This could get ugly, but I was hoping for some more new car ideas for my dad. He is a current owner of a '99 contour mtx/duratec sport which is going to my sister. My sister needs the 'tour for school next year so he can't really wait too long on anything. I said he should keep the contour another year and get my sis a beater like the rest of us had to drive but he wouldn't do it.
He is in his 50s and looking for something more fun or more powerful or both (or a convertable). It has to be MTX for him, if it has a roof it almost has to be a hatchback, and it needs to have better performance than his 'tour. It also has to be new (not used) and probably under $28k. He also lives in Cleveland so he realisticly needs something that does well in the snow.
The two cars that are highest on his list right now is a Eclipse Spyder (yuck) and a turbo PT Cruiser (almost as bad).. He's ruled out the SVT focus as too slow, SVT Cobra as too expensive and no snow capability. He looked at the VW Beetle convertable but ruled that out (thankfully!) because it only came with the 150hp engine. He has something against subarus and won't even consider a WRX hatchback, which I thought was my best idea so far. I also like the RX-8s a lot, but he went to talk about those already and found out they're extremely limited in availability at the moment. Also the stealership is marking up the only two they were getting to like $40k. He's thought about the cooper S a bit but he thinks it is too small and probably not enough torque for what he wants. I wondered if anyone else had an idea we hadn't thought of.
The more I read about the turbo cruiser, I guess it'd be alright, just fugly. They did beef up the handling a bit on the turbo and with a 5 speed and 215hp/245tq it may be kinda fun. I only visit my parents a few times a year so I don't have to worry about being seen in it or having to drive it around.
I think I know what everyone thinks about the current-gen eclipses around here and I agree.. (overweight nonsporty lump of crap sums it up nicely)
So, if anyone has any ideas that would save me years of eyerolls about my dad's PT Cruiser
, please let me know. Otherwise I think I'm just going to talk him the rest of the way out of the eclpise and tell him he should get the PT..
Thanks
-CtrAltDel
will be coming out in hatchback form this year (as well as a wagon), though I'm not sure if it will be in time for the fall semester. 
) rented a regular pt once, and he said he liked it, and wouldnt mind owning one himself, if only it had a little more power. i think you can get some body kits for them too that make them pretty good looking. get it in all black, tint the windows, and people will think its a mobster car.