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Affordable Used Sports Car

Hi fellow cheap sports car lovers!

Now that the question has been posted for a couple weeks, I'm sharing my biased results with you-all, in regards to finding a sports car with the following criteria: under $5000 for a decent, reliable car, weight less than 2200 lbs, rear wheel drive, has an avid support group/fanatical following/easy availability of performance parts. In the blatantly biased department, the car must match my admittedly weird sense of style and image ("looks").

Note that I changed the weight requirements (what was I thinking when I posted?) and added "looks" to help me justify my biased elimination of certain ugly IMO cars. Just like Car & Driver; wow, I must be good...

Anyway, the two winning cars for me are the BMW 2002 and the Toyota MR2. The 2002 only kinda wins; most examples I have owned didn't pass the "decent, reliable" part of the criteria, but I believe there are some that do, even though they are all 19 years old, at least.

The MR2 has cleared its name (for me) of engine design problems; many MR2 Turbo owners have testified that they have had no trouble whatsoever, and have never heard of MR2 engine problems from anyone, ever... If you have more proof (positive or negative), please post.

Not enough info department:

  • Datsun 240z. (early models; late models fail on price) Please post if you can help this car pass or fail on the criteria above.

The losers:

  • RX-7s, 1st generation, fail on weight I think; are they <2200 lbs? & looks.
  • RX-7s, 2nd generation, fail on weight (2600 lbs)
  • RX-7s, 2nd generation, fail on price & weight
  • Miata kinda fails on price ($7000 minimum), but I watch the ads...
  • Porsche 914 fails on fanatical following, decent/reliable, and looks.
  • Porsche 911 fails on price ($10k at least)
  • Porsche 924/944 fails on price ($7k) and looks
  • Merkur XR4ti fails on fanatical following and looks
  • Pontiac Fiero fails on fanatical following and looks
  • Modern BMWs fail on price and are very weak on looks
  • Most modern sports cars (Acuras, VWs, Mitsubishi) fail on rear-wheel-drive

------ Conclusion:

Since I'm tired of owning 2002s, I'm starting my long-term search for an 87, 88, or 89 Toyota MR2, supercharged, T-Tops, red with leather interior, 5-speed trans, full aero package, under 100k miles. Of course, with all these fancy things, I probably can't stay under $5000...

Information courtesy of Josh White

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Exhaust Gauges Oxygen Sensor Water Thermostat Transmission Manual Shifter Shifter Boot Clutch
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