Cory wrote:My nephew just graduated from pharmacy school and is about to embark with an awesome 1st job. I'm his go-to car person and recommended he take his time to find an ultra clean/well maintained Lexus IS300.
Any other things that someone might consider?
Thanks.
Does he drive a stick? What will his hours be like? Can he/will he turn a wrench? No matter how awesome the job is, no use in throwing money away. Every car costs money. If you buy new/newer, you pay in depreciation, but you might get a warranty. If you buy older, you save up-front and on depreciation, but you have repair downtime, and repair costs a lot if you aren't inclined to touch a wrench.
My approach is to drive nice older cars, and keep more than one. If one breaks and I can't drive it for a while, use the other. If he wants a newer car and doesn't want to think about it, buy an Acura TL (first gen; the newer ones are fugly). If he wants lower cost and a little effort, an E46 330i ZHP is a great car, or a late (end-of-run) E39 of any stripe. I'd avoid any VAG product that's more than 5 years old.
I think almost every Toyota product of the last decade has sucked, IS Lexus included. Infinitis look nice but they have reliability issues. If not buying new, a pre-'04 BMW is a good bet.
-tammer
Good thoughts. Does your man have a personality? A life? A dog? A girlfriend? A boyfriend? A hobby? You are not giving us much to go on. I'd say a Porsche 911 or a Toyota 4Runner
As stated, we know very little of what his situation is or what he's willing to spend, but I, for one, LOVE my e90. Mine has sport and premium packages, I haven't had one lick of trouble out of it, and I got it for around $18k. I know there are some e90 haters out there, but I personally think that I bought the best car in the world for under $20k.
I love my E90 as well, but I also think that almost any recent (last 10 years) Toyota or Honda product would be great. Even a Ford from the last 5 years is pretty good IMO.
If I weren't a BMW enthusiast I'd probably have just driven Honda and Toyota products for the rest of my life.
But I love BMWs so therefore there goes a large portion of my disposable income...
as much of a gearhead as i am, if you not after a toy i just cannot justify not buying something off a dealer lot with a bumper to bumper warranty and driving it till the warrenty gets close to going out and then sell/trade in on another one.
Why not a well-kept E39 528i or 525i? Good styling, good handling dynamics, enough engine to stay somewhat satisfied, nice interior, and common enough to get cheap parts. Oh, and they're cheap as dirt.
Steal of the century are the low mileage 2003 e39 540i w///M bits. 6sp, but thats where the fun begins. Last year of the model, so a lot of the bugs have been worked out. Plus you get the big nav screen.
535is-pa wrote:as much of a gearhead as i am, if you not after a toy i just cannot justify not buying something off a dealer lot with a bumper to bumper warranty and driving it till the warrenty gets close to going out and then sell/trade in on another one.
While there is some appeal there, that is the most expensive way to own cars.
535is-pa wrote:as much of a gearhead as i am, if you not after a toy i just cannot justify not buying something off a dealer lot with a bumper to bumper warranty and driving it till the warrenty gets close to going out and then sell/trade in on another one.
While there is some appeal there, that is the most expensive way to own cars.
-tammer
You don't have to buy new to get a warranty. Used off a dealer lot with an extended factory warranty (such as BMW's CPO program) is probably the best bet for the non-enthusiast. You'll pay more than from a private seller, but still far less than new.
Cory wrote:I think maybe a good non-M E36. Is there a single model/year that jumps out as "The One"? I think maybe a '99 coupe of some sort.
A late E36 won't be significantly different in price to a mid-range E46, and the latter is the better car, especially for the street. There are 328i and 330i available at or under $10k in very good shape.
Jeremy, good point about CPO, but we don't know a budget here. That only applies to cars <4 years old, so at a minimum you're looking at $20k and up.
Cory wrote:I think maybe a good non-M E36. Is there a single model/year that jumps out as "The One"? I think maybe a '99 coupe of some sort.
A late E36 won't be significantly different in price to a mid-range E46, and the latter is the better car, especially for the street. There are 328i and 330i available at or under $10k in very good shape.
Jeremy, good point about CPO, but we don't know a budget here. That only applies to cars <4 years old, so at a minimum you're looking at $20k and up.
Tammer in Philly wrote:Jeremy, good point about CPO, but we don't know a budget here. That only applies to cars <4 years old, so at a minimum you're looking at $20k and up.
-tammer
Well, I was only holding up BMW's CPO as an example of what I was talking about. Other manufacturer's have similar programs of varying value on cars that cost less. Volvo and Saab both have good programs from what I've heard. VW, MINI, Hyundai, and Honda supposedly have very good certified pre-owned programs as well.
BMW's program goes out 5 years, and there are MY 2005 cars for sale at BMW dealers with CPO warranty near me. They've likely been on the lot for a while.
