Looking for fun for £10-£12k

[DaveyGTS]

Hi there. First post here and did use the search button but couldn't really find what I was after.

I'm looking to upgrade from my MR2 Turbo to something a little more refined but still retaining the pace.

My budget is around £10-£12k. Ideally turbocharged but not essential. I have been looking at old Audi RS6's, Maserati 3200's and even E46 M3's.

Practicality is not an issue. I'm leaning towards the RS6 at the moment but i have heard some horror stories about maintaining one of these.

Any suggestions would be welcome

[anonymous-user]

S1 Elise 111s

why would you want a big lardy saloon car heavy on consumables if the objective is to have fun and practicality isnt an issue?

If you really need a solid roof and want something with a bit more comfort, look for a Porshe 968.

[vixen1700]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4013655.htm

[JulesB]

Looking for fun for £10-£12k?


Opening title did not at first lead me to believe you were looking for a car...

[daveco]

Mate you only need about £500 for a high class hook...oh he wants a car! Thought this was the lounge for a second.

I would suggest a post '03 E46 M3 as a starting point. It might feel a bit cumbersome compared to your MR2 but that ENGINE is a thing of beauty.

Porsche Boxster S is another one that would offer similar handling dynamics to your car but with more refinement and engine note to savour.

£10-12k is plenty to get a good example of both.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

more refined but with the same pace?

e46 M3
Z4M roadster (if you still only need two seats)
996 carrera

i went from my mk3 MR2 to a nissan 350Z, it felt a bit big & heavy but it was a great car, plenty of thrust, stood up to some serious track abuse & was cheap to run. if you still quite like the jap thing but want it in a more up to date & realiable package i don't think you could go far wrong.

[300bhp/ton]

DaveyGTS said:

Hi there. First post here and did use the search button but couldn't really find what I was after.

I'm looking to upgrade from my MR2 Turbo to something a little more refined but still retaining the pace.

My budget is around £10-£12k. Ideally turbocharged but not essential. I have been looking at old Audi RS6's, Maserati 3200's and even E46 M3's.

Practicality is not an issue. I'm leaning towards the RS6 at the moment but i have heard some horror stories about maintaining one of these.

Any suggestions would be welcome

That budget gives you a fair bit of scope. But yes any big powerful tuned motor car that cost a packet when new, has the potential to be costly to maintain. Even more so if you want to stick to using dealers and OEM parts.

That said, if you are prepared to do some work yourself and be a little canny on how/where you buy parts, then they need not be ruinous.


At this money I think I'd be looking at:

-911 C2 (996)
-maybe a Boxster
-C4 ZR-1 Vette
-C5 Vette
-C4 LT4 M6 Vette
-Monaro
-Evo IX
-Solstice GXP (if you can find one and in budget)
-Cerbera V8
-Camaro SS/Trans Am WS6
-Mustang Cobra, pref 2003/4 supercharged model

[Krikkit]

vixen1700 said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4013655.htm

God yes. That's my perfect spec of TVR - blue with tan hide, non-wood dash, 4.3 pre-cat and those wheels (whatever the name is!)

[kambites]

Some kind of TVR.

[fathomfive]

E39 M5?

[300bhp/ton]

pablo said:

S1 Elise 111s

lol, guess you missed this bit:

DaveyGTS said:

I'm looking to upgrade from my MR2 Turbo to something a little more refined...

[RJDM3]

I would go RS6, but i am biased. Cars are generally very reliable, gearbox and Audi suspension are the weak links.

Fuel economy is as you would expect for such a car...crap..but you dont buy a car like this for fuel economy.

[DaveyGTS]

Krikkit said:

God yes. That's my perfect spec of TVR - blue with tan hide, non-wood dash, 4.3 pre-cat and those wheels (whatever the name is!)

That is stunning - The soundtrack alone would justify the price!

[vixen1700]

DaveyGTS said:

That is stunning - The soundtrack alone would justify the price!

Get it bought then!

[stuckmojo]

I was in the same place some weeks back and I went for a Carrera 2 (996). I love it to bits. To the point it's my only car now. I use it for shopping, commuting, hooning et cetera.

[DaveyGTS]

looking back at that title it does read a bit dodgy!

Thanks for all the suggestions, TVR would be a lot of fun but my understanding is that reliability is not exactly great?

Wouldn't mind staying jap, but I'm leaning more towards the Germans right now.

[crazy about cars]

300bhp/ton said:

At this money I think I'd be looking at:

-911 C2 (996)
-maybe a Boxster
-C4 ZR-1 Vette
-C5 Vette
-C4 LT4 M6 Vette
-Monaro
-Evo IX
-Solstice GXP (if you can find one and in budget)
-Cerbera V8
-Camaro SS/Trans Am WS6
-Mustang Cobra, pref 2003/4 supercharged model

Wow! Surprised what you can get for 12k these days...

What is I'm looking for fun too, but for around £30k?

Practicality not and issue but need to use it year round for work!

[300bhp/ton]

DaveyGTS said:

Thanks for all the suggestions, TVR would be a lot of fun but my understanding is that reliability is not exactly great?

This depends how you look at it.

The engine is a Rover engine, used in 1000's of Range Rover's and other vehicles.

Gearbox is Rover if an early example or a Ford/TKO in latter examples.

Most of the mechanical bits are Rover/Ford or other parts bin items.

The electronics are simple.

The chassis is only steel tubing (although watch for rust/dodgy repairs)


Some trim items are bespoke and smaller detailing bits might be hard to get hold of.


But in short a Chim/Griff is a simple car mostly made of easily available parts. There is no reason why such a vehicle should be unreliable.

That said, such a car in unlikely to be perfect and trying to make it so and over paying for certain items and/or labour is a fools errand.

They also suffer niggles, as in there'll always be a little something that needs sorting. But don't let it worry you.

If you don't mind working on cars yourself, then they should be very easy to maintain.

DaveyGTS said:

Wouldn't mind staying jap, but I'm leaning more towards the Germans right now.

Jap is ok, I've had a few and they are nice. Not sure the reliability gag is really all it's cut out to be though. Same with German cars too to an extent.

Don't know if you'd get on in budget, but an M Coupe would be a sound investment. Pretty quick too.

[Chris71]

vixen1700 said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4013655.htm

4.3 BV Griff ... fantastic choice. Wonder if he'd swap it for my Chim 500?

In general, you're probably better off looking for Chimaeras, though. That sort of budget is lowish end for a Griff, but it would get you a very nice Chimaera. Under the skin they're identical. While the Griff was undoubtedly the more iconic model, the Chimaera is mechanically identical, every bit as quick, even more practical and significantly better value for money.

Coming from a mass produced Japanese car (and I say that as a fan of the MR2) you will find a TVR takes a bit more looking after. Usually it's just minor things, though, and the ownership experience should be a doddle for anyone seriously contemplating a Maserati 3200 GT. They tend to respond well to being driven regularly, but obviously the cost is still proportional to the mileage and you probably will find yourself doing odd jobs that you wouldn't need on an M3 or a Boxster. That said, they're a lot easier to maintain than something like a Cerbera.

They're not the most agile sports cars you'll find, but they're great fun in a muscle car sort of a way. They also make fantastic cruisers thanks to a huge boot, comfy (gorgeously trimmed) cabin, decent weather protection and relaxed gearing.

[300bhp/ton]

crazy about cars said:

Wow! Surprised what you can get for 12k these days...

What is I'm looking for fun too, but for around £30k?

Practicality not and issue but need to use it year round for work!

£30k is skies the limit.

I guess some serious questions to ask yourself:

-how many miles a month
-is mpg an issue
-is durability or maintenance schedule and issue
-what sort of roads will you be driving on mostly
-what sort/type of driving style appeal
-will you work on the car yourself at all
-and would you consider a backup vehicle should you need it


For example, IMO £30k would give you several major choices of types of cars:

-something classic. Maybe not the fastest, although could be modified/modernised. But likely H U G E fun and something that isn't likely to lose money. So a sound bet financially wise. Downside is, it'll be an old car and tad more fickle.

-something new. Golf R/370z/GT 86 type of thing. Not the fastest for the money and not the most flashy. But new and easy to live with. But something that'll likely lose money quickly and might just not be as special as other cars you could buy for the money.

-something expensive hit be depreciation. So not new or old. But modern Porsches, maybe even a Ferrari, Masser, modern Corvette, M3/6 could all be candidates. Likely more costly than a new Golf to run, but way more special too. A tad more risky maybe in running costs and some might still plummet money, although pick wisely and some won't lose much.