Come in to buy a car? I just came in to test drive everything so that I can decide what to buy on Craigslist.

$29.95/day to rent a Fiesta, plus free* cafeteria trays sounds like a satisfactory “cheap fun car” to me.

I have a friend who bought a Forester new in 1999, and he still drives it. His previous car? A Civic Wagovan.

When I took a 3.7L V6 Mustang to the track, I got 6 mpg. :) It chugged down nearly two tanks of gas in one track day. I wonder how the 5.0 would do. 4 mpg, perhaps?

HAHAHAHAHA!

What was the advantage of continuing to have a loan if you already had the cash to pay it off? Using the extra cash to invest or something like that?

Judging by the hubcaps and black trim, Ford didn’t even give them an XLT?

Sorry to hear that! Hope you can get some laps once your new track car is ready.

I bought a new Ford Fiesta SE last year. It’s been to the dealer 6 times for unscheduled maintenance. (It’s also been to 9 track days. Correlated? Perhaps.)

I suspect that having 4wd is less crucial off road than most people think. I’ve taken 2wd gokarts and 1wd motorcycles over terrain that would make a Wrangler cry.

The car came *from the factory* with less idiotic rims, though. The car is so “stance, bro.”

I saw the Abarth “7k off” tag last summer. Maybe sales have picked up since then? I think Fiat USA might be pretty desperate, though.

I saw an Abarth at the Berkeley Fiat dealer with a “$7k off” tag hanging from the mirror. I bet you could negotiate a NEW one for $12k.

I drove all of those cars (except A7 and Golf R), and the Mini S is my favorite... and now we have one. Is the Golf R that much better than a GTI?

It does. Before we got one, I kinda imagined it was FWD, too. I sometimes I wish we still had that car... it got destroyed by a flood with only 50k miles on it.

The C230 is RWD.

I would buy that with a C55 AMG motor if the price is right! I had a C230 coupe, and I enjoyed it.

I didnt think you could get a CarMax warranty unless you bought the car from CarMax.

Good idea. Open the hatchback, tumble the seats and cargo floor forward, and there's the engine. At least as good as a front engine car's access through the hood. :)

Awesome. I think Escorts have a lot of motorsports potential. I've seen quite a few Escort/Protege partsbin mashups at LeMons!