Friend's girlfriend has a Mazda 3 hatchback. He said it is a blast to drive and gets outstanding mileage.

methinks you get the best civic you can for the cost.
it's cliche but they're reliable and cheap to maintain

a rotary FD is a terrible DD. Terrible mileage, terrible reliability.

If i were buying a brand new car right now for a daily driver it would be a toss up between a few different cars.

1. Mazdaspeed3. Nice ride, solid build. Horrific torque steer that manifests itself in second gear.

2. Nissan 350z. Have yet to test drive one.

3. Mazda RX-8. Torqueless four door coupe. Fun and engaging drive since you have to wring it's neck to get the most out of it. Truck-like mileage.

4. Nissan Altima. Nice ride, decent interior, comfortable seats. Good communication through the pedals and wheel. Opt for the V-6, every retard and their mother bought the cut-rate 2.5 liter four cylinder.

5. Pontiac GTO. Still on the lots here "new" here, no one buys them for some reason. What's not to like? Four seats, 6.0 liter V-8.

Notice I really don't give a fuck about mileage?



As for hte Used Market....

1. 1992-1995 Honda Civic Hatchback. Preferably VX model, it utilized the VTEC-e engine. Good balance and fun for an anemic front driver. Third Gear was good for up to 110mph, but a good head wind would push it down to 105. I had one and still would if my wife let me keep it when I bought the Miata.

2. Whatever year MR2 Spyder. wait, did you want practicality? This car has none unless you can pack a weekend back into something the size of a small shoebox.

3. Meeehhh... are you looking for something that gets good mileage regardless of looks? Toyota Echo. No longer in production, cheap to get on the used market, excellent build quality... just don't plan on having intercourse of any kind with the opposite sex while this is in your possession.

Personally, I found the suspension on the Altima to be quite a bit too soft and the steering very non-communicative. Granted, it's no sports car and certainly no miata, but i was very underwhelmed even for a sedan.

I quite liked the mazda3 hatch though. The steering was very precise, but the slushbox model i drove lacked pep. The 5 speed helps alleviate that though.

If you want grunt get a mustang GT.

For 10k i would get a nice subaru legacy wagon, decent on gas, will keep me from speeding, has awd for winter, alot of space to pack people or stuff into, and will run forever

I'd let our Xb go for 10k.......
Dead fucking nuts reliable. 30+ mpg city and 40+ on trips.

I daily drive a FC right now so I think I would be moving forward by going with a FD.. As for practicality, I dont really have any in any of my cars right now lol.

haha nice

I tried the Maxima and Altima back to back. Driving a Maxima is like fucking with five condoms on with cardboard wrapped around your dinger. NO feel through the steering wheel, throttle, or brake pedals and dead quiet.

:gay: and the altima is worse. the previous gen maximas are GREAT DDs. my friend's 99? has almost 150k on it and it's running strong. bullet proof cars imo.

as far as a DD's concerned... mine is the Miata. otherwise, all the wagon recs are GREAT. wrx wagon, protege5, mazda3 hatch, etc. i, myself, am looking at a w210 wagon soon, so ben, send me some pix of your monoblocks?

The current Maxima blows for driver feedback. HOWEVER, if I was shopping for luxury, my money would be on the Maxima. Hell, it's seat backs up for you to get the fuck out! My only beef with it is the rear window, visibility blows.

+.5 on the wagon trip. There have been lots of times I'd wished I'd gotten that Sedona Red WRX wagon instead of the sedan. But since I've bought my Titan all that went out the left ear. I'll drive my Miata to work and shit too, doesn't sound like much, but take into account that I am a firefighter and have to pack enough shit for four days worth of dinners and then sometimes have to pack up my gear and shit to go to another station. That's a lot of shit and the Miata swallows it all up.

OK so I found a WRX, hes asking 9200... 130k

Im going to try and look at it this weekend.. BUT I keep asking myself if I really want a WRX. Im not a fan of wagons, I would love to have AWD for winter.. but I just dont know if a WRX is for me. Maby its because a few of my friends have this inner circle WRX click that annoys the hell out of me and the rest of my friends, and im afraid of being associated with it haha.. As dumb as that sounds. They seem reliable, but ive just never really been a fan. I DO know that I would be able to keep it stock though, unlike my other choices for daily drivers.

Ahh I hate making decisions.. Especially ones that require financial commitment for a year or so.

130k? What year?

I ask because mine is one of the first 7500 produced, an '02 bought in '01, and I only have 48k on the clock.

2002

They are very reliable. I bought that outback wagon, and its so nice to have the space. Get if for utility, not looks.

That's one thing I've noticed about Subaru, they have some seriously loyal customers. If they made a full size truck or if Mazda made a version of the F150 I might have been swayed into that.

+1 Had a 92 eclipse gsx turbo awd.. 2 motors (timing sliped 2x + interference motor), 1 turbo, transfer case locked up on the hyw (fun..), cracked exhaust mani, tranny issues - had to replace 1st gear 2x and 2nd also. This all happened b4 60K and was covered by Dealer (don't believe in sueing but .. sued dealer for not replacing transfer case lube which caused the lockup at 80mph in traffic - think skidding on all 4 in rush hour hwy traffic to a dead stop.. and won the cost of the repairs..).

Exwife had 2001 Eclipse turbo - motor was gone b4 powertrain waranty expired (dealer tried to get outta this too - diff dealer fyi but they replaced it) This one I didn't drive and was driven fairly normally..

Mistu = crap :td:

really? i just don't get it, i've had 4 eclipses, 91gsx, 93gs,91gs,97gst. All of them were great with the exception of the 91gs that was an auto, the trans broke all the time(seriously). My 91gsx was the most fun car i've ever had, 20g turbo and all the supporting mods and not one thing ever broke. i miss it bad but those cars are so old now i don't have it in me to do another.

Right, honestly the only mitsus I see as "unreliable" from 1990+ are the first gen DSMs, like I said due to the chrystler blood line. Even then, if they are left stock and maintained, they do pretty well. In CURRENT mitsubishis, I back them 100%, although still if they arent maintained, they dont fair well, but thats just common sense. Also, they didnt make a turbo model Eclipse in 2001.