Help me choose a used convertible "toy" car

cobra617

Hey folks,
I am looking to find a car to play with and looking for some thoughts from others.

My requirements might be tight but here is what I want to find:
- Convertible (a must)
- Reliable (a must)
- Fast (a must)
- Manual (nice to have, but would consider auto)
- < $20,000
- 4 seats

What I have been looking at are:
- Mid 2000's BMW M3 (reliability is iffy)
- Late 2000's/early 2010's BMW 135 (again with the iffy BMW reliability)
- Late 2000's BMW 335 (sigh....)
- Infiniti G37 (not as fast as the others, and pricier than I'd like)
- 2010+ Lexus IS350 (Pricey, no manual, not as fast)


My daily driver is a 2006 Forester XT 5sp modified to about 400HP (325WHP). That car is a blast to drive, but I want a convertible for when I go to the beach (which is often....as in every weekend often).

The 335/135 is tempting because with an aftermarket computer mod, you can add lots of power. But BMWs not so great reliability history is scaring me off.

Thanks

Mr_Shiftright

Mercedes CLK 320?

cobra617

Thanks for the response, but for my tastes the CLK320 is far too slow.

Michaell

If you've modded a Forester XT to that kind of power, aren't you afraid of maintenance on that?

A BMW ought to be childs play in comparison.

Let me see if I can get some experts over here to offer some advice.

cobra617

@Michaell - I actually got 180K miles out of my Forester and am now having the engine rebuilt and I got to that HP rating at about 5K miles. (so 175K miles at that power) I could have gotten more, but I started to really slack off in the last 2 years with some maintenance.
That car has been super reliable. It is my benchmark. I want to get a convertible that is close to my Forester in reliability.
I like the BMW 135i (as with a simple chip I can get quite a bit more power). The G37 is also intriguing. I won't get the power of the 135, but it is far more reliable.

Hmmmm.....

Mr_Shiftright

A BMW would be okay as long as it isn't miled up. Personally I wouldn't touch one over 80K unless you get a hell of a deal and have room to do some rehab on it.

The G37 convertible is only 6/10ths of a second slower than the 135 @ 0-60--, and only 4 mph slower in the quarter mile----I doubt you'd even notice.

roadburner

The N55 has proven to be very reliable, not suffering from most of the issues that plagued the N54.

graphicguy

Like the N55 BMW that roadburner refers to. Problem there is, the 135 series was ugly as sin.

G37s coupe is a pretty car. As Mr Shiftright mentions, pretty close performance wise to the BMW and probably more reliable.

I've often thought of a G3x 'vert on the used market would be a good buy.

qbrozen

cobra617 said:

Hey folks,
I am looking to find a car to play with and looking for some thoughts from others.

My requirements might be tight but here is what I want to find:
- Convertible (a must)
- Reliable (a must)
- Fast (a must)
- Manual (nice to have, but would consider auto)
- < $20,000
- 4 seats

What I have been looking at are:
- Mid 2000's BMW M3 (reliability is iffy)
- Late 2000's/early 2010's BMW 135 (again with the iffy BMW reliability)
- Late 2000's BMW 335 (sigh....)
- Infiniti G37 (not as fast as the others, and pricier than I'd like)
- 2010+ Lexus IS350 (Pricey, no manual, not as fast)

Mustang.


Sorry, but that is it, as far as I'm concerned. Otherwise, I'd be looking at much older stuff like a restomod or maybe a babied E46 M3.

Mr_Shiftright

Good call. I forgot about the Mustang. You might lose a notch in prestige but it's the same sunshine and view you get out of a $100K convertible.