....I've known many Fords to be unreliable

It is generally better to learn to drive a manual on something that isn't of great value, like a Probe. However, Ford wasn't exactly known for quality in the '80s and '90s, so if you want something sporty with a good manual transmission I'd recommend going for a car like a second-gen Toyota MR2, first-gen Mazda Miata, heck maybe even something like a second-gen Honda CRX.

I've always thought the second-gen MR2s were cool little cars. Lightweight, cool styling (especially the targa-top ones), fun to drive, decently quick (especially the Turbo models), Japanese reliability. Hard to find the later second-gen models (from '93 to '99) and they're a bit more expensive than the Probe, but I think they're probably better cars.

Every Ford we've had ran like a freaking champ.

Ok, thanks guys! So far I've only found two cars that are a decent distance from my house: a Saab 9-3 and an Infiniti G20, both for $5k. I also found a Ford Escort ZX2 that's drivable distance from my college for $2400. I was also looking for Saturn Ion Redlines, and most of them were cr*p, but I found a REALLY nice one that's way up in Seattle for $6k.

Get the Saab. Most HP, plus, its a SAAB

I'd definitely go for the Saab in this case, but take into consideration maintenance and repairs. Saab no longer makes cars so it's harder to find people that can work on them, and it's definitely going to be more difficult to find parts. Manual is probably the way to go at this point, because typically they are more reliable than automatics (and waaaaaaay more fun to drive), but I'm not sure what the car market is like in your area.

Im sure any GM dealer would fix it. Plus theres gotta tones of Euro shops around there

The Saab is actually the closest one, which is awesome. And yeah, all the cars I've mentioned are manual. Not only do I want reliability, but I also just wanna get better at driving stick.


There are. I think I actually know of one that specializes in Swedish cars.

Saab's are great, I'd defiantly go with that

Here is the 9-3 in question. I really like it.

I've always thought those 9-3s looked cool. However, Car and Driver noted in numerous tests that its shifter was somewhat sloppy and vauge in certain models (for some reason, different trims used different hardware which apparently made a huge difference in terms of the shifter feel).

Do you know which trim would be better?

I own that exact car (same trim, color and everything) except I have an automatic. The car has never failed me in 4 years of ownership and i plan on keeping the car well into the future, unless something else becomes available soon ;)

When I am old enough I will get my sister's Subaru Outback with manual transmission.

It seems that the base (Linear I think?) 2.0T with the five speed manual actually had the best shifter, better than the higher trim Arc and Vector models (both of which came with six speed manual gearboxes standard).