Could you live with a vx220 everyday??

[callywally18]

As the title says really,

Could you live with a vx220 everyday? im 18 with no responsibilities drive back and to to work every day about a 10 mile round trip, and the rest of my driving is for pleasure.

Any experiences greatly appreciated !!

[limpsfield]

I had a Lotus Elise for four years. It wasn't my everyday car but for the sort of journeys you are doing and your age it sounds like a piece of cake.

[Codswallop]

Yes.

It's like a more comfortable, 4 wheeled motorbike. You get less wet, it has more space for shopping, and protects you from the wind.

[hedges88]

callywally18 said:

As the title says really,

Could you live with a vx220 everyday? im 18 with no responsibilities drive back and to to work every day about a 10 mile round trip, and the rest of my driving is for pleasure.

Any experiences greatly appreciated !!

It's obviously not the most practical or comfortable car in the world but for a 10 mile trip I don't think it will cause you much bother. Is it usually just you in the car, or do you frequently have more than one passenger.? I think the insurance will be expensive on a sports car like that at 18 Years old

[Davey S2]

Yes. Plenty of people use Elises and Exiges as their only cars.

I ran an S1 Elise as my only car for about 18 months.

Bit of a pain in the winter with leaky roof and trying to de mist the screen but its all good fun.

[sebhaque]

I did. Bought it as a toy that would do better than 20mpg on the motorway (it replaced an Impreza). I regularly did London-Bristol runs in the car and used it to get to work and back everyday. While a little tiring after 2 hours solid, it wasn't a hard car to run around daily at all, once you got used to the compromises (everything blinds you as you sit so low, there's no heater/fan, the radio's appalling, the suspension is a bit stiff).

The added benefit is that VXs are quite cheap on insurance. I was 19 when I had my turbo and I think it was about £1300 fully comp to insure; that was only 3 years ago so I can't imagine prices have varied too much.

[Simond S]

No. Awful thing to do.

You may enjoy it for a while but unless you (and your gf) are slightly sadomasochistic the fun factor will disappear with the first wet winters day.

[ewenm]

I lived with a Caterham as an only car for 5 years so a VX220 would be fine. It requires a certain mindset of course.

[TankRizzo]

Simond S said:

No. Awful thing to do.

You may enjoy it for a while but unless you (and your gf) are slightly sadomasochistic the fun factor will disappear with the first wet winters day.

Conversely, I ran mine in all weathers for two and a half years (albeit with a hardtop for the worst weather), and never regretted it at all.

The only downsides are having to defrost theinside of your windscreen on particularly cold days, and the terrible heater.

I used to go to work on crisp cold mornings with the top down and a woolly hat on, and it was glorious.

[billzeebub]

Do it, something best done when young rather than during a mid life crisis!..it's not exactly a Caterham, should be no harder to live with than an Elise, which a mate uses daily in winter and summer..

[MKnight702]

I can't see why not, it's more practical than my Westfield was and I did 38,000 miles in 3 years in that!

[Bear Phils]

Yep, might be a bit tricky for going back to UNI next year though...

[Captain Muppet]

Simond S said:

No. Awful thing to do.

You may enjoy it for a while but unless you (and your gf) are slightly sadomasochistic the fun factor will disappear with the first wet winters day.

That has not been my experience. My S1 Elise has a worse screen demister than a VX220, and lacks ABS. It's warm and dry inside, which is all you really need when it's cold and wet outside.

A VX220 is no more hardcore than an MX5 (which also gets ice on the inside of the screen in winter).

[callywally18]

best start looking for one then hadn't i!

The idea of driving with the roof down and wooly hat on sold it to me.

[Corpulent Tosser]

I couldn't, but my SIL did and enjoyed it.

There were niggles, like small leaks, and getting the fiddly roof back on in a hurry when it started raining, though he and my daughter could do it fairly quickly working together.

Go for it.

[ewenm]

callywally18 said:

best start looking for one then hadn't i!

The idea of driving with the roof down and wooly hat on sold it to me.

Get some insurance quotes first to find out your budget left over for the car

[callywally18]

i can chuck it on the company fleet insurance (perk of working for my dad)

[Corpulent Tosser]

Captain Muppet said:

A VX220 is no more hardcore than an MX5

It is for me, I can get into and out of my MX5 with no difficulty, both the VX and Elise/Exige I find an effort, but I am no spring chicken as the expression goes.

[Baryonyx]

sebhaque said:

there's no heater/fan, the radio's appalling, the suspension is a bit stiff).

Really? I always thought they had a heater, but it was just crap?

[Si_man306]

If you enjoy being beaten up on a regular basis (or currently think riding a bike as a DD year round is fine) then yes, if not, no.

I had an S2 lotus as a DD for a year- never again.