I Have A Second Kid Coming Soon And My Sports Car Is Too Small! What Should I Buy?

Tyler is from Cleveland and now has kiddo number two on the way. This means he has to reshuffle his fleet and offload his awesome BMW Z4M coupe in order to get something that can accommodate two car seats. However, he doesn't want to give up driving a fast car. With a budget up to $50,000, what car should he buy?

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Here is the scenario.

I'm a father of one with a 2nd child on the way. I drive a fun, low maintenance sports car that unfortunately only has two seats – a BMW Z4M Coupe that I bought in 2010 with 42k miles that now has 128k miles. I love my Z4M but I'd rather have something fun AND practical (even though it has more trunk space than my wife's 2008 Mazda3 – look it up!). We're a 3 car household looking to move to only 2 cars, since my wife's car has 150k miles and the rust to prove it. I love quirky/weird/lesser known cars and the Z4M coupe fits that bill.

I have a $50k budget for something that – Must have room for 2 car seats. Preferably 4 doors. Must go fast. Preferably a manual.

Quick Facts:

Budget: up to $50,000

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Daily Driver: Yes

Wants: Four doors, fast, ideally 3 pedals

Doesn't want: Something too small

A growing family is an exciting time, but unfortunately, kiddos aren't always the best matches for funky sports cars. The one thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to be struggling to get the little ones in and out of the car. While some cars can fit car seats, they aren't going to fit easily, and doing weird yoga every time you have to buckle or unbuckle them in will get old real fast.

If you are going to target a sedan, I would say go for something in that mid-size executive range. Since you already like BMWs, I am going to suggest the M550. While not a full-fledged ///M car, the 550 matches the acceleration of the previous-generation M5 with its twin-turbo V8 cranking out 523 hp that will get you to 60 MPH in under 4 seconds. The xDrive AWD system will keep the car from getting too sideways when the weather gets rough, and inside you have a spacious and comfortable cruiser with all the features you would expect from a high-spec BMW. Here is a 2022 model in an excellent blue with under 50,000 right in your neighborhood.

There are plenty of cars you can choose from that'll fairly neatly fit the bill for what you're looking for. The issue is, you'll almost certainly have to give up at least one thing on your wish list, go over budget or sacrifice reliability in the hopes of getting a deal on an older car that checks more of your boxes, but why settle? Why not get a car that checks every single box? Why not get an Acura Integra Type S?I mean, dude, there's not a single thing you're asking for that it doesn't do and then some. It does all the practical stuff well: four doors, four seats, plenty of headroom, a massive trunk for all of your child stuff, Honda-levels of reliability, it's safe and it has decent fuel economy. Hell, it's even pretty decent in the snow with the right set of tires, as I found out over the winter.

However, it's also damn near the best enthusiast car money can buy. Honda's engineers did an amazing job tuning the ITS's chassis to make it not only the best handling front-wheel drive car on sale today, but one of the best handling cars, period. The turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four motor pumping out 320 horsepower is also more than enough to keep you entertained, and we can't forget its world-class six-speed manual transmission. You really can't lose with a car like this.

Luckily for you, Tyler, Acura has made a lot of Integra Type S's. It's still making them, in fact. So, you can go the new-car route if you want to stretch your budget to its $55,195 base price. If that's not your bag of nuts, there are plenty of used options. I found this very tasty one-owner car with a clean CarFax at a Michigan Honda dealership for just a tick under 46-large. That ain't too bad, considering it's finished in the best color combo: Apex Blue Pearl over Orchid, and it has just 29,000 miles on the clock. It's the car I'd go with, and it's the car you should go with, too.P.S. Did you own the only low-maintenance E85 Z4 in the country? I'm very jealous.

Tyler, I'm so sorry to hear you have to replace your Z4M, but surely there's got to be a way you could get it out of your garage without actually selling it. Is there any chance your parents are still alive and could hold on to it until the kids are older? What does a climate-controlled storage unit cost in rural Ohio? Is your backyard big enough that you could build a little BMW shed? You might not be able to afford to put gas in it by the time your youngest finishes high school, but as cool as the Z4M is now, it's going to be so much cooler in the future. Plus, home distillation's now legal again, and you've got time to convert the Z4 to run on E100.But if you really do "love quirky/weird/lesser known cars," you've come to the right blogsite, and you're talking to the perfect guy to answer this question. 

We can definitely get you something fast that also has four doors and should be able to fit both car seats. Sadly, while I was searching for cars in your area, I found two options that are so perfect, I literally can't decide which one to recommend and will therefore be suggesting both. The thing is, neither one has a manual transmission because they're EVs. But you know what's great about EVs? 

They're literally always in the right gear, and that instant throttle response is addictive enough that I think you'll end up loving a sporty EV way more than you'd think. Neither has the longest range, but it sounds like your wife's car will be the road trip car anyway.First up is this 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It has 57,145 miles on it, and the original owner didn't appear to understand that Porsche also offers interesting specs, but it's listed at $47,246 and is still the Porsche of EVs. With the hatch, it'll probably be better at kid duty than you'd expect, and who doesn't want a Porsche? 

Alternatively, if you head to Indianapolis, this 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has only 12,685 miles on it, has good paint, and at $48,649, may be an easier sell as a family vehicle for a dad with two kids. The higher ride height would also make loading said kids into the car a lot easier, and if you ever miss shifting, I know it's hard to believe, but the Ioniq 5 N's fake shifting feature is actually really good.