Sean and his wife are replacing their 2009 Audi A3 as it’s getting up there in mileage and repairs are starting to be expensive. This would be a daily driver for just two people, so it doesn’t need to be super practical. They are open to used cars but they want it to “feel” like a new one. What car should they buy?
(Welcome back to What Car Should You Buy? Where we give real people real advice about buying cars. Do you want us to help you find a car? Submit your story on our form.)
Here is the scenario.
Quick Facts:
It’s time to replace my wife’s 2009 Audi A3. It drives great, but a 102,000 mile Audi just isn’t all that reliable. This would be her daily driver, and she is working home for the foreseeable future, so she doesn’t drive a whole bunch. Ideally a car that is fun to drive but still still has a little bit of a practical side. ( NO CROSSOVERS!) Other than that it doesn’t have to be particularly practical. We have no kids, so really only need room for 2 people. Our other cars are my 4 door Titan XD and TJ Wrangler so it would be nice do get better and the 12-14 MPG I average in those 2, but that ain’t hard. We want it to FEEL new, so newer than 3 years and less than 30K miles is ideal. A car I won’t have to work on or fix other than regular service for the next 5 years/50K miles. Fun to drive, manual would be great but not necessary. Only need room for 2.
We do like our old A3, Its a fun combination of fun to drive and practical. Something like this, but leaning even a little more towards the fun side is ideal. She almost bought a TT rather than the A3. So I would say she likes that. Fun and sporty. Basically we want a fun reliable car that isn’t a Miata or a BRZ/86
Budget is up to $30,000
Budget: up to $30,000
Location: San Diego, CA
Daily Driver: Yes
Wants: New-ish, Fun, Low maintenance
Doesn’t want: Too old
Expert 1: Tom McParland – Manual And Practical
Sean, I wanted to give you the obvious solution, which is a Volkswagen GTI. You already like the turbo power from your A3 and the Golf GTI is essentially the same car minus the all-wheel drive. Even as a GTI owner myself, I still don’t think that is your best bet. Since you live in sunny San Diego, some of my colleagues will insist on a convertible, and that is fine. However, you did say you needed some practicality so I think you need a balance between open-top motoring and the usability of a hatchback.
Therefore, a lightly used Mini Cooper is the way to go. For under thirty grand, you can score a nice manual hatchback with plenty of warranty remaining. But you will want to be sure to get one with the panoramic roof option. That way, you can get most of the benefits of an open-top cruise without sacrificing any usability. Cooper S models pack a turbocharged motor with about 190 horsepower, which should be plenty of fun around town especially when paired with their six-speed manual.
The other upside to the Mini is that you can take advantage of someone else’s deprecation and get a car that “feels” new but provides a better value for your dollar over the GTI. Here is a loaded-up, Mini-Certified 2021 Signature trim model with about 14,000 miles for under twenty-five grand.
Expert 2: Bradley Brownell – Hotter And Hatchier
Somehow 2019 inexplicably happened five years ago already, but this little Korean hot hatch is ten years newer and a hundred years better than your old German machine. Keep the front-wheel drive, but add a whole stable of ponies to your right foot, and control it with a manual transmission, you can’t go wrong. Every time I’ve driven a Hyundai N product, I’ve walked away with a giant smile, so hopefully this will do the same for you.
It’s got plenty of practicality with a spacious-ish hatch, and a weird third-door thingy that you might like and might not. I like it and recommend it highly as a daily. This one has had a few modifications done to it, including a set of Rotiform wheels and some sport springs. These are things I’d do to my own car if I bought one, and it looks pretty great sitting like this. The seller is asking $19,500 for this car in Encinitas, but you can probably find an unmodified example if you feel strongly about it.
It’s 271 horsepower, a 0-60 time of 6.1 seconds, and 28 mpg on the highway for under twenty grand. How can you beat that?
Expert 3: Collin Woodard – Lexus Miles Hit Different
I totally understand wanting a car that feels new but doesn’t cost quite as much as it would if it was actually new, Sean. Especially considering the Audi you’d like to replace is 15 years old and probably lacks many more modern tech and safety features. If those are specifically the kinds of things you’re looking for, I’m sure either the Mini or the Hyundai will be fantastic choices.
One thing that I worry about, though, is that coming from an Audi, your wife isn’t going to like the quality of the interior materials offered with either car. I’m a huge fan of both, so that’s not the issue. They’re just not luxury cars and don’t pretend to be. Typically, if you make the jump up to a luxury car that’s depreciated enough to fit your budget, you have to deal with reliability issues and expensive repairs. And it sounds like you definitely don’t want to deal with that.
So what are we going to do? We’re going to ignore your model year and mileage requirements and go with a Lexus IS. There are plenty in your price range that are still pretty new, and I’d be willing to bet neither your wife nor anyone else you show the car to will have any idea it’s more than three years old. You won’t get the most advanced infotainment system, but that’s just the price you pay to get a comfortable sport sedan with both excellent reliability and build quality.
As I mentioned, you have plenty of options to choose from with a $30,000 budget, but maybe start your search with this 2018 Lexus IS 350 that I found nearby. It has nearly 50,000 miles on it, which is more than you were hoping for, but remember, these are Lexus miles. In five years, it will still probably feel as well bolted together as it does the day you buy it, which is something I don’t know if I can say about the previous two suggestions.
Expert 4: José Rodríguez Jr. – The Newest Used Car Of All
There are plenty of options for a fun used car within your budget, though they start to narrow down if we exclude vehicles made before 2021 and limit the odometer to 30,000 miles. If you add in a manual transmission, options whittle down because the stick shift is now more of an enthusiast badge of honor, which carmakers use to charge more. So, I’m going to zero in on the used car that feels most like new. And, really, what could feel more new than an EV like this 2022 Polestar 2?
You mention that you’d like to get over 13-14 miles per gallon, and that this vehicle is going to be a daily. EVs have their weaknesses in terms of range and infrastructure, but for a daily that can be supplemented by your four-door Titan and Wrangler, the Polestar 2 can’t be beat. Forget about major maintenance in the next five years or 50,000 miles. There’s simply not that much to break on the Polestar 2 relative to its ICE-powered counterparts. And it’s very handsome.
As far as luxury goes, the Polestar is essentially a whizz-bang, high-speed Volvo, meaning it will rival any Audi or other German car you can bring to the table. The model I’ve recommended has over 30,000 miles on it, but it’s also a CPO long range, dual motor version that makes 408 horsepower and gets 249 miles per charge. All of that at under $30,000. If you’d prefer one with less than 30k on the clock, there are plenty of Polestar 2s around. Why? Because people are creatures of habit, and an EV is too much of a gamble for them. But in your case, there’s no used car that will feel newer.