Spec me a car, £15k budget

[RowntreesCabana]

Al U said:

I never said the S2000 handles better, I just don't think it handles much worse considering how much better it is in every other way.

I disagree 100%. The Elise is head and shoulders above everything I've tried. I dumped a 911 for the S2 as it left me cold. As far as I'm concerned the difference in the Elise was night and day to pretty much everything else.

I still swapped it though as it was too compromised for me, but the handling was a completely different class.

[Welshbeef]

Sl55k AMG

Stunning car 205mph amazing sound hand built engine and how much cheaper will these get honestly?
If you could get an SL65 AMG grab it for £15k but good hunting.

Boxster S
997.1 C2S
Brabus V12 S

[ZX10R NIN]

Here are a few options:

E350 Coupe
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

The best handling hot hatch:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Great engine note:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

335i
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Away from the norm:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Or if you want more space:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[Trif]

iva cosworth said:

Your short journey habit doesn't suit a diesel imo.

I know it's far from ideal but does open the option of 4x4's and large executive cars which I'd quite like to try.

techniques said:

A 2011 Cupra R with 260bhp and 26k miles.

This car ticks all your boxes for £13.7k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Such a strange car. From a distance it looks like a 80 year old man should be driving it to church on a Sunday with his wife and then when you get close it looks like his 18 year old grandson has inherited his first car.

mattshiz said:

Elise S2

I'd love one (especially having owned a VX220 but the prices seem to have become stuck 5 years ago. I did wonder if there are good discounts available for new cars that I could stretch to with finance. I expect I'd have the same low ride height issue.

smithyithy said:

S3?

The S4 is of interest. I'm sure they were 20k 2 years ago and more or less the same still.

[Trif]

Bump.

Trif said:

I know it's far from ideal but does open the option of 4x4's and large executive cars which I'd quite like to try.

Any more comments on the diesel option?

[Ikemi]

WCZ said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
620bhp and well under budget

As much as I love that, I'd fear with 620BHP that it would break all the time ... Would I be right? Otherwise, I'd quite fancy that as a daily!

[jamiebae]

Trif said:

Bump.

Trif said:

I know it's far from ideal but does open the option of 4x4's and large executive cars which I'd quite like to try.

Any more comments on the diesel option?

The heater will never get warm and the DPF will clog up so I wouldn't personally. What kind of thing are you looking at in terms of 4x4s? I'd swallow the tax and buy a petrol one (in fact, that's exactly what I did)

[300bhp/ton]

Trif said:

Hi,

I'm on the hunt for a car and am hoping you guys can help me decide. I don't have any specific requirements as such but to give you some idea of what I need:

It will do less than 4000 miles a year, 99% of journeys are less then 5 miles (25% will be less then 2 miles)
No commuting to work
It will be my only car
The top 2 tax bands depress me.
Preferably <5 years old, no more then 8 years old.
0-60 in under 7 seconds
Can't be too low as it will ground out on the dropped kerb onto my driveway (a BMW 1 series gets on OK, a Z4 will struggle)


So what would you go for?

Thanks.

For only covering £4000 miles a year and a budget like that, I think I'd look at things like this!

[ORD]

Trif said:

Bump.

Trif said:

I know it's far from ideal but does open the option of 4x4's and large executive cars which I'd quite like to try.

Any more comments on the diesel option?

Insane.

You dont need the mpg and diesel is horribly polluting, ruins cars for enjoyment and sounds horrific. You would have to be a complete moron to get a diesel car in your position.

[SydneyBridge]

in light of your intended usage, dare I say a Renault Zoe

[otolith]

RowntreesCabana said:

I disagree 100%. The Elise is head and shoulders above everything I've tried. I dumped a 911 for the S2 as it left me cold. As far as I'm concerned the difference in the Elise was night and day to pretty much everything else.

I still swapped it though as it was too compromised for me, but the handling was a completely different class.

Handling is subjective, though. If a person doesn't perceive a massive difference between an S2000 and an Elise, they definitely shouldn't buy an Elise. That would be like a deaf person spending 10k on hi-fi separates because someone told them it sounded better than a Bush mini system.

[Trif]

jamiebae said:

The heater will never get warm and the DPF will clog up so I wouldn't personally. What kind of thing are you looking at in terms of 4x4s? I'd swallow the tax and buy a petrol one (in fact, that's exactly what I did)

Good point on the heater, I was hoping the odd longer 20 mile journey might counteract the problems of short journeys on a DPF. Petrol ones seem thin on the ground and not appreciatively cheaper? On top of that I can't imagine them being easy to shift?

SydneyBridge said:

in light of your intended usage, dare I say a Renault Zoe

I'd love a electric car, particularly a Tesla style one. Or if we had a California style climate, a Twizy.

[ORD]

20 miles isn't a long journey. Engine would be barely up to temperature unless it's stop-start traffic or fast motorway.

[otolith]

Welshbeef said:

Sl55k AMG

Stunning car 205mph amazing sound hand built engine and how much cheaper will these get honestly?
If you could get an SL65 AMG grab it for £15k but good hunting.

Boxster S
997.1 C2S
Brabus V12 S

No older than 2008, for 15k? Might be a bit tight.

We've just been shopping in this market and ended up with a 2006 Z4M roadster.

[NorthernSky]

Z4/Z4M

[jamiebae]

Trif said:

jamiebae said:

The heater will never get warm and the DPF will clog up so I wouldn't personally. What kind of thing are you looking at in terms of 4x4s? I'd swallow the tax and buy a petrol one (in fact, that's exactly what I did)

Good point on the heater, I was hoping the odd longer 20 mile journey might counteract the problems of short journeys on a DPF. Petrol ones seem thin on the ground and not appreciatively cheaper? On top of that I can't imagine them being easy to shift?

SydneyBridge said:

in light of your intended usage, dare I say a Renault Zoe

I'd love a electric car, particularly a Tesla style one. Or if we had a California style climate, a Twizy.

Which 4x4 do you want? Petrol is starting to become more popular again, and moving on an elderly diesel 4x4 is going to get harder when they're effectively banned from London and other cities so I wouldn't worry about RVs. There are a reasonable number around, older super-luxury stuff like a Cayenne or RR, or newer and more sensible things like a Forester or Q5. I think a 2.0T Q5 would tempt me actually, we didn't buy one because my wife preferred the Evoque but the Audi is a slightly better drive and has more space and with hindsight would probably have been a better choice.

Forester

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Q5

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

RR Vogue SE

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Cayenne

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[SidewaysSi]

Al U said:

RowntreesCabana said:

Al U said:

Went out in one of these today. What a piece of st. Makes my S2000 feel like a rolls royce afterwards in terms of refinement, the handling in them really isn't that amazing for the compromise of everything else.

I've had an S1 and an S2, had various other cars and now drive a Merc SLK55, the Elise is still by far the most fun I've had in a road car.

Horses for courses I suppose, but I wouldn't ever consider the S2000 to be a patch on the Elise. The handling is far superior to pretty much anything else on the road.

Edited by RowntreesCabana on Friday 4th September 23:15

I never said the S2000 handles better, I just don't think it handles much worse considering how much better it is in every other way.

God I love it when people talk complete st and try to pass it off as fact.

[JockySteer]

ZX10R NIN said:

Here are a few options:

E350 Coupe
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

The best handling hot hatch:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Great engine note:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

335i
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Away from the norm:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Or if you want more space:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

that 250 cup is woefully expensive. that's 265 money

[JockySteer]

Welshbeef said:

Sl55k AMG

Stunning car 205mph amazing sound hand built engine and how much cheaper will these get honestly?
If you could get an SL65 AMG grab it for £15k but good hunting.

Boxster S
997.1 C2S
Brabus V12 S

Tricky for the budget, my SLK is late '05 and set me back nearly £17k. Is in superb nick though

[MattHall91]

Im reluctant to suggest anything fun as you probably won't get chance to enjoy it.

Will you even go from 0 to 60 during your short drives?

Decent all rounder would be mk6 Golf GTI.