What to replace the 996 with?
Discussion
due to impending arrival of our first born my beloved 996 is going to have to go, fortunately I think I have found someone who will love and look after it as much as I have done to take it off my hands however I'm in something of a dilemma. What do I get now that isn't going to be terrible and disappointing to the extent I hate it? Before the "keep the Porsche comemnts come in please dont bother, its not a negotiable.
Car needs to be worth about half what the 996 was so budget is up to about £7.5k
So my options seem to be thus far (not limited to these by any stretch):
Audi TT
1 Series coupe or hatch
Golf R32
A4 convertible quattro (never had a conv before and quite fancied the idea)
Impreza (though not sure I can get over the boy racer image)
Skyline R33 (if I can find a good one)
Celica GT4 (if I can find a good oe.
criteria is needs more reasonable rear seats than the 996, which, lets face it are beyond impractical if, like me and my mrs you are over 6 foot, we couldn't even fit the isofix bases in. Needs a decent sized boot to take the pram and sundries, needs to be reliable as it is a daily driver doing approx 30-40 miles a day, must have the fun factor, not too run of the mill and must be over 200bhp. not a brand snob, not worried about age and not too frightened by big engines within reason, 4.0 V8s are out of the question though, the Mrs vetoed that idea when I tried to buy and S4 and the dealer mentioned the realistic MPG.
Surely this is the best place to ask the question, so lets hear what you reckon.
Car needs to be worth about half what the 996 was so budget is up to about £7.5k
So my options seem to be thus far (not limited to these by any stretch):
Audi TT
1 Series coupe or hatch
Golf R32
A4 convertible quattro (never had a conv before and quite fancied the idea)
Impreza (though not sure I can get over the boy racer image)
Skyline R33 (if I can find a good one)
Celica GT4 (if I can find a good oe.
criteria is needs more reasonable rear seats than the 996, which, lets face it are beyond impractical if, like me and my mrs you are over 6 foot, we couldn't even fit the isofix bases in. Needs a decent sized boot to take the pram and sundries, needs to be reliable as it is a daily driver doing approx 30-40 miles a day, must have the fun factor, not too run of the mill and must be over 200bhp. not a brand snob, not worried about age and not too frightened by big engines within reason, 4.0 V8s are out of the question though, the Mrs vetoed that idea when I tried to buy and S4 and the dealer mentioned the realistic MPG.
Surely this is the best place to ask the question, so lets hear what you reckon.
I managed to fit the rearward facing babyseat into my boxter when my first was born. Had to disable the airbag, but a standard mamas and papas chair would slip in no worries.
I know you say the 996 has to go, but one last thing to bear in mind, when they go into a forward facing chair, you can slip on into the rear of a cab fairly easily. Not sure about the coupes as I've never had one, but the rear seat base and lower part of the seat is just held in place with velcro, so you can rip them out for a bit of extra room. The seat back is held in place with one bolt. Undo all of that and you gain an extra few inches of space. When we were going to bbq's or whatnot in the summer, I would frequently drop the roof and lower in the babies seat.
Assuming that the replcement car will have to cater for the baby too, you can right the TT off. Had one of these for a little while, great fun once remapped, but just as much space as a 996.
My daily hack is an A4 cab, 3.0 v6, but not a quattro. Without a doubt the most reliable car in the world, but really boring. Too much power for the front wheels, makes roundabouts and pulling out of junctions a bit of a mare. Don't get me wrong, built like a tank, and great for driving the babies around (my wife used it as a daily driver for over a year when our two were 3 and 1). Not really a drivers car though. E46 M3? More involving, 996 performance, fair amount of space (bearing in mind A4 cab) but some people say has a bit of a reputation for being a chav wagon. Personally I don't think they are, I think they are well balanced driving machines. Tick quite a few boxes actually.
GT4, always been on my must have list. Great car, still to this day a box I would like to tick, again, not sure if you need to cart the baby around, if so rear access is really difficult. At least with the a4 the seats go a long way forward.
Imprezza, probably the best all rounder for what you are after, always liked the idea of them, but they have that reputation. Everyone will assume you are a chav if you have one, and I've heard that fettled engines (as most tend to have) can be somehwat unreliable.
I have baby seat 996 pics you can use to try and convince your wife if you like.
I know you say the 996 has to go, but one last thing to bear in mind, when they go into a forward facing chair, you can slip on into the rear of a cab fairly easily. Not sure about the coupes as I've never had one, but the rear seat base and lower part of the seat is just held in place with velcro, so you can rip them out for a bit of extra room. The seat back is held in place with one bolt. Undo all of that and you gain an extra few inches of space. When we were going to bbq's or whatnot in the summer, I would frequently drop the roof and lower in the babies seat.
Assuming that the replcement car will have to cater for the baby too, you can right the TT off. Had one of these for a little while, great fun once remapped, but just as much space as a 996.
My daily hack is an A4 cab, 3.0 v6, but not a quattro. Without a doubt the most reliable car in the world, but really boring. Too much power for the front wheels, makes roundabouts and pulling out of junctions a bit of a mare. Don't get me wrong, built like a tank, and great for driving the babies around (my wife used it as a daily driver for over a year when our two were 3 and 1). Not really a drivers car though. E46 M3? More involving, 996 performance, fair amount of space (bearing in mind A4 cab) but some people say has a bit of a reputation for being a chav wagon. Personally I don't think they are, I think they are well balanced driving machines. Tick quite a few boxes actually.
GT4, always been on my must have list. Great car, still to this day a box I would like to tick, again, not sure if you need to cart the baby around, if so rear access is really difficult. At least with the a4 the seats go a long way forward.
Imprezza, probably the best all rounder for what you are after, always liked the idea of them, but they have that reputation. Everyone will assume you are a chav if you have one, and I've heard that fettled engines (as most tend to have) can be somehwat unreliable.
I have baby seat 996 pics you can use to try and convince your wife if you like.
As above, E46 M3. Job jobbed!
Controls are a bit light, like many new cars but great for cruising quietly or hooning not do quietly. Very reasonable on petrol if you drive sensibly.
There's a gorgeous Laguna seca blue convertible in the classifieds but it's £9k. They start from about £6k though.
Controls are a bit light, like many new cars but great for cruising quietly or hooning not do quietly. Very reasonable on petrol if you drive sensibly.
There's a gorgeous Laguna seca blue convertible in the classifieds but it's £9k. They start from about £6k though.
TX.
rlw said:
CLK55AMG
Went from a GT3 to one of these and have never regretted buying it. £8k should do.
Nices cars but outside the OP's criteria due to engine size although could be a good move tactically to add to the list - the 5.5litre V8 will make the idea of a 4.2 Audi S4 seem like the sensible choice (also available in a quite a choice of saloon, estate, cab and auto/manual). Went from a GT3 to one of these and have never regretted buying it. £8k should do.
Removing or replacing badges (CLK200, S-line etc although admittedly 320d on an M3's less believeable) might be a useful idea too....
Bahahahahha. Here's a little exercise for you.
Find a cardboard box, slightly larger than a 12 bottle wine box. Imagine this is your baby seat.
Put a 15-20kg weight from the gym inside. One of those big, heavy plates. After 9 months, this is roughly what the baby + car seat combined will weigh, give or take.
Now balance a glass of water on top and practice getting the weighted box in and out of the back seat without spilling any water (as this simulates not waking the baby, which will be important to you, trust me).
Now imagine you and your other half doing this in the list of cars you have mentioned. Repeatedly. After that, make sure there is sufficient room for at least 6-8 further cases of wine (as this is about the volume of stuff you need to go anywhere with a small child, including buggy, changing gear, feeding gear and various sets of clothes.
The point of my fairly trite post above is that, in my experience, you VERY quickly forget about the sporting prowess of a car designed for a baby and focus almost exclusively on practicality. This means 4 doors with easy access, ISOFIX, big usable boot space etc etc. You get the picture.
We currently have a WRX Prodrive wagon and it just about passes (although the baby seat in the back restricts front legroom slightly. The boot also swallows his pram and associated stuff but its not cavernous.
I guess you will make your own decision, but in my limited and recent experience, the best advice which has been given is to park the 996 under a cover for the odd day you will use it (I guess 4-5 times max in your first year) and purchase a £1000 diesel estate...
Find a cardboard box, slightly larger than a 12 bottle wine box. Imagine this is your baby seat.
Put a 15-20kg weight from the gym inside. One of those big, heavy plates. After 9 months, this is roughly what the baby + car seat combined will weigh, give or take.
Now balance a glass of water on top and practice getting the weighted box in and out of the back seat without spilling any water (as this simulates not waking the baby, which will be important to you, trust me).
Now imagine you and your other half doing this in the list of cars you have mentioned. Repeatedly. After that, make sure there is sufficient room for at least 6-8 further cases of wine (as this is about the volume of stuff you need to go anywhere with a small child, including buggy, changing gear, feeding gear and various sets of clothes.
The point of my fairly trite post above is that, in my experience, you VERY quickly forget about the sporting prowess of a car designed for a baby and focus almost exclusively on practicality. This means 4 doors with easy access, ISOFIX, big usable boot space etc etc. You get the picture.
We currently have a WRX Prodrive wagon and it just about passes (although the baby seat in the back restricts front legroom slightly. The boot also swallows his pram and associated stuff but its not cavernous.
I guess you will make your own decision, but in my limited and recent experience, the best advice which has been given is to park the 996 under a cover for the odd day you will use it (I guess 4-5 times max in your first year) and purchase a £1000 diesel estate...
Edited by Cactussed on Tuesday 14th January 10:38
I am extremely qualified to answer this one
As above, Impreza wagon is slightly too small, but really REALLY worth that slight compromise.
As above, TT is a ridiculous idea for babys+stuff, unless you don't pack anything useful and want to spend your later years with back problems.
For ten years in a Classic PPP Impreza going on drive-to holidays we managed baby plus everything everything, and then two children plus slightly less than everything everything, and when not going on holiday we had one of the 'best' cars ever produced to play in.
All good things come to an end however, and Impreza rear leg room is an issue with adults, so for various reasons we moved to a Legacy Spec.B last year.
Brilliant brilliant car because it's large enough (though not stupid modern overlarge) but handles as well if not better than the Impreza.
Nowhere near as fast, but fast enough. Great specification as standard, six-speed manual gearbox and flat-six boxer engine - it'll feel like you've never left the 996
As above, Impreza wagon is slightly too small, but really REALLY worth that slight compromise.
As above, TT is a ridiculous idea for babys+stuff, unless you don't pack anything useful and want to spend your later years with back problems.
For ten years in a Classic PPP Impreza going on drive-to holidays we managed baby plus everything everything, and then two children plus slightly less than everything everything, and when not going on holiday we had one of the 'best' cars ever produced to play in.
All good things come to an end however, and Impreza rear leg room is an issue with adults, so for various reasons we moved to a Legacy Spec.B last year.
Brilliant brilliant car because it's large enough (though not stupid modern overlarge) but handles as well if not better than the Impreza.
Nowhere near as fast, but fast enough. Great specification as standard, six-speed manual gearbox and flat-six boxer engine - it'll feel like you've never left the 996
Cheers for the replies guys. Main issue being the wife wants to get £7-10 grand back into the coffers and wants a baby seat to be able to go in it, much as i would love to keep the 996 its just not happening.
The A4 and the TT are off the list looked at them and they were both just a no. Going to look at some imprezas on the weekend and also controversially a couple of RX8s as they are ao cheap its got to be worth a look if nothing else. Considering an S4 too now as the wife claims she doesnt mind about fuel consumption!
The A4 and the TT are off the list looked at them and they were both just a no. Going to look at some imprezas on the weekend and also controversially a couple of RX8s as they are ao cheap its got to be worth a look if nothing else. Considering an S4 too now as the wife claims she doesnt mind about fuel consumption!
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