Discussion
It's one of those cars I respect, due to the fact it has a Mustang V8 shoehorned under the bonnet, but I am shocked at the value of them. Currently there are only a handful for sale, and are upwards of £7k. I would have thought with the current economical climate, and the rising cost of go go juice their value would have plummeted. It seems not. Are they that good?
I think the relatively healthy used prices are more down to the fact that there are not many examples around, and that they have developed a bit of a cult/enthusiast following which is holding up the prices, rather then them being that great a car.
I have seen price drop as low as 4.5k for tatty high mileage examples, but prices that low are rare.
Had mine for 3.5 years and ownership has had its pros and cons. Its not a car that can be run on a shoe string and probably not the car to own if you rely solely on garages for your car maintenance, as its not uncommon for me to have to tinker with mine to resolve niggling issues that keep cropping up.
On the plus side they do have a good enthusiast following and there are a couple of independent specialists for servicing/repairs/parts, so its normally not too difficult to get advise or research common issues & fixes.
I have seen price drop as low as 4.5k for tatty high mileage examples, but prices that low are rare.
Had mine for 3.5 years and ownership has had its pros and cons. Its not a car that can be run on a shoe string and probably not the car to own if you rely solely on garages for your car maintenance, as its not uncommon for me to have to tinker with mine to resolve niggling issues that keep cropping up.
On the plus side they do have a good enthusiast following and there are a couple of independent specialists for servicing/repairs/parts, so its normally not too difficult to get advise or research common issues & fixes.
I paid £12,700 for mine when it was 3 years old and had under 25k miles on the clock. That included 12 months' warranty, 12 months' AA cover, 6 months' tax and a full tank of fuel.
It's now 9 years old and has 70k miles on the clock. If I did decide to sell it, I'd guess it would probably go for around £8.5k, being both a Mk1 and a tourer, hence the rarest variant (75 V8 tourers aside).
Yes, I struggle to get much more than 20 mpg out of it, but once you take into account depreciation, it's the cheapest car I've owned since the £200 snotters I had as a student.
Thing is, I wouldn't sell it though, as I just can't think of anything to replace it with. It's lovely to drive, pretty cheap to maintain (it helps that Pete Wayte in Chobham is close enough and services a good dozen or more of them, so knows them inside out), and isn't stuffed full of traction control and other expensive-to-fix gizmos which mostly seem to compensate for lazy mechanical design. Rear wheel drive, limited slip diff and a V8 with nothing more complex than ABS. What else could you get with similar performance for similar money, especially if you also want to be able to take a family of 5 on a 2 week camping holiday in it?
It's far from the fastest car on the road (0-60 in about 6.5 seconds), but I don't think that's a bad thing. I can comfortably keep up on hoons in the dry - although in the wet I'm obviously stuck with the brave souls out in their Tivs in the rain as the Scoobies and 911 4x4s bugger off into the distance - but I still get the sensation of speed at a sane actual speed. Yes, I could easily drive something like a C63 AMG probably 20mph faster anywhere, but from limited experience of the AMG, once I got over the initial buzz of the extra acceleration, I just felt that I'd have to be driving it 40mph faster to get the same sensations, and that's just not a safe prospect on UK roads.
It's also surprisingly nimble for its size. It will cost you a fortune in tyres if you take it to too many track days, but it's a seriously fun way of burning up your cash.
It's also on an 03 plate, so only £265 or so to tax (I pity the poor buggers who've got the 06 plate ones - made in 03 anyway, but a lot more to tax because of when they were registered).
If I was ever feeling particularly flush, I'd probably either supercharge it or slot in a gruntier V8 rather than replace it.
It's now 9 years old and has 70k miles on the clock. If I did decide to sell it, I'd guess it would probably go for around £8.5k, being both a Mk1 and a tourer, hence the rarest variant (75 V8 tourers aside).
Yes, I struggle to get much more than 20 mpg out of it, but once you take into account depreciation, it's the cheapest car I've owned since the £200 snotters I had as a student.
Thing is, I wouldn't sell it though, as I just can't think of anything to replace it with. It's lovely to drive, pretty cheap to maintain (it helps that Pete Wayte in Chobham is close enough and services a good dozen or more of them, so knows them inside out), and isn't stuffed full of traction control and other expensive-to-fix gizmos which mostly seem to compensate for lazy mechanical design. Rear wheel drive, limited slip diff and a V8 with nothing more complex than ABS. What else could you get with similar performance for similar money, especially if you also want to be able to take a family of 5 on a 2 week camping holiday in it?
It's far from the fastest car on the road (0-60 in about 6.5 seconds), but I don't think that's a bad thing. I can comfortably keep up on hoons in the dry - although in the wet I'm obviously stuck with the brave souls out in their Tivs in the rain as the Scoobies and 911 4x4s bugger off into the distance - but I still get the sensation of speed at a sane actual speed. Yes, I could easily drive something like a C63 AMG probably 20mph faster anywhere, but from limited experience of the AMG, once I got over the initial buzz of the extra acceleration, I just felt that I'd have to be driving it 40mph faster to get the same sensations, and that's just not a safe prospect on UK roads.
It's also surprisingly nimble for its size. It will cost you a fortune in tyres if you take it to too many track days, but it's a seriously fun way of burning up your cash.
It's also on an 03 plate, so only £265 or so to tax (I pity the poor buggers who've got the 06 plate ones - made in 03 anyway, but a lot more to tax because of when they were registered).
If I was ever feeling particularly flush, I'd probably either supercharge it or slot in a gruntier V8 rather than replace it.
Kermit power said:
I paid £12,700 for mine when it was 3 years old and had under 25k miles on the clock. That included 12 months' warranty, 12 months' AA cover, 6 months' tax and a full tank of fuel.
It's now 9 years old and has 70k miles on the clock. If I did decide to sell it, I'd guess it would probably go for around £8.5k, being both a Mk1 and a tourer, hence the rarest variant (75 V8 tourers aside).
Yes, I struggle to get much more than 20 mpg out of it, but once you take into account depreciation, it's the cheapest car I've owned since the £200 snotters I had as a student.
Thing is, I wouldn't sell it though, as I just can't think of anything to replace it with. It's lovely to drive, pretty cheap to maintain (it helps that Pete Wayte in Chobham is close enough and services a good dozen or more of them, so knows them inside out), and isn't stuffed full of traction control and other expensive-to-fix gizmos which mostly seem to compensate for lazy mechanical design. Rear wheel drive, limited slip diff and a V8 with nothing more complex than ABS. What else could you get with similar performance for similar money, especially if you also want to be able to take a family of 5 on a 2 week camping holiday in it?
It's far from the fastest car on the road (0-60 in about 6.5 seconds), but I don't think that's a bad thing. I can comfortably keep up on hoons in the dry - although in the wet I'm obviously stuck with the brave souls out in their Tivs in the rain as the Scoobies and 911 4x4s bugger off into the distance - but I still get the sensation of speed at a sane actual speed. Yes, I could easily drive something like a C63 AMG probably 20mph faster anywhere, but from limited experience of the AMG, once I got over the initial buzz of the extra acceleration, I just felt that I'd have to be driving it 40mph faster to get the same sensations, and that's just not a safe prospect on UK roads.
It's also surprisingly nimble for its size. It will cost you a fortune in tyres if you take it to too many track days, but it's a seriously fun way of burning up your cash.
It's also on an 03 plate, so only £265 or so to tax (I pity the poor buggers who've got the 06 plate ones - made in 03 anyway, but a lot more to tax because of when they were registered).
If I was ever feeling particularly flush, I'd probably either supercharge it or slot in a gruntier V8 rather than replace it.
mine was a MK1 as well, apparently there were only 25 Mk1 ZT-T SE260's ever made.It's now 9 years old and has 70k miles on the clock. If I did decide to sell it, I'd guess it would probably go for around £8.5k, being both a Mk1 and a tourer, hence the rarest variant (75 V8 tourers aside).
Yes, I struggle to get much more than 20 mpg out of it, but once you take into account depreciation, it's the cheapest car I've owned since the £200 snotters I had as a student.
Thing is, I wouldn't sell it though, as I just can't think of anything to replace it with. It's lovely to drive, pretty cheap to maintain (it helps that Pete Wayte in Chobham is close enough and services a good dozen or more of them, so knows them inside out), and isn't stuffed full of traction control and other expensive-to-fix gizmos which mostly seem to compensate for lazy mechanical design. Rear wheel drive, limited slip diff and a V8 with nothing more complex than ABS. What else could you get with similar performance for similar money, especially if you also want to be able to take a family of 5 on a 2 week camping holiday in it?
It's far from the fastest car on the road (0-60 in about 6.5 seconds), but I don't think that's a bad thing. I can comfortably keep up on hoons in the dry - although in the wet I'm obviously stuck with the brave souls out in their Tivs in the rain as the Scoobies and 911 4x4s bugger off into the distance - but I still get the sensation of speed at a sane actual speed. Yes, I could easily drive something like a C63 AMG probably 20mph faster anywhere, but from limited experience of the AMG, once I got over the initial buzz of the extra acceleration, I just felt that I'd have to be driving it 40mph faster to get the same sensations, and that's just not a safe prospect on UK roads.
It's also surprisingly nimble for its size. It will cost you a fortune in tyres if you take it to too many track days, but it's a seriously fun way of burning up your cash.
It's also on an 03 plate, so only £265 or so to tax (I pity the poor buggers who've got the 06 plate ones - made in 03 anyway, but a lot more to tax because of when they were registered).
If I was ever feeling particularly flush, I'd probably either supercharge it or slot in a gruntier V8 rather than replace it.
DaveZT260 said:
I have a 53 plate saloon with 23000 miles on the clock which is absolutely immaculate, on classic insurance and is a pure weekend car.
Would I ever sell it?
No way...
How much is the insurance out of interest? I'm paying around £600 for mine (male, 40s, clean licence, live in Suburban Surrey) but I suspect I suffer because of the need to have business insurance on it. Would I ever sell it?
No way...
Kermit power said:
How much is the insurance out of interest? I'm paying around £600 for mine (male, 40s, clean licence, live in Suburban Surrey) but I suspect I suffer because of the need to have business insurance on it.
I've got mine through Peter Best - 5000 mile limit, social domestic and pleasure only including breakdown and European assistance - £274.00 per annum fully comp.The only downside is you don't earn no claims discount but I can cope with that.....
Looks like I may be selling mine soon. 
My Shogun died on holiday, and whilst having two cars over the age of 10 (which my V8 nearly is) was fine, as they weren't both likely to break down simultaneously, having just the one is too risky.
The plan therefore is to get a diseasel S-Max on my company car scheme, and sell Kermit partly to fund the loss in monthly income that will result from this
and partly to spend on an MX-5 I can ultimately fettle & tune to my heart's content!
Still, there's a 9-week lead time on the S-Max, so I've got a while left with the V8 yet.
My Shogun died on holiday, and whilst having two cars over the age of 10 (which my V8 nearly is) was fine, as they weren't both likely to break down simultaneously, having just the one is too risky.
The plan therefore is to get a diseasel S-Max on my company car scheme, and sell Kermit partly to fund the loss in monthly income that will result from this
and partly to spend on an MX-5 I can ultimately fettle & tune to my heart's content! Still, there's a 9-week lead time on the S-Max, so I've got a while left with the V8 yet.
moribund said:
You're selling? Nooooooooooooooooooooo!
Sadly it just doesn't really make sense any more. If I go on to the company car scheme, then I can't claim business mileage on a private car any more, and if I've got an S-Max, that's going to be the default family bus (especially with twice the fuel economy of the V8) so I would start to run out of situations in which I'd really use it.It's a lovely grand tourer-type of car that can get through corners insanely quickly considering its weight, but an impractical soft top like an MX-5 on a 3,000 mile limited insurance policy for occasional messing around in the summer just makes far more sense for my new circumstances.
MGZTV8 said:
Oooh, is that mine I spotted next to yours in one of your pics? Hope you get a good price, looks a lovely car.Gassing Station | MG | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff