Am I missing something obvious? - fun 4 seater

[Luke H]

Having had a selection of Lotus/Caterhams over the last 8-9 years with a growing family and less time for blasts out and trackdays I've been doing less and less mileage in them in recent years. Just sold my Elise Cup and now telling myself if i get something with 4 seats at least i can get some more use out of it with the family and still have something i can enjoy on my own on occasion, I'm lucky enough locally to have some excellent quiet roads on the doorstep and also still fancy the odd trackday with Lotus mates.

Needs to be:

- Manual
- Able to seat 2 kids in the back (currently 6 & 2) comfortably for the next 3-4 years.
- Engaging
- Not financially ruinous in terms of repairs/running costs.
- Budget upto £50k - will be buying outright so pcp etc irrelevant
- Manual!

Appreciate coming from what I've had all options will be barges but its primarily a car to enjoy, we have other stuff for lugging stuff around and nipping to the shops.

By rights i should get an Evora 2+2 but they've always looked a little 'awkward' to me and with the Emira coming down the pipe I expect prices to crash hard in the future and i want to get something for this spring.

Tried a boggo spec 3.4 991 and was left underwhelmed, tried a Yaris GR - mega car but too similar to the wifes MK8 fiesta ST which despite being less capable is IMO more fun to drive. DB9 doesnt feel like its the right thing to throw down a B road and worried about runnings costs...

I'm now at a point where i feel like I'm basically left with getting an M2 Comp - drove an OG recently and it was a fun little thing and hid its weight quite well.

Basically - am I missing a better option before i go and buy one?!

[ilikejam]

Giulia Quadrifoglio?

[blue_haddock]

Would something like an audi TT RS be possible?

Slightly older but well under budget .

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111300...

[Luke H]

ilikejam said:

Giulia Quadrifoglio?

Mega car but no RHD Manuals

[nickfrog]

Luke H said:

I'm now at a point where i feel like I'm basically left with getting an M2 Comp - drove an OG recently and it was a fun little thing and hid its weight quite well

This was what I had in mind until the point I read that you were considering it already

I can't think of a better all rounder for the money for my needs.

Manual cars are rare though so you might have to make do with a OG car but that's no hardship as they're a little lighter and subjectively sound better.

[willisit]

Tough one; I ended up going with two cars (pre-pandemic). I had a Mustang and Audi Estate. The Mustang is an AM now, but it sits still too much since I barely go anywhere.

I'd err on the 911, but £50k in that Porsche bubble gets you nothing these days, especially with a manual box.

The Mustang is a barge, but certainly doable; VXR8 does everything with a manual gearbox too. Sounds like you want something smaller though....

[Emmons]

What about a charged GT86. Four seats (rear on the small side though), praised for how it handles and if you find a turbo or supercharged one then 300bhp is more than enough to make it fun.

[M.F.D]

Manual M2 is the best thing I can think of too. I really fancy one aswell!

[cerb4.5lee]

Not all that many to choose from, but what about a manual F82 M4?

[PH User]

Megane RS275 and a load of cash left over to spend on something else would be my choice.

[Xcore]

Tvr cerbera

[ingenieur]

What happened to all the Jap cars... are they still around? Things like the Evo and Impreza?

[cerb4.5lee]

Xcore said:

Tvr cerbera

He mentioned that he doesn't want something financially ruinous!

I did always take my family out in mine though, and they are fantastic(fast/loud/relatively light/a cracking head turner/have a great sense of occasion) when they are working for sure.

[pb8g09]

For me, top end - M2, TT-RS, BMW 1M (maybe in budget?!)
Mid level plus running costs - Mustang, M4, M240i (plus upgrades).
Lower end - (R)S5, BMW 135i coupe,

Personally I'd be a very happy bunny with any of those on my driveway. I suspect all barring the M4 and M240i will have very strong depreciation curves (some appreciating).

[cerb4.5lee]

pb8g09 said:

For me, top end - BMW 1M (maybe in budget?!)

There are a few in budget. Funnily enough when I was looking to buy the E92 M3 back at the end of 2012 early 2013, the 1M was the car that I really wanted. They were still out of budget for me back then though, I had £30k for the M3 and the 1M was still around £40k. They've basically only appreciated which is great for their owners I reckon.

[nickfrog]

pb8g09 said:

For me, top end - M2, TT-RS, BMW 1M (maybe in budget?!)
Mid level plus running costs - Mustang, M4, M240i (plus upgrades).
Lower end - (R)S5, BMW 135i coupe,

Personally I'd be a very happy bunny with any of those on my driveway. I suspect all barring the M4 and M240i will have very strong depreciation curves (some appreciating).

I only know about the M2 manual and prices have been volatile. They bottomed out again recently (relatively to the current market conditions) but they're up again over the past few days. There are only 8 of them AUC in manual nation wide. If I was in this market I would buy now.

[ZX10R NIN]

1M

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108166...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110288...

M4 Competition this for me is a better option then the M2:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112070...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110078...

Bullet Mustang:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112200...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201040...

55 Edition

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111169...

GT

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109077...

[nickfrog]

ZX10R NIN said:

1M

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108166...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110288...

M4 Competition this for me is a better option then the M2:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112070...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110078...

Great options indeed but I would probably not buy any of them without a AUC warranty.

[ZX10R NIN]

nickfrog said:

Great options indeed but I would probably not buy any of them without a AUC warranty.

You can buy a warranty from BMW.

[nickfrog]

ZX10R NIN said:

nickfrog said:

Great options indeed but I would probably not buy any of them without a AUC warranty.

You can buy a warranty from BMW.

Indeed but sadly it is almost twice the price if it has been interrupted, not to mention the 30 day inception. So £2k rather than £1k for x number of years makes AUC more appealing.