18 Of The Fastest Cars You Can Buy For Under $10,000

With the rising cost of living continuing to hit millions of Americans across the country, more people than ever are looking to the used car market instead of buying new. Buying a used car has a number of advantages, with the most significant being how much money savvy shoppers can save. However, used car buying also comes with plenty of pitfalls, and many friends and relatives also have their own (often unhelpful) advice about what to do and not to do. There's so much choice on the used market that it's easy to get lost, but what usually helps is working out exactly what you're looking for before you start.

Some buyers want cheap and cheerful, or reliability and practicality. Then there are some buyers that simply want performance, even if they don't have a particularly big budget. Buying a car that's genuinely fast might not be quite as expensive as some might think, as even with rising used car prices, there are still plenty of choices out there for drivers with a need for speed. For just $10,000, it's possible to get a variety of performance cars ranging from two-seater sports cars to V8 family haulers, all of which will be able to leave traffic in the rearview at the stop lights. The following list is presented in no particular order.

Anyone looking to buy a used car with an AMG badge should be aware of two main things: Firstly, they'll probably cost a small fortune to maintain, and secondly, they're some of the best ways to get proper performance car power for a relatively small initial cost. Even so, finding one in the current market that's under $10,000 will be a challenge, but there are a few examples of the Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG that sneak in at just about under budget.

Earlier examples of the car (from the 1999 to 2002 model year) came with a 5.4-liter V8 making 355 brake horsepower, but later models (2002 to 2006 model year) gained a supercharger which pushed their power output up to 493 horsepower. That's about the most powerful car available under budget, but AMGs this cheap do come with an asterisk, as they're likely to have been less well looked after. Even a properly maintained old AMG can be a nightmare to keep running, so anyone brave enough to buy a dirt-cheap CL55 AMG should be aware of what they're potentially getting themselves into.

Volvo has gained a reputation for making sleek, quick, yet still safety-conscious cars for buyers who want Swedish chic. In 2003, however, the prevailing marketing strategy for Volvo was simply demonstrating how safe it was. This is why reviewers were so surprised when the S60 R debuted, as it was a world away from the brand's previous offerings. With 300 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and Brembo performance brakes, it was an entirely new kind of Volvo, one that signaled the start of a paradigm shift for the brand (via Car and Driver).

Thanks to the Swedish manufacturer's reputation as makers of safe yet dull cars, the S60 R never really made much of an impact on the market. A general lack of interest from buyers has kept resale prices low, however, and the car is now one of the cheapest ways to get 300 horsepower. The S60 R's 0-60 mph time stands at 5.5 seconds, just 0.3 and 0.5 seconds slower than the Mercedes C32 AMG and the Audi S4 respectively, according to Car and Driver. It's a deceptively quick machine, albeit one wrapped in the bodyshell of your Grandad's old Volvo.

BMW has established itself as one of the leading manufacturers of German performance cars, but there's been no shortage of challengers willing to take it on. One such challenger is Nissan's luxury arm Infiniti, which launched the G37 Coupe with the explicit goal of rivaling the market-leading BMWs of the time. Suffice to say, it didn't succeed in its mission to topple the Germans from the throne, but its resulting sports car is still impressive in its own right. In top-spec form, the G37 Coupe was able to pull 0-60 mph in five seconds flat, and it was limited to 155 mph (via Top Gear).

Part of the reason for the G37's limited success was the timing of its launch, as it was unveiled right as the car market was reeling from the effects of a global recession. Higher gas prices were causing a drop in demand for less-efficient cars, and the G37 was thirsty for its size. Infiniti didn't sell as many as it hoped to, and paired with a lack of brand recognition, it's easy to score a used G37 for less than $10,000.

If you love the idea of a Porsche but think the classic roadster looks a little too sleek — VW has your back. The Audi TT is a similar European roadster, and also has some vague VW Beetle vibes about it, but costs far less, has very respectable performance, and arguably carries less stigma than buying a Boxter does. The TT shares a platform with the MK IV VW Golf, though the two vehicles differ both in looks and performance. While it's a bit of an acquired taste, it's also an affordable two-seat roadster and a convertible version is easy to find — though you will be sacrificing a bit of performance with that.

2013 Audi TT Prestige can go from 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, which is a lot for a discount sports car. You can find one, and similar examples, on AutoTrader for less than our budget of $10,000. Non-prestige versions are a little slower, with a 2.0-liter version from 2008 rocking a 0-60 time of around 6.1 seconds. With that said, even the slower TTs up for sale would still beat a few of the other vehicles on this list in a sprint.

Another Jaguar that offers great value for the money is the XF Supercharged, which as its name suggests, packs a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine under the hood (via Autoblog). It's good for a 0-60 time of 4.3 seconds, making it one of the fastest vehicles here off the line (via Car and Driver). When new, the car started at $68,000, slotting in the XF lineup between the 510 horsepower XFR and the 385 horsepower XF 5.0, per Autoblog. The XF Supercharged makes 470 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque, yet examples are available for as little as $8,000 used.

There's very little to distinguish the XF Supercharged from any other "lesser" model of XF, but that's by design. This is very much a performance sedan built to stay under the radar, a Q-car for drivers who don't need to shout about how fast their car is. It might seem like a bargain at its current used asking price, but don't be fooled: It's no more reliable than other Jaguars of its time. Expect some large repair bills along the way, especially for higher mileage cars or those with patchier service history.

The sixth-generation Charger R/T followed the same formula that the generations before it had employed to great success: It was a roomy sedan based off a common Chrysler platform, with a big V8 under the hood (via Edmunds). It was a simple premise, but ultimately a successful one, and Dodge managed to sell over 114,000 Chargers over its first full year on sale in 2006. As a result, there are still plenty of used Charger R/Ts out there on the market, and that's helped keep prices reasonable even as other models have shot up in value.

A sixth-generation Charger R/T can just about be found for less than $10,000, although often only a mere few dollars under budget. However, with a reliable, easy-to-fix engine and generally low maintenance costs, the ongoing bill for running an R/T should be considerably less than some of the other German or British cars featured here.

The first-generation Hyundai Genesis sedan was built between 2009 and 2014, and despite its so-so styling and middling ride quality, it was generally accepted to be the first Hyundai to get close to competing with rivals from Mercedes-Benz and BMW. It also sported very respectable performance figures for its segment, with a 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, and a quarter mile in 14.1 seconds at 103 mph (via Car and Driver). It was also a generally well-built car, and instrumental in changing buyers' perceptions of Hyundai as a purely budget brand.

However, its lack of standout qualities meant that many buyers quickly forgot it existed, and that's helped keep resale prices within budget. A mid-range 4.6 model can be sourced for under $10,000, although since Hyundai didn't sell very many examples of the Genesis in the first place, actually finding a used one for sale might be the trickiest bit. Buying a high mileage car shouldn't be an issue, as Car and Driver performed a 100,000-mile long-term test on their car (the longest in the magazine's history), and found its engine performance was almost identical to new, even with six figures on the odometer.

Arriving in the U.S. in 1997, the Porsche Boxster was popular enough to save the company from bankruptcy, selling over 120,000 over the eight years it was in production (via Road & Track). The car was only available as a convertible, and it featured a mid-mounted 2.5-liter flat-six engine making 201 horsepower. Not as much as many of the other cars featured here, but with a curb weight of just 2,800 pounds, the Boxster was able to go from 0-60 mph in a respectable 6.1 seconds, and top out at 149 mph. It's also now one of the cheapest ways into Porsche ownership, with examples readily available within the $10,000 budget.

For the 2000 model year, the car's engine was enlarged to 2.7-liter, gaining an extra 16 horsepower in the process, and a new S model was made available with 250 horsepower on tap, per Road & Track. The car infamously shared plenty of parts with the 911 from the same era, yet the Boxster is now available for much less than its flagship stablemate (via Porsche Engelwood). Its lack of a fixed roof and strictly two-seat configuration means that it isn't for everyone, but for a fast car with excellent handling and a prestigious German badge, the Boxster is a fine choice for a cheap, fast weekend toy.

A trusty car in the Chrysler lineup that's now one of the brand's two remaining models, at least until the end of 2022, the 300 packs a 5.7-liter V8 making 363 horsepower. That's enough to pull the car from 0-60 mph in 5.3 seconds, despite its hefty curb weight (via Car and Driver). A range of examples between 10 and 15 years old are available within budget, so buyers have the freedom to choose if age, service history, or lower mileage is of greater importance to them.

The underlying platform of the 300 has remained mostly unchanged since it was introduced in 2004, so used buyers don't need to worry about missing out on significant performance or handling upgrades over the years. Chrysler as a brand might be seemingly on a terminal decline, with only the Pacifica minivan set to carry on production through 2023, but the 300 proves that the brand's older models still offer plenty of value to buyers who want power without breaking the bank (via The Detroit News).