Best fun car under 5k for daily driving

[Rios302]

I made the decision to get rid of my 2007 zx6r. with a little bit over 14k miles, the bike is a lot of fun; unfortunately I feel like I don't ride it enough. For the most part it seats collecting dust. Instead I want to use that money to buy a daily driver to keep my Mustang miles low and my life expectancy high.

My budget is between 5k-7500k Cash, no more than 100k miles unless they are proven to last longer and preferably manual trans.

 

[Kiohtee]

I can't think of anything better than an LS1 or Neon SRT-4 personally. :beer:

 

[Rios302]

I can't think of anything better than an LS1 or Neon SRT-4 personally. :beer:

I totally forgot about the SRT-4, will definetly look into those!

 

[Riddla]

New Edge Gt or an ls1. Doubt you will get a mint ls1 for 5k though.

 

[Steve1578]

300zx -The NA is still a lot of fun, but for a few extra grand you could get a TT.
Audi S$ - AWD, super fast and fun with a little modding, but s4's are expensive as hell to maintain.
350Z can be had for that price range at 7500. Will probably have close to if not over 100k, but the engines in those are very reliable from what I've seen.
3000gt vr4. - AWD, sporty, but costly if not maintained properly.
LS1, srt4 as others have stated.

 

[Torch10th]

My vote is 96-04 GT or early LS1 Camaro/Firebird. There's a lot of really cool fun cars in your price range, but these two are known to be reliable. If they break they're also cheap to fix. If it's a daily you want that first and foremost, otherwise, what's the point?

 

[nxhappy]

foxbody mustang

 

[alicecooper]

Don't forget about the 90-99 DSM's (eclipse,talon & laser). They're fun and not too expensive. I used to own one, the only draw back is I would for sure put a Gates timing belt on it. I got an OEM one that had a factory defect and snapped on me at 10k miles. Bye bye valves and pistons . Mine was a 92 Eclipse GSX.

 

[Steve1578]

Don't forget about the 90-99 DSM's (eclipse,talon & laser). They're fun and not too expensive. I used to own one, the only draw back is I would for sure put a Gates timing belt on it. I got an OEM one that had a factory defect and snapped on me at 10k miles. Bye bye valves and pistons . Mine was a 92 Eclipse GSX.

GSX's are nice, prone to crank walk I believe, or tranny issues. One of the two, but still a fun car!

 

[Zemedici]

300zx -The NA is still a lot of fun, but for a few extra grand you could get a TT.
Audi S$ - AWD, super fast and fun with a little modding, but s4's are expensive as hell to maintain.
350Z can be had for that price range at 7500. Will probably have close to if not over 100k, but the engines in those are very reliable from what I've seen.
3000gt vr4. - AWD, sporty, but costly if not maintained properly.
LS1, srt4 as others have stated.

Do NOT get a 300zx. Garbage, especially TT cars. Hard to work on and need a decent mechanic. Joe Schmo will **** up a z32 fast as hell.

I'd go SRT-4.


And a 5k LS car will be junk.....

 

[Steve1578]

Do NOT get a 300zx. Garbage, especially TT cars. Hard to work on and need a decent mechanic. Joe Schmo will **** up a z32 fast as hell.

I'd go SRT-4.


And a 5k LS car will be junk.....

The engine bay was designed by a monkey, I'll give you that. No space to work on them. But I've quite a few friends who had z's and they were all reliable for a 90's sports car. The TT is more maintenance intensive obviously, but they're fun cars. My old boss had a TT, he put like 20k into it, it was a complete drag car. Thing would give liter bikes trouble.

 

[JD03Cobra]

Don't forget about the 90-99 DSM's (eclipse,talon & laser).

Wow that brings back memories, really wanted that Eclipse back in 1990.

 

[Fox-4]

New Edge Gt or an ls1. Doubt you will get a mint ls1 for 5k though.

I agree with getting a New Edge GT, you could probably find one really clean and stock or one that already has mods on it.

 

[thomas91169]

GSX's are nice, prone to crank walk I believe, or tranny issues. One of the two, but still a fun car!

The only cars that were prone to CW were 97's and at this point in 2016, if it hasnt walked, its not going to.

I daily drove two 2nd gen GST's and they were great. Just get a good example, IE not some high mileage pos with obvious previous mods/hackjob and youll be fine. Look for one thats stock with as low mileage as possible and as clean as possible and youll be good to go.

300zx is a no go. Way unreliable. Same with the 3KGT platform. Youll see 10 turbo dsm's on the road before you see either of those examples and theres a reason why.

You should be able to find a good condition Z28 or TA for that amount. Same with 99-04 GT or a NSRT4. My buddy found a mint 98 Z28 for $3500 with 60k on it all because the owner couldnt get it to pass smog and was sick of dealing with it. Just needed to replace the fuse for the smog pump. Talk about a come up, but theyre out there.

 

[smitty2919]

LT1 Camaros can be had for that money. I bought mine for $5000 with 50k mi, full suspension and it's a whole new car at autocross.

Camaros will give you bigger motor and 6 speed trans and a much better driving position than a Foxbody or New Edge GT.

 

[nxhappy]

or sell the zx6 and get a zx10. You will shit your pants with the power difference. :banana:

 

[Gravik]

Crown Vic with 4.10's and exhaust.

 

[R.D.P.]

Older Maxima with a 3.5 gets my vote or maybe an older TL

 

[Zemedici]

The engine bay was designed by a monkey, I'll give you that. No space to work on them. But I've quite a few friends who had z's and they were all reliable for a 90's sports car. The TT is more maintenance intensive obviously, but they're fun cars. My old boss had a TT, he put like 20k into it, it was a complete drag car. Thing would give liter bikes trouble.

Oh yeah they can be beasts but like you said working on them sucks ass, and parts aren't cheap. Plus the HICAS gives trouble, etc etc.

Wow that brings back memories, really wanted that Eclipse back in 1990.

Good lord I wasn't even born til 1992

or sell the zx6 and get a zx10. You will shit your pants with the power difference. :banana:

Could always do this. My 13 Z1000 is INSANE for a stock bike

 

[Sirraf]

Pontiac GTP. Do a pulley swap and CAI and have fun.