What would you buy?

[Neal H]

Looking to spend up to £30k on a fast GT style car for daily use – about 10k miles a year. I don’t really care about fuel consumption, or how many seats it has and will consider hard and soft top. I do want it to be fast, charismatic (!), reliable, and routine services to cost hundreds rather than thousands.

The potential candidates –
BMW Z4M (Coupe or Roadster) - £25k ish
Jaguar XKR (Old or New model) - £20k to £30k
Vauxhall VXR8 (Old school muscle car ) - £18k to £24k

Cars ruled out for personal reasons
Audi RS4
BMW M3
Maserati GranSport (yes, I thought about it!)
Nissan 350/370Z
Porsche Boxster/Cayman
TVR

Any personal experiences, or recommendations on others which should be considered?

Thanks!
Neal.

[Whitean3]

Porsche 996 TT. Job done.

[ewenm]

Porsche 911 is the obvious one you haven't mentioned.
Aston V8s are probably a bit ropey if they <£30k and hence might be a money pit.

[richardxjr]

Whitean3 said:

Porsche 996 TT. Job done.

Yep, that or an M6.

[ADEuk]

I long for the day I have £30k to buy one of these...


http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2961730.htm

[Neal H]

The trouble with 911's is that 993's (which I love) are a bit too old now for a daily runner. 996's I'm not keen on, and 997's are still too expensive.

Worth another look though

Neal.

[ewenm]

Of your list I'd go for the new shape XKR if I could find one.

Leftfield (and LHD) choices - Mustang/Camaro/Corvette

[minipower]

You could get a Corvette c6 for that price or a very nice c5 z06 with some change left over.
Fast plus very cheap to run and service. LHD only though.

Edit to add M6. Beast of a car with dynamics and power that overcome its overweight looks.

Edited by minipower on Wednesday 20th July 16:16

Edited by minipower on Wednesday 20th July 16:16

[lordlee]

997 C2S. But I am a little biased. My servicing through Northway has been very reasonable. Drive one with the sports exhaust and you'll be hooked...

[Dalto123]

I was going to suggest an AMG Merc but that's likely to go into the £000's for servicing, In my opinion I would certainly suggest a 911, drive one and tell me you wouldn't seriously consider one.

[yellowbentines]

Dalto123 said:

I was going to suggest an AMG Merc but that's likely to go into the £000's for servicing, In my opinion I would certainly suggest a 911, drive one and tell me you wouldn't seriously consider one.

Is an AMG dearer to service/run than a 911? A friend has had two 911s and a Boxster S and always seems to leave the OPC with a bill of between £750 and £1500!

My suggestions are however Porsche 911 and Mercedes SL55, the latter for the benefits of hard top & top down motoring and THAT noise.

Edited by yellowbentines on Wednesday 20th July 16:40

[lordlee]

Don't use OPC's.

[yellowbentines]

lordlee said:

Don't use OPC's.

could be applied to AMGs also then?

[lordlee]

yellowbentines said:

could be applied to AMGs also then?

Absolutely. Go for an approved Indy and it doesn't affect the warranty an use all OEM parts but source them carefully and you can save a fortune.

[car crazy]

Audi A5 convertible.

[lordlee]

car crazy said:

Audi S5 convertible.

EFA

[Fleckers]

something like this ?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/list.asp?s=846

[TTwiggy]

For performance - 996TT
For style - Aston Martin DB7

Can't think of any alternatives really, except perhaps an XKR.

[lordlee]

TTwiggy said:

For performance - 996TT
For style - Aston Martin DB7

Can't think of any alternatives really, except perhaps an XKR.

For the money that would mean a V12 DB7 and that isn't cheap to service at all.

[FamilyDub]

Well of Z4M, VXR8 or XKR I'd go with the Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag.