whats the best 2nd car/ daily driver?

[zotman72]

Geez, nobody mentioned the the Audi S-cars from the nineties. So I will. These cars are quite fast, extremely good in bad weather, nice interior and reasonably efficient on fuel. My S6 Avant can carry a lot of stuff and seven passengers (ok two have to be midgets!) if need be. It will blow the doors off any Volvo or Saab wagon too. A thinking man's SUV. YMMV
But I will concede my S6 can not tow a race trailer and for me that is a problem.

[aschen]

Resident Subaru fanboi here, the 06 wrxs with 2.5 l, bigger brakes and more grown up looks are great. They are much faster than the 230 hp figure suggests. I had a wrx and now I have a wrx STI (wing Deleated!!). Both cars served me flawlessly and arnt scared of the roadcourse / autocross

[ruf-porsche]

The other German car company

BMW
525it Touring,

Great family car, don't need to worry about jerry rigging the car seats for the kiddies

[72doug2,2S]

How do seven fit into the Audi A6? Do they have a rear seat in the back like the Volvo option?

[kepperly]

Your second, every day driver should be the one your Co. pays for
and saves you more money for your real love. Do us all a favor and make sure its fuel efficent so we can be assured of being able to find fuel for our p-car into our retirement.

Keith Epperly 87 slant nose turbo look carrera cabriolet

[zotman72]

Yes many Audi Avants have rear facing bench seat behind the middle one, which can carried two passengers that are less than 75 lbs --with three point shoulder harnesses. That is why I bought the car, I needed a kid carpool vehicle for to carry six kids and I could not bring myself to driving a minivan or heaven forbid, an SUV. . Nothing beats quattro in snow here in Colorado and the turbo makes for excellent power for winter mountain trips. YMMV

[banjomike]

I pretty fond of my GTI. It came loaded with leather, AC, power windows, power locks, alarm, CD, 10 speakers, traction control, nifty 17" wheels, and gobs of tourque. It has 180hp and 173ftlbs of torque at 1950rpm (and the tourque stays pretty level to over 5000rpm). Late model 3 series BMWs eat my exhaust regularly. The handling is nothing like my old 911 but neither is the ride. The ride is very smooth, though a bit mushy over 90. It is a very easy car to commute in and plenty fast to have fun. Seats 5, lots of luggage space. Spend $500 for a chip and get 205-210hp (with no other mods). Spend another $800 on a Shine suspension and it will handle great! I bet a 2003 could be had for around $15k.

Many people get 27-30mpg, but I think they must be driving like grannies. I get 23-24, and I have fun doing it!

The miata is a great suggestion. I tested a Mini and I really liked it but real humans could not sid in the back and there is less luggage space than in a 911. I figured if I was going to have a car that seated 2 and had no real trunk it was going to be a porsche. For now I'm diggin the veedub, and biding my time scanning the ads. Who knows what's next, I've never had a 914....

[alf]

Why spend $30k? You could get many of the cars mentioned here for much less. Mine is a hand me down 92 Pathfinder, cost me $35 to transfer the registration. 175k miles, goes anywhere and hauls anything (but ass).



My wife has the people hauler ML with 3rd Row...



I sorta miss my 88 CRX Si and 92 Civic Si though...great cars. Should be able to find them for under $5k.