Birthday present "what car"

[Scoticus]

Firstly an apology. I have tried to avoid doing this for as long as possible. I know how we all love "what car" threads.

Itll be my 24th birthday in October and for it I want to buy a car.
My budget is around £40k

I am fairly flexible on the car, and I think its because of this I cant make my mind up.

This is a few examples of what I have been looking at for the past few months:
Jaguar XKR
Aston Martin V8V
TVR Cerbera
AMG Mercs
RS4

Obviously I wont get these in my price range brand new, so will be used. These will also be more expensive then 'normal' cars to run, but thats fine and to be expected.

Now, today I went into Land Rover (just for a look) and started to admire the Range Rover Evoque Coupe.
I came home and had a play on the "build your own" and specced up a car to how I would want it. The price was £42k (diesel, 9 speed auto, Zanzibar or black)

This got me thinking, I could have a brand new (64 plate?) car sat on my drive. But I cant help feeling that buying a new RRE over one of the cars above is a daft idea.. anyone else understand this?
I mean, who would buy a RRE over an Aston or Jag..? (other then the people who have done so)


What would you all do?
What cars am I over looking?

I want something special as it will be my car for the next 3 years (minimum) and its a lot of money to spend.

If it helps i have already ruled out a few cars:
Nissan GTR (insurance was way to high)
I dont want anything Jap because I really dislike the interiors
Most Porsches, but would consider a 997 turbo (need to do some research on running costs)
"cheap" super cars (ferraris etc) for obvious reasons, buy cheap = pile of problems


Insurance isnt a problem, The only quote I got that I laughed at was the GTR (£4500)

Ill only do 600 miles a month maximum as I have a company car, this will be more a weekend car so high fuel consumption isnt a problem.

Just as a side note, please dont say "buy a house" this money is to be spent on a car, if I wanted a house then I would buy one.

Any and all advice is gratefully received, thanks everyone.

[Jasandjules]

V8 Vantage Volante.

/Close thread.

[David87]

I'd go for the Aston, but Maseratis may be worth a look too.

The Evoque, although a great car, is a long way from the others you're considering! Whilst you're 24, buy something more exciting! Out of interest, if fuel figures don't matter to you, why diesel? The petrol-powered Si4 is quite a bit quicker.

[Scoticus]

David87 said:

I'd go for the Aston, but Maseratis may be worth a look too.

The Evoque, although a great car, is a long way from the others you're considering! Whilst you're 24, buy something more exciting! Out of interest, if fuel figures don't matter to you, why diesel? The petrol-powered Si4 is quite a bit quicker.

Never considered a Maserati.. I shall have a look now.

I asked about the petrol, and I was told that I would have to wait over a month longer for one. Plus, when the time comes getting rid of a diesel one will be a lot easier then the petrol

[lamboman100]

There is only one car really worth buying for a b'day prezzy at that pricepoint and it is the AMV V8, in black or dark green. Looks, brand, noise and reasonable speed in one package. Everything else is bland / common (911) or slow (RRE). A case could be made for a BMW 1M / NGTR, but they lack prestige. Set aside plenty of cash for AMV bills -- they can be temperamental.

[JapFreak786]

Is depreciation a factor? Something that is fairly cheap yet still modern is the E90 M3 (saloon) since you mentioned the RS4. Early high mileage examples can be had for high teen's and 11 plate AUC car's from £35k (a white one for sale now is listed at this price) and they are fantastic to own

C63 AMG and also the E63 AMG come into play, if it was me I wouldn't get an Evoque though.

A late 996 Turbo, Aston Martin Vantage, Maserati Granturismo, air cooled 911 (993 or was it a 964?)

edit - BMW 1M & M3 CSL, not a fancy new car but both appear to be holding prices very well and also apparently tonnes of fun to drive!

[43034]

Can a Viper be had in budget?

That'd be bloody special for 40k!

[zeduffman]

I'm in a similarish position and have been looking at a 1M Coupe.

Should get a lot of your £40k back in three years too.

[Jasandjules]

zeduffman said:

I'm in a similarish position and have been looking at a 1M Coupe.

Should get a lot of your £40k back in three years too.

Really?

24 = Aston. No ifs no buts.

If the budget was lower I'd have said Chimaera. But with 40k it's a V8V all the way.

[deltashad]

I think you should go for a lotus exige.

[BE57 TOY]

I wish I had these options when I was 24!! Good luck OP...

Ps. If it were me I'd go for the XKR

[anonymous-user]

I'd get 911 with that money, or possibly a Cayman.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

Mmmmm

[Motorrad]

I'd likely be driven by insurance if that was included in the total cost.

Possibly look at a classic which will be cheaper to insure and be much, much cooler to boot.A 635CSi is cool as fk.

[Scoticus]

Thanks for the replies.

So, the range rover is a bad idea.. ill forget about that one then.

I do like the German stuff, RS4/BMW etc and got as far as testing driving and speccing up an M135 but pulled out last minute. The reason being, the car didn't feel very special.. the performance was amazing but the interior was bland, really didn't remind me of climbing into a black wheely bin to be honest with you all.

I prefer the more 'high end' luxury makes, Aston, Jaguar, Bentley etc but with these makes comes some reliability issues.
I think Ill have to bite the bullet and be prepared to pay a little more for a much more special car and the costs involved.


Not a massive fan of American muscle, but having said that Iv never really looked into them that much, ill do that now.


Nice to see a vote for the Jag, Im going to my local dealer this week to have a look at an early 5 litre XKR

Insurance isnt a problem, in fact most cars that have been mentioned are only a bit more to insure then the snotter im in now (saxo vtr)


Just out of interest, has anyone got any experience with Bentley CGT, costs etc? I have read that they have a bad habit of borking with no prior warning

[BE57 TOY]

We have a 61 plate XKR and it's a bloody brilliant car and completely reliable. Bought it a couple of years ago for £60k so these would be in your price range easily by now id of thought.

[greggy50]

I am 22 and can say without a shadow of a doubt of those cars I would get in a V8 Vantage at your age range the Jaguar is a bit old man for me the same for the Maserati also to be honest cannot see (unfortunately) the V8 vantage dropping much lower myself they seems great value to me.

This looks nice for a shade over £40k with the 4.7 engine
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

[PugwasHDJ80]

Seriously you're 24 and you can buy just about ANY car possible

Trust me, buy the most fun, most impractical car you can because when you meet the women of your dreams and have kids it' gets MUCH harder to justify!

Porker, fezza, lambo, r8, Tvr, track car, etc etc

[greggy50]

Only other option would be an Audi R8 for me other than the Aston can get them for around £40k now as well

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

[Scoticus]

BE57 TOY said:

We have a 61 plate XKR and it's a bloody brilliant car and completely reliable. Bought it a couple of years ago for £60k so these would be in your price range easily by now id of thought.

the one im off to look at is £35k (as far as i can remember) the only thing I dont like about it is the colour (silver) but they have a few on stock, so if the test drive goes well then they can bring over one in my choice of colours.. The leeds Jaguar have a black 2011 one that looks the dogs danglies

[Scoticus]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

Seriously you're 24 and you can buy just about ANY car possible

Trust me, buy the most fun, most impractical car you can because when you meet the women of your dreams and have kids it' gets MUCH harder to justify!

Porker, fezza, lambo, r8, Tvr, track car, etc etc

Thats the plan!

Im going to do it now while I dont need to justify it, the only reason I will give is "because I can"