I was in your position in June. I knew very little about the FiST. But everything I’d read was great (One of 20 best enthusiast cars EVER, Road and Track, May/June 2024). Discovering this forum was a huge help. A goldmine of info and generous members willing to share their knowledge and experiences. Nervous about getting one that had been abused, decided I would get the newest stocker I could find with low miles, around 25k miles, as the basis for building a fairly modded car. Instead, I now own two, one nearly stock (an aftermarket exhaust and a Cobb intake; putting a stock exhaust on it tomorrow). The other with a pretty high degree of mods but clearly driven hard fairly often, but also well cared for with well thought out mods. Lessons learned: don’t let mods deter you, per se; pay much more attention to the overall condition, try to inspect it in person. Getting a well cared for car is more important than miles and that is usually fairly obvious on inspection and a test drive. However, also decide beforehand how you will mostly use it. If you’re not going to track it or do canyon runs regularly, don’t buy a highly modded car. But if you do want to race, hpde, autox, etc., buying an appropriately modded car can save you a lot of time, $ and effort. A stocker is well balanced and plenty entertaining and mods generally mean a lot more NVH and noise. Be willing to travel to get the right car (bought the stockish car in PA, enjoyed driving it home to AZ, glad I did that, very nice car). The engines in these cars are pretty robust, so don’t let low miles be a priority, although there are seemingly more out there than you think. I know 2 other guys who have bought cars with around 25k miles and I bought 2, since June. And there was one on the forum recently, for sale in GA, a 2019, I believe, original owner, obviously well cared for and not abused, with 21k, just weeks ago. I would give the ‘16-19’s priority. I would try to sit in both the Recaro and base seats as a first step; some find the Recaro’s too constrictive and the leather is hotter in warmer weather. So take your time, be honest with yourself as to how you will use it and you will find a very nice car at a reasonable price.
