RE: PH Service History: Living the dream
Discussion
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/...
But that isn't exactly "Living The Dream" - well not mine anyway! More like a nightmare. Easy ... the one with a manufacturer's warranty and zero miles on the clock ...
e.g. https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
Back in 2014 I took a lump sum out of a pension that I took early and I now have a BMW Z4 Coupe right in this budget. 3 litre straight 6 N/A petrol engine, manual gearbox and RWD - just the job! For me it is the E-Type FHC I will never afford, but quicker!
I didn't consider a Boxster as I like a roof, and Caymans were way out of budget (as well as potentially problematical)! I briefly considered a 350Z, but while they are more powerful than a Z4C they much heavier - and for post 06 plates the road tax is over £500 a year!
Mine lives quite happily outside, but I realise by yonex's definition I'm a knob - then again anyone deriding someone who doesn't have a garage may be the knob AFAIK.
Gratuitous photo opportunity:-
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/eScXRUlt
Edited by Mr Tidy on Monday 5th February 01:35
Had a 987s a few years ago...cracking car....dubious about the 166mph top speed....we only ever managed 164!😉
Surprised there was no mention of the lesser spotted Honda S2000 which I also have owned. If not killed by tin worm these have to have one of the best gear boxed ever made and surely a future classic. N/A screaming engine.
For the family conscious I’m surprised not to see a Forester STi in there too....proper working car with serious performance of remapped.
Surprised there was no mention of the lesser spotted Honda S2000 which I also have owned. If not killed by tin worm these have to have one of the best gear boxed ever made and surely a future classic. N/A screaming engine.
For the family conscious I’m surprised not to see a Forester STi in there too....proper working car with serious performance of remapped.
Mr Tidy said:
but I realise by yonex's definition I'm a knob - then again anyone deriding someone who doesn't have a garage may be the knob AFAIK.
you have the wrong end of the stick. I meant it’s usually the posters who don’t include a garage on their profile who post the most knob comments 
SidewaysSi said:
Indeed, similar to an Elise but they will never be as light or sharp as a K Series Lotus. If you want the best that platform can give you, you need to get an Elise IMO.
A VX can be made to be quicker etc but depends what you ultimately look for.
Personally I didn't consider the Vauxhall when I bought by Elise. Much the same way I didn't consider a Westfield when I bought my Caterham.
Thats true but you can say the same for a Toyota powered S2 Elise. A VX is every bit the equal to an S2 Elise with a K series though but it is different so people need to drive one and see what you like. Its more torquey so easier to drive fast on the road compared to a 111S, which is stupidly long geared and needs to be in VVTI to get the best from. A VX can be made to be quicker etc but depends what you ultimately look for.
Personally I didn't consider the Vauxhall when I bought by Elise. Much the same way I didn't consider a Westfield when I bought my Caterham.
Its horses for courses though.
Hairymonster said:
Golf Mk 6 was hellishly unreliable, though not sure whether that's just the diesels.
Funnily enough, the early MK6 GTI's, as mentioned in this article, did have the timing chain of imminent doom, which was prone to failing and taking out the engine with it. I believe they released a different chain for it, which became standard for the later modelsI still wouldn't say that the MK6 overall was hellishly unreliable though. I don't think that's accurate or true at all. I think a few of the petrol models had some issues and nigglers here and there, but nothing more than previous models from the Golf range.
Had a 911 turbo which i had to sell to fund a house - and bought a boxster 2.7 instead, and bar the speed issue it was a much much more fiun car to drive!
Spent about £400 a yr on servicing bits for it, but it was an excellent car.
Currently have an M3, but thinking of getting another boxster as it was so much fun.
Spent about £400 a yr on servicing bits for it, but it was an excellent car.
Currently have an M3, but thinking of getting another boxster as it was so much fun.
Honeywell said:
I have a 2007 RangeRover L322 3.6 Diesel Vogue SE that has 135,000 miles on the clock bought three years ago for £12k at 99,000 miles now worth maybe £7k. Its a lovely thing, dark with tinted windows, biscuit beige interior, xenons, Harmon Kardon, chilled seats, TV, lots of bells and whistles.
Its needed one precautionary full transmission service for £850 flushed and fluids.
Then Two turbo hoses, one brake line, one failed rear caliper, two gas struts and nothing else other than an annual 12,000 mile service at my local Indy for £300. Oh and a new battery (it was 7 years old). The three services add to £900 and the failed bits and the battery came to lesss than £1000. Parts are cheap, independent garages are everywhere, most will work cash in hand. I pay £45/hr locally for someone who does a good job.
Personally for the amount of metal you get, the driving experience and the class of the thing I have never owned a more satisfying vehicle. Its covered in mud, hay, dog hair, kids fingermarks, more mud and it tows 3.5tons regularly. I love it. I don't think its expensive to run because the depreciation and non-fuel running costs have been over three years £900 in maintenance and £1700 in depreciation. So £2,600 a year plus tax insurance and diesel to run around in a twin turbo V8 go anywhere machine loaded with kit that looks really classy. Which beats leasing 1.0 Corsa...
The L322 RR was a good machine designed by BMW but with a compromised engine until the 2007 facelift. After that they really are quite special and quite well made machines. The equivalent Discover 3/4 were and are utter money its by comparison....
Quite fancy a 987 with the later trouble free 2.9 engine. Still high teens though and barely depreciating..
I think you've been lucky. A colleague had one of a newer vintage with the same engin, AUtobiography spec, and it was an utter nightmare, from randomly failing electronics making it go into limp home mode, so all sorts of mechanical problems. After spending thousands of pounds on it, he got rid. Has a Volvo XC90 now.Its needed one precautionary full transmission service for £850 flushed and fluids.
Then Two turbo hoses, one brake line, one failed rear caliper, two gas struts and nothing else other than an annual 12,000 mile service at my local Indy for £300. Oh and a new battery (it was 7 years old). The three services add to £900 and the failed bits and the battery came to lesss than £1000. Parts are cheap, independent garages are everywhere, most will work cash in hand. I pay £45/hr locally for someone who does a good job.
Personally for the amount of metal you get, the driving experience and the class of the thing I have never owned a more satisfying vehicle. Its covered in mud, hay, dog hair, kids fingermarks, more mud and it tows 3.5tons regularly. I love it. I don't think its expensive to run because the depreciation and non-fuel running costs have been over three years £900 in maintenance and £1700 in depreciation. So £2,600 a year plus tax insurance and diesel to run around in a twin turbo V8 go anywhere machine loaded with kit that looks really classy. Which beats leasing 1.0 Corsa...
The L322 RR was a good machine designed by BMW but with a compromised engine until the 2007 facelift. After that they really are quite special and quite well made machines. The equivalent Discover 3/4 were and are utter money its by comparison....
Quite fancy a 987 with the later trouble free 2.9 engine. Still high teens though and barely depreciating..
Shame - we are about to have our first child, and I quite fancied an L322 Rangie. But just too much of a risk of it not working when you really need it to.
156 GTA Sportwagon for me too. That Busso engine is without doubt The sweetest I have ever had the pleasure of driving. And the drive is surprisingly taut and agile and direct.
Bumpy back roads are it's Achilles heel but twisty flowing roads are it's domain. Never have I experienced such a free revving engine and that sound. Fairly leftfeld choice and coming from an Alpina the Alfa had a lot to live up to.
Bumpy back roads are it's Achilles heel but twisty flowing roads are it's domain. Never have I experienced such a free revving engine and that sound. Fairly leftfeld choice and coming from an Alpina the Alfa had a lot to live up to.
Niffty951 said:
jakesmith said:
ianwayne said:
A good call on the SLK350
They are very plasticky insideThe manual box gets a poor writeup although I haven't driven one
The SLK55 looked interesting to me but they are really more like £14k and main issues are no manual and traction can't be turned off
Edited by Niffty951 on Sunday 4th February 22:07
Many years ago I bought a 1990 NA Lotus Esprit for £8500. That was a lot of car for the money and still brings back happy memories. The maintenance costs less so... I'd be tempted by a Lotus Elan (that of the Amiga Lotus Challenge fame)
But £ for £ the best car to me is the S2000. I like the Boxster, there is no issue with image at all, but the S2000 is such an engaging car to drive. Also done the 10k M3; only lasted 3 months but that was my fault - the SMG box is a pig. Good value also goes to the E46 330 Ci Sport.
Then there is also the Alfa GTV Cup. That would be tempting, if I was allowed another car. Or another Alfa!
But £ for £ the best car to me is the S2000. I like the Boxster, there is no issue with image at all, but the S2000 is such an engaging car to drive. Also done the 10k M3; only lasted 3 months but that was my fault - the SMG box is a pig. Good value also goes to the E46 330 Ci Sport.
Then there is also the Alfa GTV Cup. That would be tempting, if I was allowed another car. Or another Alfa!
Hello,
Great article. Thanks.
I have a mk3 Supra, 1988. It cost £1250. This car is a great cruising car with its cruise control & ECT auto gearbox.
It is totally standard & is a real head turner.
My other car is a 2007 Fiesta ST. It cost £1550. It had no MOT & a leaking radiator. It hadn't been driven much by the previous owner, (a couple of thousand miles over two years).
The Fiesta passed the MOT,no advisories & is a pocket rocket. Oh yes, I forgot, a new radiator was fitted too.
Great article. Thanks.
I have a mk3 Supra, 1988. It cost £1250. This car is a great cruising car with its cruise control & ECT auto gearbox.
It is totally standard & is a real head turner.
My other car is a 2007 Fiesta ST. It cost £1550. It had no MOT & a leaking radiator. It hadn't been driven much by the previous owner, (a couple of thousand miles over two years).
The Fiesta passed the MOT,no advisories & is a pocket rocket. Oh yes, I forgot, a new radiator was fitted too.
I've been leasing fast but relatively uninteresting hatchbacks the last few years because i've yet to really find the answer to the "living the dream for £10k" question. Less than a year left on the current lease and i'm asking the question again. I'm determined not to fall back on the lease/known cost/safe option this time but when I look about almost everything that comes up is flawed in some major way (e46 M3, anything from Porsche, big engined Mercs) and most other stuff is less interesting and slower than anything you can lease.
My favourite at the moment which just about creeps into budget is an R53 mini GP. Lack of rear seats is a bit of an issue.
My favourite at the moment which just about creeps into budget is an R53 mini GP. Lack of rear seats is a bit of an issue.
nunpuncher said:
I've been leasing fast but relatively uninteresting hatchbacks the last few years because i've yet to really find the answer to the "living the dream for £10k" question. Less than a year left on the current lease and i'm asking the question again. I'm determined not to fall back on the lease/known cost/safe option this time but when I look about almost everything that comes up is flawed in some major way (e46 M3, anything from Porsche, big engined Mercs) and most other stuff is less interesting and slower than anything you can lease.
My favourite at the moment which just about creeps into budget is an R53 mini GP. Lack of rear seats is a bit of an issue.
There are no safe options if you're buying a 10 year old performance car that was £50k+ new. Even models that are supposedly reliable like S2000s can rust My favourite at the moment which just about creeps into budget is an R53 mini GP. Lack of rear seats is a bit of an issue.
What I would say is if you use the forums and look into every car ad nauseum you'll risk never buying anything
Cars do have expensive failures but you'd have to buy a dog or be very unlucky to have a string of expensive shockers. You get a good year or two then a bad one typically
You can mitigate some of this with what you buy, for me the 3.4 Boxster seemed riskier based on what I have read than the earlier 3.2 (touch wood)
Don't the Minis have issues with chain tensioners or something anyway
My parents have a 1.8T Audi A4 on an 09 plate that needed a new engine this year, would have been more pricey than an expensive year in a CL600 if Audi hadn't paid
Just do it!
A friend recently acquired an 06 Cayman S - low miles - it was almost 50% over budget for this - BUT
We looked at a lot of cars from the mid-00s and most had issues - plenty of crusty/tatty/obviously cheaply repaired cars - most with that sense of "not well maintained" about them (even the ones with fully-stamped histories!!) - mismatched tyres, oil and water leaks, knackered interiors, tired paint etc. etc
To be clear - his needed discs/pads/springs/shocks and the zorst was tired (since replaced with a noisy one) - the others needed WAY more and nothing we saw anywhere near £10K needed less than £4K throwing at it just to make it straight.
You might get lucky - you probably won't tho, Cayman/Boxters of that era aren't "964" levels of solid - they're not even "993" levels...
We looked at a lot of cars from the mid-00s and most had issues - plenty of crusty/tatty/obviously cheaply repaired cars - most with that sense of "not well maintained" about them (even the ones with fully-stamped histories!!) - mismatched tyres, oil and water leaks, knackered interiors, tired paint etc. etc
To be clear - his needed discs/pads/springs/shocks and the zorst was tired (since replaced with a noisy one) - the others needed WAY more and nothing we saw anywhere near £10K needed less than £4K throwing at it just to make it straight.
You might get lucky - you probably won't tho, Cayman/Boxters of that era aren't "964" levels of solid - they're not even "993" levels...
Edited by 406dogvan on Monday 5th February 22:36
406dogvan said:
A friend recently acquired an 06 Cayman S - low miles - it was almost 50% over budget for this - BUT
We looked at a lot of cars from the mid-00s and most had issues - plenty of crusty/tatty/obviously cheaply repaired cars - most with that sense of "not well maintained" about them (even the ones with fully-stamped histories!!) - mismatched tyres, oil and water leaks, knackered interiors, tired paint etc. etc
To be clear - his needed discs/pads/springs/shocks and the zorst was tired (since replaced with a noisy one) - the others needed WAY more and nothing we saw anywhere near £10K needed less than £4K throwing at it just to make it straight.
You might get lucky - you probably won't tho, Cayman/Boxters of that era aren't "964" levels of solid - they're not even "993" levels...
This is the sort of thing that really worries me, and I have heard plenty of other stories like this. To be blunt, I get the impression that these are not terribly well made cars, in addition to the well-known potential engine issues.We looked at a lot of cars from the mid-00s and most had issues - plenty of crusty/tatty/obviously cheaply repaired cars - most with that sense of "not well maintained" about them (even the ones with fully-stamped histories!!) - mismatched tyres, oil and water leaks, knackered interiors, tired paint etc. etc
To be clear - his needed discs/pads/springs/shocks and the zorst was tired (since replaced with a noisy one) - the others needed WAY more and nothing we saw anywhere near £10K needed less than £4K throwing at it just to make it straight.
You might get lucky - you probably won't tho, Cayman/Boxters of that era aren't "964" levels of solid - they're not even "993" levels...
Edited by 406dogvan on Monday 5th February 22:36
That's a downer for me because I REALLY want a Cayman. I am starting to see the appeal of keeping my 350 SLK or maybe getting something like a Z4 35i instead though...
jakesmith said:
ianwayne said:
A good call on the SLK350
They are very plasticky insideThe manual box gets a poor writeup although I haven't driven one
jakesmith said:
The SLK55 looked interesting to me but they are really more like £14k and main issues are no manual and traction can't be turned off
No manual is a deal breaker for me too - however I understand from a very well informed Merc fanatic that for track work there is a trick to removing the influence of the nanny state.nunpuncher said:
I've been leasing fast but relatively uninteresting hatchbacks the last few years because i've yet to really find the answer to the "living the dream for £10k" question. Less than a year left on the current lease and i'm asking the question again. I'm determined not to fall back on the lease/known cost/safe option this time but when I look about almost everything that comes up is flawed in some major way (e46 M3, anything from Porsche, big engined Mercs) and most other stuff is less interesting and slower than anything you can lease.
My favourite at the moment which just about creeps into budget is an R53 mini GP. Lack of rear seats is a bit of an issue.
Call yourself lucky, i've been leasing slow and uninteresting hatches/saloons for my past 2 cars! My current one goes back in April, thank God, but i nearly took the plunge again for another 2 years. Luckily, i've finally seen the light. It's easy to get caught in the old leasing trap, with set payments and no unexpected bills, but it's definitely made me realise what i'm missing.My favourite at the moment which just about creeps into budget is an R53 mini GP. Lack of rear seats is a bit of an issue.
I've always wanted a proper hot-hatch and i've always loved the little powerful Clio's, so i'm gonna buy either a 172 or a 182 i think.
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