Too old for an A45?

[shotta287]

Not surprised if the OP's car was stolen in Birmingham. No point owning a nice car there nowadays.
Although I've seen plenty of A45's there.

[911wise]

Hi All

Im in Solihull so not quite Birmingham. Where are they safe in the country?

The car was great, ridiculously quick too quick for the road if honest. Real world driving can't think theres much made that would convincingly pull away from it in the bends, and think you'd be into 911turbo pace to leave it behind in the straights. Comfortable and fairly practical relatively cheap to run too.

It's very understated to anyone not into cars. Was constantly having to explain to family and friends what it was etc. People not into cars couldn't understand why I went from 911 to what they saw as a hatchback.

If security wasn't an issue I would have another one but I don't want to put my family through anymore upset or at any sort of risk even.

Simon

[Ahbefive]

911wise said:

Hi All

Im in Solihull so not quite Birmingham. Where are they safe in the country?

Probably lots of places but not there. It's a car theft hot spot.

[London GT3]

Thanks Daemon. I don't need anything faster than the Focus RS but something with that power and a bit more comfortable would get more use. I commute into London by car and an A45 could be used for that maybe? The auto box would be a bonus for London. I note what you say about depreciation and discounts. Fully loaded they list at £52k so £45k discounted looks quite good value.

Simon. I am sorry that you don't feel able to replace the car because of your family although I think I would feel the same. I live on the main road through the village and nurtured tall trees and installed a 2.5m gate for similar reasons.

[swisstoni]

I'll be too old for my cars when I can't get out of them.
Not long now

[daemon]

London GT3 said:

Thanks Daemon. I don't need anything faster than the Focus RS but something with that power and a bit more comfortable would get more use. I commute into London by car and an A45 could be used for that maybe? The auto box would be a bonus for London. I note what you say about depreciation and discounts. Fully loaded they list at £52k so £45k discounted looks quite good value.

The auto box would be a boon for that. One thing i would say is, it needs to be kept in Sport or Sport+ mode to keep the turbo spinning. If you're in comfort mode it goes off boost at junctions which can result in cheek clenching moments....

My advice would be dont over load it with extras - you wont get anywhere near it back at resale time. I think ours had a list price at the time of £46K ish.

I would say the trade price standard car is maybe half of list price at 3 years old at around £21K, so thats maybe £15k of depreciation in 3 years after discount, which is an awful lot more than on your Focus RS or say a Golf R. Add another £10K of extras on to that and you're looking at a £25K ish bath in 3 years which is painful for a hot hatch....

[daemon]

London GT3 said:

Simon. I am sorry that you don't feel able to replace the car because of your family although I think I would feel the same. I live on the main road through the village and nurtured tall trees and installed a 2.5m gate for similar reasons.

We're similar - on a main road into a small village but the site is quite open. The car is parked to the front of the house, so i must admit its a theft worry. We could move it round the back of the house at nights, but then i think a lot of these are stolen to order or at very least or at very least "cased" in advance so moving it round the back isnt going to change things much as they know its there.

All been ok so far and we've had various cars over the years that would be a theft risk that have never been touched.

[aaron_2000]

Sorry to hear about the car. At least none of you were physically harmed. The police said anything, or have they pretty much said it's gone? In which case, is another A45 on the table? It was a very nice car, I thought they had trackers?

[jules_s]

I'm 49 and my dad has a A45 AMG with the Aero kit in Elbaite green

Whilst I love him to death, I envy him with equal measure...

[London GT3]

Further helpful points Daemon. Thank you.

[WCZ]

did the police come round and tell you it's your fault for having a nice car like they have done with others?

[Geoff39GL]

jules_s said:

I'm 49 and my dad has a A45 AMG with the Aero kit in Elbaite green

Whilst I love him to death, I envy him with equal measure...

I'm 64 and you are never too old to have a nice car, they are what I went to work for and now just retired I have the time to enjoy them.
Only slight negative is I have way too much money tied up in cars for a pensioner.
Also owns GT4 and Pug 208GTI

[Flying machine]

daemon said:

London GT3 said:

Thanks Daemon. I don't need anything faster than the Focus RS but something with that power and a bit more comfortable would get more use. I commute into London by car and an A45 could be used for that maybe? The auto box would be a bonus for London. I note what you say about depreciation and discounts. Fully loaded they list at £52k so £45k discounted looks quite good value.

The auto box would be a boon for that. One thing i would say is, it needs to be kept in Sport or Sport+ mode to keep the turbo spinning. If you're in comfort mode it goes off boost at junctions which can result in cheek clenching moments....

My advice would be dont over load it with extras - you wont get anywhere near it back at resale time. I think ours had a list price at the time of £46K ish.

I would say the trade price standard car is maybe half of list price at 3 years old at around £21K, so thats maybe £15k of depreciation in 3 years after discount, which is an awful lot more than on your Focus RS or say a Golf R. Add another £10K of extras on to that and you're looking at a £25K ish bath in 3 years which is painful for a hot hatch....

They're fine cars for commuting in - that's what I bought mine for. Daemon is spot on with the comment on comfort mode and junctions though if it's not on boost...

One word of warning though, the build quality of the cabin is a bit patchy, and I've heard similar from others. Seats are wonderful, and I ordered my interior in light beige/black rather than red/black so to me its looks great. There are however quite a few annoying rattles (dash and passenger a-pillar in mine) as well as the sort of cheap plastics that Chris Harris remarks on in his video review of the pre-FL version. This doesn't seem impressive given it's cost and bar odd bits such as seats and steering wheel, the quality of the cabin is far below for example my 981 Boxster. Even my rusty old disco 3 is less rattly.

I can't remember what mine listed at, but wasn't too careful with budget, and think it was around 46-47kish? The premium version is pretty well specced. Paid just over 41 (IIRC) and could have got better from dealers further away. I've had it 6 months now and 5k in I'm not sure if I'll keep it long term yet.

[Granfondo]

Flying machine said:

They're fine cars for commuting in - that's what I bought mine for. Daemon is spot on with the comment on comfort mode and junctions though if it's not on boost...

One word of warning though, the build quality of the cabin is a bit patchy, and I've heard similar from others. Seats are wonderful, and I ordered my interior in light beige/black rather than red/black so to me its looks great. There are however quite a few annoying rattles (dash and passenger a-pillar in mine) as well as the sort of cheap plastics that Chris Harris remarks on in his video review of the pre-FL version. This doesn't seem impressive given it's cost and bar odd bits such as seats and steering wheel, the quality of the cabin is far below for example my 981 Boxster. Even my rusty old disco 3 is less rattly.

I can't remember what mine listed at, but wasn't too careful with budget, and think it was around 46-47kish? The premium version is pretty well specced. Paid just over 41 (IIRC) and could have got better from dealers further away. I've had it 6 months now and 5k in I'm not sure if I'll keep it long term yet.

A friend of mine got rid of his after 6 months because of the interior rattles.

[Captain Smerc]

Geoff39GL said:

I'm 64 and you are never too old to have a nice car, they are what I went to work for and now just retired I have the time to enjoy them.
Only slight negative is I have way too much money tied up in cars for a pensioner.
Also owns GT4 and Pug 208GTI

That's a tasty motor

[PixelpeepS3]

Captain Smerc said:

Geoff39GL said:

I'm 64 and you are never too old to have a nice car, they are what I went to work for and now just retired I have the time to enjoy them.
Only slight negative is I have way too much money tied up in cars for a pensioner.
Also owns GT4 and Pug 208GTI

That's a tasty motor

agreed.... that is a lovely colour!