Realistic next car... (not a what car thread!!!)

[SteveS Cup]

Hi all,

I'm curious as to how you choose your next car and also what you think / hope it will be!

For me, this subject is an utter minefield after having quite a steep rise up to a £12k Audi TT and then back down to a £3k Clio due to being made redundant from a company I was earning very good commission from.

I'm now getting in to a position where I’ll be looking at the circa £12k mark for my next car and my options are endless!

Insurance for the following are all quite similar (amazingly!), there’s not going to be a great deal of difference in petrol, servicing and depreciation are the only monetary variable. So far the list of cars I keep looking at are the following…

- E46 M3 Coupe or Convertible
- E46 330ci facelift Coupe or Convertible
- S2000
- Clio 200 – Would be a brand new one with finance
- Audi TT Quattro Sport or V6
- Mk4 Golf R32
- Mk5 Golf GTI
- Integra Type R DC5

I could probably list more!

Does anybody else have a long list of next car potentials or do you all know what you’re aiming for???

I’ve made so many mistakes with expensive (to me) cars and I want my next car to be “the one” which does everything I need it to do well… which is commute in relative comfort / ease, look very smart and make me smile when on a nice country road. I also like a car to be accepted as a “nice car for sub 25 year old” which I guess is an odd thing to say and I will be told “don’t give a wotsit what other people think” but it is something I like!

What would you advise when you like this many cars? Try and get a test drive in all of them from dealers??? I’ve driven a few of them so know what to expect with them but I’ve not had long ownership of any of them… so how will I know if it’s going to keep me happy for the long term!?

I’ve kept my Clio for nearly 2 years as I was sick of changing cars and losing money and I’d really like to keep my next purchase for a long time too.

Sorry for the essay… I needed to write it all down to try and make sense of what I want to do… I like to have a goal! (to the point of printing a picture of the car I want next and sticking it to the side of my monitor at work!!!)

I'd like to hear other members options / hopes of their next cars!