Dave, any more information than this? Convertible? Front/Rear wheel drive? Sedan/Coupe? Is utility a desire?

If you're feeling conservative and want a solid car, the 2007 Camry is a good choice. The new ones actually look pretty sweet. We just bought a 4-cylinder leather Accord EX Sedan for 23.5K, so that would alsohit in the same price range.

JT, good questions. I don't have to worry about snow, so I have no preference between rear and front wheel drive. Sedan/Coupe? Yes (either). Convertible? I'm pretty lazy, so I don't see myself wanting to deal with putting the top up and down... On the other hand, that could fit into the "big pimpin'" requirement. Utility is not a desire, and does not fit in with the decent gas milage preference. To give one example, I found at a dealer around here with a 2002 BMW 330ci with 22,500 miles on it for only $24.5K. But really, I'm open to all sorts of suggestions. I guess just pretend that you were given $25K to spend on any car you wanted... what would you buy (that fits in with my loose specifications)?

Dave -- there are 4 carmax locations in houston -- just put in your price range in a search and see what all shows up. That's the best starting point

I am cheap, so I'd get a used, 4-cylinder leather Accord Sedan, around two years old, with less than 14k miles on it and save around $7k for nights out at the Grove. But that is just me. Remember Dave, the car doesn't make you a man, your wang does. Ok, next time I won't be so cheap

Here's what my brother wrote (feel free to comment further on any of these suggestions): BMW -- 330 or 325. The negatives are that this is the most expensive car in its class and it is expensive to maintain and repair out of warranty. You might consider going with a certified pre-owned ("CPO") 325. A CPO car is one you buy from a BMW dealer that's been given an extended BMW warranty. While this adds to the cost of the car, your car will be treated like a new car when it comes to repairs. We bought our BMW from an Audi dealer, which could offer an extended warranty from a third party, which as I said last night was pretty useless. CPO warranties are actually useful. Most manufacturers have them but I would particularly recommend them for BMW and Audi because they are less reliable and more expensive to fix. The difference between a 330 and a 325 in terms of performance is not that great, but you might save several thousand dollars. Acura -- TL (2004-2006). Less prestige than a BMW and less fun to drive (primarily front wheel versus real wheel drive), although still quite powerful (270 hp). Very comfortable, lots of gadgets (great stereo and bluetooth are standard). Very reliable. A great value luxury car for the money. Infiniti -- G35 (2003-2006). Very powerful, rear wheel drive car. Much closer to the BMW in terms of driving quality than the Acura, but it's not as advanced when it comes to gadgets. Very reliable. A great value, like the Acura. The biggest downside might be that it's Dad's car, but you could get the coupe, which is cooler. Infiniti is upgrading the G35 for 2007, which means you can get a new 2006 for pretty close to invoice if you want to splurge on a new car. Volvo -- S40 (2004.5-2006). The current version was introduced mid-way through 2004. Stylish car with lots of safety features. Should be reliable. Definitely a step down in terms of driving (probably close to your recently deceased car) but it would be a nice car to drive on your long commute. Better gas mileage than the others. You can probably get a 2005 in the low 20s. Honda -- Accord. It's not a luxury brand, but you can get a top of the line 2004 EX V6 (coupe or sedan) for about $20,000. You'll have a nicely appointed car with leather seats and a powerful 240 hp engine (if you get the V6) that will never give you a minute of trouble. If you really want to save money, you could get a 2002 in the low-to-mid teens and it still won't give you any trouble. In two years, you could afford a new BMW. Toyota -- Similar to Honda, but I find the cars somewhat boring. Audi -- A4. Very similar to the three series but there are fewer on the road if you want to be a little different. Similar reliability and expense issues. Lexus -- Lexus doesn't really make a car for you because its target market is older. Prior to this year, the only car target toward people in their 20s was the IS300. It had "boy racer" styling and tends to be driven by teenagers who like to modify their cars. This year, they came out with the IS350/250. The IS350 might be my next car (if I don't get a BMW). It's very classy. You could get a stripped down IS250 for about $32K, which I suspect is more than you want to spend. It's a shame that there's not a good Lexus option because they make the most reliable cars in the world and the dealers tend to be first class. Jen absolutely loves her RX330. Mercedes -- You're too young. Heck, I'm too young. Very unreliable. Saab -- Don't even think about it. More unreliable than a Mercedes.

What little knowledge I have mostly comes from listening to jaiman, but your brother seems pretty right on. A used Lexus IS300 would be nice and would fit in your price range. It is what Jaiman has, and I like it a lot. You'd have to decide whether it's to teen-ish for you, but I think it looks slick. As he pointed out, their reliable too. Charlie has an Audi A4 and I test drove an Audi A3 with Jaiman. If you like wagons at all, the A3 was a lot of fun, and a new one starts at 25k (~ $3500 cheaper than the A4). The A4 is nice, but a little bland. The Audi center console kinda bugs me. Too... german I guess. I used to like the look of the Volvo, but the more I see them, the less I like them. I've also heard of Volvo's being a lot less reliable than they used to be. An Accord won't get you laid, but it's significantly cheaper and looks alright. Plus that's what you have myspace for, big guy. In conclusion, die your hair black, spike it up, and get a Scion tC.

Is that true about Saabs. I thought they were pretty good cars. Then again, I know absolutely nothing. Dave, this car that died? Was it that blue POS you drove back in school/DC?

oh, and my other roomate has an Acura TL. it's a very nice car, though it is pricey. you could get a TSK instead, for 5/6k less. It's a little less decked out and isn't as fast. however, i can't quite warrant spending the money on either of those when the accord is a similar car, just without the badge.

tsx, that is.

Ryan: No, it wasn't the blue bomber from college. I traded that baby in November 2003 for a cool $200 (I put some body damage on it right before going to Carmax). This was a 98 Mazda Millenia which had been in fine working condition until the move. Will: Yes, I have heard good things about the tsx. My roommate was saying that a co-worker of his recently bougth a new one and that it was a good car, complete with iPod jack. I am also considering it.

So yeah...here are my two cents. For 25K you will have to trade Year and Miles to find the best deal. You should be able to find plenty of different cars between 2002-2005 with 15K -30K miles on it that will get good MPG and still pimp. Here a brief list that i came up with in no particular order: 2004 Acura TL - nice ride..brand new are about $33K 2004 VW GTI R32 - a little Fast and Furious but fun. My buddy has a new GTI that ran him about $27K...but its loaded. 2004 Nissian 350z - more bling then useful. 2002-2003 - BMW 330....a buddy of mine just bought a 2002 330xi with 29K miles for $28K. It is a very sweet ride...plenty of kick 2004 Infiniti G35 - coupe or sedan...depends on what you like. 2004 Lexus GS300/IS300 - probably won't find one with low miles in your price range but shop around. The ES300 is for old people 2005 Mercedes Benz C230 - Looks great with the sport package. Camrys and Accords are always solid cars...for getting laid by fat chicks. Audi...never drive one with more then 50K miles on it...never ever. I have know at least a dozen people with A4 that after 50K miles start to fall apart. There's a short list...with lots of different types of cars. Most with V6s so the gas shouldn't be too bad but my perspective is skewed as i get 16MPG. Let me know if you need any more info.

The TSX is for 16 year old asian kids. Don't fuck with that shit Decker. Those things are a piece of shit. The TL is a far nicer car. You could probably get one with low miles used in the 20k range. My pick? <...<... The FJ Cruiser. Because FJ stands for Fucking Jackoff (which is a good thing)

You know what? My Brother In Law is selling his MINT MINT MINT Mercedes CLK (someone will call it a chick car but no Mercedes is actually a chick car IMHO) for $25k. I think it has 38k. Email me if you want this info. This car is MINT MINT MINT. He waxes and washes it twice a week then drives it 10 feet. He's a total freak.

jay frank blaise, FJ also stands for footjob. I know someone who priced one out while in europe if you need any more information.

Good, that explains why your brother compared it to the Volvo. I thought maybe he had forgotten to add (joke) to his comment

Dave -- save money on this car and get a pimp car in 3 years.. Two friends of mine did this Ren went from a POS Civic in 98 to a new TSX (paid cash) in 05 (the automatic TSX is boring -- i'd only ever driven Ren's which is the manual, and that car is fun) Another friend went from a corolla in 2001 to a boxster in 2003. and the third went from an old accord in 2001 to a 325i in 2004 All with HUGE downpayments and low monthly bills.

Go check to see if your Lincoln dealer has any LS models left. They're an outgoing model with INSANE discounts right now. I have heard of dealers taking 9K off the sticker to get them off the lots to make way for the new MKZ. And if you want pimp, what's more pimp than driving a Lincoln?

Boot: I appreciate and understand that strategy, however, I just turned 28 and am single, so I feel like now is the best time for me to get a fun car. I can always pay down the loan early as I accumulate more savings. Also, my student loan payments will be lower for the first 3 years to allow me to make higher car payments. jay frank blaise: Thanks for the tip, but I am not falling for Mercedes' younger rebranding efforts. I am also weary of the quality there as per my brother's advice.

In that case -- up your price range about 5K and get a year old G35 Coupe. Does your 50 mile daily round trip mean you want 20mpg or 30mpg. If you want 30, then forget about a fun V6.

I'm hoping for about 25 mpg hwy, give or take a little.

G35 coupe = sweet, 350Z = sweet, '00ish Boxter = sweet, jay frank blaise's brother's CLK = sweet. That said, I agree completely with your brother's CPO advice. If you're getting a used car, get one with a meaningful warrantee... things add up quickly on higher end cars. As for Saabs, my pop's Saab is still doing well on 130k miles, but I've heard "Saab Stories" from many people. Its certainly not the car of choice for reliability. It's not as bad as Jaguar, but its not good either.

i believe they run 50 euro in berlin, in 2004 euro, of course.

The 350Z does look sweet, although I am going to add another constraint: needs to be able to seat 4 (backseats do not have to be comfortable though).

Wait Decker... Which brother? You BIG brother? Buy Casey's (my BIL) CLK = PUSSY!

I think your brother is pretty much spot on with what he said. i'd also like to add the subaru legacy GT. it's around 25k brand new. it has 250 hp, it's a comfortable mid-sized 5 seater, and it has all wheel drive. it might not be the most bling bling ride out there, but it's definitely got a great luxury feel on the inside, with some nice bells and whistles. i would definitely give it a test drive before counting it out. you can't go wrong with an acura TL or an infiniti G35. if you want an SUV, acura will be coming out with a new smaller sized turbocharged SUV simlar to the new mazda that just came out. i'm partial to toyota, but as the others have said, unless you buy a toyota truck/suv, their cars are pretty bland and boring. i love my is300, but it's a fairly mediocre car in stock form. the new is250 and is350 are excellent, but it would probably be difficult to find one in the 25k price range.

oh, and i'd like to add that the legacy GT gets great gas mileage and is very reliable.

Don't buy a used Audi A4 or S4 unless it is Certified Pre-Owned., but that'll only get you 2 years of additional warranty. I have a 2001 S4 - amost mint - with a tad over 50K, and shit is definitely starting to fall apart. I am looking for a new car so when the warranty runs out this October I can bail. It is expensive (very) to repair anything from Germany. If you wanna pimp and get laid by attractive women, buy a used or new G35 coupe, Volvo S60/S40, Acura TL, or CLK/BMW/Porsche if it isn't too old.

The Subaru was a good call Park. That was our second choice car.

BTW. I have a Mazda Protege5 which will never get you any pussy but it's a great economical car. The new Mazda3 I think is the evolution of the Protege5 and those are more badass looking. You could always get a CT2004?

Jay, jay frank blaise....I just went to lunch in my buddies 2006 Legacy GT (wagon..blah blah) but man was I surprised. His is loaded...much nicer then i expected inside and its pretty quick...AWD is a bonus.

I've been very happy with my 04 Mini Cooper S -- I get around about 27 going to work, and it's "more fun than two barrels of monkeys" to drive. Cost me just over $26k new (and I did have to wait, but I think that's changed). The very nice part is that I could sell it for upwards of 22k today...if I wanted to, which I don't. I pack a decent amount of stuff in the back when I need to, I've taken 4 adults downtown in it -- I find it really flexable. The bad part is that your fraternity brothers get to make gay jokes.

True that Barf. Those are some nice cars. My buddies got one and it's nice. I think back to when we were looking and it came down to dough in the end. Plus the legacy's weren't as nice looking then as they are now. I had to have a WRX if we were going to get one... We decided that the Mazda for 17k was more practical than the WRX for $27k. I've had the car for 5 years now and we are just approaching the 30k mark so we made a good decision.

"I pack a decent amount of stuff in the back when I need to, I've taken 4 adults downtown in it -- I find it really flexable." Polega are you still talking about the car? GAY JOKE HEY-OHHHH!!

This is what Pollega really meant: "I pack a decent amount of shit in the ass when I need to, I've gone down on 4 adults in it -- I find it really makes me a fuckable guy."

one other thing -- for accuracy take about 20% off the car window sticker's fuel mileage -- so if you want 25mpg, you have to get a car that says 30mpg.

absolutely correct. back at my first job, to accurately model gas usage in the us we found that we had to subtract 20 percent of the epa reported mpg value.

If you do get a Mini- get the new Cooper S - John Cooper Works GP edition. I think it has 240 or 250 HP ... for a car that light, well, you get it. Don't apply the rainbow sticker on the rear ala Polega though. Car and Driver isn't too geeked about the Legacy GT. I've never driven one, so I can't say for myself. My friend had a WRX Sti - freakin FAST!!!, but looks kinda stupid with that enormous wing on the back.

You had to subtract 20% from what? The highway gas mileage? That would make sense since people drive a mix of highway and city/low speed driving.

I don't really like the way Minis look, so I am not considering that. Overall, this has been a good and helpful discussion. Keep throwing out ideas and opinions if you have them. Thanks.

Well I know you said you're coming from a Mazda, but the 3 or 6 are both solid options. I love my 3 sedan, but its a super common car so it's pimp-itude is pretty low. The 6 was refreshed this year with a better looking front and taillights, as well as some changes to the dash. The base model 6 uses the same 4-cyl as the 3 (if you're that focused on mileage). If we're on the subject of mileage, my 3 gets about 29 mpg. Its no WRX, but its plenty powerful for what it is (4-cyl, auto).

I'm assuming adjustments had to be made to EPA mileage because those numbers are probably based on cars operating at the speed limit, which no one does, and higher speeds suck down more gas. Or because car manufacturers have a tremendous lobby with the federal government, EPA included, and somehow get them to report more favorable numbers. Other than that, though, anybody notice a drop off in their mileage since the advent of ethanol in the gas instead of MTBE? Over the last year or so, my car's mileage has dropped from ~30 to ~26. Could just be that my car is old and sucks, though.

ethanol has rougly 2/3 the energy content that gasoline has on a volume basis. you're going to get less mileage per gallon of mixture, but your miles per gallon of gasoline has gone up.

So, worse for the driver (more $$$) but better for the environment, huh? Glad to be doing my part.

The day a Kia gets you laid is the day my huge balls take a dip in the fountain of youth.

Dave, I'll also throw the WRX out there. I got mine for 23k brand new... great performance, all wheel drive (more important in NE), great reliability thus far, good utility. Plus, the newer versions of the WRX offer more amentitites than mine offered (leather, sunroof, power seats, etc.).

Hey Kia, I think you're missing most of the point of being a "28 single" guy. It means that I don't have to get my wife's approval over this purchase. Also, as my commute is 25 miles each way, I will be spending a lot of time in my car, so I'd better like being in it. And since I'm 28 now, it makes more sense for me to get something a little sporty now than later. If you read my request carefully, I'm just asking for advice about "sweet cars" for a limited amount of money. Other people have made assertions about getting laid because of certain cars. But to your point, if you don't think women care about money/material things, you're an idiot. All women see trade-offs in men among personality, intelligence, looks, money/material goods, etc. See indifference curves from Econ 101. And no one in Houston carpools... trust me. But thanks for playing - bhendrix.com appreciates your loyal patronage.

No, no, no. Don't dog the Kia-pusher. She's got a hidden message in there: "Contrary to what the ho in the wet T-shirt and thong straddling a car on the cover of your latest Men's Health makes you think..." All you have to do is find out WHICH car the ho in the wet T-shirt and thong is straddling, and bang, problem solved. Or rather, problem solved, then the bang ;)

Econ 101 bitch! Yeah - indifference curves all up in yo face!

Dave, here are a few more options for you to investigate... these should all be within your price range: Option 1 - For the sexy and sophisticated commute in Houston Option 2 - Perfect an accent and convice the ladies that you're from England Option 3 - I'm not sure how you'll drive this to work, but panties will drop for the Log Master (see larger picture) Option 4 - Use your imagination Option 5 - We all know what happens when you drive one of these

Dave, my best suggestion to you, would be to make a list of 3-5 cars you should include cars that all fit the mould of what you're trying to accomplish. perhaps have one car that is a little bit on the cheaper side, and maybe one that's on the more expensive side. Take an empty saturday, and try to test drive all of the cars. Get a feel for how they handle, how much power they have, and what features they come with. and have fun with it, drive the car like you stole it. if the salesman bitches at you, let them know that this is how you will be driving a car, and you want to know how it works under pressure. they're not going to "get you in trouble". Carmax is generally a pretty cool place, because they may have all of those cars in one lot for you to try out. from the list that i've gathered here, the list of possible candidates seems to be: (I starred the ones that i would pick to test drive if i were in your situation) Mazda 3 Mazda 6 * Acura TSX Acura TL * Volvo S40 Audi A4 Lexus IS300 * Lexus IS250 BMW 325/328 BMW 330 coupe Mercedes c230 Mercedes c280 Subaru Legacy GT * Infiniti G35 (sedan or coupe) * Volkswagen Passat

Decker, I think JT might be on to something here. Take option 5 and quadruple their bid. That leaves nearly 20k leftover to buy bio-diesel. Talk about being the center of attention! Just remember those Houston women love their truck-driving men... Oh, and learn to drive a stick, ya pansy...

OK, so for the last two days, I've had to work late, and it looks like this trend is likely to continue. So I haven't had a chance to visit any dealers. However, I think Jay Park's suggestion was good, and I have made a list of cars to check out: 2003 BMW 325i (CPO from BMW dealer only) 2003 Lexus IS300 2003 Infinity G35 (either coupe or sedan) 2004 Acura TL 2006 Acura TSX And if I can't find all of those, then I'll also test a 2005 Nissan Maxima. So the plan would be to visit a BMW dealer, an Acura dealer, and a Carmax (there are 4 in Houston).

great selection... with the 2007 maxima facelift, the prevous body styles may even drop down in price just a tad.

OK, I bought a 2006 TSX for just over 26. My reasoning was this: To get the other cars that I was discussing for the same money, I'd had to have gotten one with 20-35k miles on it already, giving it a shorter life (and warranty). I'm not enough of a car enthusiast at this point to think that the extra benefits of the other models justify the drecrease in lifespan (and reliability in the case of the 3 series). Anyway, I'm very happy with my purchase (although buying a new car is certainly stressful... especially on a tight timeline). Thanks to everyone for their input. And if you'll excuse me, I have to go to an Asian teenager party now...

sweet! congrats on the purchase. i heard those parties are awesome.