Family man's weekend wheels - 2 seats or 4?

[kambites]

rainmasterb said:

Lovely car, but very common and is it that special?

There's no absolutes to "special", so you tell us. I don't think I consider any modern mass produced road cars special.

[mak]

After several years of two seater toys sat in the garage ( hardly being used) i bought my self a 4 seater toy, guess what, i now have a 4 seater toy in the garage that i still drive on my own albeit not very often due to lack of time .
To be honest most women don't give a sh*t about cars so your toy..... your choice.
My budget at the time was 15k just over a year ago, 4 seats,convertible,340bhp,rwd,and German.Can you guess what it is yet

[andy43]

^- Audi S4?
4 seater cabs are pointless - all you get is whinging from the back about how windy it is.
My vote - 2 seats if roofless, 4 seats if not.

[kambites]

You can drive them with the roof down when you're on your own, and with the roof up when you have passengers.

They do tend to be a bit... floppy, though.

[Amateurish]

rainmasterb said:

Ha, was just thinking about that. I work for a premium car manufacturer and whilst the company car scheme is really very good, (and certainly too good to turn down) my grade does not quite afford a car I would truely love. Next grade up does (i.e. a stonking V8!) but a) they don't let you trade up annoyingly and b) that's director level and I a) am not sure I'll ever get there and b) not sure I want to!

I also used to work for a premium brand manufacturer and got good, but not exciting, company cars FOC. However, there was also a heavily subsidised lease scheme where we could get some pretty tasty machinery for a very reasonable monthly rental. Nothing like that at your place?

[rainmasterb]

mak said:

After several years of two seater toys sat in the garage ( hardly being used) i bought my self a 4 seater toy, guess what, i now have a 4 seater toy in the garage that i still drive on my own albeit not very often due to lack of time .
To be honest most women don't give a sh*t about cars so your toy..... your choice.
My budget at the time was 15k just over a year ago, 4 seats,convertible,340bhp,rwd,and German.Can you guess what it is yet

E46 M3 right? I have to admit I keep coming back to this car, and really enjoyed the CS version I borrowed for a couple of days, but I'm just not convinced it stands out enough for me. Similarly the E39 M5, wonderful car, but different enough to a normal E39 when not at at least 7/10ths?

Anybody track a Maser GT? Not sure I would dare but damn do they sound good and I love the cabin.

Renault GTA/A610?

Edited by rainmasterb on Friday 27th April 18:35

[rainmasterb]

Amateurish said:

I also used to work for a premium brand manufacturer and got good, but not exciting, company cars FOC. However, there was also a heavily subsidised lease scheme where we could get some pretty tasty machinery for a very reasonable monthly rental. Nothing like that at your place?

Yes and no. There are 'nicer' cars available to lease, but none that I would pay the £400/month they are asking, even though that is still a bargain for a £70k car.

[rainmasterb]

This... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
...but with a manual box and some decent suspension.

Hard to beat I reckon?

[Amateurish]

rainmasterb said:

Amateurish said:

I also used to work for a premium brand manufacturer and got good, but not exciting, company cars FOC. However, there was also a heavily subsidised lease scheme where we could get some pretty tasty machinery for a very reasonable monthly rental. Nothing like that at your place?

Yes and no. There are 'nicer' cars available to lease, but none that I would pay the £400/month they are asking, even though that is still a bargain for a £70k car.

That is a lot. We used to be able to get decent stuff for less than £300. Mind you even a Maser or Cerb might be costing you £400 per month when you take into account maintenance and depreciation.

[mak]

rainmasterb said:

E46 M3 right? I have to admit I keep coming back to this car, and really enjoyed the CS version I borrowed for a couple of days, but I'm just not convinced it stands out enough for me. Similarly the E39 M5, wonderful car, but different enough to a normal E39 when not at at least 7/10ths?

Anybody track a Maser GT? Not sure I would dare but damn do they sound good and I love the cabin.

Renault GTA/A610?

Edited by rainmasterb on Friday 27Th April 18:35

Yes the old e46 m3 but to be honest Andy was correct too with the s4 being my second choice.
You are correct though, for a toy to sit in the garage and maybe only get used once or twice a month it needs to feel special and an event when the garage doors are finally opened but alas on our budget things need to compromise .
Funny thing budget, you never have enough, if you have 5k spare you dream of 7-9k, if you have 12k all those cars at 15k look so close yet so far, i bought a 911 c2s at 30k a few years ago and still went looking at 38k 360 ferrari
For 15k whatever sits in your garage you will enjoy and even if you find yourself out for a blast on a country road on your own without the wife shouting slow down you will no you have the wright car.

[sawman]

for this exact purpose peter wheeler gave us the cerbera and colin chapman provided the elan plus 2. wheeler was a big chap so fitting in should be ok.
I took the 4seater option with a morgan though the kids are bigger than the op's. and even european road trips are possible on addition to active sprint racing and appreciating values.

Edited by sawman on Saturday 28th April 07:44

[chockymonster]

I have a Bike engineed kit as my fun weekend car, it's a 2 seater and since we had our son in 2010 I've done 200 miles in it if that. If I want to go out for a drive I don't really want to do it on my own so the thing hardly gets driven.

I don't see the point in keeping it which is a crying shame as I really enjoyed building it.

Personally I'd suggest going for a 4 seater, at least you'll get a chance to use it.

[Yachtworker]

Does it really have to be high performance or just special???

I have two small children and when we return to live in the UK, we will get one large new(ish) and powerful family wagon (which I reckon you have) and then what I consider a pratical and fun toy, one of these:




I thought about getting a small sports car etc for a blast but I guess living in Cornwall one of these is a ton of fun and trust me every journey is an event plus kids love it. I just think old Mercs and Maseratis etc have lost their appeal and will just keep losing value (bar a couple).

Jesus I'm getting old!

[vescaegg]

I'd say z4m.

If you have to take the kids take the other car, but for the times you don't the M will be awesome.

[xRIEx]

Corsair7 said:

Where you going to go, on your own?

My guess would be 'on the roads'. Plenty of times I've gone from my house to my house - it's a 50 mile trip. Seriously, do you not just get in and go for a drive sometimes?

[heppers75]

Would have to say an XJ-S....

Ooooo I don't know like this one maybe?...

[Vladimir]

Yachtworker said:

Does it really have to be high performance or just special???

I have two small children and when we return to live in the UK, we will get one large new(ish) and powerful family wagon (which I reckon you have) and then what I consider a pratical and fun toy, one of these:




I thought about getting a small sports car etc for a blast but I guess living in Cornwall one of these is a ton of fun and trust me every journey is an event plus kids love it. I just think old Mercs and Maseratis etc have lost their appeal and will just keep losing value (bar a couple).

Jesus I'm getting old!

Now that is bloody lovely! It wasn't for sale recently was it? Saw one very much like that for sale parked by the A30 nr Truro. Sort of looking for one. We ran a 2007 110XS Defender and TBH I think it was the "wrong" way to do the LR thing. It just cost daft amounts to run and look after and broke down all the time. A Series LR seems like a better bet. That is a minter too! Where in Kernow are you (roughly)?

[paulmoonraker]

I have just chopped the Scooby in for a Cayman and I have twins! However, I have a family and work hack in the guise of a Mondeo diesel. Luckily however, I do lots of miles for work so selectively use the Cayman for that.

The one thing I miss is taking the fun car out on family trips! So I would probably advise against it if you don't have the chance to use it during the week.

I see and Evo has been mentioned, and coming from a Scooby I can honestly say that there is little that provides the brutal performance and fun, combined with the practicality of a saloon. In addition, relatively speaking, for the performance you have on tap, the running costs are small.

[Dominicc01]

OK, so we started off fine. You want a weekend fun car, but aren't sure if you want to be able to put the children in at some point. Fact is, you will certainly get more use out of it (and less from the wife) if everyone can go. You definitely want the Maser.

Then you say you want to track it. This is a different proposition entirely, and one for which no Maserati (unless its suspension has been ruined) will ever be suited. For that, your best bet for an all-rounder is an E46 M3 CSL.

Personally, I've never worried about tracking a car, and I haven't any children, so it would be close run between the Cerb and the Maser....... In the end, the Maserati is the more beautiful and what I'd go for.

[cailean]

Why on earth would you buy a car that you can't go out with your family? Bizarre to me.