Late 20's car dilemma

[Gbtlsun]

I'm hoping pistonheads can help me out here, I'm in need of advice for my next car.

I'm in my late 20's, currently driving a Z4 3.0si coupe, and I've just got engaged. love owning my Z, its fun and gorgeous. But...

I've been making compromises to own the Z, and theyre starting to stack up. I go mountain biking at weekends with the dog, for which I take my partners little Ibiza, which isnt ideal. Wierdly, the Z4 does its thing almost too well, so I'm getting a bit bored of it. Could also be short attantion span and itchy feet haha!

So naturally, I've been browsing autotrader and these forums for something better suited.

My thoughts are, I 100% want to keep a fun car as long as physically possible, before we start a family. 10k ish to spend. I dont like saloons. Ideally petrol. Fast enough to be interesting/fun. Enough room for a dog in the boot and a bike on the roof (I do mountain biking so muddy bike in car wouldnt work). 5 door is bonus but not dealbreaker. My ideas so far have been;

Alfa Brera (V6 or TBi) - Rare, interesting, would just about work with a bike on the roof with a seasucker.

Alfa 159 sportwagon - I might be alone here, but i think these are stunning. Probably a bit too practical a bit too early in my life though.

Bmw m135i - rwd, does everything i need very well. But am I going to have the same problem in 1 years rime, is it fun? Also would be a push to get one in budget.

Tell me pistonheads, what am I missing? What will keep me entertained for a few years without being a nuisance to own?

[Gbtlsun]

Bumblebee7 said:

Actually thinking about it a mate of mine recently went from a leased M135i to an NB MX5 and a Legacy R Spec B. That's an epic two car garage IMO. High VED, and the scooby is thirsty so all depends on mileage but you could buy a nice version of each and not have spent half your budget.

Thats a pretty nice 2 car garage! For 10k, I'm not sure whether it makes sense to have one car which can do everything adequately (compromise), or two seperate cars which can do it all very well between them.

Anyone got any experience of running just the one car to do everything? Is it possible? When i say fun, I'm not talking about swinging the car round paddock hill bend every weekend, just enough poke/engine sound to get the adrenaline going now and again.

[Gbtlsun]

Some good suggestions here - thanks!

I've had the talk with my partner, both agree it makes sense to have a 2 car garage, with cars that compliment each other (I.e get rid of the ibiza!). So criteria are;

Car A (partners car); ~£5k to spend, 30+ mpg due to commute, petrol, at least as fast as the seat (1.6l), 3 or 5 door, dog capable, no need to carry bike

Car B (my car); ~£10k to spend, 20+ mpg is fine, petrol, not saloon, sub 6 seconds to 60 ideally, 5 door, dog and bike capable.

I'm in a wierd position now that the practical car (car b) is the one that you'd traditionally have as the fun one (5 mile commute, no concerns over mpg).

Putting this into autotrader seems to suggest that a golf/120i would be best for car A and a gti/m135i would be best for car B, which would be a pretty unisnpired 2 car garage!

Help!

[Gbtlsun]

Bumblebee7 said:

Gbtlsun said:

Some good suggestions here - thanks!

I've had the talk with my partner, both agree it makes sense to have a 2 car garage, with cars that compliment each other (I.e get rid of the ibiza!). So criteria are;

Car A (partners car); ~£5k to spend, 30+ mpg due to commute, petrol, at least as fast as the seat (1.6l), 3 or 5 door, dog capable, no need to carry bike

Car B (my car); ~£10k to spend, 20+ mpg is fine, petrol, not saloon, sub 6 seconds to 60 ideally, 5 door, dog and bike capable.

I'm in a wierd position now that the practical car (car b) is the one that you'd traditionally have as the fun one (5 mile commute, no concerns over mpg).

Putting this into autotrader seems to suggest that a golf/120i would be best for car A and a gti/m135i would be best for car B, which would be a pretty unisnpired 2 car garage!

Help!

No way to combine some of the requirements and make the OH's car dog and bike capable and you then have the budget to buy a pure fun car?

Seems with the current proposal you still end up with a big compromise, also doesn't really explain why the Seat has to go? Doesn't actually seem like anything has changed?

Also is your OH a brand snob? The easy solution here IMO opinion is to get a Skoda Fabia estate for her (small car externally but big inside and good boot for dog and bike) and you buy something purely fun. Either cheaper like an MX5, or a Z4 or Boxster etc. (now I have a convertible I can't imagine a fun car without one).

One of the reasons for getting rid of the Z4 was that I cant go biking with the dog when my partner is out, so this rules out mine being the pure fun car (mx5 etc). Her high mileage isnt best suited to fun car either, but probably possible now im thinking about it...

[Gbtlsun]

Jamesstanley16 said:

Just reading this thread and wondered what the result was? Did you go for a 1 or 2 car option?

I'm also late 20s (just turned 30 in fact!) and am looking for a new car having been abroad for sometime. I want something fun to drive, sounds great, but useable enough as a daily if required and for UK road trips. One option was the Z4 coupe 3.0. Older than the E89 but most reviews point to a better, sportier drive, more involved etc.

Can you give me any advice on the Z4 coupe Si 3.0 - ownerships costs, reliability, petrol/MPG, niggles, what to look out for? Any thoughts on this vs the Z4 E89 23i or 3.0?

Thanks!

I'm going for a 2 car option, M135i for me and swap the Ibiza for something more interesting when it dies (Just going to run into the ground for now)

I'll try and be unbiased as I can here, bearing mine is for sale at the moment (See the classifieds, PM me if you're interested.)

For your needs, I'd say a 3.0SI Z4 would be a good choice. Ownership costs are pretty good considering you're driving a 3 litre sports car. Tax is band K (£325/yr), MPG hovers between 29-32 MPG for me. I haven't had any problems during my ownership, engine is considered fairly bulletproof and generally a very reliable car. I browsed through the Z4 forums when searching, there are some good tips on there. The 3L naturally aspirated engine sounds brilliant - this was one of my reasons for getting it in the first place, not a common noise these days with everything being 2.0 turbocharged....

My boss has just sold his E89...we both preferred my 3.0 SI. All subjective, but the SI just looks the part and is practical enough to do everything you need (Unless you need to transport dog + bike!). Writing this down has me questioning why I'm getting rid of it and not the dog...! (Joking........I think!)