My 2006 Accord EX-L, unusual model with most of the good features and a manual, was totaled in an accident yesterday. Had 225k miles and ran great, supremely reliable. Dude in the red car pulled out in front of me, I had somewhere between 0 and 1 second to react and plowed into him at about 40 mph. Police deemed him responsible so hopefully the insurance process will be smooth. Two of my kids were in the car, everybody is a bit banged up and scraped but mostly OK.
So on to the topic, need a new car. My 12 year old daughter remarked as we're sitting there on the side of road "how are you going to get another car with a stick shift?". How indeed. If I had the resources at the moment I'd get an Integra Type S, but alas need to keep the price to around $20k. The ideal used car would be one of the recent Accord Sports with the 2.0T and stick but those seem to be unicorns.
Criteria is a sedan/wagon/hatch with a reasonably powerful engine, stick, sporty-ish, good feature set, $20k-ish or less, <100k miles, 8 years old or less. Quick Autotrader search suggests the following makes/models could be options:
Audi A4/A5 (not too many of these but they exist)
Mazda 3 (Grand Touring spec)
Genesis G70 (had one of these pop up, price a bit of a stretch but doable)
VW GTI (would want the SE or Autobahn) or a Jetta GLI
Civic Si (the prices on these seem to be ridiculous)
Focus ST
Elantra N Line (styling on this one is a bit much but I might be able to live with it)
Not really interested in a WRX though it would check most of the boxes. Just don't see myself as a WRX guy lol.
Would appreciate any insight on the above models or suggestions for things I've left out. Thanks!
jeff
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