A couple of weeks ago, we asked you what new cars you would buy with a budget of up to $50,000. As it turns out, a lot of you had pretty varied answers that made for some good discussion. Even if a few people weren’t happy to find out that someone who reads Jalopnik might spend their money on a minivan. Sorry, some people have kids, I guess?
So why not play again, this time with used cars and a lower budget? It’ll be fun! And it’ll also be a lot more straightforward since there aren’t dealer markups, tax credits and potential discounts to argue over. This time around, the only rules are that the listed price has to be below $25,000, and it has to be used. Let’s not bother trying to calculate a total out-the-door price because that’s complicated, and this is supposed to be a fun question.
Unfortunately for all of you, I am going to make this game a little less fun and go ahead and claim the Mazda Miata right out of the gate. It’s been a while since I visited Knoxville, Tennessee, and there’s a white 2016 with a manual up there with less than 7,000 miles on it for a hair under $25,000. Would I prefer for it to be red? Sure. But finding manual ND Miatas near Atlanta for less than $25,000 isn’t easy, and even though it’s old, with those miles, it’s still basically new.
Typically, I’d explain my reasoning for why I chose what I chose, but come on. It’s a Mazda Miata. Do I really need to explain to Jalopnik readers why I’d buy a Miata? That would just be silly. But what about you? What used car would you buy if you had a budget of up to $25,000?