Honda/Acura. Toyota is dumb, lol, and nowhere near as reliable as it once was
I would have to take issue. Why exactly will your father NOT let you have a car that was fun to drive?! That doesn't seem very fair.
But here's an IMO for you. The Mini Cooper S is a wonderful little car, it's pretty quick and nimble around turns. I have a friend who has a DINAN S (OK, so it's not stock) but it's stylish and very fun to drive. It's also rather sporty, much lower than the high-rise GTI, and somewhat more reliable. The GTI is a remarkable vehicle, it's practical and enjoyable, reasonably quick but a little heavy, which makes it less of a curve-carver than the S. Another friend owns the GTI in white, and it's very cool. It actually sounds really nice, the exhaust is nice and raucous at high RPMs and decently quiet in normal conditions. In addition, the GTI's turbo isn't ashamed to proclaim itself, it's pretty easy to hear in normal driving. The GTI's direct-inject, however, does mean that it may consume a lot of oil in normal driving. Overall, I would say this:
GTI: more practical, more space altogether, sounds good
Cooper S: quicker, more sporty in capability and curve-carving, somewhat more reliable
remember this is IMO
American cars:
My family has owned American cars almost exclusively. My stepfather started with a Pontiac Grand Prix 400cid 4-barrel, moved on to a Neon, Jeep G-Cherokee, and now a Dodge Ram 1500, my mother started with a Ford Taurus, her current car is an Olds Aurora 4.0 V-8, my other stepfather owned a Mercury Marquis, Dodge Dart, and now a Dodge Daytona. The only foreign cars in our lineup were my stepfather's Toyota Corolla, which he had while he was stationed in Okinawa, and MY car, an Acura Integra. What am I trying to say by all this? In all our years with our cars, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Ford Taurus were positively exceptional. The Marquis also was, but it's something of a relic now. The Jeep Grand Cherokee ran a solid 230,000 mi. with minimal problems, and the Ford Taurus has lasted 10 years with only the required maintenance, this car is now owned by my stepbrother, who is still driving the thing, and it still looks good and drives well. So: here ya go!
I would stay clear of GM, my mother's Aurora is just going absolutely nuts, problems here there and everywhere.
Dodges would be your choice if you care about how your car looks and how durable it is. Dodges have always been TANKS; if you treat them well, you can expect years upon years of repair-free driving. make sure u r informed if u buy a Dodge, some vehicles like the Ram and the PT Cruiser seem to be suffering from a problem in which the dashboard cracks :tumblewee
Fords are altogether well-executed, a guy down the street owns a Fusion, he says it's not a driver's car, but it's well-made and decently nimble. This probably has something to do with Mazda's influence on Ford and vice-versa.
Those are the BIG 3
If you are interested in cars that are utterly uninspired and boring as HECK to drive but made well and practical, Toyota is for you. Unless u can get ur hands on a Supra or an MR2 or something (and pay all that insurance), expect a car that will get u from point A to point B but not much else. This also applies to Lexus (with the exception of the IS300), and Scion (far far more show than go)
I drive a Honda and I will tell you that my little car is nothing short of impressive; it's not particularly quick until i leave you behind in a corner. Acura's cars are likewise wonderful to drive, especially because they get larger engines like the K motor, Hondas today even LOOK nice too, the Civic Si (don't ask about insurance, I don't know) is a bargain, it's pretty darn quick, it's practical (somewhat
this is for the sedan Si, haha) it has a great sound stock, and it is just amazing to drive (WHAT'S that? 8000 RPM redline + VTEC?) Be warned, Acuras are targets for theft
Mazda will please you, most of their cars benefit from Ford's size. The Mazda6 and 3, for example, both benefit from Volvo chassis, they're very solid bc they're made for larger motors and more weight. A friend of mine has the Mazda3 with the 2.3 inline-4, pretty quick, VERY practical, the hatch is HUGE!
I'm a big believer in the German cars, really I am, Porsches are given, what of M-B and BMers? M-B is pretty hit-or-miss with reliability, or so i hear. CR says that the cars aren't very reliable, but I have two friends with M-B's and never have problems... They're more muscle than anything else, you get a M-B and you get the modern-day muscle car, they are generally hi-displacement cars that will rocket you from 0-60 in 6 seconds, and they're better than BM in interiors IMO
BM is more sporty, less muscle, so they're pretty fast, but they're better around corners. M-B will smoke in a straight line, BM will leave you in the corners. friend = BMW 328i, another, BMW M3, hot, very nice, unmistakeable styling.
And you already know about Audi, which is probably my personal favorite, the R8 and TT are just AMAZING cars, the 5 series is way cool too, the only criticisms that Audi gets is in handling prowess, bc their motors are hanging over the front axles. their QUATTRO system is just not enough to balance, IMO.
So before you go blind reading ALL the text above, I will recommend for you (taking into account price, insurance, driving enjoyment) Honda for best all-round, and Cooper S for out of two
