Recommend me a cool 2-door car for less than $10k - Page 2

Not bad, BMW Maintenance can get a little pricey though..

E46 330ci since you don't seem to appreciate the perfection that is the E30 M3

Correct. The S2000 (As well as the E30 M3 that was mentioned) only comes as a manual transmission.

Mid-70s mercedes. Usually sold on ebay for 5-7K.

 

lefty

An RX8 gets beyond shitty gas mileage and an automatic is going to suck the life out of that car.
I'm pretty sure you can't get a GTI with automatic in your price range.
Honda S2000 is stick shift only.

(slightly) bigger engine. so (slightly) faster. still by no means fast. but with the right exhaust a 330ci can sound pretty damn sexy. my friend had one and sold it to another friend who ultimately swapped an S54 in it. even when it was relatively stock though it was always a nice car.



here it is stock, save for the drop, wheels, and clear corners.

An SC300/400 would be a good choice.

350Z or Altima coupe...maybe a Nismo edition?  maybe a nice Accord coupe too.  

The tibby was actually a kind of cool car. We had a pair of them on the lot when I worked at a dealership the summer of 2006--one of my favorite ones to take and drive, but probably not right for this situation.

I would suggest the Genesis coupe (except that I doubt the used market on them has come down to 10k)--pretty much fixed everything that was lackluster about the tiburon and added a significantly higher level of fit-and-finish. If I were in the market, it would be one of my top choices but it would lose out to a GTI (probably 4-door as it doesn't add much weight and car is otherwise the same) on practicality grounds since the GTI with the seats down can haul almost as much stuff as the smallest pickup trucks.

I don't know if this is a direction you're looking at in the slightest, but I recently picked up a used Mercedes CLK55 (2002 w/ 76k) for just a little above your price range, an even $12,000. The CLK430's can definitely be found with ~70,000 miles for under 10,000. The CLK430 coupe is automatic, a head turner, and with 275hp/295tq, pretty much the quickest car in this thread.

I get about 18/26 mpg in my 55. I would expected at least 19/27 in the 430--extremely economical V8's. Interior space is excellent with enough room for 4 adults and an enormous trunk. Fit and finish are top notch as well. Consumer Reports listed this generation CLK as having better than average reliability. I expect these cars will have few issues, though being a MB everything will still be expensive to fix when it does fail.

This is a pretty old car, for sure. But the amount of luxury, practicality, and performance for the price is pretty remarkable.

As an example,



http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=310199373&dealer_id=613141&car_year=1999&lastBeginningStartYear=1981&end_year=2012&model=CLK430&showZipError=y&pager.offset=25&search_lang=en&start_year=1981&dma=JACKSON_MS&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&search_type=both&body_code=0&first_record=26&isFlashPlugin=true&distance=0&default_sort=priceDESC&address=39211&rdm=1323365858356&marketZipError=false&sort_type=priceDESC&max_price=12000&make=MB&num_records=25&seller_type=b&cardist=888&standard=false

That's a drag on insurance. Seems a little high though--I pay around $75/mo for the 55, which has the larger V8 with about 350HP.

As far as the car's longevity, it's all about how you treat them. The drive-train on these is rock solid--the M113 is a fantastic motor and should last 150k+ without issue. The interior bits is where things get a little dicey. My parents have an E430 (different chassis, but same drive-train and very similar interior) with ~180,000 miles on it. Still drives like a champ, but the interior started to go at about 150k.

So insurance is about 300/year more than your alternatives? To me, that difference is worth it for a much more unique car. But honestly, the maintenance is going to be a lot higher for the MB than the VW. The fact that the MB will be 10 years old soon means that there will almost undoubtedly be at least a couple of things that need to be addressed as soon as you take possession of the car. In my case, this turned out to be some minor noise in the suspension and the rattle of a failing window regulator in the driver's side door. For now these issues don't bother me enough to have them fixed, but expect similar minor issues with any car this old.

I also considered a Jaguar XK8, although it has the same disadvantages along with much less practicality. Still, it's simply the most spectacular looking car this side of 50 grand. My advice? Just say screw it and convince yourself that no other car will do. Just look at it. This one is $11,000 with 59k miles. Again, supposedly pretty reliable with an economical, gutsy V8. It's a no brainer, right?



All depends on how much of a premium you put on a rare car with a beautiful design--for me it was quite a bit.
Edited by Andrewc2232 - 12/8/11 at 11:40am