As an automotive journalist (still can’t say that with a straight face) I often get asked what car would I buy with “x” amount of money. I love those questions because it’s something I ask myself very often. So it came up again earlier with some people that have done well for themselves so their budget is around 50k. Of course they are thinking new and thinking the usual suspects like 3 series BMW or maybe even a 5 series, C class, CTS, Audi, etc. All of course would be reasonable picks but can you stretch your dollar and get a little more car if you buy smart? I asked if they ever considered used and the answer was basically no and they almost scoffed at the idea, but I explained further.
Well that got me thinking about what cars I generally recommend to people and usually I do select used cars because you do get a better bang for your buck. My list probably won’t shock the faithful reader or friend but hear me out and hit the jump for the cars you should consider buying if you are shopping for a car.
The first question we have to ask is what do you want in a car? Of course if you are looking for four doors we should look that way. In this category we of course have the low end, mid, and high. My low end car will be a bit controversial because it’s the Chevy Cruze. The tricky part here is finding a used one that’s cheap because the car is still very new. However give the car another year and they will be plentiful. I like the Cruze because of it’s nice styling, rock solid ecotec motor, good economy, and it’s generally fun to drive. Not to mention new and loaded you are around 20k so that means used you can see them from under 10k and up. Of course some honorable mentions are the Civic and Corolla but I prefer the Cruze to both and parts will be stupid cheap for the Cruze.
In the mid class is one of my all time favorite cars, the Pontiac G8 GT. It’s LS powered, RWD, practical, and a lot of fun. Not to mention good looking, comfy, and is one of GM’s best interiors to date. The problem of course is there were not many of them made so finding one can be tricky. However finding one cheap should not be. Good specimens can now be had for 20k and top notch examples are under 30k.
Moving up the ladder in price you’ll see a trend here, my high priced pick is the Cadillac CTS-V. Luxury, handling, and blistering speed it has it all. If you had to buy a new in this car segment I’d recommend the CTS-V as well so it only makes sense to recommend it used. One thing it doesn’t have that it’s German counterparts does is the shaky reliability, over priced name plate, and the throngs of people that will hate you just for driving something German. Sometimes it’s not so bad to be a yank.
Moving on to the cheap fun car class the field narrows. It would be foolish to over look the likes of the Chevy Cobalt SS, or the Subaru WRX but for this article I’d like to focus on RWD. That leaves two pretty clear cut winners here. The first of course is the Mazda Miata. Early examples can be had for under 2k and recent trade ins for under 20k. It’s hard to have more fun for that price. Until you step into our number one fun choice on the cheap the Corvette. The Corvette is like a Miata on crack. You can get it in targa top, convertible, or hardtop all of them are a blast and all of them are amazing bang for the buck used. C5 Z06s with under 50k miles go for 15k and sometimes less. That’s a 400hp car with a lot of life left for the price of a new Honda Fit. If the C5 isn’t your thing then the C6 can be had with like new miles for a hair over 20k. The Z06 is now in the 30-40k range and once the new C7 drops the market will be flush with used C6s.
The bottom line here is you don’t have to take my word for it, but if you are shopping for a new car don’t over look what you can find use. There are some real gems out there from all auto makers and with the availability of aftermarket warranties you can have trouble free driving for years to come in a new to you car.