A sort of what car / what to do...
Discussion
I'm at a bit of a loss about what to do with my car. I have a 1.8 MK3 MX5 and to be honest, I'm really quite bored of it. I originally bought it three years ago as an introduction to RWD cars and for that it's served it purpose, I've had some good fun in it but it doesn't really do it for me anymore.
The lack of power means overtaking opportunities are few and far between, and I'm anxious to try a car with an LSD (no more one wheel spinning up, skipping about under power...) and more than anything, I want something that's a bit more of an occasion to drive. Couple that with the fact that aside from essential maintenance which will be done regardless, I'd have to be spending around £600-700 to get it decent again.
The £600-700 consists of new tyres and brakes, for the most part. I know that sounds essential, but I should point out that both are well on the good side of legal right now, but past their best. If I continue as I drive currently, just to work and back basically, they will last a good while yet. But it puts me off going for a good, fun drive as I don't want to get to the point where I'll have to replace them when I may considering dropping the car off quite soon.
My original plan involved waiting around 6 months, saving up some more and changing to a Chimaera. But, I begrudge spending the a fore mentioned £700 on my car when I would be looking to swap soonish anyway and could put the money towards funding the change. If I'm going to continue to drive my car over that period though, I'd struggle not to spend the money on it as it's quite annoying to drive right now. I feel like Ms. Daisy driving around and I'm constantly thinking about being easy on the tyres / brakes when previously, when I had no intentions of selling the car, that was the last thing on my mind.
In an ideal world, I could wait the few months, not have to spend any more on my MX5 and then change when I'm in a position where money isn't in such short supply. I could afford to now at a bit of a push, but in about 4 or so months will be in a much better position.
My options as I see it:
1) Keep my car until I'm financially in a better position to consider the TVR, and spend at least some of the money on it. (Some budget brakes and tyres, perhaps.) Possible wasted £600-£700?
2) Same as above, but don't spend any more money on my car other than standard maintenance. Cheapest option, but a boring and potentially annoying few months. Still considering this, though.
3) Change to TVR now and put the money I would be spending on my car towards it (or keep it back as back-up money incase something goes wrong with it) Financially doable, but I feel uneasy about doing this right now until later on in the year when I'll be a bit better off.
--
4) Odd ball choice - I could change to a 2.0 MX5 for very, very little cost. Both cars worth about the same, no insurance difference bar a small admin fee, I get to play with a bit more power than I'm used to and get the limited slip differential I've been after. The downside is I'd be stuck with it at least a year, which is far from ideal as I have the feeling I'd get bored of it pretty quickly as it's essentially the same car I know and am bored of.
No other cars really interest me at this stage and I'm pretty settled on the TVR, so not really looking for suggestions unless you have a very good idea.
Basically then, I want (3) but my head says no. (1) doesn't make good sense and I would rather change to the 2.0 for less cost (4), but my heart says no because I just don't want to. That leaves (2): I guess I could probably avoid spending a lot of the money, but I can't really enjoy driving it all that much while it's in its current state so would be a crap few months...but possibly worth it?
I think I've answered my own dilemma here, it helped to write it all down. I'm still interested to hear what you think., though.
The lack of power means overtaking opportunities are few and far between, and I'm anxious to try a car with an LSD (no more one wheel spinning up, skipping about under power...) and more than anything, I want something that's a bit more of an occasion to drive. Couple that with the fact that aside from essential maintenance which will be done regardless, I'd have to be spending around £600-700 to get it decent again.
The £600-700 consists of new tyres and brakes, for the most part. I know that sounds essential, but I should point out that both are well on the good side of legal right now, but past their best. If I continue as I drive currently, just to work and back basically, they will last a good while yet. But it puts me off going for a good, fun drive as I don't want to get to the point where I'll have to replace them when I may considering dropping the car off quite soon.
My original plan involved waiting around 6 months, saving up some more and changing to a Chimaera. But, I begrudge spending the a fore mentioned £700 on my car when I would be looking to swap soonish anyway and could put the money towards funding the change. If I'm going to continue to drive my car over that period though, I'd struggle not to spend the money on it as it's quite annoying to drive right now. I feel like Ms. Daisy driving around and I'm constantly thinking about being easy on the tyres / brakes when previously, when I had no intentions of selling the car, that was the last thing on my mind.
In an ideal world, I could wait the few months, not have to spend any more on my MX5 and then change when I'm in a position where money isn't in such short supply. I could afford to now at a bit of a push, but in about 4 or so months will be in a much better position.
My options as I see it:
1) Keep my car until I'm financially in a better position to consider the TVR, and spend at least some of the money on it. (Some budget brakes and tyres, perhaps.) Possible wasted £600-£700?
2) Same as above, but don't spend any more money on my car other than standard maintenance. Cheapest option, but a boring and potentially annoying few months. Still considering this, though.
3) Change to TVR now and put the money I would be spending on my car towards it (or keep it back as back-up money incase something goes wrong with it) Financially doable, but I feel uneasy about doing this right now until later on in the year when I'll be a bit better off.
--
4) Odd ball choice - I could change to a 2.0 MX5 for very, very little cost. Both cars worth about the same, no insurance difference bar a small admin fee, I get to play with a bit more power than I'm used to and get the limited slip differential I've been after. The downside is I'd be stuck with it at least a year, which is far from ideal as I have the feeling I'd get bored of it pretty quickly as it's essentially the same car I know and am bored of.
No other cars really interest me at this stage and I'm pretty settled on the TVR, so not really looking for suggestions unless you have a very good idea.
Basically then, I want (3) but my head says no. (1) doesn't make good sense and I would rather change to the 2.0 for less cost (4), but my heart says no because I just don't want to. That leaves (2): I guess I could probably avoid spending a lot of the money, but I can't really enjoy driving it all that much while it's in its current state so would be a crap few months...but possibly worth it?
I think I've answered my own dilemma here, it helped to write it all down. I'm still interested to hear what you think., though.
Pretty set on saving for the next few months and then changing to something fun. I've just had the essentials done to my car and will try and drag out the life of the tyres / brakes as long as possible and to be honest, I think after thinking about it and getting some perspective there are far worse things than being stuck with my MX5 for another 6 months or so.
The slight, and by slight I mean major snag in this plan is insurance. I've just taken out a new policy (about a month ago) and I won't be refunded any of the money if I cancel. Therefore I'm stuck with my current insurance company until next January.
So, I either have to get a car that they deem acceptable or wait a year. This has ruined all prospects of TVR ownership for the next year. I was looking forward to checking around for classic insurance and hoping for a pretty decent price for a Chimaera, but my insurer want circa £4k. Totally unrealistic and now left with the dilemma of sticking with my car for a year or finding a different car that I still want and can insure.
Although I've always loved the idea of an S2000, that's also a no-go. Insurer wants £4k (cheapest quote I've ever had was £2k anyway).
I've completely gone off the idea of a 2.0 MX5. It's the car I wish I'd got from the start, but after test driving one a few months ago I don't think it's going to be different enough to keep me entertained.
I have found myself looking at 986 Boxster S's. Plenty under 10k, quite like the styling and the noise, but again left a little cold. Though fast, I have a feeling they're going to be too clinical and lacking a bit in the fun department. I just can't seem to make myself really want one. The worry of big bills also puts me off somewhat, but ultimately it seems like a very capable, practical car. I don't need practical, I just want fun and practicality needs ends with a roof - so no kit cars (unless you can think of one that will happily live outside all year round.)
I've ruled out Z4's as the standard models seem to be a bit more cruiser than sports car to me. The M on the other hand would be fantastic, but too expensive to buy and I think I'd struggle with the ownership costs (though I'm basing that on an assumption it will be very, very expensive).
Any suggestions? Should I just wait a year?
As this is now turning in to more of a what-car thread, I should probably list a more detailed list of what I'm after:
- Two seats
- Convertible
- Ideally >4 cylinders
- Has to be able to live outside all year around
- Not going to mention a specific bhp output, but for arguments sake let's say a minimum of 200bhp/tonne, ideally more
- Max of £10k, preferably less
- Fun, mad, exciting, sense of occasion... Not sure how to quantify that...
So far I've thought of (and ruled out for above reasons): MX5 2.0, Z4, S2000, TVR Chimaera. I'm still intrigued by the Boxster but gut feeling says no.
What else is there?
The slight, and by slight I mean major snag in this plan is insurance. I've just taken out a new policy (about a month ago) and I won't be refunded any of the money if I cancel. Therefore I'm stuck with my current insurance company until next January.
So, I either have to get a car that they deem acceptable or wait a year. This has ruined all prospects of TVR ownership for the next year. I was looking forward to checking around for classic insurance and hoping for a pretty decent price for a Chimaera, but my insurer want circa £4k. Totally unrealistic and now left with the dilemma of sticking with my car for a year or finding a different car that I still want and can insure.
Although I've always loved the idea of an S2000, that's also a no-go. Insurer wants £4k (cheapest quote I've ever had was £2k anyway).
I've completely gone off the idea of a 2.0 MX5. It's the car I wish I'd got from the start, but after test driving one a few months ago I don't think it's going to be different enough to keep me entertained.
I have found myself looking at 986 Boxster S's. Plenty under 10k, quite like the styling and the noise, but again left a little cold. Though fast, I have a feeling they're going to be too clinical and lacking a bit in the fun department. I just can't seem to make myself really want one. The worry of big bills also puts me off somewhat, but ultimately it seems like a very capable, practical car. I don't need practical, I just want fun and practicality needs ends with a roof - so no kit cars (unless you can think of one that will happily live outside all year round.)
I've ruled out Z4's as the standard models seem to be a bit more cruiser than sports car to me. The M on the other hand would be fantastic, but too expensive to buy and I think I'd struggle with the ownership costs (though I'm basing that on an assumption it will be very, very expensive).
Any suggestions? Should I just wait a year?
As this is now turning in to more of a what-car thread, I should probably list a more detailed list of what I'm after:
- Two seats
- Convertible
- Ideally >4 cylinders
- Has to be able to live outside all year around
- Not going to mention a specific bhp output, but for arguments sake let's say a minimum of 200bhp/tonne, ideally more
- Max of £10k, preferably less
- Fun, mad, exciting, sense of occasion... Not sure how to quantify that...
So far I've thought of (and ruled out for above reasons): MX5 2.0, Z4, S2000, TVR Chimaera. I'm still intrigued by the Boxster but gut feeling says no.
What else is there?
Edited by mx5tom on Saturday 25th February 01:56
mx5tom said:
0a said:
And the award for the highest average post length goes to...
I'm on a night shift, bored out my mind and time to kill. Concise enough for you? 
fair enoughEdit to add - I'd seek out a Z3M coupe. BMW's TVR and surely depreciation proof now?
Edited by 0a on Saturday 25th February 02:08
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