My wife needs a new or used car and I need some suggestions on what she should get. Currently she has a Porsche boxter and a 944 Porsche so she likes the sporty cars, but she needs something reliable and easier to drive. We live in Los Angeles so the car is important. Here are her criteria:
Automatic
Sporty
Good air conditioning
Back seat but can be a 2 door
Hybrid would be nice
Gas mileage at least 35 MPG
Good looking (hey she likes good clothes too)
Sun visor that can flip to the side.
Not a convertible.
Any ideas?
Peter
35 MPG is a limiting criteria. I can think of Lexus hybrids and Audi A3 TDI(diesel).
If 33MPG for highway is close take a look at the VW GTI 2011. A really nice car that meats all the criteria.
BMW 3 series diesel definetely meets the mark with 0-60 in 6 seconds and 36mpg highway. 425 ft-lbs of torque starting at 1750 RPM means it goes at any speed.
http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/vehicles/2011/3/335dsedan/default.aspx
35 mpg + sporty…hmmmm. How about a Mini Cooper (not an S) - it should get something close to 30. Or a VW Golf TDI. That new Lexus CT200h would be worth a look, 40 mpg.
She’s driving a Porsche now. I’d say that puts you at least close to this market: http://www.teslamotors.com/
Sporty or 35mpg. Pick one. Nothing that gets 35mpg is going to come close to your Boxster or even your 944 unless it’s a ragged out non-turbo. Well, actually, there’s the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid, which does 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and supposedly gets 78 mpg, but its downsides are that it’s a convertible, and it costs $875,000 
My wife absolutely loves her bright red 330i BMW, but it won’t touch 35 mpg. With her heavy foot, she is lucky to get 20 mpg commuting to work. She burns through a $500 pair of rear tires in short order as well.
I believe the Miata has a removable hardtop. available that goes over the convertible. I had one and loved it.
Fisker Karma.
Not sure about the sun visor requirement, but otherwise perfect.
Mini Cooper S will get 36mpg and is plenty sporty. BMW 335d would be the best of both worlds (power and mileage). There is also the Honda CR-Z but I have never driven one but it doesn’t seem very sporty on paper but it looks good.
While it will probably fall short of 35 MPG and is not a Hybrid, a Shelby Super Snake does have visors that flip to the side and covers the other bases pretty well to boot. 
Pick up some supercar mags at the bookstore. Some of the fancy brands (like Porsche) are coming out with high mileage hybrids now.
Personally, I like Cig’s Tesla idea, but I’m not too sure how long the batteries would last sitting in LA traffiic running the AC.
Why does the car matter? Are you trying to keep up with the Jones’? If so, you’re never gonna have enough money to live on when you retire, IF you retire.
Also, your criteria are WAAAAAAAAAY too contradictory. Automatic, sporty, hybrid, 35mpg. If it’s an automatic, it’ll never be sporty, no matter what. Hybrids aren’t sporty, but will give you 35mpg.
Looks are subjective as well, I find the Prius to be fugly, she might not.
Also, follow Bladecutter’s advice, really
Thanks for all of your input…She already loves the Fiska Karma but they arent available yet and a little out of our price range. She is out test driving the Honda CR-Z sports car right now. It passed the “style” criteria. We will see what she says about it after the drive. It doesn’t have a back seat but she can swap me for my Prius when she needs to carry the grandson or some friends. I will keep you posted.
Thanks for all of your input…She already loves the Fiska Karma but they arent available yet and a little out of our price range. She is out test driving the Honda CR-Z sports car right now. It passed the “style” criteria. We will see what she says about it after the drive. It doesn’t have a back seat but she can swap me for my Prius when she needs to carry the grandson or some friends. I will keep you posted.
Bladecutter’s post got pulled. As did my response to it which wasn’t bad at all - though its true it would have made no sense unattached to anything else. I also wonder why yours didn’t get flagged. Its not “polite.”
Well she didn’t fall in love with the honda CR-Z. It is a little too small. Now she wants to check out the Nissan Z…
Again I’ll recommend doing some research and test driving first. I personally like the 370Z, but most of the critics that compare the vehicle to other comparable priced sports cars say the handling is too heavy, the ride too hard, and the noise level would raise the dead. Most of them recommend other comparbly priced psorta cars.
“Nissan Z” and “35 mpg” have nothing in common. Good car, of course, but misses most of your needs. At least an Infiniti G37 coupe would have a back seat. But both are 20ish mpg cars.
It sounds like she has no idea what she wants. Going from a CR-Z to a 350/70Z is night and day.
it gets old though, doesn’t it?