Quote:
Originally Posted by X_fuera
Let me start by saying that I'm a noob here, but not new to forums in general, and I have searched with limited success...
My situation is such that I can only have a single car (need to keep the wife happy given that we have limited garage space lol) that will be used in all seasons, including winter. The car will not see any track duty. I’ve narrowed my search down to a new GT500 or a ‘08/‘09 M3 (cost is roughly equal). I know the GT500 and M3 aren’t exactly in the same class, but I can’t be the first person to cross shop these cars. I think there are a lot of people out there like me who have grown up on domestic performance but as they’ve became a bit older are looking to add a little refinement in with the performance.
The M3 is the obvious choice for that refinement, but what concerns me about the M3’s I can afford is that they’ll shortly be out of warranty. How expensive is scheduled maintenance on the M3? How expensive is it to maintain the M3 in general? How reliable is the M3? I’ve also read stories about lackluster build quality on this iteration of the M3. Any truth to this?
Has anyone made the switch from GT500 to M3 or vice versa? Has anyone else faced this same dilemma? Any input you guys could provide would be much appreciated!
|
In your situation, I would get neither car. I noticed that you live in Chicago. As such, I know winters can be fairly brutal. If you can only get one car for all seasons, I would choose either an Audi S4 if you need a sedan or an S5 if you want a coupe. Both cars can be had for between 50-60k new. The S4, being supercharged from the factory can be modded for big power with just an ECU tune also. Both cars come standard with all wheel drive which is a huge benefit in bad weather as you probably know.
That said, if you really have your heart set on the Mustang or M3, I say go for the M3 as the Mustang has simply too much torque for winter duty with RWD only. The M3 with proper winter tires can manage.