RE: PH Service History: Living the dream

[lewisf182]

Fishy Dave said:

I bought this a fortnight ago for the equivalent of £7500! Ok, It will cost me a fair bit more than that by the time it lands in England, but still, a lot of (high mileage) car for the money.

That’s stunning, love that shape! They’re still relatively expensive in the UK - what’s the all in price for fully shipped and registered etc if you dont mind me asking?

[KennyR32]

Nice article, will now spend ages looking at 'potential' new cars. Got excited about the Boxster featured in this article too, then saw the exhaust

[GranCab]

Best car for £10K ?

Easy ... the one with a manufacturer's warranty and zero miles on the clock ...

e.g. https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

[Hairymonster]

CL500 / CL600 - Moneypits

Range Rover - similar

Porsche Boxster better

Golf Mk 6 was hellishly unreliable, though not sure whether that's just the diesels.

[HuggyBearFezzy]

A BMW M car.

Either E46 M3 or E39 M5. Both can be had under £10k currently, can be used daily, provide an entertaining driving experience (NA manual and analogue feel) and are good all rounders (great on motorways, A/B roads, room for family, relatively large boot, )...apart from if you need to go properly off roading.

[Big GT]

V8, 0-60 under 6, sweet chassis and handling, gorgeous looks

these are now falling within the £10K radar.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

[samoht]

GranCab said:

Best car for £10K ?

Easy ... the one with a manufacturer's warranty and zero miles on the clock ...

e.g. https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

"Living the dream" indeed. The word 'car' means different things to different people. To some people, it's just a means of getting to work or Tesco's. With that definition, a pre-reg Astra is indeed, the best 'car'.

To others, a car is a means to enjoy the process of driving, feeling the process of flowing down the road. It can also be a shortcut to communicating your interests and character to others. If this is what a car means to you, a pre-reg Astra is in many ways almost the worst possible £10k car - arguably even a perpetually borked Merc, sat beached on your driveway on its collapsed air suspension, is a better use of ten grand.

[Patrick Bateman]

dhutch said:

jakesmith said:

I’ve just got a 987 Boxster S as pictured for £10.5k. What a car! Feels every part the £50k it cost new. Not sure I’d describe its handling as sweeter than a 911 but that’s another topic.
Incredible value for money

What's it like on running costs? Compared to (if you can) a Z4/330ci or similar? Or compared to a 911 itself?

Noticeably more expensive than the BMW's.

The brakes were cheap on my 987 (2.7) but after that most things are quite pricey in comparison.

Any labour relating to the engine is going to cost more. There are 2 radiators, 2 A/C condensers, all prone to leaking, The A/C on my car was an absolute bd, after replacing the condensers it just found the next weakest bit of the system and eventually leaked out there.

Finding quality aftermarket parts for the BMW's is a doddle, plenty of choice. Nothing like it with the Boxster. Things like suspension components are pretty expensive, shock absorbers especially- knocking on £200 for one front without PASM. My e39 M5 cost a lot to run and its front shocks were only a bit more expensive than that.

As much as I loved the car, in 2.7 guise, it can cost a lot to run one for hot hatch performance. Handling is outstanding though- on 17's at least.

[TR4man]

Big GT said:

V8, 0-60 under 6, sweet chassis and handling, gorgeous looks

these are now falling within the £10K radar.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

..and a £535 p a road tax.

Which is a pity because as you say, they are great cars. However the earlier model is the lower tax band, including the XKR.

[GibsonSG]

Hairymonster said:

Golf Mk 6 was hellishly unreliable, though not sure whether that's just the diesels.

Interesting comment - I had a Mk6 GTD from new and did 90K in it without a single issue. Went to Italy in it three years on the trot via Germany. Perhaps they like being run hard - mine did almost no town use. A car I admired but never loved though.

[DanielSan]

I paid 10k for this a couple of weeks ago. SMG gearbox with CSL software, Eibach lowering springs and a few other little tweaks.

[j4ck100]

The exhaust on that Boxster is horrific!

[dvshannow]

I would certainly put the s2000 here its a great way to spend 10k and the engine is bulletproof though handling wise a boxster is far superior.

Not sure however you can reasonably call the boxster the trump in porsches pack. Sure its a good car but they make better they caymans for example and the proper 911s c2 ets are another step up. And thats before we even mention gt4 gt3 etc.

[Yipper]

There are a surprisingly large number of good cars at the £10k level, if you shop carefully.

Honda S2000
Honda Integra Type R
Porsche Boxster S
BMW M3
Audi TT 225 Quattro
MB SLK 350
MB C32 AMG
Subaru Impreza WRX
Jaguar S Type R Supercharged
BMW 130i
BMW 335d
BMW M5
Audi S3
Mazda 3 MPS
Nissan 350Z

And don't forget leasing. In recent months, £10k would get you into a brandnew Audi S4, Audi S3, VW Golf R, or Alfa 4C for 2 years.

[WJNB]

Early Boxsters - hardly the most elegant of designs with a very odd imbalanced side profile & the front & arse looking much the same. Can hide a host of mechanical problems BUT beauty (!) is in the eyes of the beholder & you can get lucky with a well maintained trouble free used jobby. Even now it has yet to lose it's poor mans 911/lady car image. Behind the wheel you're always going to feel as if you're trying to be something you're not as is the car.

[va1o]

My £10k hero would be the Audi S5 in V8 form. I ran one for a few months a couple of years back and apart from it's drinking habit it was an awesome car! I think Audi got the styling with these spot on as they're properly good looking even now the design is 10-years old. The 4.2 FSI sounds amazing and can be quick when you want it with 5.3s 0-60 but also makes a brilliant grand tourer. Lots to choose from at this price point

Here it when I took it to the Santa Pod Sunday Service, parked next to another PHers A5:


Decent interior too

[Patrick Bateman]

How was it down a favourite road?

[VanquishRider]

Had this beauty for a few years now and if you forget the IMS fail. Then it has been supremely reliable. It's wife's daily. Been the Alps, Italy, Germany, Le Mans in it. Love it.

Cots to maintain? Pretty low, brake pads and discs all round are only a few hundred and last better than the OE spec Pagid rubbish that de-laminate. Coil packs and plugs done on the drive in a couple of hours. Service cots are pretty low and done by myself.

If you go the OPC then take out a mortgage. Mine was inspected by the local OPC as part of a club day out and BBQ. They quoted over £2.5k for work I have still never had done. That was 4 years ago. They wanted to change the air con condensers because of very minor corrosion... And they missed the IMS that failed 3 weeks later. On an 05 Boxster you can have it replaced prior to failure for around £750.

[anonymous-user]

I'd love to own a Boxster, but the fear of imminent wallet denting from their dubious reliability would put me off. There is so much around for £10K, you just have to remember that some of these cars were 50-60K when new and come with the associated running costs.

[jakesmith]

WJNB said:

Even now it has yet to lose it's poor mans 911/lady car image. Behind the wheel you're always going to feel as if you're trying to be something you're not as is the car.

Have you driven one?
Out of interest, what car do you currently drive?