I'm in the market for a sporty used car and remembered the Crossfire. On paper it's almost everything I want in a car. Two seats, V6, rear-wheel drive, manual trans, and German built. "Perfect!" I tell myself and drive down to a convenient dealer for a test.

Well holy crap, and I do mean crap. The car I saw was used up and poorly maintained. I can forgive the car for that and look for another, but it makes me wonder what a GOOD Crossfire should be like. This one had the interior build quality of a 1970's pickup, the suspension pitched up and down like a speed boat on full throttle runs, and the shifter was SO sloppy that I could stir it in 2" circles without leaving gear (if I could find a gear).

So the questions: Is the interior of every aging Crossfire going to be like that? Can the suspension be cheaply and easily firmed up? Are all the shifters like THAT?!

Other cars I'm shopping just for comparison are the Nissan 350Z, Mini Cooper S, and Mazda RX-8.