Need a sensible but fun daily

Joined
Apr 19, 2010
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Location
Frisco, TX
My Corvette has worked fairly well as an only car for the last 3 years, but I think it's time to finally relegate it to track duty and fun/weekends. Not only does this give me more leeway to run more aggressive tires and potentially modify it further, but it adds a "safety margin" should anything ever happen at the track. Maybe a better way of putting it is that having a second car gives me more flexibility with what I do on and off the track. Plus, the deals on cars and financing right now are absolutely crazy with lots of 0 or 0.9% APRs available.

I'm still an enthusiast at the core so I would like something sensible that isn't totally numb. I drive boring rental cars almost every week with my travels for work so I'm trying to avoid buying a rental car, if that makes any sense.

Must haves are a sporting nature, comfortable, enough room for four adults, usable trunk space, reasonable running costs. Trying to keep price at $40k or less. I'm fine with something a year or two old as long as the equipment list is good. I have not driven anything, but I did walk some lots yesterday to see things up close. Hoping to visit some lots later this week and do some test drives. Let me know about the list below, and if I'm forgetting any others. Apologies for the lengthy post, this is a bit of a stream-of-consciousness because I'm bored and stuck inside with the gross weather today.


My short list:

Accord 2.0T Touring
Likes: very handsome, surprisingly fast, tons of equipment, will probably run forever, large back seat and trunk
Dislikes: dime-a-dozen, FWD, not terribly sporty


Genesis G70 3.3T Sport
Likes: great chassis & dynamics, RWD or AWD, near-luxury, very well liked by automotive press
Dislikes: a bit over-styled, Hyundai interior bits break the illusion of luxury, trunk and rear seat not huge


Mercedes AMG C43
Likes: fast without being crazy, sleeper, very well equipped, great interior
Dislikes: expensive (lease instead of buy?), design getting long in the tooth, small backseat


Volkswagen Golf GTI
Likes: practical cargo capacity, peppy engine & gearbox, perennial award winner
Dislikes: passenger room no better than above vehicles, no upscale/luxury equipment, questionable reliability
 
How about the VW Sportwagen? Low entry cost, maybe cheaper to insure than the GTI with more utility.

2019 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen Side Red Exterior.jpg
 
Originally Posted by dparm
Mercedes AMG C43
Likes: fast without being crazy, sleeper, very well equipped, great interior
Dislikes: expensive (lease instead of buy?), design getting long in the tooth, small backseat


There's the E53/E63 if you want a bigger backseat. You'd have to go back a few years to find an E63 in your price range. There's also the E400/E450 which would be cheaper as a lease or a CPO. The 2021 E class should be a face lift.

There's also the S550/S560, S63/S65. They still have a V12 but you'd have to go back several years to find a V12 thats in your price range.
 
Need a sensible but fun daily driver ??? Another Vette . Years ago I had a neighbor that loved Vettes and in the 24 years I lived there he wore out 3 Vettes, and the 4th one he sold because he was getting too old to crawl out of it.. A Vette lover needs at least 2 Vettes.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by dparm
Mercedes AMG C43
Likes: fast without being crazy, sleeper, very well equipped, great interior
Dislikes: expensive (lease instead of buy?), design getting long in the tooth, small backseat


There's the E53/E63 if you want a bigger backseat. You'd have to go back a few years to find an E63 in your price range. There's also the E400/E450 which would be cheaper as a lease or a CPO. The 2021 E class should be a face lift.

There's also the S550/S560, S63/S65. They still have a V12 but you'd have to go back several years to find a V12 thats in your price range.



Originally Posted by Trav
Audi S6



Not interested in a 5 year old, extremely high strung German car.
 
Originally Posted by IMSA_Racing_Fan
The Mercedes will eat your wallet.


Howso? New cars have warranties and modern maintenance intervals on those things are fairly long. Typical yearly service is about $200 for the "A", I thought.
 
Originally Posted by 2strokeNorthstar
Camry TRD? What is your definition of sensible? AMG Mercedes isn't good economic sense....


Not a fan of the interior or exterior styling of the current Camry. I've had them as rentals plenty of times.
 
Originally Posted by dparm
Originally Posted by IMSA_Racing_Fan
The Mercedes will eat your wallet.


Howso? New cars have warranties and modern maintenance intervals on those things are fairly long. Typical yearly service is about $200 for the "A", I thought.


Yeah, service A is about $200 and service B is about $600. You can get the maintenance packages. They're a good deal if things like spark plugs or transmission fluids are due as they're included but not in the regular Service A/B. On the used ones, you can go CPO and get a 7 years unlimited mileage warranty. For new it's 4 years/50k.

Don't need to be too high strung, even the E450 is 362hp. Your C43 is 385hp. If you jumped up to the E53, you'd get 429hp. Price wise, E450 is about 5k more than the C43.
 
ATS? In my mind its the most affordable fun to drive rwd 4 seater. Pretty small trunk and back seat though. People say a Charger drives better than you'd think for its weight and its had over a decade to work out the kinks. On the other end of the scale, maybe try a Raptor? Those trophy truck races on road courses look like more fun than a proper race car!
 
Originally Posted by IndyIan
ATS? In my mind its the most affordable fun to drive rwd 4 seater. Pretty small trunk and back seat though. People say a Charger drives better than you'd think for its weight and its had over a decade to work out the kinks. On the other end of the scale, maybe try a Raptor? Those trophy truck races on road courses look like more fun than a proper race car!


The Raptor is certainly cool and does open up the door to later towing of the Corvette, but they're pretty pricey and Ford doesn't do anything for special lease or financing offers. It's a pretty expensive vehicle considering I don't really need that sort of hauling capacity. Maybe in a few years if I decide to get a trailer, I would consider one. The Corvette is already a bit tricky to maneuver around due to the absurd ground clearance and long front hood...the Raptor is sort of the opposite with its width and height.


I can't believe I forgot to mention the Mazda6. Beautiful interior, finally a more powerful motor, and understated looks. It's actually slower and handles worse than the Accord, largely due to being very under-tired and having skinny garbage tires. Still, price is right and the options list is competitive.
 
I once owned a 2013 VW GTI. I bought it new and my wife put a ton of company paid miles on it. Sold it to one of my brothers with 166K on it.
The hatchback came in very handy multiple times. The car had a few issues during my owning it, but certain things like the shocks/struts, tie rods..never needed replaced.
The brakes lasted twice as long on that car, too, without ever needing new rotors. The GTI was my favorite car I ever owned.
 
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