Car shopping - input wanted

[cornercamping]

You'll have PM in a couple minutes...  :)

[tstruyk]

damn you....  :P

[stumpy]

 Hey Jim,
 I would pick either a 03' Honda Accord, or you can get sweet financing on Subaru's now, The WRX is the turbo'd version or the 2.5RS in the non-turbo but very peppy, You can stack a ton of miles on both of them and get good gas mileage while you do it.


Stumpy

[cornercamping]

damn you....  :P

Check your PM  ;D

[cornercamping]

I replied, check again  8)

[Super Dave]

You guys got big budgets...

Ok, at one time the Taurus/Sable was a huge seller.  Still are to fleets, etc.  

It's really realiable.  There are tons of them out there because the fleets all bought them.  Get one with a 3.0 V6.  My old one does 26 all day long, but that's old.  

My dad has had a couple of the newer ones and he gets in the 30's.

Parts are really cheap.  All day long.  Again, there are things that are common, like ball joints, etc. from the first generation through the third generation vehicles.  

Really just depends on what you want.

I'm not an any kind of car person myself.  But I know that you're taller than me Jim.  It's a good size car on the inside.  I'd bet you could find something pretty darn nice with lower miles for under $10k.  I could sell new ones, when I was selling, for probably $17k.  I wouldn't buy a new one because you can get one with a few miles for pretty much half.

Let the opinions begin.

[Dawn]

Let the opinions begin.

I've already shared mine.    ;)   ;D

[Burt Munro]

Hey!  Here's a low mileage BMW that should go for under $20K.  Now this would be fun to drive!  Great City car too!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6056&item=4523203251&rd=1&ssPageName

[cornercamping]

 ;D

[ecumike]

Dan, and whoever knows....   What's the scoop with this APR stuff?

The 'APR ECU Upgrades'.. easy 'safe' mod to do to get easy HP? Downsides/Cons?

The queen just bought an '05 Passat GLS yesterday, and was just interested in this... although, they are the cost of 2 sets of tires for me, so I'm not sure I would buy it.  :D

[Rich]

I'm on my second Nissan Maxima and love it.

Their resale after a year or two is horrible. Thats the biggest reason I love them. They are almost 30K new, but after a year or two they are well under 20.  My 00 that I have now was 28K off the showroom floor, and I bought it off lease for 15K w/ 30,000 miles on it.  Bang for the buck they have a great motor, they are reliable, and are fun to drive.  If you get a 02 or newer, they come w/ a 6 speed, a 3.5 liter w/ 255 hp and HID lights!  You will want minor suspension upgrades like a rear sway bar.  Learn more at www.maxima.org

Other cars to consider?  Although they have a $10 interior, the Altima is cool.  I'd also love to have a WRX which could easily be bought for under 20K.
 
I know a GREAT wholesaler where I have gotten all of my cars in the last five years. He operates in KC and Chicago - email me if you want his info.

[cornercamping]

Dan, and whoever knows....   What's the scoop with this APR stuff?

The 'APR ECU Upgrades'.. easy 'safe' mod to do to get easy HP? Downsides/Cons?

The queen just bought an '05 Passat GLS yesterday, and was just interested in this... although, they are the cost of 2 sets of tires for me, so I'm not sure I would buy it.  :D

Well, I had it done.  It's pretty straight forward, and makes a HUGE improvement on acceleration and HP.  It almost feels like a shot of nitrous.  Seriously.  More or less, the APR dealer uploads a new file into your ECU thru the OBD port under your dash.  They don't have to do anything but literally plug your car into a laptop. Then, you choose the number of programs you want.  Each program is based by the octane of fuel.  For instance, you can choose between 91, 93, and 104 Octane.  You choose by using your cruise control buttons and watching your dash.  Each program "optimizes" the car and adjusts boost pressure, timing, ect.   To be honest, it's probably the best upgrade there is, especially for what it costs.  The difference is night and day, and the first time you drive the car after the programming, you can tell the difference like it's a new car.  Imagine adding a supercharger to a naturally asperated motor.  That is how significant it is.  The cool thing is, you can choose what programs you want, and only pay for those programs, and on top of that, it takes approx. 15 minutes to do with absolutely no disassembly to the car itself.  They just plug in under the dash.  
One thing to do is find your local DirectPort APR dealer.  They can give you a "timed" fully functional trial.   Before I bought it, my local APR dealer installed it for me, and I could use it for 72 hours.  After 72 hours, the programs were no long "there" and all I had to do if I wanted to keep it, was call them with a credit card number, and they gave me a unlock code to "purchase" the programs.  They gave me the 72 hour demo free of charge.  Long story short, I called with a credit card on the way home after driving it for 15 minutes.  :D  That's how awesome it was.  The only downside, is you can't remove it and move it to another car.  Once it's in that car, it stays.  So, if you buy another VW of the same model, you have to pay for it all over again when you get the new car.  
Find your local dealer for APR and give them a call.  Ask them if they offer a trial with the DirectPort.  Most do.  My local dealer was Steve's European Automotive, in Waterford, MI.  There is a guy named Andreus.  He's pretty cool and has a decked out GTI that makes 300 hp.  Give him a call, and he'll tell you all the facts.  He told me what to do and what not to do.  The only thing he recommended other than DirectPort was adding a new Turbo Waste Gate because the cheap plastic stock one would "fail" after a few years because of the boost pressure the APR programming increases compared to stock.   That cost was $60.00 and the car after I sold it now has 80k miles on it with no problems.  I sold it to my cousin.  Also, he recommended waiting until 2k miles before doing anything to let the engine break in properly.  I bought the car new and wanted it done the first week.  He talked me into waiting, so I trust him.  Give him a call.  He's a friendly guy, and also a racer himself.  He races that 300 HP GTI in amature road corse SCCA type stuff..

APR =- Biggest perfomace $ for $

 ;D