Time to replace my beater with another beater, G35, IS300, TL

patrick10

patrick10

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Joined
Dec 1, 2004
Messages
1,343
Location
ohio, usa
Car(s)
s13 and a beater daily
I'm looking to replace my beater 1998 Buick Regal GS with a sedan in the 8-10 k USD range. My main priorities is that it cannot be slower than the Buick, which I always called comedically quick with the supercharged 3.8. I occasionally cart around the bigwigs from corporate and I have a horrendous driving record so I think a sedan would be better and I have the 240sx that is hitting the dyno in the near future shooting for 400whp. I do not need a sports car and preferably not a car payment, I need my toys. I have been mainly looking at the Infiniti G35, Lexus IS300, and Acura TL, but am open to suggestions. Please keep them reasonable though, running an obscure 80s eurobox in Cleveland Ohio is never going to fly.


Highlights:

- under 10k
- prefer under 100,000 miles
- quick enough
- parts must be readily available and cheap
- easy to work on
- manual transmission is a big plus, but I've seen more unicorns than these cars in manual
- I could care less about fuel economy, at most I drive 8000 miles a year
- something I could turn into a race car eventually would be a plus
- somewhat smooth ride because of terrible Cleveland roads
- fun to drive
- something I can fit in, 6'5" 240lbs
- something I can buy local

I appreciate any insight,
Pat
 
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I was going to say Mercury Marauder, but those might be too rare to use as a beater. A 94-96 Cadillac Fleetwood could be another option, but finding a good one in the rust belt may be a challenge. Can you get a Pontiac G8 in your price range?
 
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A G8 would be my number one choice, except beater or salvage ones still go for 15k. I am really trying to avoid taking a loan out and having a car payment.

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CrzRsn said:
I'll throw out my own top candidate in my new vehicle search.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/658188382/overview/
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/659179913/overview/
Click to expand...

I thought about an M45 or even an M35 but I am not willing to travel 500 miles for a beater and there is nothing that I can find worthwhile in Ohio. I probably should have put that in the original post, edited

Thanks for the input
 
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ScarFace88 said:
I was going to say Mercury Marauder, but those might be too rare to use as a beater. A 94-96 Cadillac Fleetwood could be another option, but finding a good one in the rust belt may be a challenge. Can you get a Pontiac G8 in your price range?
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Either a Crown Vic LX Sport or a black Grand Marquis. The CV in that trim level because it has the same center console and shifter set up as the marauder.
 
Love those V8 M45's. They look so understated. Just cool.
 
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I went through this this past fall and ended up with... well, see sig and click. I looked at the same cars as you and found that:
-IS300 with a stick was older: 2005 was the last year. Also, not very quick, tight interior, and every single manual one has been riced out.
-G35 is a great car. Interior is a bit weird and I'm not a fan of the exhaust note but still, hard to argue with a VQ35 and LSD. The problem is finding a manual sedan - absolute unicorns, like you said. I test drove a G35 on stilts - the FX35 - and didn't like it. YMMV.
-TL honestly has just one downside - it's FWD. Other than that it's reliable, quick, roomy, well equipped (LSD and Brembos are stock on all stick-shift cars, as are heated seats, sunroof, etc), great ergonomics, subtle good looks, and so on. Again, my choice is in my sig.


patrick10 said:
My main priorities is that it cannot be slower than the Buick, which I always called comedically quick with the supercharged 3.8.
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IS300 loses here. TL and G35 are about neck-and-neck in a straight line.


patrick10 said:
I occasionally cart around the bigwigs from corporate...
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IS300 loses here too - tight rear seats. No experience with a G35 in the back, but the TL is voluminous.


patrick10 said:
I do not need a sports car and preferably not a car payment, I need my toys.
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Yep. You want a sedan that isn't boring. All three of these fit the bill.


patrick10 said:
Highlights:

- under 10k
- prefer under 100,000 miles
- quick enough
- parts must be readily available and cheap
- easy to work on
- manual transmission is a big plus, but I've seen more unicorns than these cars in manual
- I could care less about fuel economy, at most I drive 8000 miles a year
- something I could turn into a race car eventually would be a plus
- somewhat smooth ride because of terrible Cleveland roads
- fun to drive
- something I can fit in, 6'5" 240lbs
- something I can buy local
Click to expand...
TL checks all of those boxes. Yes, even the race car one.
 
IS300 will probably be the most reliable, but G35 might be more fun to drive.
 
BerserkerCatSplat said:
https://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/5469051981.html
https://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ctd/5457951170.html

Sedan, roomy, 340HP/390TQ V8, RWD, cheap parts, <$10K.

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/5489899845.html

Also available with significantly more power, a door ding, and ugly paint for still under 10K.

Lots of aftermarket support if you want to racecar the thing. Also available in wagon.
Click to expand...

I also vote the 300C. Faster than you'd expect and in black looks pretty classy enough for your passengers. Plus the backseat is cavernous. Can also be modified to be insanely fast in a straightline and good around corners with the right suspension.
 
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