A friend of mine — let's call him Jeff — got a full ride scholarship to Illinois for being smart. His parents, rewarding him for his hard work, want to buy him a car since they don’t have to pay for his tuition. He could choose any car he wanted, but he had to follow one simple rule: stay under the $50,000 mark.

Shamefully, the spoiled brat isn’t as much of a car person as I am. He had no idea what he wanted.

So last weekend, Jeff, my two roommates and I drove up north to the city for the 102nd Chicago Auto Show.

It was our mission to find the perfect car for Jeff. A $50,000 max price range really opens up choices in the automobile market.

We decided to start our search at the Hyundai booth. Hyundai has been trying to boost their image and introduce luxury cars that go head to head with the German establishment. They’ve been pretty successful, I feel, starting with the Genesis sedan and coupe and continuing with the introduction of the Tucson, Sonata and the Mercedes Benz S-class fighter, Equus.

I recommended the Genesis coupe. Starting at $22,000, it is a great deal both performance- and luxury-wise. It has a cozy interior and, if the automobile magazines are to be trusted, has pretty good handling and performance.

We then skimmed through the GM floor, briefly pausing to look at the new Cadillac CTS wagon and coupe, Corvette, Chevy Silverado and Camaro. My roommate Curtis recommended the Chevy Silverado, but it had a cheap feeling interior. Jeff was not a fan of that.

Jeff decided that we needed to head to Subaru to check out the Impreza WRX STI, a $35,000 car known for its four-wheel drive and rally-proven technology. It’s an impressive car filled with technology that makes it a screamer. Jeff still wasn’t impressed.

Despite the recall scandal, Toyota’s exhibit was bustling with people. Toyota showed off their FT-CH hybrid concept as well as a plug-in Prius prototype. Jeff ignored the good-for-the-environment cars and took an interest in the Tundra Platinum Edition, Toyota’s full size luxury pickup offering. Jeff fell in love with the $42,000 truck; I thought it was too big for a college kid.

The Ford F-150 was another truck he liked but, just like the Tundra, it too gets poor gas mileage. Other offerings from Ford, like the Mustang or the new Taurus SHO performance sedan would have been a good choice, but Jeff wanted something different.

We wandered over to the Honda display and didn’t really see anything exciting so we moved on to Maserati and Fiat.

On display was the art-on-wheels Maserati GranTurismo and soon to be released Fiat 500, a Mini Cooper competitor from Italy. Jeff thought it was too tiny and would only have the car if it came with the two gorgeous models standing next to it.

Nissan’s display was quite a disappointment this year. Not only were the cars on display the bare-bones basic models, the 370z, a car Jeff was considering, sat locked behind metals poles along side its big brother, the GT-R.

I have a feeling that had we been able to look around in the car, Jeff would’ve liked the 370z. Starting right under the $30,000 mark, it offers a good performance to price ratio and looks awesome. Boo to you Nissan, you just lost a sale.

The Mitsubishi booth’s offerings piqued Jeff’s interest, particularly in the Lancer Evo. The WRX STI competitor also starts at $35,000 and can easily top $40,000 for a fully outfitted model. The interior isn’t as desolate as the Subaru, and features Recaro sport seats and a 710-watt Rockford Fosgate audio system. After sitting in the car and blasting a little Kid Cudi through the radio, Jeff was sold. There was, however, one more car that we had to recommend for Jeff.

After being distracted by Lexus’ first supercar, the LF-A, and the Lamborghinis, Lotus’ and the sexy-looking Fisker hybrids, we moved on to the Audi exhibit. We gawked over the R8 coupe and convertible on display before getting back to reality and helping Jeff look for a car that he could realistically own. If Jeff couldn’t have an R8, he at least could have a car with headlights inspired by them: the A4. Audi’s entry-level sedan starts at just over $31,000, offering German engineering and performance in a sexy skin. It’s the most fuel efficient of the bunch we recommended to Jeff, with an EPA rated 22/30 miles per gallon, but it was those headlights that sold Jeff.

Leaving the Auto Show, Jeff had three cars in mind: the Toyota Tundra, The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and the Audi A4. With the nearly 1,000 vehicles on display, Jeff was able to narrow down his vehicles to three. Our trip to the Auto Show wasn’t just for fun and laughs, we were doing research.

If you’re reading this Jeff, get the A4.

Charles is a sophomore in Media