My Current Shortlist for Future Car Buys

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind) 05/12/2018 at 01:33 • Filed to: Real Garage

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Call me day old ciabatta because I go hard when it comes to great value, my Hemis. Here is a list of cars I want according to my buy range.

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Impulse

My Buy Range: [Below $4,000]

Whatever is clean and runs 87 octane. This is when I look at something fuel efficient, simple, and short wheelbase.

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2003-2006 (Maybe 2007, 2008) Infiniti FX35

My Buy Range: [$4,000 to $9,000]

Nissan had the strongest products in the entire industry during the 2000s. Tons of innovation, risk taking, big performance, great value, quality, reliability, and content. Everything they did during this time has been mimicked by Hyundai Motor Group (the RWD cars especially) down to when Nissan was using the color orange as their signature (HMG is using copper).

The FX, as far as Im concerned, introduced the correct modern sport-coupe crossover, though we didnt know it until a decade later. From Porsche Macan, Jaguar F-Pace, and Maserati Levante, this bodystyle is becoming a signature for premium street performance utilities and I bet the next generations of the X4, X6, GLC-C, and GLE-C will integrate a spoiler into their designs and make their bodyshape widely acceptable.

2010-2014 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon

My Buy Range: [$9,000 to $14,000]

For me, this is the best used car in the market. Even people that don’t like wagons tend to make an exception for this one. You can get the 3.6 V6 which is GMs answer to the Nissan VQ but with Toyota/Honda level fuel economy. Great design, responsive, easy to care for, and a European GM product (all of the American cars built/designed for Europe are always grade A efforts).

Runs 87 octane with good power, strong reliability, better build quality than the current CTS, and another great but completely overlooked value.

2012-2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee

My Buy Range: [$14,000 to $19,000]

Yes, I do currently own a 2012 WK2 and I would 100% buy another in this price range. With that in mind, I’ll keep what I have for now. Seriously, the pre-pre-facelift WK2 was an excellent vehicle. The 2014 refresh dropped the quality simply due to how huge the volume became and the struggles of FCA attempting to launch and backtrack brands and products. Ram, SRT, Dodge-identity, Dart and 200, more Jeeps, Alfa Romeo rebirth, Fiat floundering, Ferrari spin off, remembering Maserati, forgetting Chrysler, and pretending Lancia never existed...just too much.

But the WK2 development and launch were given full attention, and attention is what makes and breaks products.

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Wildcard

[$19,000 to $25,000]

These tend to be the cars I recommend to other people. Most cars become great at this price range even if they were received poorly years prior. It’s all about age and condition. But my dream cars tend to start one step above this level so I end up passing ober/under this range when I look for personal cars.

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2011-2012 Maserati Quattroporte or 2005-2006 Maserati GranSport

My Buy Range: [$25,000 to $33,000]

Maserati is my favorite auto brand. It’s hard to explain to people that, until the Ghibli and 4-VI came around, Maserati produced fewer vehicles than Ferrari for a majority of the 2000s. With the cars being attainable exotics built in bodystyles with far higher expectations in quality than sportscars, Maserati is severely misunderstood. But I can’t defend them until I own them because we are on the internet.

Seriously, I’m dying to talk about Maserati since I’m more into them than I am even Kia.

My general rule for Maseratis is that every model year counts since they constantly tweak and fix the cars as they produce them. I really believe that the final years of the 4-V and definitely the GranSport are the easiest Maseratis to own. Even the F1 transmission is extremely reliable and longer lasting in the GranSport as long as you drive the car like a manual. I’m going for one of these two as my first Maserati.

!!! UNSUPPORTED LINE BREAK IN HEADER !!!

2011-2013 Jaguar XJ Supersport and XJL Supersport, 2014-2015 Jaguar F-Type V8 S Convertible.

My Buy Range: [$33,000 to $40,000]

Honestly, all of the supercharged 5.0 V8 cars are crazy values. Much like the Italian cars, you’ll need to deal with the soft-touch buttons becoming sticky/dissolved, rubbers and hoses drying out/cracking, leather/dash/headliner care, and plenty of other things that would warrant a recall in high volume cars but is simply called, “maintain dat shet,” in handcrafted products. You also need to do the [check-warm up-run hot-cool down-check] procedure that is true of any vehicles which give you freedom to extract nearly 100% of the powertrain potential.

All that said, I feel that after owning this 2012 Jaguar XF 5.0, I am ready to care for a vehicle that requires me to be more attentive. The XJ/XJL-SS and the RWD, less stressed 495-hp AJ-V8 in the F-Type Convertible would be a ton of fun and my style.

Jaguar tends to put too much engine into their cars which slows them down enormously as you add yet more power since it only makes it to the wheels as heat rather than propulsion. Fun though because highway pulls and top end are what GTs are about, anything beginning with 0 mph is begging for an L .

RJ Kia K900

My Buy Range: [$40,000 to $49,000]

Arggh!!! Kia is soooo close to building the car I want! I’m still hoping for a RWD liftback or sport wagon between the Stinger and K900 materializing ine day. Until then, I am extremely into the new RJ. If you study the interior lines for their interplay and connections, material mix and uniformity, as well as the seamless transitioning across planes then you will start to understand why this car is a huge turn around.

Word is that these Super Sephias/Grand Amantis will be around $55,000 (365 hp and AWD standard). Nearly all new cars in the market between $50k and $60k offer at least $7,000 in incentives at some point. That means $48,000 brand new for this value-driven luxury cruiser.

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This is where I stop for now because I always start ranting when it comes to the things I’m passionate for. Words, I don’t know many but I use every single one I have!

facw > Wobbles the Mind 05/12/2018 at 01:49

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For a moment there I thought you wanted one of these:

CRider > Wobbles the Mind 05/12/2018 at 01:55

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sport-coupe crossover

What kind of convoluted marketing wordfuckery is this? Sport coupe crossover? That thing is nether sporty nor a coupe.

Wobbles the Mind > facw 05/12/2018 at 02:12

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I knew someone would pick up on that. I just want the wheels though. When I wrote “Wildcard,” part of me was thinking Wildcat because I’m still on the fence about a ‘67 Buick Riviera.

Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru > Wobbles the Mind 05/12/2018 at 02:16

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Excellent post! I love the FX35 for some reason. Always pictured them looking sick with a nice set of wheels and a modest drop with some coilovers.

As far as Maseratis go, I’ve owned a few. My experiences were truly great. I daily drove one for over a year. Daily. Lol

Wobbles the Mind > CRider 05/12/2018 at 02:32

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If I say coupe crossover then it wont tell you anything about the treatment of the final pillar or amount of space between the center of the front wheel and front door. In fact, many are conditioned towards coupe referring to two door variants rather than a change of silhouette.

Saying sport coupe let’s you know that the traditional bodystyle is compromised at the final pillar (which is more inline with the intended use of the word coupe in the automotive industry).

Cars have such huge wheelbases primarily dedicated to the passenger compartment rather than engine compartment today that only placing two doors on them would make it tedious to utilize that enhanced passenger compartment effectively.

The FX is a very responsive car. It’s a high riding Skyline with an available V8. The EX is more like a lifted wagon than a compromised crossover like the FX. Back in the early 2000s, these were considered the G Coupes of utility vehicles rather the G Sedan. Times have changed though and so have expectations, whatever.

Wobbles the Mind > Powershiftmedia-ResidentDSMGuru 05/12/2018 at 02:49

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There are so many great cars out there that just need the type of attentive ownership enthusiasts can offer. So much fear of spending time and money on a vehicle you fell in love with in stock form but nothing but encouragement to throw money and time towards a project car. The known evil is easier to take on than the unknown one though, I understand that.

jkm7680 > Wobbles the Mind 05/12/2018 at 12:41

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Under no circumstance should you buy a Maserati unless you have $8,000 you can dedicate to maintaining it every year.

People who buy used Quattroportes from pre 2011 buy them thinking they can afford them, then start slipping on maintenance and repairing things because they realize they can’t afford them. A $25,000 Maserati is the same as a $60,000 car.

Dru > jkm7680 05/12/2018 at 16:08

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Aren’t the most recent ones actually fairly reliable?

jkm7680 > Dru 05/12/2018 at 16:27

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Nope

Wobbles the Mind > jkm7680 05/12/2018 at 17:43

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Are like cars much cheaper? I feel like Maserati, Lotus, Land Rover, M, AMG, and specific models such as GT-R, Vantage, and other expensive cars with few restrictions on capability would be in the same space in terms of costly consequences for unattentive ownership. Even current Volvos over $60k seem like they would be very expensive over time.

I haven’t looked into these cars but I would imagine fluids, clutches, brakes, tires and so on, when all accumulated, would be a bit hard financially for anyone unprepared for them.

jkm7680 > Wobbles the Mind 05/12/2018 at 19:44

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Everything that is cheap on a regular car costs 5x as much on a Maserati.