Finding something interesting that ticks the boxes - £13k

[jagb]

I've been looking to get myself a personal car after a few years of not having one. I have hire cars provided through work nearly weekly, but for tax reasons they are only insured when being driven for work purposes, and frankly I'm fed up with structuring my personal life around places which are enroute to/from site visits!

I am really struggling to find anything that inspires me to want to tie up my money though. Budget is probably up to about £13k.

My general criteria are:

• Primarily must have at least a reasonable amount of power and be exciting in some way
• Clean Air Zone compliant (Euro 4 Petrol/Euro 6 Diesel)
• Reasonable running costs (no top rate tax) & Minimal depreciation
• Under no circumstances can it be related in absolutely any way to the Fiat 500
• Not EWB/LWB and probably not an SUV unless it was a particularly good option

The obvious choices just don't do it for me - an ND MX5 seems like it would be great, but I worry about lack of power (unless another BBR one came up in budget), and there’s a lot more depreciation for them to take. E46 & E90 M3s and 987 Caymans seem like fun options, but I would be concerned about reliability. I live too near to Birmingham to view any of the VAG, BMW or Merc hot hatches positively.

Am I just asking too much here? It’s just feeling like I’m doomed to have something mediocre.

Currently after months of searching my saved adverts (none of which tick all the boxes) consists of:

• £12.5k TTRS in BRG, that I primarily saved for the colour and the engine. I have never been a fan of the TT otherwise.
• £12.5k 430i, its the B48 4 cylinder which I really don't want like in a car that size, but is both a great colour combo, reasonably well specced and manual
• £10k e90 335i that looks in pretty poor condition, but has the best/weirdest spec combo I've seen (no IDrive, non-M-Sport, base white and manual, but inexplicably has Adaptive Cruise Control)
• £12.5k manual E39 Alpina B10 that would bend me over on running costs and isn't Clean Air Zone complaint, but on the other hand is a manual e39 Alpina B10
• Over budget F10 Alpina D5 that’s not a good spec, doesn't look in great condition, but is an Alpina
• Over budget F10 550i which is just a nice car, but could well explode both its engine and my emergency money pot at its own whim

Any advice telling me to stop being so picky (or what the perfect car is ) would be appreciated.

Edited by jagb on Sunday 6th April 11:32

[Juan B]

430i is nice.

I was looking with a smilar budget a while ago (for a daily) ended up with a 430d xdrive, which maybe is a abit mediocre for what you're wanting.

A decent spec Golf-R or GTI may not be too chavy?

Magane RS or Jag XE S could be worth having a look at too.

[jagb]

Juan B said:

430i is nice.

I was looking with a smilar budget a while ago (for a daily) ended up with a 430d xdrive, which maybe is a abit mediocre for what you're wanting.

A decent spec Golf-R or GTI may not be too chavy?

Magane RS or Jag XE S could be worth having a look at too.

I think if i see a 4 series come up in a good individual colour it would be bang on, as a car it is pretty much exactly what I want, I just don't love the idea of having one that will get lost in the sea of BMWs at my local car park.

Have you had a good experience with the XDrive? I've steered clear because of occasionaly hearing the odd horror story about mismatched tire pressures causing failures etc (predominantly on the 5 series), but not 100% clear whether that genuinely happens in practice and so whether I should be considering them.

I do think a decent spec manual 2017/18 GTI Performance would objectively be a great option, they it just doesn't quite click with me. I think part of the issue is im in and out so many similar cars week in week out that it just isn't different enough to my hire cars, the bulk of which are VAG hatchbacks. My marching powder business is unforunately not quite booming enough for a Golf R.

Defintely interested in the idea of a Megane RS, my first car was a Clio so always had a soft spot for french hot hatches! Not sure the interior quality is quite what I'm looking for though - I'm a bit of a perfectionist so prefer as much leather, metal and sound deadening as possible in preference to the French penchant for hard plastics!

[Juan B]

jagb said:

I think if i see a 4 series come up in a good individual colour it would be bang on, as a car it is pretty much exactly what I want, I just don't love the idea of having one that will get lost in the sea of BMWs at my local car park.

Have you had a good experience with the XDrive? I've steered clear because of occasionaly hearing the odd horror story about mismatched tire pressures causing failures etc (predominantly on the 5 series), but not 100% clear whether that genuinely happens in practice and so whether I should be considering them.

I do think a decent spec manual 2017/18 GTI Performance would objectively be a great option, they it just doesn't quite click with me. I think part of the issue is im in and out so many similar cars week in week out that it just isn't different enough to my hire cars, the bulk of which are VAG hatchbacks. My marching powder business is unforunately not quite booming enough for a Golf R.

Defintely interested in the idea of a Megane RS, my first car was a Clio so always had a soft spot for french hot hatches! Not sure the interior quality is quite what I'm looking for though - I'm a bit of a perfectionist so prefer as much leather, metal and sound deadening as possible in preference to the French penchant for hard plastics!

Generally been fine with the XDrive, the only thing is its apparently more work to do things like wheel bearings so that was a bit more expensive than was expecting. I'd say if possible on a test drive try to get up to cruising speed and just make sure its a smooth ride, check the brakes, tyers etc usual stuff as some bits aren't the cheapest to replace. I'd get the tracking checked too if you get any XDrive, usually pretty cheap. I probably went in with mine without doing enough checks on it, just carried away by the speed and tanzenite blue

I think its a bit of a difficult price point for something 'special', as you say a lot of decent spec but generally mediocre cars in budget, or go slightly older but then start to question reliability.

I know what you mean about the Megane interior. I always felt that way about the Maserati Granturismo, beautiful on the outside, not so much on the inside!