If you could buy a somewhat entertaining car what would you pick

Oro_O said:
I saw quite a few regularly on CL in the Seattle area for $5k-ish - routinely. Very nice ,garage kept, 60 to 100k miles on average (pre-Covid). They are the V8 ones (which is a good engine, as is transmission). I like inline 6's, too, but also love V8s. Currently my drivers are a V6 and an I-5 turbo (which is ok), but I need to get an i6 or v8 for fun. ;)
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MacManus99 said:
A 330ix is most definitely an inline 6. The only 3 series that I know of that came with a V8 is the E92 M3.

Perhaps you were referring to a 5 series?
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I was referring to the Jaguar XK8 I mentioned higher up - sorry I was talking across you; should have figured out what you meant. The six in the E46 is indeed sweet. M54 (?).

Up until recently, you could get a REALLY nice 3rd or 4th gen Z28 for 5k. I thought about those but I think prices have popped a bit lately.
 
getawheel said:
It is a ‘66.
I don’t drive it much, doesn’t run great on pump gas as compression is too high and I don’t want to convert it to E85. Runs great on >100 octane racing fuel when I can get it.

I’m currently adding A/C with factory parts. Might have to use R134, haven’t gotten that far yet.View attachment 35743
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Beautiful car. One of the great American icons. If you limit vacuum advance and run 30* to 32* total mechanical, it should run OK.
You made my day...
 
OVERKILL said:
E46 BMW, maybe try and find a 330i with a stick? My sister has the 330i "Performance" (2003) and it's a fun little car.
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I need to learn what all the bmw lingo is and means. I read the e46 had water pump and vanos issues. I know nothing about vanos. 😂😂 they seem intriguing to own though.
 
skyactiv said:
What about an Accord V6 of a Camry V6 with a stick. They did make them. My wife had Accord Coupe V6 with a stick which had plenty of zip.
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I have a 2007 Accord V6 sedan with the rare 6MT. Room for 5 with a reasonable amount of luggage. Or 2 and an Xmas tree (has a fold down back seat).

I had a 2000 Camry Solara SE V6 5MT coupe. Absolutely huge back seat and trunk. The turning circle was very wide and the gear shift wasn't the best but other than that, both are great cars. I can recommend both.

The Accord is lighter on its feet and the Solara would be the better cruiser.
 
ram_man said:
I need to learn what all the bmw lingo is and means. I read the e46 had water pump and vanos issues. I know nothing about vanos. 😂😂 they seem intriguing to own though.
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The DOHC I6 isn't hard to work on, but BMW's in general have a lot of plastic in the cooling system so stuff does fail. My sister's never had a water pump issue but I did have to help her replace the plastic overflow tank which is a common failure item as are the valve cover gaskets and oil filter housing gaskets. None of it is "hard", the cars are actually pretty easy to wrench on, but they can be a bit needy.

She also had the variable runner flap (plastic) fail, and the rubber tube between the TB and the MAF rotted out. Rubber and plastics on the cars are a wear item, which I found odd, but at least they are relatively cheap and easy to replace.

Car is very engaging to drive though and handles very well. The "Performance" version comes with the big brake upgrade and probably some other things, otherwise, her car is reasonably basic with no distractions, which it sounds like you are after.
 
JeffKeryk said:
Beautiful car. One of the great American icons. If you limit vacuum advance and run 30* to 32* total mechanical, it should run OK.
You made my day...
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Thanks. I think I’ll try that when I have some time to play with it.

It’s a cool car, if I can get it running well on 90 octane (common non-ethanol around here) then I’d be very happy.
 
At first when I only read the title I immediately thought "corvette". I see it doesn't fit any of your categories unfortunately.

Maybe an older Impreza or WRX/hatch but $6000 is going to net you one that's really high up in miles.

Older Mazda 3 wagon, maybe a high mile Mazdaspeed 3.
 
OVERKILL said:
The DOHC I6 isn't hard to work on, but BMW's in general have a lot of plastic in the cooling system so stuff does fail. My sister's never had a water pump issue but I did have to help her replace the plastic overflow tank which is a common failure item as are the valve cover gaskets and oil filter housing gaskets. None of it is "hard", the cars are actually pretty easy to wrench on, but they can be a bit needy.
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+1 on that, the engines have a few issues - like most all cars - but nothing fatal or to run away from. I was gung-ho to buy one, but the car was going to be driven by a teenager and we went with a Volvo S60 2.5t awd instead (better deal, better condition car for the $$, more sensible for now). But the E46 is on my list for the future.

The performance package is called "ZHP." Tweaked engine, bigger wheels/brakes. You can spot them by the 300rpm higher tach, different steering wheel and alcantara seats; I think interior trim might be silver vs. wood though I think that was also an option on the regular cars. I saw a few for sale that were not marketed as such and were offered too cheap for what they were (well under $6k). Came in convertible, sedan, and coupe. No awd model, just rwd. Coupes are gorgeous and the sedans are pretty good looking in their own right.

Speaking of Volvo (someone mentioned 850R above) 2000's S60R and V70Rs are quite interesting and fun to drive. 300hp/300 ft/lbs., Well built, reliable, easily tweakable. I think a really nice V70R would come in above 6k on average, but the S60Rs are lower as they are less "cult" cars but actually more potent IMO.
 
It all depends on your interests. For me, I enjoy hitting the dirt roads and exploring offroad, so my Jeep fits that well. If you did the same, I'd recommend a 4Runner.

For a road car, maybe a Hyundai Tiburon. Something different than what anyone else has, and cheap.
 
The Critic said:
Instead of spending $15-$20K on a larger, reliable car for your family, you decide to spend the money on two separate, small old cars? Sounds very practical.
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+1.

OP, hate To sound pompous, but beggars can’t be choosers. I think I’d argue that you did pretty good and made prudent choices with the vehicles you have, but you seem to go through vehicles like it’s going out of style, and if you actually have $6k or whatever amount cash, you would be better suited to sit on it and roll it into a better, newer, safer vehicle when the time comes. It’s not a lot of money,mand may be better saved and put towards something in the future. At some point you’ll see diminishing returns in chasing newer, better cars, but not yet necessarily. New cars are a luxury, and older cars aren’t that much less safe necessarily. But Id argue you arent at the “knee in the curve” yet, and a bit more/better car next round might still be worthwhile to look into. Having more cash, rather than more projects and more liabilities might be a good choice.

What’s the status of the Ram, or actually two Rams, right? Your grandfather’s and then the other one you bought? Are they both 100%? I’ll tell you what, Im a car guy, own a lot of cars, and I’ve made my 96 Ram with 438k miles my daily driver recently. Literally parked my 135i in the garage, and haven’t driven any of my other cars. I just love driving The Ram diesel. It’s effortless and smooth and not that loud (do need to fix a door hinge though). I want to get a half million miles in it.

My point is, you have many irons in the fire, you don’t really have a lot of money, so whatever you buy will have so,e compromises, and need some work. I’m sure you can do it, but after you buy this mystical $6k fun car, you’ll have another insurance bill, and thst much less cash to do anything on the other vehicles you own. Plus, when it becomes time to replace one of your daily vehicles, you’ll have that much less to throw at a newer, better car, and will be caught in the same cyclic trap.
 
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Now you went and done it Bubba. Never let logic and good reasoning get it the way of cheap thrills. Buzzkill. Been thinking I would have never, ever put my young family in something like a Sonic BITD but we all have different comfort levels.

Did ram_man every say what finally happened to the Dart? He was going to buy it back and fix it and took it all apart then decided not to. Been wondering how that little side trip turned out monetarily.
 
A used Dodge caravan, all the seats lay flat, great for one person camping, since dodge quit making them, they are cheap...imho
 
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