“Used” we can all understand. “Sexy” and “cheap”? Well, as came out in a discussion at dinner last night, a sexy woman as defined by a woman is very different from one defined by a man. And “cheap” may well be the most relative term of all.
So here is one person’s idea of how you can spend relatively little money and get a sexy ride. These are all pretty desirable cars, I think you’d agree, and the best part is you’re letting the first (or first and second) buyer take the big depreciation hit.
We lead off with the Porsche Boxster (2008 model shown), because it’s an outstanding car for the money, and you can find some very good deals on late-model cars.
On the CarGurus website—if you live in Boston, for instance—you can find a 2006 Boxster S with 32,000 miles for $32,898. The S version has variable valve timing and produces 295 hp.
(By the way, if you haven’t used the CarGurus website to search for used cars, you’re in for a treat. It features more than a million listings, searchable by U.S. city or zip code, with national average prices, photos, the works. In this story, we use prices for the Atlanta area by default.)
Okay, you can’t spend $32 grand this year, but you can buy a Nissan 350Z, which is still a very good car, for between $15 and $24K for 2004-2009 cars. That could be a steal, as these cars carried MSRPs from $28 to $40K when new in 2007-2008.
Still too much cash? Look at everybody’s perennial favorite sports car, the Mazda MX-5. These cars maintain their value, so there are no terrific bargains, but still, in Atlanta you can buy a 2007 Miata like this one with 10,400 miles for under $15,000.
BMW Z4: The 2009-2010 cars are beautiful and expensive, probably the sexiest cars in our selection. Prices begin in the low $50Ks. But you can find well-cared-for 2008s with 20-25,000 miles in the $25-$27,000 range and drive off into the sunset laughing.
Sexy is as sexy does, so if you want something really exotic, consider the Lotus Elise, a car like no other, with go-kart handling, super-quick steering, and a $46-55,000 (new) price tag. Lotus cars have set the benchmark for years in the sports car world, and you could buy this 2005 beauty in Jacksonville, Florida—with only 4,400 miles on it—for $29,900.
You can save even more money by buying earlier model cars, of course. But for cars like these, older means riskier. Do you have any experience buying used sports cars?
—jgoods
Find Used Cars in Your Area at CarGurus
Used Porsche Boxster
Used Nissan 350Z
Used Mazda MX-5
Used BMW Z4
Used Lotus Elise
Yes muscle cars have always been their own seperate genre from sports cars and sports car fans have tended to look down on big muscle cars that were only good in a straight line. The problem is – that’s no longer the case. New muscle cars corner with the best of them so the lines that defined sports cars are blurred. The only real defining factor left is size/weight.
alright, American muscle, super cars, hyper cars, and tuner cars are all sports cars. But this is a hyper focus on tuner cars (ergo import sports cars under an allotted price tag) American muscle cars cant be compared to tuner cars because tuner cars are meant for more back road or track driving. while American muscle are meant for highway fun, not opinion, fact. The nissan Z is the face of drifting.
They are called muscle cars (the camaro, challenger, mustang), not sport cars, learn the difference.
A porsche cayenne s is faster than the miata to, but is it a sports car? No way.
You’re kidding right? The ‘stang, camaro and challenge are all pushing the 300hp mark (near or just above it), and the 8 cylinder versions will run 0-60 in low 5s. How exactly is that “not a sports car”, especially when compared to something that looks (and performs) like a miata?
98 up Corvette. They are getting incredibly affordable and can get 30+ MPG. Plus they are faster than anything listed above…
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I’m not sure if the Miata is everyone’s favorite either, but it has been on many, many such lists for years. The Mustang, Camaro and Challenger certainly have their fans, but they are not sports cars, by any stretch of my imagination.
Hmmm, I’m not sure the Miata is *everyone’s* favorite sports car. Three recent American retro-musclecars – the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger – each have their own rabid fan bases, and it looks like there are some great deals on used Mustangs (at least in Boston).
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Ford-Mustang-d2
I’d buy something like 2002 Jag XK… a little older but very sexy and lots of fun! Plus they look like they should cost a lot more than they do. Got around $17K? You can have an XK.
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Jaguar-XK-Series-d288