analysis hell - can't pick a damn car (sportyish, comfortable, features for $, reliability, sedan, coupe or hatch) warning I wrote an essay apparently

well apparently there is a text field limit

(in the case of the Eco, for me, it was the large infotainment screen on the tech package, or the push button start, whichever showed first).

Found a few, all the way on the east coast. Even with a 3-6k lower sticker price out there, we didn't feel confident dropping $$$ on tickets to the northeast during holiday season, knowing fully that we could have to buy tickets back sameday. The gap in price filled pretty quickly after putting in travel costs, unknowns, etc.

Found myself looking at the top '15 sonata trims too(2.0T Sports, etc), but they were almost always outside of our price range. Barely starting at 14.5, and those were probably flood cars or something.

Skip ahead another couple weeks of agony, to last week. I discovered the Hyundai genesis (12-13 models). Seemed too good to be true. High HP engine, fantastic 0-60 times (4.7 seconds on the 5l v8? pretty gross for a ~14k car), good reliability, tons of features, very comfortable, fantastic sound systems... all within 13-15k. Of course, I was only really interested in the highest trim on them since it came with some neat stuff. Well, we found one locally that was $12,900. It had an accident history but it was nothing major, after looking up the accident records it was a sub 25 MPH impact with signage of some kind. Less than $2000 repair and was halfway into it's life (around 2015). didn't concern me.

We finally went to go see it in person, and... It's nice. It's got some wear on the interior but nothing major. The accident repair was good, no ill fitting paneling, no frame damage (that I could tell). After getting behind the wheel though. Damn. That is a fat ass car. To be fair I hadn't driven a car with that euro heavy wheel feel since around 2011 when I drove my dads retarded CTS-V, or his equally dumb z4 with a s65 engine swap (twin turbo v8 in a miata basically). So It took me a bit to get used to. However the car in general just didn't handle well, lots of body roll and the chassi contorted pretty broadly in turns. It was pretty fun in a straight line though. The interior tech was ok, mostly the connection stuff was outdated and didn't work with our stuff (iphone, android) via usb. Had no media over bluetooth capability. Forgot to bring an aux cable. Gas milage isn't great, but not as bad as I figured since it weighs like 4000 lbs.

However towards the end of our time with it I discovered it's fatal flaw. It'd been smoked in. heavily. They did a good job getting it out of the interior, but at some point I noticed It had an ashtray (which itself is weird, felt like I hadn't seen one in forever in a car). So I picked it up and gave it a sniff. It reeked. Ran the AC and heat on blast/recirculate for a few minutes and it eventually started to smell awful. Fiance evacuated immedietly. We're both pretty sensitive to stanks like that, but it's migraine territory for her. Was pretty sad about it. Even though the cars handling was pretty gruesome, it was nice in every other way. Definitely suggest them to anyone here that is interested in a good highway cruiser. We left empty handed.

Had been looking at them in Canada, where once again they were much cheaper (8-11k usd). We decided to just pass on it since it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped.

Then I deep dived into Camry/Accord V6s. Which are nice (drove a '12 camry XSE while I was at the dealer w/ the genesis, it was good), but generally too expensive unless I go back to 08-10 models, and higher miles. They're fairly pricey in Canada too, not as much as here but still out of our price range.

After that, my ourobos of a car journey completed and I began looking at prices of '09-'12 Lexus IS250/350, G37xS, Acura TL AWDs, Cadillac CTS, TSXs, and even my old friend the Optima SXL. There are numerous options of each within our price range in Canada. I'm afraid I've drifted a bit too far into the SPORT territory, my fiance is pretty adamant about me getting something I want, since I've put so much work into finding it I guess, but I still want to get something we'll both enjoy.

So, Suggestions? I've been considering the Chevy Impala (know almost nothing about them though), Acura TL 10-12 (leaning towards 12), TSX (12-13 as well), Optima SX Turbo (14+), IS 250 (I know it's not that fast, but it's faster than our old accord and about as quick as my old bimmer, and probably nice, plus theres about 100x more of them than there are 350s), IS 350, G37 X/xS/S(may be too fast/rough?), Caddy CTS 09-12. I'm trying to remind myself that any shortcomings in these car's outdated infotainment systems can be fixed easily enough with modern aftermarket options, though I know next to nothing about how true that is for luxury brands.

I'm kind of leaning towards the TL or TSX, and the Optima SXL (if I can find one). The IS350 is also pretty tempting but they are seemingly very rare in Canada (and expensive here, like 16-20k for a '09-12), though not impossible to find. The Is250 is of course also up there, though I'm not a fan of the amount of power you lose going to the 250 considering it has almost identical gas milage.

I guess thats it.

tl;dr
I want something comfortable, fun to drive, and relatively cheap to maintain. I know very little about the reliability of domestics like the Impala or Caddy. truedelta's data on them is a little sparse, so I'm not keen on it's accuracy. Acura and Lexus are known operators though and some of the best in the business, and Infiniti isn't bad, but not nearly as good.


Shoot me anything else I should consider, I have pretty much ignored europeans outright due to maintenance/upkeep.

Thanks for the response! regarding the Optima and failing engines, I was actually kind of banking on that just as a bonus actually! Since the recall went out (finally) for the 11-14 models, engine replacements are much less of a hassle and of course free, with an extra 10+ year powertrain warranty. Seems like a nice deal. Actually a similar reason to why I was heavily considering a '15 golf TDI. The rebate check for Pt.2 of the emissions fix next year would be ~2.5-3k USD, as well as the ridiculous 200k mile 12 year powertrain++ warranty.


as for the volvo, I was only considering the '12-13 V60/S60 because they're by far volvos most reliable car, and on par with the top 15 in terms of reliability (at least in the JD power RIS), from both this sites data, consumer reports and JDP. Specifically the inline 5 model had the best reliability.

Also the transferrable CPO is a good deal, and there was a fresh CPO w/ 26k miles for $14k I think in the NYC area. Being able to get a CPO for 11-14k that covers everything until ~2020/2022 would go a long way in assauging my maintenance fears with a european car. I'm not set on it, but given the reliability of that model in particular in those years with that engine, as well as the prices (it's kinda nuts how cheap they are), It felt like an OK target. Having some RL anecdotal sources in some friends that own one also helps.

I've pretty much given up on the G37. They're a pretty car, but they seem to attract a specific demo that probably drives them pretty hard. So even if I can find a 50k 2010 g37 it's probably been driven hard. Plus dubious quality interiors on them, lots of rubbing off chrome and stuff in cars I've seen.

The Genesis is nice like you said but damn i just can't get past the cornering on it. It wasn't like driving a boat or old buick/caddy but it wasn't athletic at all. Was fun in the straight line though.

IS350s are stupid hard to find, espescially with lower miles and for not exorbinant prices, They are beautiful though and would be my top choice I think if i could find one. The IS250 seems nice but like you said, it's a boring car. I still don't understand it's positioning as a 'sport' offering in their lineup. IIRC it still has the same 200 HP V6 it's had forever. Been left in the proverbial dust so badly by every other small lux sport entry in performance, it was already bad in 2007 but it's just boggling today.

Still looking at Acuras, I'd love to get a TL SHAW (wish the TSX had SHAW) but they're another kinda rare care here in the states and tend to hold their value. The TSX is definitely a good contended, esp since the i4 seems to put out good power and has good milage. the v6 is nice too and close to the TL, but I'm not sure what the benefit is other than it just being cheaper than a TL on average.


And finally, I've definitely looked at a billion Accords and Camry V6s. even drove a couple of both. The Camry v6 09-11's are attainable, and decently fun. but the accords are just much nicer. Unfortunately they're hella expensive, and if I had to choose I'd really, really prefer a '13 or newer since the redesign was so good. Lanewatch is awesome. They're really expensive though, I've seen a few in the 12-13 range but they are invariably salvage or messed up some how, have a million miles etc. Keeping my eye out, though.

One last question for now: Could you guys help me come up with a relative Cutoff point dfor milage on these various cars or by manufacturer? Like, I'm keeping my volvo searches to 45k or less miles, Kind of arbitrarily. What's the equivalent for a honda? 100k? 120k? how about lexus or acura? I don't mind going higher milage on a more reliable car, but I don't wanna burn my wallet buying a high milage luxury car either. What are some good cutoff points to consider?

I'm in 98502, south puget sound region of Washington. The car market up here is pretty inflated like I mentioned for reasons beyond my understanding. I'll just blame that Amazon money I guess. It really is boggling though seeing the same cars cheaper in Central/Southern Cali or Utah, Nevada, Phoenix, etc.

Re: volvo repairs, I agree completely. I'm going to drive a friends S60 tomorrow to get a feel for it (since there isn't a volvo dealer here anymore, and no s60s at any dealers), if I like it enough I may pursue one but only a CPO. I've convinced myself of that, at least. The CPO for their cars is pretty generous so I'd feel more comfortable with that.

Earlier today I was looking at ~06-9 B7 A4's because I guess I hate myself. Their reliability seems good but damn euro oem costs are so high. They're so pretty too...

We're more than willing to travel for a car, several we've looked at have been on the East Coast. I've calculated our rough travel costs (at like, next day air fare prices, a lot less if we had some time or got lucky) to be around ~800-900. Given in general cars (esp from dealers) are ~2-6k more on average here than elsewhere it makes sense. I'm also inbetween school quarters so not a lot else to do except drive across the country I guess. I was talking to a guy in NJ that had a '10 loaded TL that he was trying to sell for $12, had around 45 or 50k miles. Good carfax and maint records too. Same car is like 16k here.

Also still looking at cars in canada. Even with import fees(roughly 7%) for some cars they are dramatically cheaper up there. Like the '14 Optima SXL with 25k miles for $12.2k usd, vs. ~21 here. Import process itself is also pretty straight forward, esp for mass, multimarket cars like pretty much everything we're looking at. If we were importing some kind of rare home-built or imported car it would get expensive and problematic quick, but an Optima or a Honda or an Acura etc up there is the same as down here.

Anyway, really appreciate the help and information. It's a blessing after knocking my head on the wall that I've created myself for the last few months.

I'm actually attracted to the Carmel one the most! Esp after talking to the owner. they weren't cagey, weren't weird or anything and were quite talkative unlike most who respond in as few words as possible. even saw the spreadsheet!

the price is really fair/cheap even. We're actually going with our first choice unless it falls through

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=471699511

after calling volvo corporate we confirmed that car's warranty is good till 1/10/2020. talked them down to 13 (over the phone). Gonna fly out this morning to see it and hopefully be driving it back. It's got all the stuff too, backup camera, AWD, extra safety stuff etc. The CPO warranty is super good on these cars, covers everything except wear items like tires and breaks. All electronics, air conditioner, entire power train, all interior items.

0 down on all maintenance/repairs for a bit over 2 years.

if that falls through we're gonna get the Carmel lexus.