A friend of mine is lookin' to buy a car within $10,000. He's looking for reliability, and RWD or AWD (his car in Saudi was a 1993 Merc 600 SEL). He plans to keep the car for at least 4 years, so he doesn't want anything pre-'99. It should either be very luxurious, or lots of fun. He was looking at the Lincoln LS and Caddilac Catera, but his older brother vetoed those (that and they aren't very reliable). I recomended the Miata, that's what he's looking at right now. Is there anything else, that's out there for the price range. Oh yeah...no SUVs, no wagons. He's in Austin, TX.

3-series
A4
MR2
Z3
CL or TL

You can get those for $10k? CL and TL aren't RWD or AWD. For that money, that is going to be one OLD, high-mileage 3-series. The old A4 sucks. MR2, aren't those expensive to maintain? Z3...hmm...

For under $10k he is not even gonna get a half decent civic let alone some thing luxurious.

If you spend the time and are willing to be patient i know for a fact you can find those cars for under $10k, and i forgot about the rwd/awd thing when i mentioned the CL/TL. Anyways have a look at the Z3s for sure. And maybe they're more expensive where you live but i could probably find a good 3-series for around $10k here with decent mileage.

yeah, like an E36 323is or something would be reasonable.

Prelude?

He's pretty stubborn about RWD, he only accepts AWD grudgingly, so no Prelude. Would a 323i fit within $10k without being pre-'99? How are maintainence costs on those?

$10,000
+pre-'99
+very luxurious
+ near austin
+lots of fun
Hard to find

If I had that money, I'd buy this impala. I know its pre-99 but the fun factor would be awesome.

Gas ain't cheap in the US, especially after you've lived in the Middle East all your life.

Yeah, I'm going to get a second job to pay for gas when I get my chevelle.

But more importantly, the cars recommended or cars that fit my equation are usually 15k+.

Good luck finding one.

I think he's going for a Miata. Dunno what year, he'll probably buy an auto because he's not a real man, and can't drive worth jack. The requirements were his not mine...they are kind of far-fetched.

he's either going to have to raise his budget or not be so anal.

Budget's not going up, but he's being less anal. Stupid Arabs. He likes the Miata. Bulletproof reliability, RWD fun, convertible, cheap to maintain, cheap gas...what's to dislike.

Auto tranny