Buying a new car
 

hey i was thinking about the 2003 Toyota Matrix XRS, i like it becasue the looks arent bad, spacing is good,descent speed, decent aftermarket parts, and a good reliable name other than that my second choice is teh Dodge SRT-4 ~ but whats keeping me away from that is questionable reliablity and the fact that its an akuminum block with a turbo on it, correct me if im wrong but doesnt aluminum have a low melting point: so therefore teh heat stress woudl eventually get to it....im open to any new suggestions?

Subaru WRX STI.

Is there a better "Ricky Racer" car out there?

actually the Sti is my dream car, liked it well before the hype but the bad thing is that its really hard to get where i live ~ Guam...right now there's about two on island (WRX) but there both owned by military personnel

When you said the matrix has decent aftermarket parts, did you mean decent stock parts? Also, i vote for the STI or EVO.

I am a little older and not much into the whole street racing scene or these types of cars. I looked at that STI this weekend (hate that freakin wing in back) but the wheels, tires and interior they put on these cars is top notch. Not to mention the 300HP AWD. Man, I bet this sucker would launch hard of the line.....

I traded in the Range for a 04 Tahoe Z71 with every available option on it. Nice smooth ride.

A friend has a Matrix and well it's a smaller RAV 4, not very good at anything, they lean too much in the corners and are underpowered for their weight. The SRT-4 well it's a neon, and IMO a waste of money because reliability is always going to be an issue.

Actually, the SRT-4's engine has been over-engineered like crazy. Its engine is as solid as anything. The only reliablility concerns will be smaller items with it. The tranny has also been heavily reinforced.

No one knows if the SRT-4 will have reliability issues or not yet. You can't just assume. The STI and Evo are both 28-30k the SRT-4 starts around 20k. A little difference in price. I'd vote the SRT-4.

I wouldn't touch either car IMO both aren't the greatest, sure the neon might keep it together, but then again it might not. My vote RSX Type S, at least reliability isn't going to be an issue.