£10000-ish. What new (used) fun powerful car?

[vladman]

Hi,

I currently drive an Jag S-Type R having now owned it for a little over 3 years. It's a great car, but I'm a little bored with it. It's just a tad too civilised for me, but at the same time I got spoiled by its luxury and refinement and don't want to entirely give that up.

I'm thinking of selling/part-ex-ing it, and getting something else for up to about £10000 or just a tad over (no way over £11000 absolute max).

Requirements (this is complicated!):

• Big engine/big torque/big bhp (got spoiled by the Jag!)
• Weight not particularly important (but hopefully not over 2 tons!)
• Handling semi-important. Will be driven on normal roads at normal speeds 95% of the time.
• Fuel economy largely unimportant as will be doing low miles most of the time
• Good noise (the Jag's a bit too quiet, can't hear that V8)
• Toys and gadgets (that work)
• AWD would be beneficial, but not crucial
• Comfortable for long trips (I do approximately 1 trip to continental Europe per year, sometimes only every two years)
• Practicality - a big boot is a bonus, but I don't have kids, so not absolutely crucial. Having said that, I like big saloons, not particularly crazy about small coupes, two seaters or open tops, but open to suggestions
• Age - preferably not over 7-8 years old, worried about reliability (see below)
• Reliable and maintenance/running costs - don't want a money pit - can't afford thousands on maintenance/repairs following purchase. The Jag's been great and totally reliable.

So far, I've been mulling the following:

• Audi RS6 (C5), either saloon or estate, don't mind - I love this car but am almost scared to death of buying it due to known faults with DRC suspension system being problematic, and quite a few other things that get mentioned on some other forums related to this car.
• Merc E55 AMG (W211) - don't know much about their reliability
• Merc C55 AMG (W203) - same, don't know much about reliability - also a tad low on power/torque, as it's not supercharged
• Merc CLK55 AMG (C209) - same as above
• BMW M3 (E46), not sure about it, I know they're great cars, they look good, and manual shifting is a bonus (except when I'll miss the auto in stop/start traffic!), but worried it'll feel gutless/torqueless after the supercharged V8 I'm used to.
• I know about Monaros but the 5.7 (non-VXR?) ones aren't that much faster (if at all) than the Jag, and a little too crude? Don't know that much about them, so correct me if I'm wrong.

M5 (39), have always loved that car, and nearly bought it instead of the Jag, but feel it wouldn't be enough of a change now, and overall not worth the hassle of switching and taking on a risk of a car I don't know (which I know comes with whatever I end up choosing).

I've even considered some torquey big diesels but can't really find anything exciting in my price range. Audi A8 4.2 TDI looks really good, but just out of my price range.

This brings me to another matter - insurance. Grrr!

So I'm currently paying about £700 for the Jag, fully comp. I'm 38, 6 years NCB protected, no points, one accident 4 years ago, an advanced driving course a couple of years ago. What I don't get is why, when I do quotes for any of these other cars, they regularly come at around £1000 or over, regardless of the fact most of them are in about the same insurance group as the Jag. I did notice that they charge you more if you say "don't own the car yet" as opposed to saying you've owned the car for some time, so if I said "don't own the car yet" for the Jag, I get a quote of about £800. More than if I say I've owned it for a few years, but still less than any of the others. Why??? Effectively, the insurers seem to charge more ANYONE buying ANY new car, as opposed to people renewing their existing car insurance. Never noticed that before.

What do you think?

Edited by vladman on Monday 12th September 23:20

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Never bothered saying I don't own the car yet when doing quotes, but anyway my suggestion was going to be a 5'er, not much of a change maybe, but ticks all the boxes

Could get an E39 M5 for that money:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3151413.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2995586.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3151047.htm

Surely that would be quite a change from the Jag??

[vladman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm sure the M5 is ultimately a more fun car to drive, however, the examples I could afford (the ones you found, more or less, maybe a little better ones, if I kept on looking) are all at least a couple of years older and have twice (or more) the miles of my Jag (the Jag is late 2002, with under 40000 miles), so just feels like I'd be swapping something fairly reliable for a bigger risk...

[300bhp/ton]

Totally left field, but sort of fits everything you've asked for.

Ford Lightning SVT (2000)
43,000 miles £11,495
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3106446.htm


380hp stock, 5.4 supercharged V8. A few simply mods and 500-550hp



BTW - easy fix for ANY car to make it louder is an after market exhaust. Well worth the money if you want to hear the exhaust note properly.

This looks good too:

Vauxhall Monaro 6.0 V8 VXR - UK's Leading Specialist (2006)
£10,000
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3123296.htm

[ClaphamGT3]

Hi

The RS6 would be a good call - here's my old one that I'm selling

http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=929...

We replaced it with a W211 E63AMG. I'm not sure you'll get a decent E55AMG for your budget.

[frosted]

Yesterday I nearly had a man moment and bought at 2008 66k 330i msport coupe for 13k from car giant . I thought it was a bit of deal but then I realised I need 2 cars

This one http://www.cargiant.co.uk/BMW/330i/Coupe/results-B...

Edited by frosted on Monday 12th September 23:24

[craigb84]

I'm just glad you haven't put down a daft MPG requirement that many seem to want these days. In my eyes its either power or MPG...not both. So well done to you Sir.

I say M3. You'll get a good model with good spec for that money and they're a very different beast to the Jag. You mention concerns about them feeling under powered and also that you're used to superchargers but, and someone correct me if i'm wrong, I was of the opinion that in general superchargers were better for lower end torque but ran out of steam quickly? The M3 is N/A so would surely have a more even power band.

As i say, i'm unsure about that but i wouldn't get too hung up about the supercharged bit. The Jag is running 400bhp compared to the M3's 340 or so but i'm not sure you'd notice it in a manual. Surely if anything the M3 would be a more engaging drive?

Its what i'd go for anyways. Try one.

[cptsideways]

I think this should tick all the boxes quite confidently too. I can't believe they are down to these figures already. A wee bit of negotiation & job done.


Lexus IS-F

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3213727.htm

[craigb84]

cptsideways said:

I think this should tick all the boxes quite confidently too. I can't believe they are down to these figures already. A wee bit of negotiation & job done.


Lexus IS-F

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3213727.htm

£46k down to £10k is a massive ask.

[k15tox]

Monaro.

If you want a grunty motor and your still able to keep that noise.

And if you do get bored of the power, charge it or cam it.

They then become very rapid, all with the added bonus of reliability (provided you don't boost to much) 500hp is easily achievable on a 'couple of psi'

[sebhaque]

An Impreza STi would fulfill a lot of that criteria - they're fantastic cars if you ignore the ruined image thanks to s getting hold of ancient ropey classic ones. Something like this is a good bet - practical, sounds gorgeous with the boxer rumble, and it'll tear your face off in a straight line, through the bends, or even braking.

If you've not been in one for a while then at least humour me and test drive one - several PH buddies (including a Cerb owner and a chap who works for this site) found my old Scoob an absolute hero to drive.

[cptsideways]

craigb84 said:

cptsideways said:

I think this should tick all the boxes quite confidently too. I can't believe they are down to these figures already. A wee bit of negotiation & job done.


Lexus IS-F

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3213727.htm

£46k down to £10k is a massive ask.

Woops looks like I read the price of the car above lol

[frosted]

craigb84 said:

£46k down to £10k is a massive ask.

The cheapest isf I saw was a little over 20k , bargain if you ask me . Probably the best used buy in 3-5 years time when they reach 10k !

[excel monkey]

How about a Jag XK of some kind, or a BMW 6-series?

[DLovett]

E55 AMG is what you want. The E500 is also a great car, if you're scared of AMG running costs.

[Lets Torque]

300bhp/ton said:

This looks good too:

Vauxhall Monaro 6.0 V8 VXR - UK's Leading Specialist (2006)
£10,000
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3123296.htm

I saw that one that is pictured yesterday. It is a WANTED ADVERT so it isn't for sale , it is just someone wanting to buy them.

[vladman]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep them coming, some interesting ones there!

Had to LOL at the sight of that huge American truck. There ARE limits to what my other half would tolerate...

Yes, that Monaro looked interesting (but not in that crazy red, more like grey or black), but I also noticed it was a Wanted advert, that car was not available.

I drove a friend's Impreza WRX which he has modified extensively, and it had over 360bhp, better brakes, etc. Very nice to drive, lovely noise and nice pull, but I hate to admit it, I do have a problem with its image. Still, I must say that whereas before I drove it, I'd never even consider it remotely, now I am considering it. Remotely.

I also wondered if the chap that suggested the IS-F was trying to be funny... It's actually a car I did look at, hoping the prices DID come down that much... but no such luck.

Must say, an RS6 or an E55 AMG are at the top of my list. Had a look at that advert for an RS6 someone here is selling, tempting, a little high on miles. I could just about afford one, just worried about running costs (not fuel) afterwards. What are they like, compared to the Jag? Not sure if anyone can comment on that....

I saw that for my budget I could also get a CLS 500, which is kind of tempting, but again, don't think I'll be making enough of a change to warrant... the change. Yes, it'll be a few years younger and a bit more modern, but probably, all in all, very similar overall driving experience to what I have now.

Still don't understand about insurance. Can anyone comment on that? Why am I getting a significantly lower quote for a 400bhp Jag than anything else (and I mean anything). Anything I tried so far has been barely under £1000 and the Jag is £700.

Edited by vladman on Tuesday 13th September 09:52

[vladman]

Just saw that the CLS500 I could afford is in fact the 5.0 version (not the 5.5), only 300bhp, so scrapping that... I did wonder how/why they were so cheap...

[S18DMW]

As suggested above, I'd go for a Vauxhall Monaro VXR.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3027164.htm

[frosted]

If you go throu some of that guys posts you would see he said a few times he is selling it because is not a very good car