So, I'm not sure where to put this, and it isn't worth starting a new thread, so I'll just put it here.
One of my co-workers, a 29-male quasi car enthusiast bought a used 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon about 4 years ago. Anyway, long story short, he wrote it off a week ago. Not really his fault, and he was A-OK. We had a huge rainstorm, and he basically drove into a really large puddle and flooded the car, both interior and engine (I guess that's another shortcoming of the Boxer engine). Anyway, MPI gave him about $21k for it, and after he paid off the remainder of his loan, he was left with $8200.
So the car shopping started. He didn't really need my help, as he knows enough about cars to make his own decision, but being the office's resident car geek, I couldn't help but have a conversation with him. He was looking at used Subaru Legacy 2.5's. His criteria was that he wanted something AWD, and a sedan. The cars he was looking at were in the $20k range, a few years old, with about 50k kms. I pointed out to him that after driving his WRX for a few years, a 2.5 Legacy would feel quite pedestrian and boring, and wouldn't really offer much more in the way of comfort or luxury to offset the diminished performance. Plus, NA H2.5, headgasket issues, etc.
Now, my favorite car has long been the Acura TL. If we didn't have the
need want to tow anything, I would probably be driving one right now. Alas, a sedan isn't suitable for us, and being a one-car family, it's out of the question. A used TL is, IMO, the perfect blend of performance, luxury, and reliability that can be had for a relatively small amount of money.
As it turns out, the dealership where we bought our last two cars just brought in this TL:
https://www.thecarstore.ca/certified/Acura/2014-Acura-TL-da2438490a0e08bb58323f66719ea9e8.htmI showed him the ad, explained to him what the TL is, and why I think it is such a great car. It meets all of his needs, has nearly the performance of his WRX, and ups the Luxury/Comfort quotient significantly. I told him that if he went and took it for a drive, his mind would be made up, and that would be his next car.
ANYWAYS, he texted me last night and said that he went to the dealership yesterday to drive the car, and indeed, he fell in love with it. He's buying it today. So, my co-worker just bought a TL on my recommendation. I'm so going to live vicariously through him.