I cannot believe the choice of cars here... STI? Are you kidding me? THE UGLIEST THING EVER. Looks like a mini van, with the same sized engine, that is just turboed, which right there is asking for trouble. You cant try and make a small engine, as powerful as a big engine (v-8) get a naturally aspirated v-8 that pushes horse!
Only one vote on the vette? Really?
Follow these guidelines...
1) AMERICAN ONLY, support the US economy, dont give other countries more money, especially asian countries, they already own most of our debt!
2) Something not suitable for a woman...
3) RWD, no AWD junk
4) V-8
I will say go for a USED CORVETTE ANY day of the week.
I have a C5 (older generation) Z06, with plenty of horsepower, and with my long tube headers, exhasut, etc, it sounds as manly as any car EVER will, and is the best purchase I could have made. I bought it about 6 years ago, for 28k put 65k miles on it, and can sell it today for about 21k... So they hold their value better than any import, like a BMW which you buy a 2008 M5 for 110k, and they are going now for 40K 2 years later with 25 k miles...
German cars, are very expensive to repair
imports, you are paying extra for the "import"
Do not get a 4 cylinder, so I get a head ache whenever the lawnmowers hit 4000+ rpms
Get a TRUCK OR NICE CAR, with MUSCLE, V-8 / hemi etc
All this talk about MPG, my vette pushes 475 RWHP and I get 34 avg MPG highway as long as I am in low RPMs in 6th gear, going about 75-80 mph
Reliability? American cars are MORE reliable and cheaper to fix than imported cars. I have NEVER had a problem with my vette, and I drive it into the ground every time I get into it. I have about 70K miles, I have put 65k miles on it, and never had a major issue.
A little older now, but a used C6 (new generation corvette) is the way to go!!!