Shopping for my first cool car

Excellent, There a handful of cars in the price range you're shopping. (That Fit Your Description) A couple factors to consider are insurance, service cost..BUT if properly selected this will be minimal and Finally resale I'm 23 years older than you, I thought the vehicle I purchased at 22 would be around a long time NO! always looking for better.. A second hand or used car is very good purchase (first owner took a 30%+ hit in depreciation) Next... a 1 owner with all maintenance records, and garage kept nothing compares...Look at Models not the manufacture? they all build some low grade junk,, yes ALL of them do any many build SOME excellent designed, Models $ Every FAN BOY .. will tell you what they think is best ignore this, consider what your needs and wants are then make the selection , I was always more FORM follows function, but that's just me. BUY, what you! Finally ITS REALLY IMPORTANT TO DRIVE WHAT THINK YOU WANT.. YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED AT WHAT DRIVES AWFUL, AND WHAT HANDLES UNBELIEVABLE..Regards

Chicago winters, possibly consider an AWD vehicle such as Lexus, Acura etc. Used Mercedes and Audi will be in the shop often so consider this when purchasing.

Auto_Centric, thank you for your thought process. Greatly appreciated. Bob, well Mercedes make phenomenal parts when you talk about the 63 series. I current have an Acura TLX. I like it but now I think I know what I want in a car: sporty look, feel, lots of horse, v8. I don't want a super low car or anything, I would want a car that is manageable in the winter. No matter what, I'll be purchasing snow tires which should resolve most of my winter issues. Insurance is not to be worried about because i get super low costs from Esurance.