What car? (a big step down but don't want to be miserable)

[seopher]

Countless nights laying in bed, the glare from my phone annoying the other half, pondering how to change car without sending myself mad.

Due to an ambitious house purchase, there's a sizeable lump of capital locked in my current P&J that now needs to be handed to the bank. £11k, to be precise. The remainder of the value is mine to spend as I wish on a replacement (which I am likely to top up with additional funds to avoid driving something miserable).

My XFR is going (when I find a buyer, that is), but I haven't established what to replace it with. I'm expecting to have £11k to spend, though could wangle up to £13k for something that I'd enjoy. Basically, if I can't find something I'm excited to own I'll just go shedding until I can. This isn't ownership for ownership's sake, I want to find something I'm excited to own.

Criteria:
- 4/5 door
- 300bhp would be a good target
- Preferably not the devil's fuel (but I'm willing if it makes sense)
- Something that isn't going to be ruinous in maintenance terms
- A fast wagon is desirable, but not mandatory
- Parking sensors to prevent my other half from parking using brail

Stepping down from 500+bhp is going to feel uncomfortable, but I want to minimise this as much as I can.

Candidates so far have been things like a 2006 S4 Avant, S6 Avant, BMW 335i, and the uncertain notion of a Mercedes C350 CDI. Considered a Subaru, too.

[AyBee]

What is your ideal car and how long is it going to take for you to save enough to buy one?

I'd be tempted to buy something cheap (cheap doesn't always have to mean no fun), and wait until I could afford what I wanted.

[Nickbrapp]

A leased golf r estate

[Scootersp]

GS450H not so dynamic but reliable and comforting and still brisk?

[Gunk]

How about something rare, understated and fast

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-54-MERCEDES-C-CLASS...

[liner33]

Where is your jag advertised as I'm looking at them at the moment ?

[Deerfoot]

I`d have thought that your own suggestion of a BMW 335i would be ideal.

[lostkiwi]

CLS 500?
Monaro?

[seopher]

liner33 said:

Where is your jag advertised as I'm looking at them at the moment ?

I'll send you an email to avoid posting stuff like that here.

[seopher]

lostkiwi said:

CLS 500?
Monaro?

Not very PH of me, but as much as I like the Monaro, the I'm not sure it's an interior I could live with.

[seopher]

Nickbrapp said:

A leased golf r estate

I should have said in the original post that I'm avoiding leasing as it just feels like a lot of money to be paying out for very little (though appreciate that £5k lost through depreciation and £5k spent on a lease are identical on the wallet, but different in my head).

[andye30m3]

E39 M5 and a couple of thousand for maintenance

[ZX10R NIN]

What about your XF-R's predecessor the SV8 not to much of a step down & you're still in a Jag.

SV8 410bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

CLS 500 388bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

CLS55 AMG 500bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

C55 AMG 370bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Audi S6 430bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Audi S4 345bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

BMW 550i
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...