If you could only have 1 car and you lived in the midwest....

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Mishawaka, In
OK, I have a quick piece of advice and was interested in the opinions here. I am pretty sure my girlfirend is going to move in with me and I have a 2 car garage. I live in a community where I can not leave a car outside and I do not have a tall enough garage for a lift like sjj28 got :D

Being that I won't drive the NSX in any rain/snow/grocery store-mall visits etc, I have not hardly been driving it at all. I am on par to put about 1500 miles on this year total. I was thinking of selling my NSX possibly along with selling my winter car and her winter car so we can get down to 2 cars total from the 4 we have now. This would of course force me to sell the NSX which I really don't want to do, but other than selling the house I'm not sure I will have a choice. This is not a for sale ad, in fact I am not really sure I would be able to go through with it.

She will be driving the E46 M3 and I will be driving???? So here's the question, if you were in my situation what car would you buy? Remember it snows nasty here in the winter and I will be driving this as it would be my only car. I have thought about a 2002-ish C4S, new M3, new S4 and a few others. Any thoughts on what you would buy if you were in my situation???
 
Let me get this straight, you are going to have HER drive the M3 year round, but are worried about the snow capability of YOUR daily driver???? Does that make sense?

Even with cheap snow tires at your beck and call, a HP RWD car is a crappy choice in the winter. It can be done, and I did it for several years, but it is not the best way to go.

If I absolutely had to have only one car, I don't know what I would do. I would probably get an E46 M3 or E39 M5 and tough it out with snows in the winter.

If I wanted better winter capabilty, the S4 and C4S would probably be the most likely choice. I have driven the C4S, but only the previous generation S4. Based on what I know about the S4, I would probably take the C4S, but only if I did not care about the extra $20k (minimal, assuming CPO 2002 C4S) that the 911 would cost.

If price were not an issue at all, I would probably look very hard at a used 911 TT, say a 2002 for around $90-95k.
 
brahtw8 said:
If price were not an issue at all, I would probably look very hard at a used 911 TT, say a 2002 for around $90-95k.
You can probably get an 02' in the low to mid $80s these days. I would just lease one and drive it daily.
 
We will put Blizzak's on the M3 and she will be fine with the traction control/snows combo. That car is actually really awesome in the snow becuase of the DSC with the right tires on it. We got her a 98 golf to drive last winter, but obviously this parking situation will make that car go away as will my vtec CRX. I was thinking of maybe getting an E46 M3 cab, but it might be wierd to have 2 of the same car I was thinking and an M5 is just too big for my taste. Thanks for the advice though, I need to make sure I stay on planet earth before I go buying and selling all these cars :)




QUOTE]Originally posted by brahtw8
Let me get this straight, you are going to have HER drive the M3 year round, but are worried about the snow capability of YOUR daily driver???? Does that make sense?

Even with cheap snow tires at your beck and call, a HP RWD car is a crappy choice in the winter. It can be done, and I did it for several years, but it is not the best way to go.

If I absolutely had to have only one car, I don't know what I would do. I would probably get an E46 M3 or E39 M5 and tough it out with snows in the winter.

If I wanted better winter capabilty, the S4 and C4S would probably be the most likely choice. I have driven the C4S, but only the previous generation S4. Based on what I know about the S4, I would probably take the C4S, but only if I did not care about the extra $20k (minimal, assuming CPO 2002 C4S) that the 911 would cost.

If price were not an issue at all, I would probably look very hard at a used 911 TT, say a 2002 for around $90-95k.
[/QUOTE]
 
jaguar xjr (i love it), although the new maserati quattroporte looks/sounds pretty good.

for the best seats and allweather performance, the volvo s60r. not overly quick, but GREAT comfortable seats--and really good awd drivetrain.
 
It might be cheaper to add an additional garage, or maybe store the summer cars at a heated storage facility over the winter.

-Awais
 
Two words for you Aaron: DON'T SELL!!!

You will regret it. Just be creative and you will find a way. What's up with the stupid neighborhood rule about not having a car outside? That's un-American man.
 
hlweyl said:
Two words for you Aaron: DON'T SELL!!!

You will regret it. Just be creative and you will find a way. What's up with the stupid neighborhood rule about not having a car outside? That's un-American man.

It is the same here where I live. No vehicles parked in front of the house, and they are strict about it too.
 
O-Ace said:
It might be cheaper to add an additional garage, or maybe store the summer cars at a heated storage facility over the winter.

-Awais

I thought about that too, I just don't know if I feel comfortable driving a crx 330 days a year while I know my NSX is somewhere in storage and I can't even see it. I suppose I could drive it all summer, I was just picturing the first bad hail storm. My winter car ends up being used over half the summer.

As for another garage space, there is no room as I am on the edge of a corner lot. My lawn is 80% woodchips, 20% stone and .0001% grass and the garage side backs up to the street where it curves. There is no where to add on there :( Too bad too, because it is a killer house otherwise.
 
Aaron, you can buy this from me... We are looking at trading this on a E46 M3 Carbon black... This thing only has 200 miles on it..

porsche_cayenne_s_2004_exterior_5_346x270.jpg
 
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len3.8 said:
Aaron, you can bu this from me... We are looking at trading this on a E46 M3 Carbon black... This thing only has 200 miles on it..

porsche_cayenne_s_2004_exterior_5_346x270.jpg

Why are you selling? I was thinking of trading in my x-5 for a cayenne. Please let me know why you are selling after only 200 miles?
 
If you love the car more than the house, sell the house and buy one with a 3 or 4 car garage.:D
 
pt91 said:
If you love the car more than the house, sell the house and buy one with a 3 or 4 car garage.:D

I agree move to a bigger house better investment then selling and buying another car, but if you have to sell, keep me inmine for the crx:D ....................
 
steveny said:
Why are you selling? I was thinking of trading in my x-5 for a cayenne. Please let me know why you are selling after only 200 miles?

The only reason I have it, was due to Audi and my stealer not being able to fix my allroad. So they gave me a nicely optioned Cayenne, My wife wants the M3. so we just took the Cayenne as leverage or to gain the equity towards the M3....
It will be traded in or sold outright... Seems as most dealers are going to 1-2k over invoice on these.... This one had a sticker of 65.9k so I am thinking invoice was between 56-58K. It gave me some of my equity back...
Sorry Aaron, I didn't mean to hijack... I would tell anyone looking for a true sporty SUV to check these out, the V8 kicks, I can't imagine a turbo... I had a loaner with the V8 for a few days.
 
ANYTIME

How wide is your garage??

ANYTIME-John have a nice left I saw that might solve your problem, if you have room width wise.

PM him, I'm know he is very helpful.:D :D :D

Now you can keep the X
 
It all depends on your priorities. How do you feel about luxury? About the ability to track the car? About the need to transport more than two adults? About getting around in the winter? What about cost? Those are all questions you should be asking yourself.

If I had to have only one car, and use it as a daily driver even in the winter, and track it too, I could easily live with the yellow car in my avatar. Oh wait, I already do...
 
I tried appealing the board to see if I could keep the crx outside and go down to 3 cars. Just got word back this morning that they said no :(
 
Impreza STi? Fast, daily drivable, great in every weather, don't have to worry to much about vandalism at parking lots because it looks like a 20K car. Only down side is you look a little 2Fast2Furious :D .
 
You are no longer an enthusiast if you are willing to scrap an Elise, AND an NSX because of a house.

Real simple.......MOVE! I did just that last year. I met my now current wife and moved into her place (1 stinkin car garage) I had 3 cars at the time plus hers. We moved to a brand new home with a 5 car garage, and the mortgage was still cheaper than we were both paying living seperately while dating.

If that is not an option, RS6 is my suggestion. :D
 
T Bell said:
You are no longer an enthusiast if you are willing to scrap an Elise, AND an NSX because of a house.

Real simple.......MOVE! I did just that last year. I met my now current wife and moved into her place (1 stinkin car garage) I had 3 cars at the time plus hers. We moved to a brand new home with a 5 car garage, and the mortgage was still cheaper than we were both paying living seperately while dating.

If that is not an option, RS6 is my suggestion. :D

If I lived in a major metropolitan area with better choices I would indeed move, however I am in South Bend Indiana and there are just not that many nice upscale areas to go to. The area I live in now is the safest, newest most upscale section in about 25 miles and is in about the most convienent spot I could be in. My house is just a few years old (been in it since mid 2000) and is ultra contempotrary and exactly what I could, would, and do want out of a house other than the garage size. I know the rules here suck, but if there were none it would probably not be the kind if communuty I would want to live it (can you hear me trying to make the best out of the situation?).

The good news is that the VW Golf sold yesterday (in 1 day) so we are now 1 down and 2 to go. As I'm sure you saw the NSX is now for sale :(

Here is the short list of poetential cars after all my thoughts have cleared. I guess I have until the NSX sells to decide. In order of what I think I want here they are:

1. 996 C4S

2. E46 M3 Cab - so at least we don't have 2 of the exact same car.

3. 993 turbo - not the best winter car, but it is 4 wheel drive and has lots of power.

I love my NSX and am 1000000000% sure it will not be the last NSX I will ever own (not talking HSC here either). I just need to pick my battles and right now this is what looks like will work best in the grand scheme of my life. Kinda sucks, but I could certainly have worse problems :)
Aaron
 
I don't see the point in having two E46 M3s if you can only have two cars.

How do you feel about the new 911?

If you can't wait for that, I would say go for the Turbo or the C4S, whichever you prefer. I think the Turbo would be more fun . . .
 
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