30k, 3 car garage

[skinny]

Planning for a potential lifestyle change (including a small human and large dog) with a house move.
Assuming i sell my old ('91) mx5 turbo (running 220 bhp), my porsche 996, and Mrs Skinny's Citroen DS3, I'll have around £30k for three cars to cover all requirements:
2 seat convertible sports / fun
5 door small sports hatch for town
Mid size diesel estate for long trips

All need to be reliable, reasonable miles and not too old.
What would your personal choices be?

I'm thinking

Mx5 mk3 2.0 (£6-10k) / BMW Z4 sDrive 3.0 (£10-14k) / Porsche 987.2 (£14-16k)

Golf mk5 GTI (£8k) / Golf mk6 GTI (£10-12k) / Ford Fiesta ST-3 (£14k)

Ford Focus estate ST-3 (£10k) / Volvo V60 R-design (£10k) / Skoda Octavia VRS (£12-14k) / Audi A4 avant S-line (£14k)

[Mr Tidy]

I'm thinking a facelift E85 might work for your 1st choice - a good 3.0Si would be within your MX5 budget range.

And so long as you don't mind a fabric roof an E85 is generally regarded as more of a "Sports" car whereas the E89 is more of a "GT". Or splurge a bit more for an E85 Z4MR - maybe £12K or so, but rather special, if you can live with higher running costs.

For the hatch I'd look for a 130i - nothing like RWD in a sea of FWDs!

Diesel Estate I'd be looking for a 330D, or maybe 335d if you don't mind auto only.

You might have guessed I'm something of a BMW fan.

[DoubleD]

Im a fan of getting the best car for your money rather than just sticking to one brand all the time.

A megane would be a far more fun hatch.

[ZX10R NIN]

2 Seater Convertible options:

Honda S2000

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SLK300

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SLK 350

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Hot hatch wise it has to be the Megane RS250 in Lux Cup spec:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Dog wagon:

Insignia VXR

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or the Focus ST-3 but in all honesty I'd be taking the VXR:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Stu-C123]

It's an interesting position you find yourself in - lifestyle changes usually mean getting rid of cars...

Anyway - some left-field options from me as I like to try to avoid the usual suspects with these games. Probably stretches your age/reliability requirements a fair bit:

- Lotus Elise S1 (£12-15k)
- Mazda 3 MPS (£7-10k)
- Volvo V60 (price and therefore age/mileage dependent on the cost of the other two)

[mike9009]

Have a look at my four car garage. Much older and they do require attention from time to time but I have a few options if one breaks down.

However it is largely depreciation proof (or minimal ££££'s at the present time).



Mike

[RSTurboPaul]

Why sell the Mk1 MX5? If anything they are appreciating now, whereas the newer ones will only go down in value and cost more to fix, whereas you can do your own work on the Mk1 with ease

[skinny]

Thanks all.

Mrs skinny has to be able to drive all 3 cars - my mx5 is a bit unfriendly with buckets, roll cage, lowered, stiff, and noisy. S2000 and elise might still be a little old / raw for her

Unfortunately she isn't a fan of big beemers so whilst the Z4 might be ok, the 130 would be near the edge (I'll definitely give one a go as not driven before) but the estate would be a no. I said E89 as i just love the looks and shape, E85 looks a little funny tho I saw some out in the sun today and they aren't as bad as i remember.
Megane, needs to be a 5-door hatch to get the baby or it's stuff in the back easily.

[Mr Tidy]

skinny said:

Thanks all.

Mrs skinny has to be able to drive all 3 cars - my mx5 is a bit unfriendly with buckets, roll cage, lowered, stiff, and noisy. S2000 and elise might still be a little old / raw for her

Unfortunately she isn't a fan of big beemers so whilst the Z4 might be ok, the 130 would be near the edge (I'll definitely give one a go as not driven before) but the estate would be a no. I said E89 as i just love the looks and shape, E85 looks a little funny tho I saw some out in the sun today and they aren't as bad as i remember.
Megane, needs to be a 5-door hatch to get the baby or it's stuff in the back easily.

The 130i is only 4,227mm long - the Megane with the big rear is 4,209mm so not much in it really!

I'm not a fan of E85 or E89 looks - so I've got an E86.

Anyway good luck finding the right combination.

[ZX10R NIN]

skinny said:

Thanks all.

Mrs skinny has to be able to drive all 3 cars - my mx5 is a bit unfriendly with buckets, roll cage, lowered, stiff, and noisy. S2000 and elise might still be a little old / raw for her

Unfortunately she isn't a fan of big beemers so whilst the Z4 might be ok, the 130 would be near the edge (I'll definitely give one a go as not driven before) but the estate would be a no. I said E89 as i just love the looks and shape, E85 looks a little funny tho I saw some out in the sun today and they aren't as bad as i remember.
Megane, needs to be a 5-door hatch to get the baby or it's stuff in the back easily.

If it has to be five doors then I'd say the five door Focus in ST-3 spec is the one to look at :

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.0T ST-3

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The 130i needs work to be a compare to the Megane/Focus but they're a nice 8/10ths car that have a sweet engine, another car that has that combo is the Golf R32 which is proving to be a car that depreciates very slowly:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[skinny]

Thanks - to be honest its going to be an 8/10ths car predominantly, my days of thrashing stuff about are near an end. The R32 looks nice, hadn't considered that before. How thirsty are they real world?

It feels fairly likely we'll end up with some sort of focus whether as a hatch or estate

[ZX10R NIN]

Real world you'll average mid 20's with the 130 doing about 3-4mpg more.

[Jamescrs]

In relation to your estate choices, I have owned both a Focus ST (though not estate) and an Audi A4 Sline estates and I currently have a Volvo V60 R design.

So the Focus, very nice seats, good infotainment setup, good drive, good boot, the downside is the rear seats are very limited for space, I had my youngest in the back behind the passenger seat in a rear facing ISOFIX seat and there was very limited legroom in the front for the wife, she isn't tall particularly at 5ft6 and she was not comfy.

The Audi A4 Sline Avant I loved, genuinely a lovely car, great for the family but it was stolen from outside my house within 3 months of owning it so on that basis I wouldn't recommend it

The Volvo V60 R Design, not as well built as the Audi, I get the odd trim rattle, space wise, equal to if not slightly better than the Audi, infotainment not quite as slick as the Audi or Ford but still works very well and does everything I need it to, the built in Sat nav is pretty good, other things I like about my Volvo are adaptive cruise control and in terms of safety features even though it is the oldest of the three cars I've owned above it still has the best safety features of the three by quite a distance, probably the best seats of the three cars too although the Audi seats were very good also.



For me if I was buying a decent size estate car again I'd ignore my wifes badge snobbery and buy a Skoda Superb, Octavias are perfectly good cars but not big enough inside for my use.

[ZX10R NIN]

I like the Superb but I'd always buy the Mondeo over one as it's a better steer & they come well equipped as well as being well built the only fly in the ointment is that they hold their money well & are hard to find as they tend to get snapped up, which is why I suggested the VXR Insignia which represents a great VFM as well as being an underrated steer.

Titanium X Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[skinny]

Thanks all for the real world experience!
Focus estate is out then.
And I didn't realise the 5-dr fiesta ST was 2017-on, so probably a bit too new / expensive compared to other hatches.

Hatch is likely to be a golf mk5/6 gti, they just look like nice places to sit, good to drive, reasonable on fuel etc. And having driven the Focus ST-2 and 3 i don't want mrs skinny wrestling with that torque steer.

Estate heart over head likely Audi a4 avant (non CVT) over mondeo it looks good in s-line trim and cabin is lovely (even if the mondeo drives better). If i can get a 2014+ mondeo, this will be a closer call.
Skoda is said not to ride so well, v60 might be on the small side in the rear

2 seater strangely becomes non priority, and will be the best for whatever is remaining (given that i can't justify a 981 boxster S and sheds for the other 2). Hopefully can still stretch it to E89 but won't be upset with an mx5 mk3 2.0

[Bumblebee7]

If I had the same criteria I would get:
-Elise, awesome car and they seem to not depreciate much, if at all
-Golf GTI mk6 is a solid choice, worth looking at the Megane RS as well, baby beemer is more cramped in boot/back seats. Civic is a good size but perhaps not as involving.
-For the estate I would go Skoda (superb or octavia), Volvo (v60 or v70) or a merc e class.

If the wife really won't accept an Elise then I would go for an MX5 mk3 as at least they're easy to work on. But some of the older ones can be had for well under £5k and they're reliable so either save the cash or put it towards one of the other two cars.

[gashead1105]

Drop all thoughts of a 2 seater for a few years would be my advice. You won't use it much once baby arrives and assuming your wife is reasonable she'll let you have another one...

Given that budget, I'd get the best Fiesta ST (potentially even the new one) and the best Volvo V60/V70 I could find, and add back in an Elise or similar when funds allow.

I had a Mk5 Ed30 golf. What a boring rustbucket it wazzzzzzzz. I also had a 2015 Fiesta ST - miss it a lot. New one is even better.

[Bumblebee7]

gashead1105 said:

Drop all thoughts of a 2 seater for a few years would be my advice. You won't use it much once baby arrives and assuming your wife is reasonable she'll let you have another one...

Given that budget, I'd get the best Fiesta ST (potentially even the new one) and the best Volvo V60/V70 I could find, and add back in an Elise or similar when funds allow.

I had a Mk5 Ed30 golf. What a boring rustbucket it wazzzzzzzz. I also had a 2015 Fiesta ST - miss it a lot. New one is even better.

All depends on the wife I suppose my wife wants to have a baby imminently and so I am desperately trying to get a 2 seater now becuase I fear if the baby comes first it'll be put on the back-burner for about 2 decades. My logic being that if I have a 2 seater I won't be made to sell it, and I will be 'allowed' to replace it with another in due course seeing as it'll be a like for like replacement. On the other hand trying to persuade my wife in a few years time, when she's probably not working and we have child expenses to allow me to buy a 2 seater may be much harder than it is now with both of us working and no additional child expenses.

[gashead1105]

It's a fair point. My wife was reasonable - she let me buy an exige when pregnant with the first and I've basically always had a lotus since. But I'm very lucky and don't have to fit three cars into the OPs budget.

My main goal would be something that the wife is happy with - was a V70 in our case - and something fun for me I can daily, take the family in if appropriate and do a trackday or two if that's my thing. Fiesta fits the bill for me, or a last gen Megane if I wanted something a little bigger.