New or nearly-new car purchase

[Kent McLean]

TM wrote:
 > I'm soliciting suggestions/advice on what car to
 > purchase for under $25k.

This is asking for trouble...

 > Priorities are handling,

	BMW.

 > performance,

	American V8

 > reliability,

	Toyota

 > ease of service,

	anything before 1968

 > refinement.

	Mmm... Lexus? Mercedes? Rolls Royce?

Ignoring your "2000 or newer" requirement, if I had $25K to spend
I'd find a '93 Audi V8 for ~$8K, have the suspension rebuilt ($2K),
install BIRA brakes (~$2K), and give it to Keith at Audi Connection
for a 5-speed conversion (~$6K).  That would leave me with about
$7K for wheels, tires, audio, electrical issues, AC, etc.

Or go with a late 1990s S6, with money left over to improve it.

For 2000 or newer, go with a BMW for a fair-weather car, or with
Audi :-) for a snow-belt car.

 From Japan: Nissan Maxima comes with a 5-speed manual. If you can
deal with an automatic, look at the Lexus ES300 and Acura TL.

American dark horses: take a look at Lincoln LS V6 or V8: 
<http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/used/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/2383>
and Cadillac CTS 
<http://www.carsdirect.com/research/cadillac/cts/2003/base/reviews>.
Surprising, both can be had with manual transmissions.

Thanks. It's so much fun shopping with OPM [1].

HTH,
Kent
'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy"

[1] Other People's Money