It's no secret I've been stuck in the "what next?" phase for a while. I've kind of mulled over a bunch of options but I'm getting close to needing to do something....
A couple years ago I replaced the clutch in the Mazdaspeed. It had 168,000 miles at the time (close to 200k now) and it had been slipping in the higher gears for a long time. I probably should have put a new stock clutch in it, but the stock clutch wasn't capable of holding the power and I didn't want to deal with babying it. Well, bad decision. The clutch I put in, a Clutch Masters brand, is failing. When the clutch gets hot it won't disengage fully. I believe they made a bad batch of pressure plates where the spring fingers don't have the right heat treatment, and they lose their springiness. A couple of online posts I've found suggest I'm not the only one with this problem. It's been getting progressively worse and when I got home from work yesterday the clutch wouldn't fully disengage. The car is probably worth three or four grand with a good clutch. I can't in good conscience sell it to someone without telling them about the issue. So I think I need to replace it. But I'm thinking once it's fixed... should I sell it, and the Boxster, and get one vehicle to replace two? It would save money on insurance, and allow us to have garage spots for all of our cars (the Mazda lives outside currently).
The car is an awesome winter beater (LSD, ground clearance and snow tires). It has a lot of utility. It's generally been very trouble-free. It's comfortable. It's fairly cheap to insure. It's quick enough to be interesting, and it handles well enough to be interesting. Visibility out of it is really good. And if someone dings it in a parking lot, NBD. Mechanically it's top notch (except the clutch).
The minuses are it's old, it's loud, the tech is very dated on it (no Bluetooth), the mileage is abysmal. Did I mention it needs a clutch?
So let's say I sell both cars and I've got $35k to work with. Maybe a little more. What to get?
* Model 3 is interesting for a daily driver (yes, honestly) but too expensive, even used. How cheap is it possible to score one of these, used?
* Civic Si or Type R? I find them to be hideous, and honestly I think I'd be embarrassed to be seen in one. But I'm told they're amazing to drive. Type R Kinda blows the budget, Si is both ugly and bland?
* GTI? I worry about reliability. I'd probably get a DSG only because the stock clutches on the manual trans cars are known to slip
* BMW - nothing remotely interesting except an E90 M3, and .. no.
* Subaru - no.
* Mazda - Unfortunately they don't make anything interesting that isn't a Miata.
* Camaro? Kind of intriguing, but not sure I can tolerate the view out for a daily driver. I don't love the interior, either. But ... V8 and manual and RWD?
What am I missing?