ex, manual, for 19.5.
26mpg city.
nicely equiped (sunroof too, for me a deal-breaker)
For Chicago people - on Western, before Pratt.
Great guys.
Would buy again, as far as their service.

Thanks... again... for your help guys.
Will post some pics later, if anybody is interested.

[unrealii]

Originally Posted by NYPD-Arnold

I've been looking for an Acura TL for my cousin and I'm surprised at how inexpensive the car is today. I found him a bunch of low mileage 2005s (45k and less) for $15k.

Wow, I thought Acuras held their value very well. I'm not sure, but some of the TL's had transmission issues. Make sure you dont get a year which is affected.

maxihari77SE96, Congrats on the Civic!

[irish44j]

Originally Posted by Maximillionaire

Subarus, imho, are overpriced, at least here in Canada. They're great cars, innovative to say the least, but they're just too expensive for the level of refinement that they're offering. In all honesty, however, I couldn't care any less how much more performant your car is. You could have the most high-powered, brand new Corvette ZR1 and I would laugh my *** off at how silly you are to have spent 150k on a car you can't let loose, unless you're on a track, but then you're insurance won't cover you if you total it.

who is talking about ZR1's here or $150k cars?

Originally Posted by Maximillionaire

Just my two cents on high-powered cars. I didn't buy my Maxima for the performance. I love the look, the interior refinement is nice, and it has a nice bit of agility when you chomp down on the gas pedal.

Look, the new maxima (and older ones) are nice cars. And they have a decent level of refinement, though nothing amazing. I've been in a 7th gen, so I'm not talking out my ***. But please let me know what part of the maxima is so "refined" compared to Subaru's flagship (let's say, a loaded Legacy GT).....I test drove a loaded Legacy GT and it was every bit as refined as a maxima....navi, leather, heated seats, bluetooth, etc etc etc. It has every feature a maxima has and is just as good fit/finish and quality. And AWD and better handling to boot. And for less money.

But I guess you're right...~$27k for a fully loaded 265-hp sedan is overpriced. (Canadian MSRP for the 09 WRX is $C30,995)

And you paid alot more than that for your 290-hp sedan, that's right. (Canadian MSRP for the 09 Max is $C37,000 base)

Oh wait, it looks like YOU are the one who paid more money for more power, not me. oops.

[irish44j]

Originally Posted by CoolMax

I guess some of that behavior is to be expected with economy cars...and yes, there is a lot to sort through to find any useful info.
Any other forum suggestions?

eh,,,, not really. Just have to keep to the more technical sections where the more knowledgeable people reside I guess. I didn't mod Carin's 3, so I didn't really spend much tme on those forums honestly.

[sciff5]

Originally Posted by NYPD-Arnold

I've been looking for an Acura TL for my cousin and I'm surprised at how inexpensive the car is today. I found him a bunch of low mileage 2005s (45k and less) for $15k.

Remember, unless they are manual tranny they are almost all junk. If your think the maxs automatic tranny is delicate the TLs had HUGE tranny issues back then. Might be part of the reason those are so cheap.

[CoolMax]

Originally Posted by maxihari77SE96

aaanyways...
Mazda 3 - that didn't work out.

Just bought 2009 honda civic ex, manual, for 19.5.
26mpg city.
nicely equiped (sunroof too, for me a deal-breaker)
For Chicago people - on Western, before Pratt.
Great guys.
Would buy again, as far as their service.

Thanks... again... for your help guys.
Will post some pics later, if anybody is interested.

[NYPD-Arnold]

Originally Posted by sciff5

Remember, unless they are manual tranny they are almost all junk. If your think the maxs automatic tranny is delicate the TLs had HUGE tranny issues back then. Might be part of the reason those are so cheap.

It's not that big of a deal, imo. Powertrain covers 6 years/70k. Plus he'd still get a warranty on the car, though.

[sciff5]

Originally Posted by NYPD-Arnold

It's not that big of a deal, imo. Powertrain covers 6 years/70k. Plus he'd still get a warranty on the car, though.

Its very bad. Some people were going through trannies every 20K miles. I was gonna buy that car instead of the I35 untill I read that. Get an extended warranty if you want but that will cost you more, plus you'll want to get rid of it after its off warranty and obviously the values will be even further deflated seeing as most people know about the issues.

[BlackBIRDVQ]

Maxi, should have told me we have 2 DSG GTi 2 doors on our lot now... and a 5 door GTi w/ 18" Huffs also DSG.

One EX-Maxima owner how never comes here no more went GTi 5 door DSG route, he also owned a GS430 right before the GTi...... He says its the best car hes ever owned. He even started to mod it a bit which is quite the step for this guy !

MKV Rabbits and GTis are very reliable cars. We are getting a 5 door GTi DSG this spring for my woman if I can't find a cheap S4 Avant V8.

[NYPD-Arnold]

Originally Posted by sciff5

Its very bad. Some people were going through trannies every 20K miles. I was gonna buy that car instead of the I35 untill I read that. Get an extended warranty if you want but that will cost you more, plus you'll want to get rid of it after its off warranty and obviously the values will be even further deflated seeing as most people know about the issues.

Well, I suppose I should pass on the information to him.

[BlackBIRDVQ]

Originally Posted by NYPD-Arnold

Well, I suppose I should pass on the information to him.

Don't,
Get your info straight, only the 2nd gen TL - 99-03 has tranny problems. 04-08 models are more robust than ever. In the 4 years that car has been out, I have seen maybe 6-8 trans' replaced on the 3rd gen TL. Thats saying something..... as far as engines go, J series might not have the punch off the line, but its probably the most reliable engine evere built by any car company.

In 150K miles, J series will MAYBE need 1 A/F sensor on the 3rd gen TL, 2nd gen TL will need bout 3-5 trannies to get to 150, but engine wise- oil changes is all it needs. Only thing bout the 3rd gen TL- CHEAP interior. Everything rattles, leather wears fast if not conditioned all the time. Suspension wise, 200-300K miles w/o anything but lower ball joints.

[NYPD-Arnold]

Great advice, I was hoping you'd chime in. I was always under the impression that it was the older TLs that were really problematic with the ATs. So I was very confused when Sciff started posting that they all break down.

[Y2KMaxGXE-R]

NYPD Arnold- the $15K quote for 05 TL you're getting are on the low side. You're probably looking at either very high mileage, non-NAVI, or post-accident ones. A decent 05 should be sold in the 18k-21k range. Mind you also that this car should be had only with factory NAVI, because of so many cool features that comes with it.

[sciff5]

You guys are correct. I don't know where my head has been but I was sure the TL tranny issues included 2004s. Ohh well.. I guess I'm getting senile at 24.