Is 15k the sweetspot ?
Discussion
Assuming that your happy with the insurance and running costs, is £15k the sweetspot for buying a nice car ?
Take this, has enough power, all the toys, low mileage £15k
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2529314.htm
Do you really need to spend any more £££ to get a great car ?
Discuss.
Take this, has enough power, all the toys, low mileage £15k
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2529314.htm
Do you really need to spend any more £££ to get a great car ?
Discuss.
I think you could present a similar arguement for most price points. You'd need more than £15k pockets to run that thing though.
Obviously the bigger the budget the bigger your scope or the younger you can go but I'm pretty sure you could manage similar power/comfort for 5bags.
Apart from exotica there are surprisingly few cars over £25k that I'd spend my own money on (If I had it).
Obviously the bigger the budget the bigger your scope or the younger you can go but I'm pretty sure you could manage similar power/comfort for 5bags.
Apart from exotica there are surprisingly few cars over £25k that I'd spend my own money on (If I had it).
Edited by waterwonder on Saturday 7th May 18:23
I guess if you have the cash to afford to run / service a car like that, you can generally afford something a bit more expensive to buy.
My dad had a couple of CL55s. They were good cars, but I wouldn't want to live with one now, was pretty poor build quality. Always having trouble with the electrics.
If your looking at one, I would go for a post 2003 one, when they added the supercharger.
My dad had a couple of CL55s. They were good cars, but I wouldn't want to live with one now, was pretty poor build quality. Always having trouble with the electrics.
If your looking at one, I would go for a post 2003 one, when they added the supercharger.
Personally I think it's £20k.
Porsche 911's, NSX's, BMW E60 M5's (just!), Mint Elises, Audi RS4's.. Pretty much anything worth owning apart from exotica can be had for £20k or less.
That said, you can get silly bargains at ANY price point. It all depends on whether you want a car with less than 100k miles, or less that 5 years old, or you're a badge snob.
£1k can buy all the car you need. Whether you want more and can therefore justify spending more is down to you.
Porsche 911's, NSX's, BMW E60 M5's (just!), Mint Elises, Audi RS4's.. Pretty much anything worth owning apart from exotica can be had for £20k or less.
That said, you can get silly bargains at ANY price point. It all depends on whether you want a car with less than 100k miles, or less that 5 years old, or you're a badge snob.
£1k can buy all the car you need. Whether you want more and can therefore justify spending more is down to you.
I would agree that you don't need to spend more than 15k to get the majority of sporty PH type cars. E46 M3, Z4M, E39 M5, 987 Boxster S, 996 911, a very nice V8 TVR, mint S2000, 111R Lotus Elise, old shape XKR, Monaro etc. Then if you want a barge, somthing older or juned Japanese then 15k is a huge budget.
I'd say it's not so much a sweet spot, as the lowest common point where you can get 'an' example of pretty much any genre of car you want.
Without having to apply too much imagination you can get something that approximates to anything from a pedigree GT (Maser 4200 GT, 996, DB7 etc.) to a stripped out road-racer (decent Caterham, very high spec bike engined kit...) or a full-on supercar (Esprit, NSX) and anything in between. I think that's why it appears to be the definitive sweet spot. That and the fact it sits within a relatively realistic budget for someone on an ordinary-ish budget looking for a private car...
Without having to apply too much imagination you can get something that approximates to anything from a pedigree GT (Maser 4200 GT, 996, DB7 etc.) to a stripped out road-racer (decent Caterham, very high spec bike engined kit...) or a full-on supercar (Esprit, NSX) and anything in between. I think that's why it appears to be the definitive sweet spot. That and the fact it sits within a relatively realistic budget for someone on an ordinary-ish budget looking for a private car...
WeirdNeville said:
Personally I think it's £20k.
Porsche 911's, NSX's, BMW E60 M5's (just!), Mint Elises, Audi RS4's.. Pretty much anything worth owning apart from exotica can be had for £20k or less.
That said, you can get silly bargains at ANY price point. It all depends on whether you want a car with less than 100k miles, or less that 5 years old, or you're a badge snob.
£1k can buy all the car you need. Whether you want more and can therefore justify spending more is down to you.
996 911 ? Porsche 911's, NSX's, BMW E60 M5's (just!), Mint Elises, Audi RS4's.. Pretty much anything worth owning apart from exotica can be had for £20k or less.
That said, you can get silly bargains at ANY price point. It all depends on whether you want a car with less than 100k miles, or less that 5 years old, or you're a badge snob.
£1k can buy all the car you need. Whether you want more and can therefore justify spending more is down to you.
Where can you get a decent RS4 with tech pack etc for £20k though ?
Sub 10k you can get all manner of amazing cars, E39 M5, E46 M3, Merc CL, Jag XJR, Skylines, Supras, RX7s etc.
I really think there's something interesting at just about every price point - E38 740i for 3 grand? That's a 65k luxobarge that'll give most new ones a thrashing in the comfort, looks, and gadgets stakes.
Certainly the case that a lot more doors open with a higher budget, but I don't think there's a single sweet spot.
I really think there's something interesting at just about every price point - E38 740i for 3 grand? That's a 65k luxobarge that'll give most new ones a thrashing in the comfort, looks, and gadgets stakes.
Certainly the case that a lot more doors open with a higher budget, but I don't think there's a single sweet spot.
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