Thanks for the heads up. And, I am not really into DSMs, which is most of what you have to offer.

Buy my Fusion, I got through last winter just fine.

you guys focus to much on awd and front drive cars. Nothing wrong with either of those and they can both be very fun.

But for just having a blast a rwd car is the way to go.

As was mentioned proper tires are what makes or breaks a car. Which is probably one of the main things I hope people get out of the forum. Hp tq mods all don't mean **** without some tires to get it to the ground.

My favorite example is my solstice. Came with the worst tires I have ever driven on. Made the car very dangerous if there was water on the road. Throw on some good tires and it was like I had 200 more hp.

But what the heck get the wrx.

The OP specifically said that he didn't want rwd. That's why noones made that suggestion.

SVT Focus. Not the fastest car on the road, burt you will love the torque curve at low RPM on it. Cheap has anything used too. heated seats, mirrors, sunroof, decent sterio and 6 disc all stock. Not very many issues with them either.

I specfically mentioned no RWD cars, for the fact that I don't wanna have to worry about changing tires JUST for the winter. AWD cars (at least non-performace), you can just run decent all seasons, and be just fine. Believe me, I did it before with my old wagon.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will start to look for those as well.

What are some of the issues with them anyway? Anything specific to look for? Generally, I want to stay away from used "factory performace" cars, just because I don't want someone else's project that was half assed (which is the case more often then not).

I know the 02-03 had a few TSB issues that were fixed on the 04s so I would stick with that year. Common issues are t-stat housing cracks, IIRC fails but is cheap and easy to replace, factory tune as a V2 that not everyone got flashed to as it is a TSB and most dealers will do it free, frony O2 sensors fail occassionally. Timing belt is about a 4-6 hour job and isn't hard at all, they are good for 80k miles.

It was honestly one of my favorite cars I've ever had. Felt like a V6, handled like a dream, great DD. Only thing I hated was the clutch. Its alot of work but not horrible to do overall.

Since SVT Focus was mentioned, i'll throw out a Focus St4. I think they only made them only in four doors but its basically a Focus with the 2.3 and some suspension work done..

id steer clear of all vw... especially turbos... i have a 1.8t with about 5K aftermarket investment and about 12K OEM replacment

he already bought a car