RWD stick shift "family" car... and fairly recent?

BMW 5-series?

Of course, my favorite was the E28 (late 80's) and IMHO all the more recent ones have been "over-gadgetized" to the point that the average shadetree mechanic will throw his hands up in disgust and start cussing the Fatherland whenever something breaks and he realizes that it'll take an electrical engineer to fix it.

If all wheel drive is OK, how about a Subaru? Sure, they're more like a FWD than a RWD but... maybe drive one and see how you like it?

All I can say is, I feel your pain, brother. I'm hoping the get my '55 Stude coupe back on the road soon. My other car is a Porsche 944. I, too, cannot do the FWD thing or the boring car thing, but there's nothing new available that tempts me to spend the megabucks. I could see me driving a S2000 or maybe a WRX or even a Boxter... but the prices...

nate

Mustang.

A used G35 might match your desires.

Uh huh. Ever ridden in the back seat of a Mustang? Go to fordvehicles.com and look at the interior pics. I need a _real_ back seat... not huge, but not one of those fake back seats like my Trans Am has. :)

Ray

I looked at a WRX. I liked it. The problem is the cheapest ones I can find are $20,000. And it hurts that my V8 powered Trans Am gets BETTER fuel economy... (5.7L @ 19/28 vs 2.0L @ 20/27)

I was thinking BMW 3 series due to the cost, but BMW is definitely on the list of cars I need to look at... I almost bid on an old 7 series on ebay that went for only $2500...

Thanks, Ray

Hmm... THAT one is new to me. Might be a bit pricey for my current (cheap) budget, but because it CAN come with a stick might make it worth looking at one just to see if I like the rest of the car.

Thanks. That one's been added to the list of cars to check in the "might actually like" category instead of the "sucky minivan I'll probably end up buying" category. :)

Ray

Won't two baby seats fit in the back of a Mustang? I know one fits quite well.

Probably about as well as they fit in my Trans Am. They fit, but the kids better have short legs. Judging by the pics of Ford's website, the amount of legroom looks ... well ... nil. I'm 6 feet tall, so the seat goes back pretty far. Oh, and a reverse facing seat... means the passenger is kissing the dash.

Just not practical enough.

Ray

Well, if buying a Nissan product doesn't turn your stomach (and I guess it doesn't if you're considering a G-35), then you could get a Maxima for a lot less than an Infiniti.

It is getting hard to find 4-door cars with stick shifts anymore, but they're out there. Among American makes, the only one that jumps to mind are certain 4-cylinder variants of the Chrysler Cirrus/Dodge Stratus (and the late Plymouth Breeze) but I know there are a few others too. Oh, and the PT Cruiser- and they're quite affordable on the used market these days, as well as being a lot more visually appealing than a Cirrus/Stratus/Breeze or other econobox.

Hmmm... I've been looking at cars myself lately. I really don't think there is one that fits your requirements. As someone else mentioned, the G-35 is very nice but prices for a used on= e with

60k miles start at about $23k. That's why I don't have one.

Maxima was my first thought, but the OP was pretty clear that he wants rear wheel drive. Maximas all have front wheel drive.

well, if they made a REAR WHEEL DRIVE Maxima, I might consider it.

I want a stick shift... I can live with an auto, but not fwd. Not easily, anyway. It's just not "right" for me. :)

Which is why I posted here hoping I missed something. This sucks. :) At the rate things are going I'm looking at in 04ish Intrepid because they're big and cheap. If I don't like it, I don't want to spend a lot of money on it. Blech. I love cars, I hate cars.

Intrepid is FWD though. Its a decent car. My son has a 04 Stratus. We had to replace the LF window motor recently ($120) but that's been it = in about

37k miles. He has the 2.4 4cyl. Its really underpowered but IMO its be= tter than the 2.7 v6 that gunks up and destroys itself.

I hate FWD too, it makes any car feel like driving a dump truck. But it is eminently practical in many cases. Didn't really know which was the greater evil for you. The bottom line is that all the carmakers have discovered that they can get better CAFE ratings and lower emissions by taking the driver out of the loop and letting the computer control the engine and transmission. Stick shifts are a dying breed. But honestly, given the choice of a stick-shift import v6 or a rear-drive automatic American pushrod V8 with a mountain of torque, I'll take the v8 every time.

Intrepids are a great deal because the resale values are low. They're great cars, though, especially if you avoid the 2.7L v6 engine. People will pay 4x the price for a similar-condition Japanese car, but if you ask me that's just flushing money down the crapper.

======================= Don't know if it is still true, but the Mazda 626 used to be RWD, and consurmer reports lists it as a "best buy" for used cars under $20k

V8 or V6 RWD - Stick Shift, Family car for around $20,000?????

Nothing in GM's barn as you describe, same goes for Ford.

If you can live with an automatic trans, for around $20,000 you can get a RWD V8 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis or Crown Victoria.

Plenty of room for wife & baby.

Good Luck

Harryface

05 Park Avenue 45,004 91 Bonneville 307,255

they're all fwd crap... until you start spending good money... and I'm feeling cheap. My problem is an Impreza WRX is 2x the price of something like an Intrepid. I already have three "toy" cars... so I start thinking instead of a WRX I can get TWO Intrepids....

I was just hoping I missed something relatively cheap, rwd, stick shift with a back seat that can handle people and baby seats that was built in the last 10 years....