[eschaider]

Tag,

If your objective is to get a good looking, well built, good performing car there are any number of credible choices available through the different points of sale already mentioned.

If however your objective is to build a customized version of the car, to a set of specs you have fallen in love with, buying new and building to your dream is the only certain way to get what you are looking for. The ante at that poker table as others have already observed is noticeably higher.

There is a middle ground that has a corresponding middle ground ante. You can buy a car that approximates or is reasonably close to your dream spec. Once you own it you go about modifying it to ultimately meet your spec.

This middle ground approach, in addition to a probable lower entry point price wise, gives you the benefit of having a driveable version of the car immediately that you migrate at your pace to your preferred configuration. For a first time owner, unless you are very certain of how you want the car, this allows you to have a stepping off point that you modify from based on both your wants and also what you learn from your driving experiences in the base car that you began your project with.

Ed