Help me decide what car to look for next!
 

so i'm hoping to scrounge up some money this year and hopefully by the end of the year be able to put a sizable down payment on a 2nd vehicle. my truck has been fantastic and i still love it just as much as the day i bought it almost 6 year ago now. however, there isn't a whole lot of room inside the back to carry all my photography gear and/or extra passengers when people come to visit me. i just have a few requirements which limits my list pretty considerably. i want leather (preferably heated) power seats, four doors, mid size, and manual transmission. this will mostly be a highway car going to meets and photo gigs so highway fuel mileage important tho i'm getting 22mpg in the truck and as long as it's not worse than that, i'll be happy. i've basically narrowed it down to the three vehicles in the poll above. what i'm looking for is people who've owned the vehicles or had good friends who had them that are familiar with the ins and outs of each car. as for the infiniti, i'm hoping the G37s will come down in price into the bracket they are affordable to me (trying to stick to $20k-ish or less if possible) by the end of the year. so you tell me, out of the three above, which one should i focus my search on when the time comes and why?

s4 ;-)

i know they are awesome, my friend's mom had one that i did a photoshoot of (the car, not the mom :rolleyes:) and i was duly impressed. i had almost completely ruled against getting german cars. i definitely do not want a BMW or Mercedes. what i like about the S4 is the awesome seats, the v8-in-the-smallest-car-we-make packaging and the awesome AWD which will be nice in inclement weather. did you own one? if so, what were your experiences with it?

Hands down G37!!!

If AWD is important to you, have you considered the G37x S? Not familiar with all the trims available in the US, but in Canada, an AWD S version is available (though you'd lose the 6MT).

Is the interior and trunk room of the S4 enough for you? Mind you, I've brought photo gear including small assembled softboxes to photoshoots with my Z...but there wouldn't necessarily be enough room for a passenger in some cases. So, either S4 or G37 should be enough for photo gear...I guess it depends on how much stretching room you want for your passengers. BTW, doesn't the current S4 have a supercharged 3.0L V6...or are you looking at a pre-2009?

Between the two, I would choose the G37. :tup:

Good luck with your decision.

the AWD G37 is only available in the US in non-sports and only in automatic. i'd rather have manual if i can. just a person preference. if i can get a 37, i wouldn't mind the 7AT trans, but if it's a 35, it'll have to be a manual. i hate that older 5AT, it's crap... AWD is not a priority, but it definitely is a plus in the other two's category and really the only negative about the infiniti tho it makes it up a little bit with a mechanical LSD in the sport models (i believe, someone correct me if i'm wrong).

that's the big negative for the audi imo is the cramped back seat. the trunk isn't bad tho it's not as big as the subaru and the infiniti. yea i would not be able to afford a v6 s/c'd S4, those are too new. also, if i'm going to get one, i'd want a v8 one. i realize the v6 is slightly more powerful, vastly more efficient but it's also drastically more expensive. i've seen decent S4's going for the low 20's

Infiniti:tup:

I had an infiniti g35 in a previous life. Loved it. In fact, should have just kept it.

g35/37 for sure. Best mpg of the bunch, sporty and meets all your practicality/luxury needs. Will also be cheaper on maintenance than the S4. And you don't need the awd of the subie (i'm assuming here).

(also, if you feel like modding it a bit, Z1 and Forged are close by are ready to help you out. :tup:)

Oh, and it keeps you in the ol Nissan family. (hugs)

that's pretty much been my plan phil all along but i was opening it up for discussion amongst the community just to see where experiences were

The pole makes it obvious.

Yeah. You want me to just delete the other options? :roflpuke2:

Be a man and buy a Z, ya big fluffy jerk.

The G has better MPG and the Subaru is a very nice car too, fast, quiet and stable.

Forget about the Audi unless you have reserve funds for repairs.

$0.02

Definitely!!! :icon18: