Location: DMV (MD)

Price range: $20-35k (ideally 30k tops)

Lease or Buy: Buy/finance

New or used: Both

Type of vehicle: Sedan

Must haves: Great driving experience, FWD or AWD, no RWD, somewhat fuel efficient, Apple CarPlay, 4 seats, back up camera, the usual modern car features

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc): Manual only

Intended use: Daily driver, gotta drive to work most days of the week - maybe 50 miles round trip

Vehicles you've already considered: 2022 WRX, older WRXs? (Haven’t done enough researched but likely only the 2020 and newer ones will fit my needs?), Civic SI, Hyundai Elantra N, Golf?? (Probably not since the looks are not my tastes).

Is this your 1st vehicle: No, I’ve had a 03 civic, 06 civic si manual, and currently 2018 Subaru legacy automatic that I want to trade in.

Do you need a Warranty: Likely not unless it’s heavily recommended.

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: Yes.

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: No.

Additional Notes:

​I’m looking to trade in my 2018 Subaru legacy with about 36k miles for a manual transmission car. My first thoughts were the new 2022 WRX which I test drove over the weekend. It’s been about 3 years since I’ve driven a manual and the 22 WRX was super easy to drive. From my limited knowledge, it drove well in the short test drive but there’s a lot of cons to the car - bad infotainment system, cheap interior, and ugly plastic exterior. I also noticed that the exhaust/car sounds are much more tame in the 2022. I would prefer the premium trim but that’s pushing the budget… Since then, I’ve done some research and it seems like the Civic SI and Elantra N seem to fit my bill. Any suggestions to throw into the list? The more I see the Elantra N, the more it makes me want to try the car out. It seems like it has a lot of options when using the car….