Just sent him some links to some Legacy(s) like this one:

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5611714589.html

I know he wouldn't even look at a WRX or Impreza.

They all do seem to need head gaskets by ~100k, I know his mom's also suffered from CEL for O2/converter issues that seemed hard/impossible to resolve (BMW's seem to suffer this fate too)

Salvage title on the one you listed

Was looking fast and didn't see that - good catch - thanks

how about this one:

https://nh.craigslist.org/ctd/5637749716.html

never saw the price range, but a boxter IMO is th bang for the buck now, Miata sure, if you are in snow country get a TT,

Ha, you are 20 miles from me, I am happy to help. In NH a subaru drives you. They are exceptional in the snow and cheap.

Who is laying out the cash for this purchase? In my experience, what's acceptable can vary dependent on who's paying. IMHO, let HIM do all of the leg work and buy his own vehicle. If there's a oops due a high risk car (repair or insurance wise) when he buys an expensive turd? it's on him. One of those lessons learned the hard way.

I missed the 944 story. What went wrong?

If it is a car I approve of, I will assist with about $1200 cash as I did for his sister.

He will either get a car loan or make $100/month payments to me if that is a better or only option. Payments to me would increase if he is succeeding at his new job.

The 944 saga:

He did not get the $1200 for the 944 as I did not approve.

It was a reasonable car for awhile and he had a short commute.

Short version - cam box oil leak, I helped him fix it.

Head gasket blew - he fixed it, but dropped something in the cam box that damaged it.

Replaced cam box, but he likely misadjusted the timing belt and it broke going through the Hampton tolls last New Years Eve.

Bought the car for $3k drove for about 1.5 years, sold it for $1k.

Was referring more to my E39 because of all the plastic bits. I'm at 90K and have already done the preventative cooling maintenance, among other things (belt tensioners, suspension, etc etc). Still one of the best cars I've ever owned.
The E30 is easy to maintain - valve adjustments every 10K, timing belt every 5 years or 50k, in addition to fluid changes etc. I use Mike Miller's "old-school maintenance" guidelines for it and my E39 (imho BMW's last great sedan).
Click to view attachment

It's hard for the old and wise to give proper advice to the young; priorities definitely change. But to me there are 3 types of cars unless you are wealthy (that's another matter): 1. A truck/SUV that can tow (do you need to tow often enough for this?) 2. A fun car (can be anything from a classic to something new that is impractical). 3. A practical and affordable DD (In my world there is only Honda and Toyota). As money and circumstances permit, you have any combination of the 3. That's just my $.02.

....Did anyone say Volvo...very reasonable for the ducat? also Ghia
(whatever you purchase be safe!)

Jeep.
There are some awesome jeep clubs that do events on private land.

http://nea4wd.org

Miata hands down best bang for the buck if you can find one with a hard top even better. Parts are cheap and plentiful get 250-300k no problem.
2007 Honda Civic Si dedan fun car. Chain driven cams no belt change needed and very reliable. My wife has one with 150k on it and done nothing but shocks and tires and oil changes and 200 hp vtec fun car.
Golf GTI are fun and well built more expensive to repair if the need arises.
BMW e28 find a few in the 3k -4k range. Another fun car but expensive to keep on the road.

...

https://boston.craigslist.org/sob/cto/5613371872.html

Miata, I have owned several, loved everyone of them. Great little car.
I also love the Ford Rangers, smaller truck, get the xlt, extended cab, more room behind the seats, or get one with a canopy or the glass tonneau cover.
Craig at CAMP

Miata, I have owned several, loved everyone of them. Great little car.
I also love the Ford Rangers, smaller truck, get the xlt, extended cab, more room behind the seats, or get one with a canopy or the glass tonneau cover.
Craig at CAMP

What car would his boss like to see him drive? Newer family oriented (thought of as reliable) or older (could break down and miss work, low quality expectations).
I've always had 2 cars. The 914(s) for fun and in my 20s a Nissan Hardbody for the daily grind. Cheap to own, cheap insurance (multi-car discount) and useful.


Yes. It's because I am intimately familiar with newer cars.

I have an 88 Nissan Pathfinder with 225k as a daily beater. Paid $350 and put ~$250 into fixes and window tint. Could use a new muffler - $50 at Autozone. Cherry NW interior, good paint, no rust, just a few dents from off-roading. Current cost $100/yr or I can probably sell it for a grand. Your E30 sounds like a POS to me. My wallet loves POS owners

Nice looking kit, this is more up my alley than his.
Probably don't want to know what is under the fiberglass!

He drove a 2006 Miata last night and liked it a lot.

We both prefer the later body style with the fender bulges and it has more room/trunk room.

It might be sold, he will find out today.


Found another nice one in Mass but 2 hours away.

Assuming they can come down a grand or so, they are both a grand over the original budget.

I've owned a couple of Rangers, might be able to get h going that way if the Miatas fall through.

Google around for local miata club as well, they usually have a classifieds...

As well as Facebook ect, craigslist is becoming less and less the go to place to find a deal.

There is a club that auto crosses at devens and there was a Miata race shop in Ayer just outside the gates, for reference

A Ranger with a 2" drop and bigger rims/sporty tires will handle quite well. No Miata but much less truck like.

Found this in my local area, may interest you or your son. Is in Seattle WA.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/ctd/5652426493.html

So while we both like the MX-5, common sense and a limited budget prevailed and we found a great deal on a 2010 Mazda 3s Grand Touring with a six speed manual transmission and 132k for only $4200

Nice! That seems like quite a good price. I have almost that exact car (only 105k though) and have been very happy with it overall.

Plan on getting snow tires for it. It's great until snow hits and then can be undriveable without a good set of snows. It's worse than a 2WD long bed pickup truck as strange as that sounds since it's FWD.

One of the reasons the price is right is because it has studded snows on it now lol!

Looks like a sensible decision.

Those should work!

Good choice.

The one thing I see a lot with cars at that mileage is that after 60k maintenance gets lax. Unless you have actual records I'd go thru it like nothing got done and verify condition.
132k in 6 years is not a lot of down time.

Agreed, anything that isn't proven to have been done (such as a timing belt) will get done ASAP

Great car for the price. Mazda is very underated I think. But let your son pick the car otherwise you will never here the end of it no matter what happens. my 2 cents.

How about a Mk VI VW GTI....2010-2012...don't know what prices are like down your way but quick fun car, crazy comfortable interior...great mileage... and at least in my experience....I have owned a bunch of GTI's over the years...reliable as well.

Hope this helps! Grant

Thanks, and I agree that HE had to pick it and he did pick it, but not before it (me) got heated.

To his credit a few weeks ago he had mentioned a Mazda 3 hatch as a possibility. He had a friend buy one and liked it.

I did not go with him to see the car, he had to make peace with not getting a RWD sports car and decide on his own if he could live with this choice.

While I was not 100% against a nice Miata we found, it would have required a real car loan which also means full insurance.

I was hoping he would do the research/math and realize with a new job now and needing a new apartment in the fall that now was not a good time to get financially extravagant on a car that isn't the best choice for what he is currently doing....

But he didn't and wasn't even looking at the other options I found/sent to him, including this car.

So when I finally had enough and lost my cool a bit with him, he changed his plans and went and looked at this car (which to our benefit was hard to find because it was under "Mazda3" rather than "Mazda 3" on Craigslist so I don't think they had much interest).

More good news - it has a timing chain, the current owners have the maintenance records which was all done on time, and it was mostly driven by the wife.

I've heard good and bad about GTI's, but personally like them.

This time around I think Japanese was the way to go.

We don't have the Mazda yet as I have to transfer the funds - we committed to buy, but he did not have a cash deposit on him, hopefully they do not sell it out from under us!

3's are great cars. That hatch is actually decently sporty from the factory. Underpowered yes, but sporty.

My cousin has one and I could almost keep up with him driving my Fiesta ST on an back canyon road.. Granted I am a significantly more aggressive driver.

It carries its weight well and has enough brakes to do the job.

great purchase. My wife has a Mazda 6 from a similar era, and it's been great. The 3 is still a lot of fun to drive and he could do quite well at local autocrosses if he wants to have some "fun.".

If the 3 has some of the same small quirks/issues as the 6, you may wish to immediately inspect the condition of the plastic water elbows and tees in the engine bay. They last a long time, but with that kind of mileage, they are likely getting very brittle. On my wife's, they have been literally the only real issue we've dealt with. Small, cheap repairs, but if one does crack on the highway you can be out of water REAL quick. When one broke, my wife noticed real quick and shut it off before any damage was done and I had it fixed in less than an hour.

The other thing I should mention - if you ever have something that needs to be replaced, don't bother going to the FLAPS. More than likely the Mazda dealership in town has what you need, is fantastic OEM quality and for the same price, if not LESS than an aftermarket part. I love my local dealer and the guy at the parts desk knows me by name now.

Thanks for the feedback on Mazdas guys!

We will be checking the plastic fittings and using the dealership for parts (which is almost close enough for him to walk to).

We are aware that the 3 has a "sporty nature" that most people don't know about, and the "tuner boys" that he loathes don't go for it (but he is already thinking about black rims lol).

I think he needs a small SUV, perhaps a nice one owner silver and black Honda CR-V EX, leather interior with a 5 speed.

I might know someone selling one

So we got the car home last night.

It was the first time I had seen it, though I was the one to find it on Craigslist.

Owned by a 30ish professional couple and it was her first new car.

They sold it because she inherited a very low mileage Rav4 from her grandmother.

Other than needing tires this car is exceptionally clean for the year (2010), mileage (132k) and options (fully loaded S Grand Touring).

IMO we literally stole it at their asking price of $4200!

the boy is very happy as is his dad!

Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture, meant to bring my real camera.

Thanks for the support and advise!

Awesome! Glad you found one that you both like.
Do I see an E30 vert in the background?