I'm not an owner and am no longer an active pilot but if a Cessna is what you want you might want to step out of the usual 172/182 groove and consider the C-177 Cardinal, one of the best looking Cessna's ever flown IMO. You can get a nicely turned out, late model 177 (model years 1975 - 78 are said to be the best) for well under $100K. Early Cardinals are said to be underpowered but the later B's and RG's were good performers though personally I'd choose a fixed gear 177B for sake of simplicity and the fact that retracts add only a few knots more (
there are also some good speed mods available for fixed gear Cardinals).
If you're not adverse to older classics you might want to consider aircraft like the Piper PA-20 Pacer, Stinson 108 series, or the Aeronca 15AC Sedan (I'm assuming all along here you want a four seater; not necessarily for the extra passenger space but because you can quickly overload a 2-seater Cessna 152 with bags if you plan any cross country travelling).
If it's only a two seater you're after keep the Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk in mind. True, it's a flight school trainer so a lot of them have been "rode hard and put away wet" but the same can be said for a lot of 150's and 152's, plus the Tomahawk is roomier, a bit faster than the Cessna on the same power and gives better visibility in the pattern. Of course, you could go with a taildragger conversion of a Cessna 150/52 for a higher fun factor.
One last type deserves mention and that would be the Grumman American/American General/Tiger AA-5B Tiger. I've not flown one but a little research shows them to be a fast, sporty, and agile four-seater that can be nicley kitted out with avionics packages, speed mods (eg.
Lopresti), and nice interiors with the bonus of a canopy that can be opened, at least partially, in flight.
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