Car Choices, as posted on one of my other boards.

[Ferendon 10+ year member]

For those who don't know, an SHO is a Ford Taurus, with a Yamaha V6 and (some with) 5-speed transmission. Mine is sitting on Koni adjustables and cut Eibachs. See my sigpic, but in white.

And, go:

Ok, with 289k and a couple leaky cam seals, the SHO is going away. It's a blast to drive, but it's a horrible platform for what I'm trying to accomplish (Speaker placement, trunk venting, squeaks/rattles, low radio placement, expensive to mod ANYTHING, hard to find parts....)

I'll miss her, but I don't foresee any more SHOs in my future, at least any time soon. I've done some research on what cars I should look at, and I've narrowed it down to a select few.

2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL

Good :

It'll last forever

Cheap to maintain

Good mileage

Simply put, it's a Honda. Not much else needs to be said about the good.

Bad :

Known ****** issues, ~$3k for a OEM replacement without the known issue, but most of them have been warrantied and fixed by now. Comes with a 109k/7.75 year warranty on the *****.

That's about all I can think of

Don't want anything older than a 2002 because they are only 4-speed autos, and I like the looks of the 02+ better. 04+ has a dash that is pretty untouchable, and I know it sounds stupid, but I refuse to have a car that has a corporate dash.

2002-2003 Maxima

Good :

See above.

Itz got dat VQ, son.

Fun to drive

Bad :

Front end gets a little loose after a couple years of driving. Torquey FWD sedan = bushings in need of replacement, but a cheap/easy fix.

Don't want anything older because I want the VQ, not the VG. It's simply a matter of maintenance costs.

2002+ Altima 3.5

Good:

See above.

Again, with the VQ.

Bad :

Same loose front end issues as the Maxima, but much worse.

Dash is difficult to work with, but at least it's not a corporate panel.

Essentially, I want 4 doors, auto or manual doesn't matter, would prefer a 6 cylinder, 25-ish+ Hwy MPG, reasonable cost of ownership, a decent aftermarket for suspension mods. Honestly don't think I'll even touch the engine. It's much cheaper for me to have a killer sound system than it is to try and go fast. I figure I'll lower it on some nice wheels, my typical custom gauge bezel (it's sick, and costs about $40, think DEFI gauges, but with your whole bezel), and the audio system I have sitting and waiting, because I don't want to waste the time putting it in the SHO. Also, I'm looking to keep it under $10k-ish, which is easily accomplished with the cars I'm looking at. I'm not real scared of miles either, I'm pretty confident in the long-term reliability of all of these cars.

I posted it on a car performance board, so I'm getting their view on engine/suspension shit, but no input on the audio option of each car.

Click to read more...

 

[mackin 10+ year member]

maxima FTW

 

[Ferendon 10+ year member]

All global responses considered, it appears the TL is out of the mix. I'm getting lots of votes for Altima and Maxima, so it seems it will be whichever of the two I can find a better deal on. I'm partial to Nissans anyway.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

See no point in throwing out anything else as it seems you had your mind made up from the beginning.

My buddy has a killer SHO with the whole dashboard and console in fiberglass. Is truly sick to see in person! Car runs 11's to boot! Pretty much a show car, but is his DD, lol!

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

For those who don't know, an SHO is a Ford Taurus, with a Yamaha V6 and (some with) 5-speed transmission. Mine is sitting on Koni adjustables and cut Eibachs. See my sigpic, but in white.
And, go:

Ok, with 289k and a couple leaky cam seals, the SHO is going away. It's a blast to drive, but it's a horrible platform for what I'm trying to accomplish (Speaker placement, trunk venting, squeaks/rattles, low radio placement, expensive to mod ANYTHING, hard to find parts....)

I'll miss her, but I don't foresee any more SHOs in my future, at least any time soon. I've done some research on what cars I should look at, and I've narrowed it down to a select few.

2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL

Good :

It'll last forever

Cheap to maintain

Good mileage

Simply put, it's a Honda. Not much else needs to be said about the good.

Bad :

Known ****** issues, ~$3k for a OEM replacement without the known issue, but most of them have been warrantied and fixed by now. Comes with a 109k/7.75 year warranty on the *****.

That's about all I can think of

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[snb778 5,000+ posts]

if the trunk/ back dash is ANYTHING like the 99maxima's... STAY.. AWAY!!!!!