What fun car - up to about £10k

[davek_964]

I already spend too much on cars, so I'll start by saying I will probably see sense and not buy another one. But... I recently had a genuine reason that meant I may need to buy another car. It looks like that reason has disappeared - but once you start thinking of buying another car it's hard to stop!

Current situation is that I have 3 cars. Two of them are nice cars and whilst I will take them to Tesco - because I know I can park at the end of the car park and not have some numpty dinging my doors - I don't generally want them squeezed into a town centre car park.
The third car is my 'don't care' car which I'll happily leave anywhere. However, despite being a decent car I don't generally want to use it, especially at weekends.

All 3 cars will stay - the boring one is big and hence practical - but I'm thinking that maybe I need a 'fun' don't care car. One that I will park anywhere, but is still more appealing to drive. I would prefer pre-2006 since I'm not willing to buy a car that costs £500 a year to tax.
I could go to about £10k if it's a model of car I really want (although that might defeat the purpose), but would prefer ~£5k.

I've owned a couple of 911s in the past, and although I'm aware of the engine issues a 996 would be a possibility. But they look to be in the £10k-£15k region and I don't think I want to pay that.
Cayman seem a bit too new - most are after 2006 - and over £10k even for starship miles.
Although I've never felt the need for a convertible, I've had a targa before and enjoyed that. There are plenty of Boxsters in the £5k or under region so it's very tempting to take a look at a few of those.

What else should I consider? Number of seats / practicality don't matter - I just want a car that still a decent fun drive for a budget where I don't care too much if it's not perfect.

ETA : Z4 seems to be in budget, and having never had a BMW I think I favour that over a Boxster. Happy to hear other suggestions though.

Edited by davek_964 on Sunday 26th February 09:41

[p4cks]

An early naturally aspirated VX220 can be had for between £6-10K and if you decide (like many) that you can't live with it you'll have zero depreciation. They're actually appreciating at the moment.

If you don't fancy the rawness of a VX then there's maybe a 350Z or a Z4 Coupe. Having owned both, along with a 996 my preference was the BMW and even with a 3.0 engine it returned 32MPG regularly and wore its miles very well. The 350Z I found to be boring, thirsty and the interior was plasticy. Very plasticy. The 996 was absolutely fking ste and I wouldn't have another if you paid me.

Anyway, in conclusion my recommendation would be a Z4 Coupe. Or a VX220 Turbo if your balls are big enough to live with the lack of comfort/heat.

Edited to add links:
VX220 Supercharged http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VX220-HPI-CLEAR-SUPERCHA...
VX220 Naturally Aspirated http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ICONIC-VAUXHALL-VX220-2-...
Z4 Coupe http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bmw-Z4-3-0si-Coupe-/2322...

Edited by p4cks on Sunday 26th February 10:40

[davek_964]

p4cks said:

An early naturally aspirated VX220 can be had for between £6-10K and if you decide (like many) that you can't live with it you'll have zero depreciation. They're actually appreciating at the moment.

If you don't fancy the rawness of a VX then there's maybe a 350Z or a Z4 Coupe. Having owned both, along with a 996 my preference was the BMW and even with a 3.0 engine it returned 32MPG regularly and wore its miles very well. The 350Z I found to be boring, thirsty and the interior was plasticy. Very plasticy. The 996 was absolutely fking ste and I wouldn't have another if you paid me.

Anyway, in conclusion my recommendation would be a Z4 Coupe. Or a VX220 Turbo if your balls are big enough to live with the lack of comfort/heat.

Thanks.

VX220 is probably a bit hard core, but interesting suggestion.

Currently comparing Z4 and Z3 adverts - although they're older, Z3 look quite appealing because for the same (or less) money you seem to get a 60k mile Z3 vs a 120k mile Z4.