[RogerButton33]

Mmkay, here's the current vehicle situation:

1. My fiancée has a 2007 Chevy Cobalt w/ 15K miles, it's as vanilla as they come. She got it to commute to and from work, with no frills.

2. I have a 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe 3.5SE, w/ 57K miles, fully loaded. It also currently has some modifications, but nothing major...

I moved to Maryland in August of last year, that means by state law I have to have it tagged in Maryland by August of this year...

Problem: West Virginia will charge me 6% of the car's value to remove the WV tags and get the title transferred to MD. THEN, Maryland will charge me another 6% to tag it there! So I'm looking in the neighborhood of $4000.

After discussing this extensively with my fiancée, she has agreed to let present her with a plan as to what to do with our vehicles. BUT, it has NOTHING to do with the cars, it has to do with what makes the most financial sense! (Though she has also allowed me to have fun with whatever option she buys in to...

Now, the other problem is that the Altima desperately needs new tires. Now, if I'm going to sell/trade it off, I don't want to put Turenza Serenitys on it... I would go with something cheaper. But, if I keep it and hand it over to my fiancee, I would put the Serenitys on...

So here are my three options for my current Coupe:

1. Keep the Coupe until I run it into the ground... Fork over the taxes, but then I'd get to modify it how I wish. Yes, it's FWD, but SFR has an interesting turbo kit for them... With the new tires, I'd get new 18" wheels (There are Konig & Enkeis I have in mind) over the 17" OEMs, and go to town with the modifications.

Plus, it needs some bodywork from various dings and such, to the point it could use being repainted. I was thinking a House of Kolor "Midnite Blue" pearl. I'd get a few body accents from Stillen, a 5% tint job all the way around and there's a guy who makes amazing GTR head/tail light overlays.

2. Keep the Coupe. Fork over the taxes and get all of the bodywork done to it, but with a different HoK paint... and give it to my fiancée for her to drive. She adores my current car, and has fun driving it since it handles so much better than anything she's driven before. We'd then sell her Cobalt or trade it in... Then I'd get one of the two cars listed below.

3. Sell/trade in my Coupe (effectively dodging the taxes), and get one of two different cars...

So here are the options for the new vehicle:

A. A 2009 Maxima 3.5 SV w/ Sport & Technology packages... With everything else, the end bill would be around $38,500. It's still got the VQ35 engine, and Stillen (amongst others) is pumping out upgrades for the car. This would have the added benefit of giving us a 4-door in our garage. While it won't have the handling of the Coupe, it wouldn't be bad. I've already test driven one of them and would enjoy it.

B. A 2009 NISMO 370Z. They're due out this summer, and a local dealer will slot me for the first one he gets if I want it... The 370Z coupe already gets 337hp, the NISMO gets 350 out of its VQ37. It also has an enhanced body style and suspension in addition to the engine modifications (To which I do not think extend past the NISMO exhaust). The interior is also custom as well. This would get me a RWD vehicle to go to town with... Turbonetics already had a Stage II kit w/ a GTK turbo putting down insane amounts of HP (for a single turbo, twin turbos have been pushing out over 1000hp) for the 350Z, and everyone and their brother and sister knows how to build up a shortblock for the VQ35-series engines. The VQ37 is barely more than a small bump in displacement. I've already taken the base 370Z coupe for a spin, it's quite a nimble little ride! MSRP is expected to be in the $40,000-range.

So, Onions... How would you sell this one to your wives/fiancées/girlfriends/hands??? [thumbup]