So sorry to hear about your

[CA renter]

So sorry to hear about your accident, JP. That totally sucks. 🙁

As a fellow former Camaro owner (two of them, plus a Firebird), I’m partial to the new Camaro. That convertible looks NICE!!! 🙂

One more thought…not sure if you like the older cars, but you might consider getting an older Camaro or Corvette and fix up whatever needs to be fixed. You might be able to get away with no car payments. Just a thought.
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Oh, my goodness. I just looked up some used Camaros and holy cow! Those are no cheaper than a lot of new cars! What’s funny is when I sold mine, they were worth just a couple thousand. Wow.
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Okay, I take back the suggestion to buy a used Camaro. Used cars seem to cost a lot more today than they used to. Guess it’s that “falling dollar” thing???

How about something like this (It’s a convertible, and it’s well under your limit…not sure about the model, though, as I’m not a MB fan.):

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=c&car_id=276424790&dealer_id=991177&car_year=2004&rdm=1270345027393&lastStartYear=2002&num_records=25&adMake=&systime=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=2002&engine=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&certified=y&listingPriority=30&body_code=1&adBodyStyle=CONVERT,TRADERNA&fuel=&first_car=0&awsp=false&search_type=certified&distance=50&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&showZipError=y&make=&color=&keywords_display=&page_location=findacar::ispsearchform&min_price=&body_style=CONVERT&adModel=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&listingCounter=0&seller_type=b&max_mileage=&style_flag=2&sort_type=priceDESC&adClassSeries=&address=92117&advanced=&end_year=2011&transmission=&doors=&max_price=&cardist=57