Great driving car under $20k

[glassman]

If you can score an early M5, i think pre 02. Killer sedan, best bang for the buck. but yes, what greg said, stay way away from the V10 ones. i've heard nothing but horror stories from those here in the bay area....4 years ago you coulda got a 964 or 993 series 911 for that, but they just tripled and quadruped in price...i tried.

[dhutton]

Might be a bit of a stretch but a 2009-10 CTS-V would be a good choice. I had a 2011 and loved it.

Don

[rocketrod]

You may want to consider a C5 Z06. I bought one last summer and the car is just a blast to drive! I look forward to autocrossing and drag racing it some this year.

[V8TV]

I owned a 2004 BMW 545i 6-speed manual for 5 years, really liked the car. The 4.4 V8 was surprisingly torquey, and it handled very well. Fun car to drive. Cheap now, too.

[rustomatic]

I am a big fan of the E39 BMW--I've had two of them. I presently have a 2001 530i, and it's awesome to drive, both near and far. Part of this is due to the car's previous owner, who had the thing very expensively maintained--he actually paid Euro-specific shops (Bay Area prices) to fix/update everything, and it shows. I love the car, as it is quiet, smooth, taut in the right ways, has decent power (225-35 horsies), and looks better than what came before and after (according to me and thousands of others). These cars are available cheap (zillions in CA on Craigslist at all times), but you've got to get a good one (one that had a good life, in other words) that has been owned by non-addled grownups (and not given to their kids).

These cars handle great (I live on a very twisty river road and drive canyons daily), smell okay, and have a nice shape. They have some of the best engineering applied recently or presently to chassis dynamics and weight distribution. They have aluminum subframes front and rear, and the front's got a buttload of caster. I can drool on and on . . . I'd really like to stick an LS in one of these, but smog rules in CA . . .

There are many minor problems that creep up in these things, but most are very cheap to fix (avoiding early/late build cycle models seems to help here--the U.S. range is '98 to /'03). They made more than a million E39s internationally. If you do maintenance and fix things (like window regulators/brakes/etc.), the part costs are quite negligible (my four-wheel brake job with rotors and pads was sub-$150, via eBay). The Web knowledge on these things is ridiculously huge and very helpful.

The straight six is an engine configuration that has not gotten the credit (in recent decades) that it deserves. It is super-smooth, torquey at the right rpms, durable as rocks if properly maintained, and is quite efficient. The smaller of the E39 engines (525/528) will do 27+ mpg in any environment (the 540 has a V8 that should be avoided, from what I've heard). Treat it right, and it's like a gas-powered, German Cummins.

The model after the E39, from what I've seen, should be avoided like hepatitis.

I'll shut up now.

Edit: I forgot about the 1/2JZ. That's the Japanese Cummins (I-6).

[WSSix]

Thanks everyone. I've been leaning towards the BMW E34 and E39s. I love the looks and would prefer more of a "grown up car". That's what kind of keeps me away from the Mustang. I love the bright green. The 2010-14 generation looked great, but the interior looks cheap. I haven't even sat in one yet and that's my impression.

From what I've been reading, the 540i V8 and the M5 V8 are solid engines so long as maintenance is documented and thorough. I'm not worried about repairs as I do enjoy working on cars but I don't want it to be every weekend. That's what my friend went through with his V10 M5. He loved it but hated how it was constantly needing work. M3's are great too but I'm not sure I want something that small.

I appreciate the responses, and if you have anything you'd like to add, I'll listen.

[dkp993]

It might be slightly higher then your 20k budget (23/24k) but the C7 version of the Audi A6 3.0 is an awesome car. I've had mine for nearly 3 yrs and absolutely love it. The supercharged V6 has plenty of grunt and the handling is fun due to the quattro awd.