My Mom has one of the last coopers (just the base with a cvt) and its a great little car despite its lack of power and a manual transmission. I really like a small car so I have no problem with them and they have great visability. I'm trying to figure out what my price range is right now, i'm mostly looking at things around 25k and less, I want lease payments to be less than 350-400 a month. Once I get a few quotes and do some drives I will make the final decision on what to get. I decided today that I really like the e46 330ci, I was thinking about how nice the one my dad had was, and at the right price with some sort of warranty might be a good move.
The car will strickly be a DD and I will not be moding it (maybe some rims and track pads
), and more then likely it will also be a lease because i will hopefully be looking to upgrade in a few years. I do want something relativly fun for everyday useage. I'm not going to lie I think I like the idea of a new car better because I'm really intersted in something with a warranty so I should't have to pay for much. I plan to start driving cars next week. I think it will probably be about a month or two before I make the actual purchase (or as long as it takes me to save up enough for a decent down payment)
As far as audi goes, the only one i want is an a4 avant with awd, if you can find me newish one at a good price i would be intersted.
The Lexus IS is nice but not my cup of tea.
For the VWs I want to dive them but have heard many horror stories from current/previous owners so I'm not so sure I want to go that route.
More then Likely the Mini S, and Mazdaspeed3 are the front runners, a CPO e46 330ci might be in the running as well. That or I can just go find a few more e30s!