What would YOU do?

[mbsc400]

Hello all. Been a casual observer of this site and clublexus.com for a few years now; perhaps about as long as I've been an SC400 owner. I'm trying to come up with a reason to justify keeping my 95 sc4 instead of parting with it, biting the bullet, and purchasing an M3. Convince me. Let's say you've got $10k to spend on a stock SC4 with 150k miles and a few dings and scrapes. What would you fit into your budget , while keeping particular attention to the following:

- A modest power increase would be looked kindly upon (+100 - 200 hp)
- A solid, reliable platform not likely to incur extensive maintenance, yet capable of retaining an (any) automatic transmission that can handle increased load (wife won't drive stick, and is non-negotiable).

Selling off the vehicle is always an option.

Regards

 

[cribbj]

Frankly, unless you have a special emotional attachment to the SC, I'd sell it. Why put $10K into a 17 year old car that's worth maybe half that much? And once you mod it, it'll be worth even less. People don't pay more for mods; if anything the inverse is true.

I'm not a beemer fan and wouldn't buy an M3 unless someone else has taken the initial depreciation hit and it's truly an exceptional deal. If it has to be German, I'd probably look at Caymans, and yes, they can be had with Tiptronic's. But everybody and their dog has an M3 these days.

For myself, I think I'd be more inclined to go with a gently used G37 Infiniti or a 370Z. I don't think I'll be buying another Lexus or Toyota product for quite awhile - their styling has sucked eggs for the last 10 years and although there's a few glimmers of hope with what they're trying to do with Subaru, etc. I think it'll be a long while before they'll have truly great cars again (and I mean great from all perspectives, ie style, panache, quality, comfort, sportiness, resale.)

 

[expl]

I would spend my money the way I would want/feel like. You should stop asking what other people would do and just act on your own thought. If you want to trade for M3, go right ahead and get one. You have one life so why not try different things while at it and learn?

People don't pay more for mods; if anything the inverse is true.

That'd depend on people. I don't know about Canada, but in Europe modded cars usually sell expensive and most of the time cover modding cost (that is if only the car is modded tastefully and with quality).

 

[samsdad]

I'm in the same dilemma myself as my daughter stole my wifes 2.4 auto Surf while I was away with work and killed it. So after much thought my plan is to sell my 1UZ powered 4 door Surf and keep the remains of the wifes 2 door widebody Surf, Throw a nice warm supercharged bit of 1UZ loving in it and keep that for myself and put the wife into a nice '09 KDJ120 Prado GXL (Diesel 210 series 4runner with a slightly different body for you US types, if we could get the V8 4runner here I'd have one in a heartbeat).

Now if I were faced with the decision that you have to make.. Well if you take your pay check home in an armored van then you'd obviously buy new but the average man buys used so then you run the risk of buying someone elses problems. So with a 10k budget it's probably "Better the devil you know" and improve her a bit. So a bit of a tidy up of the body and suspension is in order then supercharge the sucker!! Spitronics in SA( South Africa) do a nice ECU and trans controller package which is quite good value for money and popular here in Perth so that takes care of tuning, Well assuming that you can do all the work yourself, I can being a mechanic

Oh like you my wife can't drive stick (manual) either, she can start off nicely but changing gear and stopping is another matter

 

[George_R]

I won't think of letting wife drive a RWD car with

A modest power increase would be looked kindly upon (+100 - 200 hp)

unless of course you want to get rid of both