FBorDie

Hello all, I'm new here. I decided to stop by a proper Audi forum rather than a GM forum because they seem to be a bunch of narrow minded punks... Anyway, I was surprised that this forum doesn't have a proper sub-thread for introductory posts so I guess this post will serve as my intro post as well. (Skip the next post if you don't care)

I'm an 18 year old kid from Minnesota looking to buy a Daily driver, and now is the time to start looking into cars because I need to start saving. I own a 1983 RX-7 which I traded my old SOHC Dodge Neon for (and I gave him a few hundred on top of the Neon) back in February. The RX-7 will be my main project and inevitably a summer car. It has NO rust anywhere, because it came from the south and has seen very little winter driving. The car in my profile picture is not mine though, mine is black and needs some major TLC. I've also been slowly getting into woodworking the past year or two, and am going to attempt to start purchasing tools so I can supplement my income selling smaller projects and building whatever my heart desires. Last year I made a couple hundred building picnic tables.

With that out of the way, here is what I came to ask. I decided one of the main criterion for my next car was most definitely forced induction. Considering the meager income that most young kids have, I'm on a budget. Thus I've narrowed my search down to two groups of cars: B5 VW group cars (or other turbo VW's I could afford), and any of the GM cars with the 3.8L L67 supercharged engine. (If you don't know this is a pretty large list of cars, spanning different platforms. Regal GS, Park Avenue Ultra, Riviera, Bonneville SSEI, Grand Prix GTP, Impala SS, Monte Carlo SS, Eighty-Eight LSS.) These two groups of cars are pretty affordable and fit the boosted criteria, Although they don't satisfy my bias towards RWD I'm eying the A4 and Passat Wagons mostly. As long as it has the 1.8T, and a manual.

If we take budget out of the equation and just look at the numbers themselves, What is the cost of ownership like on these cars? My biggest fear is the cost of maintenance but I feel like this has been blown way out of proportion by the automotive community as a whole. Obviously it is going to be a least a little more expensive than the GM cars, but they're more in line with what I'm looking for. Like I stated prior to this I'm drawn to the Manual Wagons which GM doesn't offer. The VW Group cars are more expensive just to buy, as they seem to start at around $1500. I'd be skeptical of a $1500 vehicle, $2500 sounds more inline with a decent used car. The GM cars typically range from $1000 to $2000.

Also how about cost of modding one of these versus the GM cars? I feel it would be cheaper to make more power out of the GM cars considering the engine is over twice as big, but eventually it would hit a major barrier... being the supercharger and having to swap over to a turbo. If anything I'd probably be looking for like 300hp max on either car... If I even mod it (The RX-7 man! ) I've never driven either but I'd guess the VW cars would handle better too. I feel like I'm forgetting to ask a question or two, but I've presented a lot of questions.