I Need A Fun Car So The Kids Will Think I’m Cool! What Should I Buy?

Brent is a high school teacher in Dallas who has always had a solid commuter car, but is now looking for something with a bit more zip and style. The target is something with three-pedals and a price under $35,000. What car should he buy?

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Here is the scenario.

For too long I have driven cars that are great for a commute, but are honestly pretty boring. I would love to drive a GTI but that’s what my wife has and owning two of the same car always seemed strange to me. I am also a high school teacher, so I would like something that my students wouldn’t make fun of me for driving (they are vicious).

I don’t want a wagon, or an SUV…but I wouldn’t mind a pickup. Ideally nothing too big and it needs to be reasonably reliable. Budget is around $35,000

Quick Facts:

Budget: $35,000

Location: Dallas, Texas

Daily Driver: Yes

Wants: Manual, reliable, fun

Doesn’t want: Something too big or dorky

As a former high school teacher, I can tell you two things: one, teenagers are going to give you a hard time no matter what you drive, and two, most kids these days don’t know much about cars. So unless you roll up in a “Rarri” or whatever the heck they are calling fancy whips (are whips still a thing?) the teens are either going to not notice at all or still think you are a dork.

Since the wife already has the perfect choice with the GTI, and you don’t want to duplicate that you should either pivot the body style completely away from the sport compacts or lean into it and go more extreme. If you opt for more extreme, here is a pre-owned 2023 Corolla GR. You are still going to be perceived as a nerd with a Corolla, but you will certainly enjoy the 300 turbocharged horses paired with AWD and slick-shifting manual transmission. You can either continue to fly under the radar, or throw some big mudflaps and rally lights on this thing and tear up your local autocross course.

The kids will make fun of you no matter what. I know this the same way you know this — we were both kids once, and we both talked about the teachers behind their backs the same way your students do now. It’s a natural part of life. I can tell you, though, that buying a pickup will only make it worse.

Have you ever heard of the difference between wearing clothes and being worn by them? Pulling off a bold move requires confidence, and if your interests are in small fun cars then a pickup will reek of desperation on you. The kids will see that you bought your Ferd F-teenthousand to appeal to them, and you’ll never hear the end of it. 

No, Brent, you need to stay true to what you want. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try to mitigate the insults, get a kid or two on your side. I know I always appreciated when a teacher had a neat car, one that showed some real car enthusiasm beneath the surface, and I’ve found a car to let you students know you’re a Jalop: This supercharged Arizona Tea-green widebody Subaru BRZ on bags. 

To be clear, this is a statement piece. It’s a car you need to park in the teachers’ lot with confidence, fully embracing the wildness of it. Your Texan students will certainly rag on you for having a car so small, so lacking in bed capacity, but you can simply drown them out with supercharger whine. For $28,000, this is the car you need. Plus, you get a fun mystery to solve — why is a car on Connecticut plates, with stickers for a Danbury-based enthusiast crew, for sale in Dallas?

Brent, you’re right. If you’re commuting that much you definitely want to try and make your drive to and from work at least a little bit entertaining, and a nice new car is a good way to do that.Sure, another GTI would be nice and a modified GR86 would maybe appeal to the teenagers you teach, but there’s another way, Brent. A better way. A BMW way. Because if you want a manual that’s fun to drive, looks pretty slick and definitely isn’t big or dorky, then a BMW M car is the way to go.

I’ve found a couple of great options for you, starting with this 2017 M4 that’s a peach. It’s from the generation before the contentious grilles, so it looks fantastic and should still hold up mechanically for a few thousand miles more. If you’re feeling like a true connoisseur, though, a 2003 M3 will suit you even better. Classic BMW style, a rumbling six-cylinder motor and the kind of pedigree that I’m sure you can convince a rowdy teenager isn’t laughable.

Forget a little hot hatch or a tiny underpowered sports car. You live in Texas, buddy, everything is bigger there, including horsepower ratings. You don’t actually want the GTI-or-similar route, because there’s no tight and fun roads around to take advantage of it. You want acceleration, aggressive style, and luxury-grade comfort. Try a 464 horsepower 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and a shift-it-yourself Tremec TR-6060 stick on for size, you just might love it.

This 2016 Cadillac ATS-V would have cost at least $65,000 when it was new, but these days you can have it for a tick under half that, and well within your budget. Built on the same chassis as Chevrolet’s iconic Camaro, the ATS-V was the sweet-spot of GM performance at the time, and delivers a killer driving experience for a lot less than a new GTI. This is a buy you won’t regret. So long as you’re okay with buying a lot of gasoline and tires, because it’s the kind of car that begs you to burn both in quantity.