I Have About $18,000 To Spend And I'm Tired Of Boring Cars! What Should I Buy?

Matt lives in Minnesota, and now that his kids are finally out of the big car seat phase he's itching to get back into something actually fun to drive. He has a budget of $18,000 and a mandatory list of 3 pedals, 4 doors, and reasonably easy to maintain. What car should he buy?

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Here is the scenario:

I'm tired of driving a boring car. I bought our 2015 Subaru Legacy when we found out we were expecting our son and realized just how massive modern car seats are. So, we ditched my little compact hatchback and have been stuck in family sedan limbo ever since. Now, both of our kids are beyond the massive car seat phase, and I'm aching to get back to a fun-driving machine.

I'm trying to spend under $18,000 for something with a manual transmission that puts a smile on my face and has 4 doors. I want to avoid the European stuff as they are too maintenance-heavy

Quick Facts:

Budget: up to $18,000

Location: Minnesota

Daily Driver: Yes

Wants: 3 pedals, 4 doors, fun

Doesn't want: Anything German

Now that your kids are in that sweet spot between not needing big car seats, but still small enough to fit in almost any backseat, this is a good opportunity to once again go for that fun car. Naturally, some kind of sport compact is the way to go.

While those kinds of cars are few and far between in today's market, there was a time when they were more prevalent. In fact, Ford once made a solid commitment to affordable and fun hatchbacks and offered three options: the pocket-sized Fiesta ST, the larger Focus ST, and the more extreme Focus RS. Despite the higher performance threshold of the Focus, most would argue that the Fiesta ST is the most "fun." These can be rare and many of them have been driven hard. 

However, I did manage to find a 2015 example with very reasonable miles for under $14,000. Granted that's not a lot of depreciation for an 11-year-old car, considering the original asking price hovered around $20,000. But sometimes the right car is worth a premium.

Well, Matt, Minnesota is a big state. I'm not exactly sure where you live, but if it's anywhere near Minneapolis, no wonder you wrote in. Unless you want a Jeep Wrangler, there really aren't many options available in your price range. Raising your budget by a few thousand dollars would open up some more choices, but the good news is, you don't have to worry about any of that. I've got you.

Instead of loading two children that I'm guessing technically qualify as preteens into the back of a Fiesta ST, buy this 2016 Subaru WRX STI over in Burnsville that's listed for $16,995. It has just under 119,000 miles on it, which is a lot of miles, but Subaru's Japanese. I'm sure it'll be fine. In fact, these days, I'm pretty sure that counts as a pretty good deal. And really, if you think about it, it's not all that different than your Legacy. It's still a practical four-door Subaru with all-wheel drive for that extra dose of safety in the winter.

No, the STI won't be the most comfortable car to live with, and you're going to spend a lot of money on engine oil. But it'll be a blast to drive, you won't have any problems enjoying it year-round, and most importantly, everyone knows Subarus are super safe. It's a perfect fun car for a cool dad, and anyone who makes vape jokes is probably just a jealous hater. It isn't your fault they choose to drive boring cars, while you drive a sweet Subaru WRX STI.

Matt, I'm gonna be real with you, Tom and Collin have very good answers here. I could throw a Civic Si in as another good one — maybe the actual best option for your needs in your price bracket — but instead I'm going to suggest something much, much dumber. You should get a Cadillac ATS and boost the absolute hell out of it.

The ATS was available as a four-door with a manual transmission, rear wheel drive, and GM's LTG two-liter turbo four cylinder. That's basically a four-cylinder Camaro, given the two cars share a platform, but there's no need to stop there. Here's the only manual ATS in your budget on AutoTrader, and the seller is asking just $8,500! So let's get dumber.

This aftermarket turbo for the LTG motor claims it's capable of 500 wheel horsepower from that Cadillac's mill. Sure, that's with forged internals, but you can run lower boost levels. I've heard of making people 350 wheel on stock internals reliably, which will beat the hell out of that Fiesta ST or STi any day. It probably won't even gulp Rotella T6 while it does it.

Matt, live a little. Buy yourself a 13-year-old luxury car with a manual transmission and slap a giant turbo on it. We only get so many seconds on this Earth, we should all spend them doing things we truly enjoy — like building extraordinarily dumb sleepers.