R8 as a £40k used buy?

[Markbarry1977]

Wacky Racer said:

andy97 said:

It may not happen, as she will probably wake up tomorrow with her sensible head back on, but we will see!

I'm not trying to put a damper on things, and I know it's nice to treat yourself now and again, especially if you come into some money, but please give it very careful thought.

You may be glad of that 40k later on in your life when you are both retired.

My mother and father always said the same when they were younger. Bought up on the generation of Dave save save. They always planned to go away together when they retired.

I often ask my mum (parents now divorced) why her and her new husband (of many years) haven't just swanned off and enjoyed life.

Her response "I'm too old and tired now, why would I want to go off around the world. My knees ache if I have to stand for too long, I no longer like the heat and find it intolerable. Xyz reasons why. Go and spend it all while your young and can enjoy it. No point saving so the state can take it all back when your too old to look after yourself."

I now try and do that more. I used to be a save save kind of guy. Having met my wife who is the polar opposite I think we have met at a comfortable medium point (she no longer buys £500 pairs of shoes which I just though was idiotic). Helps that she's a keen as mustard petrol head, slot more so than me.

My advice, if you can afford it go for it. You only live once. Imagine telling your grand kids how you blasted round the world in what can arguably be called a supercar.

[marcosgt]

I can't comment on living with an R8, but I drove one yesterday and I was very impressed.

I kind of expected to be a bit non-plussed, but from the second I got in, I liked it and the handling and performance were certainly impressive.

I drove a Gallardo the same day - neither for long, to be fair - and while the Lambo was more immediate and exciting, the R8 really didn't lag in those respects by much and I couldn't imagine living with the Gallardo, but I could the R8 - I've been looking at used V8s this morning

M.

[Trev450]

That is one of the advantages of an R8, it is perfectly capable of being used on a daily basis. The only other cars of this type that fall into this catagory are Porsche.

[marcosgt]

Trev450 said:

That is one of the advantages of an R8, it is perfectly capable of being used on a daily basis. The only other cars of this type that fall into this catagory are Porsche.

I suspect some of the Astons can too, to be honest, and quite a few (well, relatively!) people seem to run 458/488s as daily drivers too, but it's certainly a great all-rounder (and, personally, I dislike 911s )

M

[Trev450]

marcosgt said:

Trev450 said:

That is one of the advantages of an R8, it is perfectly capable of being used on a daily basis. The only other cars of this type that fall into this catagory are Porsche.

I suspect some of the Astons can too, to be honest, and quite a few (well, relatively!) people seem to run 458/488s as daily drivers too, but it's certainly a great all-rounder (and, personally, I dislike 911s )

M

Yes I'd forgotten about Astons. Modern Ferrari's are certainly capable of being driven daily, but the resale values plummet when you start putting miles on them. I'm not a fan of 911's either, but I did own a Cayman S which I used as a daily for 5 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[blueg33]

Trev450 said:

That is one of the advantages of an R8, it is perfectly capable of being used on a daily basis. The only other cars of this type that fall into this catagory are Porsche.

errr - no

[Trev450]

blueg33 said:

Trev450 said:

That is one of the advantages of an R8, it is perfectly capable of being used on a daily basis. The only other cars of this type that fall into this catagory are Porsche.

errr - no

Care to share your views then.

[TVR1]

RTronic when learned, is actually a nice gearbox but you do need to 'understand' it and drive it, rather than thinking it's either an auto or will drive like an STronic.

However, one of the few cars these days that can give you so much visceral pleasure in manual/V8 combo. Also, arguably the one that is going to maintain values best. £40k scrape you into an Audi deflect car.

Traffic has the tendency to appear from nowhere though....


http://s996.photobucket.com/user/TVR1/media/PH/S5_...

Edited by TVR1 on Friday 24th March 20:38

[TVR1]

RTronic when learned, is actually a nice gearbox but you do need to 'understand' it and drive it, rather than thinking it's either an auto or will drive like an STronic.

However, one of the few cars these days that can give you so much visceral pleasure in manual/V8 combo. Also, arguably the one that is going to maintain values best. £40k scrape you into an Audi deflect car.

Traffic has the tendency to appear from nowhere though....

[andy97]

We never did buy the R8 (I changed jobs instead!) but I do still think about it from time to time.

And it does seem that there are now a reasonable number of manuals to choose from in the £35-40K budget arena, with 40-60K miles, whereas a year ago they were mostly R-Tronic at this price point.

I'd prefer the manual, and Mrs97 has decided that she probably wouldn't drive it anyway, so maybe getting more attainable.

I will probably wait a couple of years but you never know.

[bigee]

Thanks for the thread....got me looking at the classifieds now !

[PompeyReece]

andy97 said:

We never did buy the R8 (I changed jobs instead!) but I do still think about it from time to time.

And it does seem that there are now a reasonable number of manuals to choose from in the £35-40K budget arena, with 40-60K miles, whereas a year ago they were mostly R-Tronic at this price point.

I'd prefer the manual, and Mrs97 has decided that she probably wouldn't drive it anyway, so maybe getting more attainable.

I will probably wait a couple of years but you never know.

.

Life is too short to wait - you never know what tomorrow holds so just do it. You won't regret it.

[andy97]

PompeyReece said:

Life is too short to wait - you never know what tomorrow holds so just do it. You won't regret it.

You are not helping!

I do think prices might fall a little more but most cars in the near future will be smaller capacity turbos and automatic or hybrids so n/a manuals might even be an investment!!! Lol

[200Plus Club]

andy97 said:

You are not helping!

I do think prices might fall a little more but most cars in the near future will be smaller capacity turbos and automatic or hybrids so n/a manuals might even be an investment!!! Lol

That's what we are all hoping for Lol! Or at least fairly cheap enjoyment.

[DocW]

Good morning andy97, I’m an interloper here but enjoying/interested in your dilemma. I would be on the “go for it” side of things. I my line of work the saddest thing I ever hear is “we were going to...” when their life has changed in the blink of an eye. Even if you have a two or three year spell with the car it’s not a worthless asset and you could sell for say £32000. There’s a few years of fun for the cost of a decent holiday in the Maldives. PS I went for an Aston V8 Vantage as I needed more luggage space than the R8. Best wishes.

[Trev450]

I'm all for what is being said here, but please don't forget that you are still purchasing what was a £100K car when new and just because the values have dropped by 60 percent, doesn't mean the running costs have too. Ricky was telling me about a guy who purchased a lower-priced R8 and thought he was going to maintain it for similar money to his previously owned Golf GTI. Needless to say he was in for a huge shock when Ricky informed him of the work needing doing and what it was going to cost.

The moral of the story is don't go in blind and ALWAYS have an emergency fund available.

[200Plus Club]

Trev450 said:

I'm all for what is being said here, but please don't forget that you are still purchasing what was a £100K car when new and just because the values have dropped by 60 percent, doesn't mean the running costs have too. Ricky was telling me about a guy who purchased a lower-priced R8 and thought he was going to maintain it for similar money to his previously owned Golf GTI. Needless to say he was in for a huge shock when Ricky informed him of the work needing doing and what it was going to cost.

The moral of the story is don't go in blind and ALWAYS have an emergency fund available.

Well said Trev. Everything for them is expensive , nothing is cheap whatsoever on them.

[blueg33]

Engine aside, do they really have more to go wrong than an A6 Quattro for instance?

[200Plus Club]

blueg33 said:

Engine aside, do they really have more to go wrong than an A6 Quattro for instance?

It's a complex enough car but seemingly very reliable judging by thr mileages racked up. Parts cost is the main issue plus lack of Indies. Porsche world is littered with top Indy garages, R8 have 'RE Performance and that's about it!

[simonpieman]

Andy97, you shouldn't have bumped this thread. I've been sweating the man maths ever since. And I've found a way to make it work. I emailed the suggestion to my wife. The two word response was not what I was expecting, especially since it involves her doing the school run in a transit van. "Yes please". Blimey. We're in business.

Bit busy at the moment. But we have a new direction to pursue on the car front. Great.