I got $20,000.........What car should I buy

How about a 4-cylinder Accord, or a used VW GTI, or a new Fusion/Milan, or a usd Subaru. All would be excellent choices. I vote for the Fusion though.

But why did you sell your SVT Contour, those are sweet cars (I love the engine).

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a 4 cylinder accord? why would you do that to yourself?

How about a 4-cylinder Accord, or a used VW GTI, or a new Fusion/Milan, or a usd Subaru. All would be excellent choices. I vote for the Fusion though.

But why did you sell your SVT Contour, those are sweet cars (I love the engine).

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a 4 cylinder accord? why would you do that to yourself?

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no joke. Get the new Si or a used rsx type s. I dont know how much stock i would put in info about future car purchases from this site. They tend to be lame cars or cars that dont seem to inspire "fun"

How about a 4-cylinder Accord, or a used VW GTI, or a new Fusion/Milan, or a usd Subaru. All would be excellent choices. I vote for the Fusion though.

But why did you sell your SVT Contour, those are sweet cars (I love the engine).

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord? why would you do that to yourself?

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Because they are really nice cars, get great gas mileage, are fun to drive, and the K-series motor responds well to mods.

But seriously...SRT4?

lolz!

How about a 4-cylinder Accord, or a used VW GTI, or a new Fusion/Milan, or a usd Subaru. All would be excellent choices. I vote for the Fusion though.

But why did you sell your SVT Contour, those are sweet cars (I love the engine).

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord? why would you do that to yourself?

Click to expand...

Because they are really nice cars, get great gas mileage, are fun to drive, and the K-series motor responds well to mods.

But seriously...SRT4?

lolz!

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord is SLOW. end of story....

How about a 4-cylinder Accord, or a used VW GTI, or a new Fusion/Milan, or a usd Subaru. All would be excellent choices. I vote for the Fusion though.

But why did you sell your SVT Contour, those are sweet cars (I love the engine).

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord? why would you do that to yourself?

Click to expand...

Because they are really nice cars, get great gas mileage, are fun to drive, and the K-series motor responds well to mods.

But seriously...SRT4?

lolz!

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord is SLOW. end of story....

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they have been driving focus's too long, its clouded their judgement of what a fun car is.

First evaluate what this car must do, how long you plan on having it and what your future may hold in that time (i.e. kids).

Will you need two or four doors, should it be a sedan or a hatchback, have four wheel drive or not.

Will you need to carry others with you and are you set on new vs used.

What about turbo vs non-turbo and the cost of fuel.

Also you may want to consider Insurance cost. I just bought the wife a Chrysler Town and Country, this mini-van is identical to the Dodge in every way except the insurance is cheaper on the Chrysler. Call your agent and they can help you.

NoAnswer most of the questions and you will narrow the field down. And oh yea I am not advocating buying cars like you would appliances, cars need also to give you a feeling.

from the right seat
dam3816
<//><

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i would have to echo this post. that being said, i would also have to stand up for the 4 banger accords.

while they ain't the most unique car out there by any means (of course, this is comeing from a FOCUS owner), they are quite nice. my GF bought a brand new 04 Accord LX for about what you're willing to spend. simple car, but comes with everything you need. power is pretty good, too. it spanks my atx zetec all day long and could probably have a stock MTX zetec all day as well (depending on the driver). the tranny is a nice 5-speed ATX that is geared pretty tall to get you up and going, but then that 5th gear is just awesome for fuel economy! the car only revs at about 2500rpm at 80, and keep in mind this is on a 4-banger. if she's just looking for a basic 4-door sedan, this car would be my choice. nothing cool about it, but uber-cheap to own, reliable, and holds it resale value well.

Mike

Mazda3.

I didn't think they made a v6 accord with a 5 speed...

I didn't think they made a v6 accord with a 5 speed...

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Currently you can get an Accord coupe V6 with 6-speed manual transmission, but interestingly not in the sedan, go figure. I guess Honda thinks only "sporty drivers" will purchase the 6-speed in the coupe.

Mazda 3, Scion tC, Civic si all come to mind.

Please tell me what mods are avaiable for the Honda 2.4 4cyl, my Element has that engine and besides doing a head swap with the 2.4 in the TSX, there is not anything out there for this engine, that I've been able to find.

How about a 4-cylinder Accord, or a used VW GTI, or a new Fusion/Milan, or a usd Subaru. All would be excellent choices. I vote for the Fusion though.

But why did you sell your SVT Contour, those are sweet cars (I love the engine).

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord? why would you do that to yourself?

Click to expand...

Because they are really nice cars, get great gas mileage, are fun to drive, and the K-series motor responds well to mods.

But seriously...SRT4?

lolz!

Click to expand...

a 4 cylinder accord is SLOW. end of story....

Click to expand...

they have been driving focus's too long, its clouded their judgement of what a fun car is.

Click to expand...

I agree and with 166 hp and 160tq I bet its pretty close to the performance of a stock ZX3 (I could not find any numbers on the 4cly model but on paper it should be close)

but yeah you have to look at what you want to use the car for, the mazda 3's are very nice and sporty. The accord can be had for under $20k and will hold its value like crazy which is really nice if you are buying new and dont plan on keeping the car forever.

Mike

I noticed everyone's mentioning 4 bangers here...

What about a pre-owned Mustang GT? You can pick up a low mile '03-'04 for under 20K and blow the doors off all of these cars mentioned, not to mention have one of the largest aftermarkets available.

If it were a sports car, I'd suggest that.

For a sedan I'd say go for a used Altima 3.5 SE, good aftermarket and also faster than all of these cars mentioned ( aside from the SRT4 and the above mentioned 'Stang )

I should also point out they're cheap to insure. My Altima is about $350 over 6 months cheaper to insure than my '04 ZTS was.

And before you mention MPG, let me point out I see high 20's-low 30's in my Altima on the highway, my all mighty PZEV saw 22 if I was lucky....