I would avoid any Audi unless it was a brand new car with a full factory warranty. As a car buff myself, I bought a used BMW 3-series with 50k miles and 2 year warranty for about 13k. Its been a fun car and fairly reliable. Have had the car for almost 4 years. Its paid off.
Now if I were in the market for a new car, I would consider the Honda S2000- its a fun fast car and not that expensive. Less than 35k and a convertible to boot for San Diego cruising. And you can rev the hell out of the VTEC engine. It sounds cool and looks great. Reliable as well. But my favorite is the Lotus Elise which does cost more about 45k but has a Toyota engine and pretty reliable and looks like a small Ferrari without the headaches and reliability issues.
For a used car- I like the Porsche Boxster- its not a bad car and can be found with low mileage for fairly low prices compared to a 911.
But as I realize its nice to have no debt or car payment and to invest so that I can buy a house when prices bottom out in the future here in San Diego and at least you get some financial benefit out of house that I car cannot provide.
