So I'm looking to downgrade the daily a bit but also have something that suits me better.

I bought a new 2013 accord about 6 months ago to replace the S.. And I'm missing a fun car to drive. With a house purchase coming up and kids too.. A sports car is not in the cards.

So brings me to a do it all fun to drive daily driver.

Budget is under $20k. That's a hard limit.

Looking at 04-07 wrxs, legacy GT. Car is very much preferred to be awd. No fwd.

Car also should have some balls too. I don't want to be wringing it out to merge with traffic.

Any cars that I'm missing?

 

Since you are working with a pretty strict budget I imagine that reliability is also a factor for you? If that's the case then I think you are going to be relatively hard pressed to find that 'perfect car' that mixes all of your 'wants'. Instead of listing the wants you should maybe aim your question based around needs. You need it to be no more than $20K. You need it to be reliable since this is your daily. Kids are in the future so I would assume that you need 4 doors. The wants include: AWD (maybe even RWD), sporty, and with some power.

Based more around the NEEDS I would suggest a 2008 Lexus IS350 (best value year). It gives you all of the needs, and dabbles in the wants column too.

 

True... my needs are sedan, reliable for sure. You got it for the rest. IS350 AWD? I thought only rear...

 

IS350 is RWD. Better than FWD...

 

True... I'm giving them a look now. Didn't realize they dropped so much in price! Nice cars for the money.

 

You could get a nearly new, nearly loaded AWD Suzuki Kizashi at $20k. Its only 180 hp but it is supposed to be a lot of fun to drive and well-equipped. They are on kind of a fire sale as Suzuki ramps down production.

Otherwise, I think an older Legacy GT is your best bet for fun, reliable, awd sedans.

 

g37x.

Subarus have too shity of an interior to be DDs IMO

 

I really like the interior of my legacy gt. It's why I bought it over a wrx or sti.

Fun car especially with some simple mods. My clutch just started slipping today though. Making too much torque in the cold weather!


I'd go for a certified wrx or something though.

 

Buy a evo x. I have one and it fine as a dd. Interior is decent and if you get the MR it's auto but very exciting to drive. Just bolt-ons and a tune and I was already running low 12s.....oops sorry didn't see your 20k budget sorry.

 

There are a lot of possibilities with 20k. I picked up an 2005 wrx sti for 19,200 with 63 thousand miles last year. The car was almost stock except for a BOV. Being a sedan it was more practical than the s2000, while still having balls and somewhat considered "fun to drive". The cost of ownership was quite high to maintain, and it gave me a couple of problems within the first 4 months of ownership. The car developed a misfire and the radiator went out, both at around 60k. My friends modded 05 sti also started to develop a leaky radiator as well. Furthermore, his blew a head gasket at 65K and cost him a 5000$ rebuild. I wouldn't stay that the Subaru sti was an unreliable car, I am just saying that it may have more possibilities of needing parts than an average sedan. Of course, considering that it is a very stout sports sedan from the factory I would still consider this vehicle as a fun to drive daily. On the other hand, you can always settle with a newer WRX for around your budget. The shifter is quite worst than its big brother, and the WRX lacks the badges, name and character.

In my own personal opinion, I don't consider the IS350 being a car that is fun to drive; maybe a IS250 with a 6MT? Compared to the Subaru WRX STI, it just lacks character. Cars that are fun, are cars that engage the driver with the road, steering feel, brake feel, suspension feel, manual gear box, sharp steering, and a responsive engine. Don't get me wrong is Lexus is an awesome car, but fun to drive? I would say no...

I would recommend a E46 BMW M3 6MT, Subaru WRX 5MT, Subaru WRX STI 6MT.
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/4181379906.html