My husband currently owns a 2004 Pontiac GTO and loves it, but now that we’re starting our family soon we have decided to sell it for another car. I drive a 2004 Hyundai Accent so clearly I’m okay with simple cars that get me from point A to point B. What kind of car could we get that would be a good compromise after driving a GTO? We are looking at SUV’s but still open. A car under 30K is preferred. Any suggestions?
A Car in fwd with good handling is tough to find. Any decent intermediate Fusion,Camry, Accord, Malibu…etc. Should fit the bill. If you yearn for a little more oomph, get a 6cyl. If you decide upon an SUV, a Rav 4 v6 will curl your toes in performance for the least amount of money. 0-60 in less then 7seconds!
It’s cost more than $30k, but I think the Ford Taurus SHO would be a valid suggestion. Big enough for two adults plus a kid, AWD traction, plenty of power from the twin turbo V6, and decent mileage for size and power of the car.
A Pontiac GTO is basically a 4 door sedan with some extra HP and handling package. The trunk is large, the back seat is large, and the trunk is large. So, why do you need another car for one new baby? The baby car seat will fit in back easy and there is room in the trunk for lots of other baby stuff.
No SUV or mini van will be as fun as a GTO. You don’t need another car until baby number 2 shows up. Then keep the GTO, trade the Accent in on a mini van. That way kids can travel in either car and the mini van will be the vehicle of choice for trips to family or outings when lots of extra kiddie gear is needed.
The car to sell is the Accent.
A Car in fwd with good handling is tough to find
fwd cars handle fine…It’s only when driven to extreme levels do rwd vehicles take over…But even our fwd Lexus will out maneuver my rwd 67 Malibu SS on it’s BEST day.
If you could find a clean used Pontiac G8 it would be great - it’s basically a 4-door GTO.
See below.
Seconded.
They don’t make the Typhoon any more, sadly, so you’re not going to find an SUV that’s a “compromise” between family and the kind of performance you’re used to in the GTO. The Grand Cherokee SRT-8 would fit the bill, but it’s about 20 grand higher than your budget.
UncleTurbo,
You’re thinking of the Pontiac GTP (Grand Prix body) being the 4 door.
The newer GTO (Holden body) was just a 2 door car.
BC.
You could get a Dodge Charger SRT-8, or whatever the Chrysler version is.
That will give you a 4-door sedan, with lots of power, but the ability to strap in a car seat, and has a huge trunk you can fill with cases of diapers.
BC.
Yes, I did think the GTO was a 4 door. A 2 door isn’t practical for a young family, so never mind my earlier post.
fwd cars handle fine…It’s only when driven to extreme levels do rwd vehicles take over…But even our fwd Lexus will out maneuver my rwd 67 Malibu SS on it’s BEST day.
And my fwd 2002 Prism would out handle my 55 Desoto and my rwd PU. I think we’re comparing apples to apples; like a GTO. Your fwd Lexus would struggle against ANY comparable rwd performance car. Apples to apples. Extreme levels occur, according to Consumer reports, in accident avoidance maneuvers which CR thinks is extremely important.
FWD cars are very limited applying power to the road. You have a Camry !
GTO 2004 models could get to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and blaze through a quarter-mile in 14 seconds flat. How many fwd cars are capable of that kind of performance and handle as well doing it ? Answer…zero (Oh a 2004-2006 Nissan Sentra SE-R (FWD 0-60 5.8 sec) but handling, not.)
OP has to hear that he may have to give up his GTO experience if he goes to fwd cars.
Though I’m sure OP knew it regardless; why would they have owned a GTO to begin with?
And a new one is only $40k. 
My suggestion depends upon how big you want your family to be. If one, maybe 2 kids, then you could get by with a small SUV. But if it’s 3 or more, that’s minivan territory, sorry to say.
Get a Lincoln Town Car on clearance and you’ll have another big RWD car… and you’ll be able to do 0-60 in 9.2 seconds… IN REVERSE!
If you only have one child I can’t see why a GTO wouldn’t work.
It does, after all, have a back seat, which I’m pretty sure will accommodate a child seat when necessary. The other stuff (play pen, etc.) will fit in the trunk.
I don’t see why the GTO has to go.
What did families do before there were minivans and SUVs?
Does your husband want to sell the GTO or do you want to sell it? If he wants a new ride too, then you might look at a Cadillac CTS. One year old cars will be around $30,000. BTW, a one year old Ford Taurus SHO will be about the same price.
Some good suggestions so far. Thanks so much guys! To clarify, I actually sold my Accent recently so our only car is the GTO right now and thats the one we are now trying to replace. I think the two biggest issues are the following: it’s not very roomy and it’s super expensive. The gas mileage is so poor and we have to get the expensive gas. On our cross country roadtrip in it we sometimes were down to 10mpg. I want him to have a car that he’d still like. I think he’d rather ride a bike than drive an Accent. 
We just need room and something that doesn’t cause our wallet to hemorrhage money.
Good question. He’s trying to be responsible and get a family car and let’s just say I’m not discouraging that. He’s in the military and deploying soon so this car will be my daily commute car. I’m not going to race people the way he likes to and its costing a ton of money. 
We went on a long roadtrip last year in it and even pulling bags from the back sometimes took a lot of squeezing and bending. I’m trying to picture doing that with a carseat. The thought of a minivan scares us both.
Toyota rav4 v6 motor. Excellent mileage for the performance you get, very good utility and handling. It’s car based. Even w/o snow, the awd enhances handling and power application Like a Rwd GTO. according to CR, mpg should be average 22 mpg. Not a GTO by any stretch, but still a blast to drive while giving you much better utility. Also, a Turbo Forester.