Well I'm going away to college in a few months and I'm looking to sell my Z soon. Its an 05 enthusiast with 34000 miles on it. I guess my first question is what kinda price should I be selling it for. Cause in kbb the suggested private party price is about 21,870 and the trade in value is 19,950. Does that sound like a fair price on both of them? I only ask cause I still owe about 23,500 on the loan and I'm trying to get as close to that number as possible. After selling the Z I'm going to be looking for some new transportation I was wondering what would you guys suggest with a budget around $10,000-$15,000 preferable a european or Japanese car with high miles doesnt matter. Thanks!

 

You may be upside-down on the loan. You have a couple of problems. Winter is not the best time to be selling a sports car. Second, I advise buyers to avoid cars with a lien - too much hassle.

Best of luck.

 

Too bad ur not in the north east. I'd pay that for ur car. And sell u mine for 9.... I got a turbo'd 02 civic si.. Runs amazing....

 

Ouch... I was in the same situation as yourself back at the beginning of college, and I chose the wrong path Do the right thing: Sell the car privately, pay off as much of the remaining lien as possible, and with the other cash you have to buy another car, pay off the rest and buy a 5th Gen, 5 Spd. Honda Prelude, 1999-2001 model Awesome Japanese car, one of the last true quality cars that Honda released.

 

I'll try to pay as much as I can on the lien so I wont take so much of a hit if I have to trade it in. Only thing is I'm kinda low on cash due to paying some other loans off before I leave for college. I'm also looking at some older BMW's like a 2001 325ci for 14,500 with 65000 miles on it. Are those cars pretty reliable with high miles?

 

i have an 01 325i with 113000 miles on it its running grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat. Theyre good cars but maintenance is a big hole in your pocket.

 

ill give you 20 bucks for it?

 

Good to hear they run great even with high miles. I'm going to check one out tomorrow at a local dealer and see how they drive. I know it wont be anything close to the Z. But when I'm done college I'll definitely pick up another one.

 

If I were you I would not buy an older 3 series especially while you are in college. It is a big hole in your pocket when things break and things like electronics will break. I am at school also and a couple of my friends have them. They are great cars to drive when they run and when they break it sucks because its just soooo much to fix. You should look into a late model Prelude like it was said before or a 02-03 Acura Cl-S 6sp manual which is a great car and its quick too with 260hp(around 12-14k), if look hard you can also find an early model Lexus IS300 in that price range, thats just some examples....Just find something fun and reliable.

 

If you gonna get a new bmw...do not purchase...lease it...after 70 or 80 thou...get rid of it...

 

Did you sell the car?

 

honestly get a honda. easy to clean, fix and take care of. really, everyone knows how to fix a honda. i wouldnt really go for euros only because its too expensive to fix. plus, have you seen the engines?? they look difficult!!

 

I'll throw something different out there:

(Max Bang for Buck)
SRT-4

(Reliable, cheap, RWD, unique)
Toyota MR2 Spyder

(Reliable, cheap, fast-ish, fwd)
Toyota Celica GTS

SRT4's are the best deal in terms of performance. Their depreciation is so bad, you can pick up 400hp ones on srtforums.com usually for under 15k. Downside is that you might as well buy an extra transmission (or atleast 3rd gear) if you are going to go over Mopar Stage3, which is ~320hp

I seriously thought about getting a MR2 spyder before I got my Z. They are great track cars (As long as you know how to make oversteer work for you) and get really good gas mileage. the 1.8L engine is really reliable, although it's not the most friendly to FI.

I have a friend that has a Celica GTS. Car is fast, although with 1.8L you can't be afraid of the redline. My buddy gets exceptional gas mileage with it. Only downside (IMO) is it's FWD.

I was broke when I was in college, and thus cars that were cheap to insure, got good gas mileage, cheap to fix (and were fast) so I had a Beretta GTZ (180hp quad 4). I think both the toyota's are a better bet because the reliability of the srt4 is questionable (The engine is bulletproof for the most part, but everything else is 'eh')