Change of car when parking on street
Discussion
I had been on the lookout for an E92 335i for around £15k, until yesterday when I got home to find some **** had scraped across the front 3/4 of my mint R32 and driven off, leaving a mix of their paint and no paint on my bumper from the wheel arch to the corner.
This has left me wondering whether buying another car in great condition that I'm really going to care about is the wrong thing to do when it will be parked on the street.
So the options are:
1. Just buy the 335i and live with the stress/risk
2. Find a high-mileage, cheaper E46 M3 (ideally a CS) which isn't in perfect nick so less worried about leaving it on the street, and do the odd track day in it
3. Find a high-mileage M39 M5
4. Buy something else...a real shed isn't an option, but other suggestions appreciated
Fuel economy isn't too much of a concern as I only do around 4k miles a year, most of which is on motorways/dual carriageways with the odd country road blat and a bit of sitting in traffic waiting to get out of London.
Any thoughts?
This has left me wondering whether buying another car in great condition that I'm really going to care about is the wrong thing to do when it will be parked on the street.
So the options are:
1. Just buy the 335i and live with the stress/risk
2. Find a high-mileage, cheaper E46 M3 (ideally a CS) which isn't in perfect nick so less worried about leaving it on the street, and do the odd track day in it
3. Find a high-mileage M39 M5
4. Buy something else...a real shed isn't an option, but other suggestions appreciated
Fuel economy isn't too much of a concern as I only do around 4k miles a year, most of which is on motorways/dual carriageways with the odd country road blat and a bit of sitting in traffic waiting to get out of London.
Any thoughts?
Do what I did, and get an E92 335i which isn't cosmetically perfect, but is mechanically perfect. Then you've got no problems around the stress of parking on the street, but still have a nice reliable car, and you'll save some money on your 15k budget as well.
PS you can have mine if you like!
PS you can have mine if you like!
t, which is why every corner has been rubbed off my A3 - I don't intend to get it repaired as the scrapes will only happen againExactly my problem. Would love something nicer than my current Leon TDI, but fear of damage puts me off. Also not having a driveway to keep a car mint.
Are there any garages available to rent nearby? I bought an MX-5 for trackdays last year and rented a garage from a housing association in a not too bad area nearby for £6 per week!
Are there any garages available to rent nearby? I bought an MX-5 for trackdays last year and rented a garage from a housing association in a not too bad area nearby for £6 per week!
Sadly I can't find any garages available nearby - that would be ideal. The ones that are around are pretty pricey due to the location.
Getting a cosmetically less-than-perfect 335i is something I wouldn't mind doing, but finding one with a decent spec (either coupe or saloon with folding rear seats, M Sport, ideally with sat nav) that isn't in really good nick seems to be pretty hard - having to buy from a dealer makes it harder as I can't be without a car and can't have 2 due to parking restrictions.
I would like to get back into track days, which makes the M3 the most appealing, but I'm slightly scared by the running costs of an M3 on track. The only car I've used on track was a VX220, which cost peanuts because it was so light.
The appeal of the M5 is that it's easier to find a cheap, high mileage one, and it's probably the best for most of the road driving I do. Pretty huge though - I don't /need/ that much space, and parking something that big would be harder.
Think some test drives may be in order.
Getting a cosmetically less-than-perfect 335i is something I wouldn't mind doing, but finding one with a decent spec (either coupe or saloon with folding rear seats, M Sport, ideally with sat nav) that isn't in really good nick seems to be pretty hard - having to buy from a dealer makes it harder as I can't be without a car and can't have 2 due to parking restrictions.
I would like to get back into track days, which makes the M3 the most appealing, but I'm slightly scared by the running costs of an M3 on track. The only car I've used on track was a VX220, which cost peanuts because it was so light.
The appeal of the M5 is that it's easier to find a cheap, high mileage one, and it's probably the best for most of the road driving I do. Pretty huge though - I don't /need/ that much space, and parking something that big would be harder.
Think some test drives may be in order.
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