Its a sad day :o(
Discussion
Finally decided that I need to get rid of my current car (Audi A3 3.2 s-line) and go for something a bit cheaper to run on the daily drive.
I bought the car on a bit of a whim. Company was selling it off and it was a bit of a bargain. All the s-line trim with the heated leather, sat nav, low miles etc etc and coming from my previous car (Toyota Glanza) it felt amazing and brand new! Ive really enjoyed it but the daily costs, road tax, new tyres, petrol are taking up my spare cash so its time to go. I used to love going for a drive at weekends for a bit of a thrash but I don’t seem to be doing that now due to running costs which defeats the object of having the car.
I’ve been toying with the idea of chopping it in, getting myself a MX5 MK3 and having a bit of spare cash to play around with. Would love to do a few trackdays but the cost of doing that in my Audi brings me out in a cold sweat ;o)
So, what are the mk3’s like? Been looking around and you can pick us a pretty good example 06/07 plate with low miles for my budget (about 6 grand)
I know i’m gonna get abused by my mates telling me I now have to work at a hairdressers, but I just miss going out for a blast without having the worry about how much its costing me every time I spin the wheels a bit, brake really hard or nail the throttle.
So over to you lot, make me feel better about my decision or suggest other options
I bought the car on a bit of a whim. Company was selling it off and it was a bit of a bargain. All the s-line trim with the heated leather, sat nav, low miles etc etc and coming from my previous car (Toyota Glanza) it felt amazing and brand new! Ive really enjoyed it but the daily costs, road tax, new tyres, petrol are taking up my spare cash so its time to go. I used to love going for a drive at weekends for a bit of a thrash but I don’t seem to be doing that now due to running costs which defeats the object of having the car.
I’ve been toying with the idea of chopping it in, getting myself a MX5 MK3 and having a bit of spare cash to play around with. Would love to do a few trackdays but the cost of doing that in my Audi brings me out in a cold sweat ;o)
So, what are the mk3’s like? Been looking around and you can pick us a pretty good example 06/07 plate with low miles for my budget (about 6 grand)
I know i’m gonna get abused by my mates telling me I now have to work at a hairdressers, but I just miss going out for a blast without having the worry about how much its costing me every time I spin the wheels a bit, brake really hard or nail the throttle.
So over to you lot, make me feel better about my decision or suggest other options
Steely4WD said:
Yeah I was looking at the 2.0i sport (160bhp) so should be enough for a country road blast.
I have a 2006 Mk3 and have had it for 3 years. I found one with leather heated seats and air conditioning (handy for winter). 5 speed box is good, I'd want 6 speed if I was on the motorway much.
BOSE is a good addition if you can find one with it, but it can be retrofitted.
I'm doing exactly the same as you, getting rid of my Jaguar S-Type Diesel because it's not fun to drive at the weekend and everything is eye-wateringly expensive. I know I will miss some aspects of it, the wafting, the auto in traffic, the unbelievable ride and seats, but I can get the bus to work in the same amount of time it takes for me to drive.
I'm getting something that's a 2+2, petrol, manual, and is from the 1980-1990's because all this modern crap leads me to the depressed car thread...
I'm getting something that's a 2+2, petrol, manual, and is from the 1980-1990's because all this modern crap leads me to the depressed car thread...
TommoAE86 said:
I'm doing exactly the same as you, getting rid of my Jaguar S-Type Diesel because it's not fun to drive at the weekend and everything is eye-wateringly expensive. I know I will miss some aspects of it, the wafting, the auto in traffic, the unbelievable ride and seats, but I can get the bus to work in the same amount of time it takes for me to drive.
I'm getting something that's a 2+2, petrol, manual, and is from the 1980-1990's because all this modern crap leads me to the depressed car thread...
I do love my car. The way it takes off, the sound of the 3.2 V6 and coming from my N reg Toyota Glanza its leaps and bounds better but like you said, it is very expensive. Even some new tyres were a bit of a kick in the wallet!I'm getting something that's a 2+2, petrol, manual, and is from the 1980-1990's because all this modern crap leads me to the depressed car thread...
I just want something that I can enjoy, thrash around and free up some cash. Also having the option of putting the roof down cant be bad, with the 2 days of sunshine we get a year
)rfn said:
The 2.0 is more than enough really. It's not 'fast' but it certainly isn't slow!
It's a completely different car to the A3 though. For £6k you should be able to get a decent one - not sure if the 2009 facelift ones (mk3.5) have dropped to that price yet.
Had a look around but no 2009's have fallen that low yet. Like I said, I didnt set out for a big engined A3, it just sort of fell into my lap and after a test drive i loved it. Also helped that it was a bargain and my old car was looking a bit sorry for itself.It's a completely different car to the A3 though. For £6k you should be able to get a decent one - not sure if the 2009 facelift ones (mk3.5) have dropped to that price yet.
I know the 2.0 isnt going to peel my face off with the acceleration but it'll be nice to go out round the country roads (just moved up north so there are lots of them now) and have a bit of fun without kicking my bank balance in the nuts
I've just bought an 06 MX5 with 20.000 miles from the main Mazda dealers here. It's not what you'd call a 'practical' solution for my needs (two dogs!) but... it's brilliant!
The MK3 is much stiffer than the earlier one I had (MK1) and doesn't shake or rattle at all, hood up or down. Mine is quite a poverty spec one, but I didn't want the electric roof as I love the simplicity of one lever and chuck it back - roof off in two seconds, back on is nearly as quick!
It's excellent fun to drive, which is the main thing I guess and handles really well, getting the back out is only really possible with severe punishment in the rain, the bugger really grips and it's on ditchfinders!
It's also totally water-tight. Of course, having said that, it'll now leak like a sieve! I think the build of these is excellent compared to the earlier ones, and they were by no means bad. However, get the bloody thing waxoyled (or similar) as I believe even these rust and mine has surface corrosion on the subframes.
They are not fast. Quite how such a big engine in a tiny car can deliver so few ponies I really don't understand, but they are quick enough and torguey so you are not always up and down the box. Also, fuel consumption around town is not spectacular. On my day to day use, I'm only getting 25mpg... but, it never gets warm! When I get to my destination, the temp gauge has barely moved so I think 25 is actually pretty good.
On runs out, fuel consumption is much better, but then that's not really a consideration when you just enjoy every mile you drive. It's good fun just pottering about on the Moors or going a bit quicker and exploiting the handling. They really are fun cars.
The MK3 is much stiffer than the earlier one I had (MK1) and doesn't shake or rattle at all, hood up or down. Mine is quite a poverty spec one, but I didn't want the electric roof as I love the simplicity of one lever and chuck it back - roof off in two seconds, back on is nearly as quick!
It's excellent fun to drive, which is the main thing I guess and handles really well, getting the back out is only really possible with severe punishment in the rain, the bugger really grips and it's on ditchfinders!
It's also totally water-tight. Of course, having said that, it'll now leak like a sieve! I think the build of these is excellent compared to the earlier ones, and they were by no means bad. However, get the bloody thing waxoyled (or similar) as I believe even these rust and mine has surface corrosion on the subframes.
They are not fast. Quite how such a big engine in a tiny car can deliver so few ponies I really don't understand, but they are quick enough and torguey so you are not always up and down the box. Also, fuel consumption around town is not spectacular. On my day to day use, I'm only getting 25mpg... but, it never gets warm! When I get to my destination, the temp gauge has barely moved so I think 25 is actually pretty good.
On runs out, fuel consumption is much better, but then that's not really a consideration when you just enjoy every mile you drive. It's good fun just pottering about on the Moors or going a bit quicker and exploiting the handling. They really are fun cars.
Xtriple129 said:
I've just bought an 06 MX5 with 20.000 miles from the main Mazda dealers here. It's not what you'd call a 'practical' solution for my needs (two dogs!) but... it's brilliant!
The MK3 is much stiffer than the earlier one I had (MK1) and doesn't shake or rattle at all, hood up or down. Mine is quite a poverty spec one, but I didn't want the electric roof as I love the simplicity of one lever and chuck it back - roof off in two seconds, back on is nearly as quick!
It's excellent fun to drive, which is the main thing I guess and handles really well, getting the back out is only really possible with severe punishment in the rain, the bugger really grips and it's on ditchfinders!
It's also totally water-tight. Of course, having said that, it'll now leak like a sieve! I think the build of these is excellent compared to the earlier ones, and they were by no means bad. However, get the bloody thing waxoyled (or similar) as I believe even these rust and mine has surface corrosion on the subframes.
They are not fast. Quite how such a big engine in a tiny car can deliver so few ponies I really don't understand, but they are quick enough and torguey so you are not always up and down the box. Also, fuel consumption around town is not spectacular. On my day to day use, I'm only getting 25mpg... but, it never gets warm! When I get to my destination, the temp gauge has barely moved so I think 25 is actually pretty good.
On runs out, fuel consumption is much better, but then that's not really a consideration when you just enjoy every mile you drive. It's good fun just pottering about on the Moors or going a bit quicker and exploiting the handling. They really are fun cars.
This was exactly the sorty of info I was after. The MK3 is much stiffer than the earlier one I had (MK1) and doesn't shake or rattle at all, hood up or down. Mine is quite a poverty spec one, but I didn't want the electric roof as I love the simplicity of one lever and chuck it back - roof off in two seconds, back on is nearly as quick!
It's excellent fun to drive, which is the main thing I guess and handles really well, getting the back out is only really possible with severe punishment in the rain, the bugger really grips and it's on ditchfinders!
It's also totally water-tight. Of course, having said that, it'll now leak like a sieve! I think the build of these is excellent compared to the earlier ones, and they were by no means bad. However, get the bloody thing waxoyled (or similar) as I believe even these rust and mine has surface corrosion on the subframes.
They are not fast. Quite how such a big engine in a tiny car can deliver so few ponies I really don't understand, but they are quick enough and torguey so you are not always up and down the box. Also, fuel consumption around town is not spectacular. On my day to day use, I'm only getting 25mpg... but, it never gets warm! When I get to my destination, the temp gauge has barely moved so I think 25 is actually pretty good.
On runs out, fuel consumption is much better, but then that's not really a consideration when you just enjoy every mile you drive. It's good fun just pottering about on the Moors or going a bit quicker and exploiting the handling. They really are fun cars.
Cheers for that
Ozzie Osmond said:
Beware: it's almost impossible to save money by buying a new car. (Unless your future wheels are going to be a 10-year old Micra)
Well the plan is to pretty much sell mine for the same price as the new car. The tax alone will save me £250 a year so thats at least 1 trackday paid for. Im assuming all other running costs will be a little bit cheaper i.e tires, pads, disks etc. The Audi isnt killing me moneywise, its just taking up my spare cash that i'd like to put towards having more fun in a car if you know what I mean?
RikST said:
Know exactly where your coming from.... My Focus ST 2.5 is going this weekend... 
really gonna miss it!
Hopefully the new replacement should be a bit cheaper and still give te same kick!
I know what you mean, im gonna miss the Audi when its gone. Its by far the nicest and quickest car Ive owned but Im hoping the mx5 will give me 90% of the smiles for 60% of the costs really gonna miss it! Hopefully the new replacement should be a bit cheaper and still give te same kick!
RikST said:
Know exactly where your coming from.... My Focus ST 2.5 is going this weekend... really gonna miss it!
Hopefully the new replacement should be a bit cheaper and still give te same kick!
Shame it's going mate really gonna miss it! Hopefully the new replacement should be a bit cheaper and still give te same kick!
remember how excited you were when you got it.Will have to take the new one for a blat sometime!
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