Year(s): Any
Budget: $10,000
Desired location of vehicle: West Coast car preferred but anywhere in the SW will do
Desired Mileage: <150k
Transmission type: 6MT
Desired number of Doors: 2-4
Desired Color combos: Prefer something other than Ti or Imola. Please no Dove
Desired Packages: Cold weather would be great but not required
Funds lined up? Cash in hand
Have a car you need to sell first? Nope. Just need time to book a flight.


I turned 52 at the beginning of the year. Last May, a co-worker retired at 65. 3 weeks later he was diagnosed with a terminal condition and died at the end of July, about 9 weeks after retiring. Even though turning 50 was unremarkable, that person’s death sent me sideways.

I’m looking to start crossing things off my bucket list. Daily driving a cool car is one, a cross country solo trip is another. So I’m trying to kill 2 birds with one stone.

I live in NJ. I’d look to buy/pick up the car somewhere on the West Coast and drive it back East.

The car would need to be a manual, it should be fun, unique, a good cruiser, reasonably reliable with a wide support network if i get into a jam. Sounds like an ZHP to me, right?

I would need to be comfortable leaving it in a parking lot pretty much anywhere this side of a warzone.

Some deferred maintenance would be OK but this will need to be a daily driver. Also, since the car will be a daily in the NE, I’m not looking for a museum piece.

I was originally looking for an M3 but I think the ZHP is more reasonable for what I’m looking to do but I can’t live with the maintenance costs.


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