Boy, are people strong with their opinions. You wouldn't think a thread like this would invoke a fight.

I've had my '05 xfire roadster for almost two months now, and I'm still excited to drive it every day. I've needed no maintenance so far. Before I bought the xfire, I was shopping for a convertible in the range of $30k. My two favorites were a used C5 or SLK320. I was also considering the 350Z, xfire, and Boxster. I would have loved to consider a C6 or SLK350, but the prices were way out of range for me.

FYI, the xfire is essentially an SLK320 with new skin inside and out. It's built in the same factory in Germany. Being an admirer of the SLK320, when I learned this and configured a car that exceeded my expectations at $40k, I was coming close to my ballpark price, and would essentially get a new SLK320. The employee price discount brought it down to $35k, and fortunately I was able to talk my wife into trading in my '04 G35 coupe for one.

So, with the xfire you get the German engineering at a huge discount. You have to interface with the crappy Chrysler dealership, though. It looks like the xfire will be discontinued in the next couple of years. That might make the car a collector's item. It might make it a bastard child. All I know is it's a great car.

My opinion on two-door, four-seat vehicles, after owning two mustangs and the G35, is that if you need the four seats you might as well get four doors. It's such a pain to try to make any use of the rear seats in a G35. That applies to the 3-series convertible as well, although you do get the drop-top. It's a common argument that 4-seat vehicles have lower insurance, but my insurance is slightly cheaper for the xfire than it was for the G35.

The biggest argument against the xfire that I've heard is it's slower than the cars that are considered to be its competition. The G35 is one of them, and I can tell you that I have WAY more fun driving my 6-speed xfire than I ever dreamed of in my auto G35. Speed is totally relative, though. To me personally, more power is a factor, but it wasn't the highest priority. Any car can go fast eventually. It's how you get to speed that's interesting to me.

Quality, comfort, and style ranked highest for me. These, combined with price, are why I ended up with the xfire, and I am VERY happy. I love the two-tone vanilla interior. I've owned C5s and a Cobra replica, so I have some familiarity with power beyond the xfire, and it gets you down the road plenty fast in my book.