I love my Si, but so does my son Adam. It will have about 70,000 miles and be 5 years old when he gets his license next year, and I think it will be the perfect first car for him. I intend to give it to him. The problem is, what do I buy for myself?

As you may know, I like small, lightweight, simple, fun to drive cars. I much prefer 4 cylinder engines, will accept a 6 cylinder engine if I have to, and an 8 cylinder engine is absolutely out of the question. Here's my guidelines. Tell me what you would buy:

The car must have
1. A manual transmission
2. A locking, completely closed trunk
3. A navi
4. No less than 20 mpg city 25 mpg highway.
5. Good handling and braking.
6. Four seats
7. Must be fun to drive.
8. A good record of reliability
9. A reasonable price tag.

The car should have
1. A sunroof
2. Folding rear seats (prefer 60/40)
3. A reasonably quiet cockpit

The car must not have
1. An outlandish, over the top spoiler (because I visit clients).
2. An outlandish paint job or graphics.
3. A cloth top (because of some of the places I have to park it).

Above all, the car must be fun to drive. I get bored very quickly with boring cars.

Right now the only two cars that I have in mind are a Civic Si 4 door and a BMW 3 Series.

Knowing my preferences and needs, which car would you buy?

 

I'm partial to rear wheel drive so I would go for the 3 series BMW. You shold be able to get a 328I outfited like you want for something around $40k.

If I were going to keep the car for a long time - I don't think I would go for the BMW though. Either the Honda or get a long warranty with the BMW.

 

A Honda. Don't know which one exactly but it would be a Honda. How about another Si?

 

Try a test drive in a Subaru Legacy GT, Rob. HPH

 

I'm waiting to see what the 2011 Si looks like.

 

With your narrow requirements the only other one that comes to mind is an Audi A4. I would definitely put that on my test list.

 

Audi? BMW? Reliable?

Maybe if you have a full service warranty and a dealer down the street.

Honda/Acura

You didn't say it couldn't be ugly. I'd try to find a good price on a lightly used Acura TL SH-AWD, although finding a manual might be a chore.

Don't buy anything without test driving a low mileage G35 sedan (or a G37 if you can handle the extra $ and the slightly harsher 3.7 version of the VQ engine.)

 

Patty,

You know, it's funny. When push finally comes to shove, I always end up back at Honda. They seem to make what I want, at the price I want to pay, and with the reliability that I want.

I still have a long way to go, but right now a 2011 Si seems to be at the top of my list. Of course this depends upon the 2011 Si comes out like, but I don't expect it to be too much different than it is now.

 

[QUOTE=silvershadow,May 16 2010, 12:44 AM] I'm partial to rear wheel drive so I would go for the 3 series BMW.

 

Rob, I think the choice is obvious. It is the Si. The 3 series is good, but unless you are buying brand new you will be paying a pretty penny for maintenance.

Have you considered a used EP3 Si hatch? You can buy one for around $10K. Perhaps you can give that to your son while still driving your FA5/FG2.

Honda has made some cosmetic changes on the Si from 09 onwards which IMO take away from the look of the car. The 06-08 Si's are definitely lookers. Couple of people I know from 8thCivic who own later model Si's also drool over my car. The colors available were also much better for the 06-08 Si's.

If you wanted to look elsewhere I'd also suggest:
1. Mazda 3 (may not be as much fun as the Si, but it is a fun daily driver. I personally like the hatch)
2. Mazdaspeed 3 (too much of a performance car than a daily driver, and the new 3's have the Mazda grin)
3. Cooper S (again high maintenance, unless buying brand new)
4. Subaru WRX
5. Honda CR-Z (I think this car has potential to surprise)

PS: Honda has indicated that the Civic may have an extended run because they dont want to invest as much right now with the economic downturn in re-designing the car. It may very well be another extra year and look for the Civic to debut either late 2011 or 2012 (as a 2013 model). The Si version will come 6 months to a year later.