What £6k 2 seater roadster? Lease, used & loan or cheap used
Discussion
My wife currently has a Polo GTI on a cheap lease that is soon to go back. Previous to the Polo she had a NA MX5 followed by a NB MX5. Following the sad demise of her last MX5 (rust), I suggested we need a more practical car, hence the Polo.
She has always hated the Polo (as the roof doesn't come down) so I have agreed to get another roadster of some sort to replace it with. Our budget is about £6000 over two years. I have come up with 3 alternatives and welcome any advice.
Lease a brand new MX5
One thing I have enjoyed about the Polo if the lack of MOT's, Tax, and if there had been any issues with the car, VW would have dealt with it under warranty. We have been offered a brand new MX5 for £1695.60, £188.40 x 23 (so basically £6000 over the two years). The one thing I don't like with leasing a car is that have spent all that money over two years, you are left with an empty drive.
Buy a friends 2001 Porsche Boxster
I have dreamt of owning a Porsche for over 44 years. A friend has a lightly used, 2.7 Boxster that he needs to move on to help fund his divorce. The car has covered 56k, FSH, 12mths MOT, is a manual and doesn't have an awful colour interior. He wants £5.5k for it. We would have to borrow £3k over the two years to pay for it, with £2500 cash making up the balance. I have read plenty horror stories of catastrophic bearing failure on these cars to put me off owning one but with my less sensible head on, I still can't help wanting one. Obviously, this car so going to need taxing, servicing and mot'ing while we own it so ongoing costs are a given. What I wouldn't want is a car that could go wrong so spectacular that it could be written off. That said, if all went well, in two years we could still have a car on our drive that has some value. Does anyone know if I could pay for a warranty for the car?
Spend £2500 cash on a NB MX5 and be finance free.
We know what we get with an old MX5. Over the 6 years we had the old one I got used to polishing rust, I'm just not that keen to start doing it again. It was a great, fun car though in every other way and never cost much to keep running during the time we owned it. Certainly far less than running an ageing Boxster. Still managed to get £900 for the old thing when we moved it on.
So, what to do? Heart is saying Porsche, head is saying brand new MX5 for peace of mind.
Wife is saying "Don't really care so long as the roof comes down".
She has always hated the Polo (as the roof doesn't come down) so I have agreed to get another roadster of some sort to replace it with. Our budget is about £6000 over two years. I have come up with 3 alternatives and welcome any advice.
Lease a brand new MX5
One thing I have enjoyed about the Polo if the lack of MOT's, Tax, and if there had been any issues with the car, VW would have dealt with it under warranty. We have been offered a brand new MX5 for £1695.60, £188.40 x 23 (so basically £6000 over the two years). The one thing I don't like with leasing a car is that have spent all that money over two years, you are left with an empty drive.
Buy a friends 2001 Porsche Boxster
I have dreamt of owning a Porsche for over 44 years. A friend has a lightly used, 2.7 Boxster that he needs to move on to help fund his divorce. The car has covered 56k, FSH, 12mths MOT, is a manual and doesn't have an awful colour interior. He wants £5.5k for it. We would have to borrow £3k over the two years to pay for it, with £2500 cash making up the balance. I have read plenty horror stories of catastrophic bearing failure on these cars to put me off owning one but with my less sensible head on, I still can't help wanting one. Obviously, this car so going to need taxing, servicing and mot'ing while we own it so ongoing costs are a given. What I wouldn't want is a car that could go wrong so spectacular that it could be written off. That said, if all went well, in two years we could still have a car on our drive that has some value. Does anyone know if I could pay for a warranty for the car?
Spend £2500 cash on a NB MX5 and be finance free.
We know what we get with an old MX5. Over the 6 years we had the old one I got used to polishing rust, I'm just not that keen to start doing it again. It was a great, fun car though in every other way and never cost much to keep running during the time we owned it. Certainly far less than running an ageing Boxster. Still managed to get £900 for the old thing when we moved it on.
So, what to do? Heart is saying Porsche, head is saying brand new MX5 for peace of mind.
Wife is saying "Don't really care so long as the roof comes down".
The Porsche sounds very nice, if it's a choice of dropping £6k over two years on a shiny Mazda or buying a Boxster for £5.5 that will be worth similar money in two years to a certain extent it's a no-brainer.
I guess what you need to work out is how you protect yourself against any big bills (0% Purchase credit card for example!), I am sure you could buy a warranty but it would probably cost a fortune.
I guess what you need to work out is how you protect yourself against any big bills (0% Purchase credit card for example!), I am sure you could buy a warranty but it would probably cost a fortune.
Nickp82 said:
The Porsche sounds very nice, if it's a choice of dropping £6k over two years on a shiny Mazda or buying a Boxster for £5.5 that will be worth similar money in two years to a certain extent it's a no-brainer.
I guess what you need to work out is how you protect yourself against any big bills (0% Purchase credit card for example!), I am sure you could buy a warranty but it would probably cost a fortune.
Thanks for your input. There is a decent local Indy Porsche specialist near me. I will ask them if they have any info on decent warranties that may be available.I guess what you need to work out is how you protect yourself against any big bills (0% Purchase credit card for example!), I am sure you could buy a warranty but it would probably cost a fortune.
james_gt3rs said:
Running costs on a Porsche will potentially be a lot higher than an MX5...
Without a doubt as they're both in different leagues. Thing is, I'd have nothing to show after 2 years and £6k on the new MX5. Hopefully, the Porsche should retain enough of its value to counter the additional cost of running it*.- Man maths have been applied, somewhat.
Obviously the Boxster is the best option here. But if you have to get a loan for it, imagine something going wrong with it and having to deal with Porsche parts prices. Plus consumables are almost double the price from the MX5's.
I'd say go for a rust free NB (if you can find one) or wait till the winter for the prices to go down and even NC's might be in your price range.
I'd say go for a rust free NB (if you can find one) or wait till the winter for the prices to go down and even NC's might be in your price range.
kostas_miata said:
Obviously the Boxster is the best option here. But if you have to get a loan for it, imagine something going wrong with it and having to deal with Porsche parts prices. Plus consumables are almost double the price from the MX5's.
I'd say go for a rust free NB (if you can find one) or wait till the winter for the prices to go down and even NC's might be in your price range.
Did wonder about a £3k NC but figured any to be found around this price will be a bit scruffy...I'd say go for a rust free NB (if you can find one) or wait till the winter for the prices to go down and even NC's might be in your price range.
Boxsters don't have to be that expensive to run. there are plenty of independents around and contrary to a lot of opinion, have a flick through the classifieds and see what sort of mileages some of them have done.
Sure they are more expensive to run but not by a huge amount and it is worth it.
Sure they are more expensive to run but not by a huge amount and it is worth it.
With the talk of loaning the money I assume you're not in the top tier of ph'ers by earnings, the idea of lobbing 6k at renting a car for 2 years seems mad as does the idea of running a porsche on a shoestring. Will the practicality angle that got her in a polo not rear its head, would something like an E46 or SAAB rag top not be a cheaper tick all boxes solution?
Herbs said:
Boxsters don't have to be that expensive to run. there are plenty of independents around and contrary to a lot of opinion, have a flick through the classifieds and see what sort of mileages some of them have done.
Sure they are more expensive to run but not by a huge amount and it is worth it.
There is an Indy Porsche specialist near me (Zentrum, Nottingham) that has a good reputation. Their servicing costs are on the website and seem very reasonable.Sure they are more expensive to run but not by a huge amount and it is worth it.
hairyben said:
With the talk of loaning the money I assume you're not in the top tier of ph'ers by earnings, the idea of lobbing 6k at renting a car for 2 years seems mad as does the idea of running a porsche on a shoestring. Will the practicality angle that got her in a polo not rear its head, would something like an E46 or SAAB rag top not be a cheaper tick all boxes solution?
Certainly not one of PHs director types but have always enjoyed the fact that nice cars can be had without spending a fortune. Whilst financing a brand new Boxster is doable, I'm not that good at man maths to make that work. Did wonder about a 4 seat convertible but it's the 2 seat cars the wife prefers...Shame for our daughter and dog but hey-ho...
The New MX-5, well you might not have anything to show for it at the end of two years, but you will have driven a brand new car for that time. That has quite a value.
After buying anything from a trip to the cinema to a big holiday, there's nothing left to show either.
Unexpected bills on the Porsche are the only thing stopping you being able to do a direct cost comparison to the new MX-5, but you'll be able to do a pretty accurate calculation otherwise.
Of course you could look at something that isn't an old MX-5, such as an MR2 MK3.
You'll get a really nice facelifted model for £2.5-£3k. No good if you want luggage capacity but if that isn't an issue then it's MR2 every time as far as I'm concerned. (I've just bought my second, great cars).
I had exactly the same thought process as you a few months back, and I ended up not going for a Boxster because of running costs compared to the MR2 and potential for a disastrous bill.
After buying anything from a trip to the cinema to a big holiday, there's nothing left to show either.
Unexpected bills on the Porsche are the only thing stopping you being able to do a direct cost comparison to the new MX-5, but you'll be able to do a pretty accurate calculation otherwise.
Of course you could look at something that isn't an old MX-5, such as an MR2 MK3.
You'll get a really nice facelifted model for £2.5-£3k. No good if you want luggage capacity but if that isn't an issue then it's MR2 every time as far as I'm concerned. (I've just bought my second, great cars).I had exactly the same thought process as you a few months back, and I ended up not going for a Boxster because of running costs compared to the MR2 and potential for a disastrous bill.
SCEtoAUX said:
The New MX-5, well you might not have anything to show for it at the end of two years, but you will have driven a brand new car for that time. That has quite a value.
After buying anything from a trip to the cinema to a big holiday, there's nothing left to show either.
Unexpected bills on the Porsche are the only thing stopping you being able to do a direct cost comparison to the new MX-5, but you'll be able to do a pretty accurate calculation otherwise.
Of course you could look at something that isn't an old MX-5, such as an MR2 MK3. You'll get a really nice facelifted model for £2.5-£3k. No good if you want luggage capacity but if that isn't an issue then it's MR2 every time as far as I'm concerned. (I've just bought my second, great cars).
I had exactly the same thought process as you a few months back, and I ended up not going for a Boxster because of running costs compared to the MR2 and potential for a disastrous bill.
A colleague has a Mk3 MR2 and loves it. I had a look round it the other week and was surprised by the lack of luggage space. I thought that one opening the bonnet (front) I'd find quite a decent size 'boot". I had a Fiat X19 once and expected to find a similar set up, not the little cupboard. That's not really a deal breaker though as we have an estate car, too.After buying anything from a trip to the cinema to a big holiday, there's nothing left to show either.
Unexpected bills on the Porsche are the only thing stopping you being able to do a direct cost comparison to the new MX-5, but you'll be able to do a pretty accurate calculation otherwise.
Of course you could look at something that isn't an old MX-5, such as an MR2 MK3.
You'll get a really nice facelifted model for £2.5-£3k. No good if you want luggage capacity but if that isn't an issue then it's MR2 every time as far as I'm concerned. (I've just bought my second, great cars).I had exactly the same thought process as you a few months back, and I ended up not going for a Boxster because of running costs compared to the MR2 and potential for a disastrous bill.
Yep, going from a brand new Polo GTI (with it's new smell, dab radio, phone, etc) to something old is going to be tough. When that old car is something fun though should help.
Chicken Chaser said:
I'd go for the tidiest Mk2.5 MX5 I could find. When you consider the amount of fun you will have, exponentially the Porsche isn't worth worrying about over big bills. As much as I like Porsche, the Boxster isnt that exciting to me.
True, whether it was a Porsche or a MX5, it's wouldn't make a scrap of difference to my wife (unless it went wrong, the Porsche that is, then she'd have an opinion!).I think your friends Porsche is the one for you but you do have options:
BMW Z4
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Mercedes SLK 350
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
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BMW Z4
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
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Mercedes SLK 350
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
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