I’m graduating soon, and I’m actually more excited about the first car I’m gonna buy than the process of graduating. Diplomas are nice and all, but nothing beats cars I’m afraid (but I will need that diploma to actually buy a car).
Anyway, as a fresh graduate, I won’t be able to afford a Porsche 911, not even a second-hand Porsche 911, nor a 911’s rear wheel nor a 911’s taillight nor… I think you got my point.
So let’s consider $20,000 is the maximum budget (perhaps a little less); that amount can probably get me a fully loaded Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris or perhaps a Hyundai Elantra or Kia Cerato, maybe a SEAT Ibiza. They’re all nice cars, but no thank you.
I’m a petrolhead, and petrolheads don’t just buy cars to get from Point A to Point B or to monitor their average fuel consumption. Petrolheads buy cars because they love cars.
While the aforementioned cars sure are practical, efficient and acceptably slow (better than painfully slow), they are not cars that will make you turn around and look after parking them on the street or in a parking lot full of other boring cars. They’re just “normal”.
Decent second-hand BMWs or Mercedes can be found for under 20K, but I fancy something less “common”, and I know exactly what I should get: a second-hand second-generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
This beauty’s got everything: the brilliant looks of a sports car, the performance of a sports car, the practicality of a family sedan, and to top it all off, four-wheel drive. It’s not the most efficient car in the world, but who cares, I believe in the more “smiles per miles” philosophy.
Why not a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, you ask? I gladly would get one, but you can’t find one of those for under 20K, unfortunately.
So, do you think it’s a good choice? What car would YOU buy for under $20,000?