If you're happy with the P/T Cruiser, this turbo Dodge guy votes for the
Neon SRT. My son has a 98 Sport and auotcrosses the heck out of it all
summer. It's approaching 95,000 miles, looks new, runs great, seats 5,
beats ricers and gets great milage.Not a wagon or hatch, but the seats
do fold down. The turbo (and Daimler Quality Control) can only be
better. My Shelby Charger has 179,000 on it and until I over boosted the
turbo, ran sweet. I cooked a piston at the drags and am now rebuilding
the motor while running a junkyard motor for the winter.
Pick up the current (January) Sport Compact Car magazine. Subscription
is here, may be on the news stand a little later. It has a comparo of 8
cars under $20,000. Neon SRT, VW GTI, Mini Cooper S, Mazdaspeed Protege,
Focus SVT, Tiburon V6, Sentra SE-R, and Civic SI. Hint: the Neon runs
14.2 in the quarter and second in the slalom course for $19,995.
My 2 cents
Dave & Bobbie
David Lieb wrote:
>OK, Guys, it is quickly becoming time for a new car here. I thought I could
>start an incendiary thread here by asking for advice on what I should look
>at.
>I like to buy a new car, run it for about 8 years or so and start over.
>I did this with my 87 Duster (8 years=235,000 miles).
>I am up to 180,000 miles on my 95 Escort wagon and my second daughter has
>informed me that she wants a K'Nex set for Christmas and a car for her 16th
>birthday next March (talk about a contrast!). So I am planning to fix a few
>things on the Escort, give it to her (that's one way to motivate her to
>learn to drive stick), and buy something new for me.
>
>Requirements:
>1. Clutch. I have sworn a mighty oath never to own another automatic
>transmission.
>2. Seating for 5 with the back seats adequate for my 3 kids all of whom are
>over 5' 10".
>3. Fun. I ain't getting any younger next year.
>4. Less than $25k. And the lesser the better of course.
>5. Good life expectancy. I intend to put over 150,000 miles on it, too.
>6. Bun-warmers are a big plus.
>7. Hatchbacks and station wagons are good to me; sedans are less desirable.
>
>I looked at the new MINIs, despite the fact that I have a prejudice about
>Bimmers (sorry, Chris), but they fail #2 miserably.
>I looked at the Golf the other night. It is a strong front runner right now.
>I looked at the Mazda Protege5. I hate the name; who wants a car that says
>'I need something to protect me? I like the car. It feels a lot like my
>Escort, but has a lot more pep. My Escort, after all, has a lot of Mazda in
>it. I didn't care for the salesman, but I cannot blame the car for that. I
>cannot get bun-warmers in it. Darn! I really would like them. It just
>doesn't seem to be the value that I would like to see, however. The Golf
>looks like a lot more bang for the buck.
>I don't like the looks of the Focus.
>I don't care for GM, they get everything backwards ;-)
>Trish already has a PT Cruiser, no need to get a matched set.
>
>Any ideas / opinions out there?
>
>David Lieb
>1972 RWA Midget
>1973 RWA Project
>1974 RWA Warrior
>1995 Escort Wagon LX
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