Only when Ralphie was premier. Anyways, I would suggest driving a variety of cars, find which ones you like and then think about what you're actually going to do with it.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I considered the 1 series also. I am looking into the RA because Gf gotta drive it sometimes and no she doesn't know/want to learn/know what manual is haha. Suprising yours costed you 46k, I went into Scarborough Mitsu and they said 36k(base) tax in out of the door with tint/ralliart wheel locks/ralliart all season floor mats. I also talked with the Newmarket, and Cambridge Mitsu they BOTH said they can even do BETTER so I was stunned. As for performance wise I won't tune the car during its warranty period, but after 4-5 years I might just start playing with it a little, not anything crazy, still gotta DD it. And as for the track wise, I want to try it once in a while, but not regularly, like maybe once or twice thats probably it. I am leaning towards this just because I've had bad experiences with my previous BMW cars, but I still love it, yet I dont want the maintenance and repairs to kill me, again. I mean for this price, AWD for Toronto's weather, and the goodies I don't see other competition, and of course 0% finance>=]. Hyundai Genesis/G35 coupe/IS250 AWD/06-07 WRX are some of the other choices I considered too, I either want a RWD or a AWD not interested in FWD. Thanks guys!

 

Wow, so the Canadian government really tries to discourage new car purchases? No way in hell I would pay 20% of a cars value in taxes!!!!!!!!!! That price for a RA is absolute insanity!! 46k for a RA, are you positive you did not buy an EVO, they do look alike in many ways?!!!!!!!!!!

 

Well apparently once again they got another sale for their cars for the whole month once again.

lancers get 1500[USD] off
evo's get 2000[USD] off.

So if your going to buy now make sure you get that deal off!

 

The IS250 is really nice, I considered it and wanted it but the lack of back seat space killed it a bit. It's built like a tank though, you can feel how substantial it is when you close the doors cause of the weight. Once its optioned up the IS can get expensive. If you're not as concerned with backseat space I'd recommend the IS.

I've got almost 4500km on my RA and so far its been a blast to drive. As a DD the 237hp is more than enough to pass most vehicles on the highway whenever I want to. It gets a bit rough in slow stop and go traffic, ie. when I go downtown, because of the dual clutch tranny which is anticipating an upshift but the speed you're moving at is quite slow and thus requires a downshift...but you get use to it.

I was surprised a guy in a Porsche GT2 was staring at my car at the intersection yesterday...guess he thought it was an EvoX

 

yeah the price difference is a bit much...at least Recaro's are standard item...the only consolation we canadians have (eh?) with the gouged pricing of vehicles in life is that we don't get asked "will that be credit card or left arm?" when we enter a hospital

 

You canadians must make too much money if you can afford to spend $40k+ on an r/a.

 

i paid 23.3K for mine out the door

 

Nice idea if you need or use health care, if you don't you get screwed. I prefer to just pay for what I use, when I use it. I do not like to subsidize others lifestyles. Hmmm, I may need to consider a move to Texas.

 

Easy to say when you are young, wait till you need major surgery and your insurance doesn't cover it.

 

this is a typical American vs Canada thread...

unfortunately here in Canada we get RAPED up the A-HOLE with car prices! but we live here and can';t do much about it... but we get free health care ; > plus we are not doing as poorly economically as the US is.. i think ; > American Car companies are giving away free cars basically just to sell cars

Si in the USA is $19,998 (last time i checked)
Si in Canada is $29K (roughly)

that's a 10K difference .. if you did the conversion to Canadian dollars for the USA Si (which comes with VSA) is $21998...

that's why people try and buy cars in the USA and pay the taxes shipping etc and it'll be cheaper, but a lot of work and hassles and warranty issues!

in Canada:
the EVO X GSR is $41K
the Ralliart 2009 is $32K + $5K for premium package
Recaro and HID's are standar (from what the dealer told me)

i posted in another thread but we got ours for $270/bi weekly payments finance at 2.8% with them paying out an 8month lease on our mazda 3 ($3380) adding in the premium package and adding the rust protection and sound protection.. thats the best we can do in Canada i guess...

but rather have the free health care then cheaper cars! : > free health care has helped way too much for my family and friends...

 

How about NO!!!!!!!!

Just get a X and call it a day!!!

 

or that! : > this car is for my wife so it;s a good DD for her.. if it was me i would definitely get the EVO X GSR

 

Yo, looks like you just answered your own question.
Ralliart is a great DD. And if your girl is gonna be whipping it around and doesn't want to do the manual thing, then roll with that.
I cross-shopped those cars that you looked at as well except for the Genesis.
Still rolled with the RA.
Good luck, man.

 

Ok, I'll give you my humble and sincere opinion:

Go and make a list of cars that fit your budget, and TEST DRIVE them ALL.

Then decide for yourself.

Just because we'll all end up saying the Ralliart is the best car and that it can beat a 80kish Corvette, doesn't really mean it's true;

But seriously, there are many cars at the RA's price range that are AS good while some might have certain things the RA won't have. I myself am having a bit of remorse seeing as how I could've gotten a RWD Camaro 2LT with 300+ horses and leather red/silver with red stiches and black alloy 19' wheels and Halo/Projector/HID Headlights with the Ground Effects Package, for roughly the SAME price I paid for my Ralliart; Though Mitsu's tranny is the best there is out right now (yes... Porsche's PDK is the second best... remember I'm biased! )


But again, you should go the AWD way since you're up there