ST225 Vs S3 Vs Z4 Coupe Vs something else

[okie592]

Looking for a new car, budget of around £7k without finance but willing to finance Another £7 - 8k for the right car as im going to be keeping it long term

my dream car is a focus st3, i love everything about them, and i am a avid fan of a fast fords but for the price of them theres alot of other cars around for the money.

the list that ive come up with is:

Focus st
s3
Brera prodrive
z4 coupe - either the M or the 3.0i
bmw 130i
alfa 147 gta
Mazda 6 mps

All the cars appeal to me in some way or another,and i can insure them for roughly the same price. i ideally want something turbo charged but the call of a straight 6 Bmw could be too hard to resist, obviously the z4m is 340bhp but at 21 would the repair bills be crippling?

i dont cover more than 10k, comfort is a big factor, and the car should have leather, sat nav, good radio etc. mainly just me and i cant see my situation changing anytime soon.

what would you have and why?

PS i hate the mx5 and i will never ever own one of them. i need back seats for the bhes Init

Edited by okie592 on Wednesday 29th August 18:22

[GG89]

21 you say?

..awaits a flood of people telling you to buy a £500 heap of st and keep the rest of your money.

[Urban Sports]

Buy a £500 ish MX5 and save the rest, after all you're only 21.

[GG89]

[TameRacingDriver]

£500 should get you a nice Escort GTI.

[shambolic]

Z4M repair bills ok but servicing insurance and fuel costs are on the high side.
Have a look here for some advice on the www.z4-forum.com site.

[GroundEffect]

For some reason my Z4M is cheaper to insure than my Z4C was (24yo).

Oh and if you're going for either, I'd say M every time.

[Urban Sports]

shambolic said:

Z4M repair bills ok but servicing insurance and fuel costs are on the high side.
Have a look here for some advice on the www.z4-forum.com site.

Mine does about 20mpg, insurance is v expensive compared to other cars I've owned including my S2000 and servicing is pricey. However it is always going to be the case when running an M car.

But it's worth paying the extra for the noise alone!

[rb5er]

Get the ST if you want one.

[billzeebub]

BMW M Coupe or Z4 Coupe

[Temple]

The fact you're worrying about the Z4M running costs suggests to me you might be pushing it there, i'm 22 my self and i know if i had the choice between any of them i'd pick the Z4M anyday.

Take a look at the Astra VXR (nurb if you can), yes it torque steers but there's something called throttle control, I'm a ford man and i preferred the Astra's overall feel compared to the Focus ST.

[KingNothing]

I'd get the ST, but then again, I'm biased, lol.

[Uncle John]

Yep get what you want otherwise it's always a compromise and you'll always wish you had done it every time you see one go he other way.

Very Decent ST3's can be had for 10 - 12k.

[karl_h]

You're in Focus RS territory at the upper end of your budget. But ST is a great car love mine.

[SSBB]

Temple said:

The fact you're worrying about the Z4M running costs suggests to me you might be pushing it there, i'm 22 my self and i know if i had the choice between any of them i'd pick the Z4M anyday.

Take a look at the Astra VXR (nurb if you can), yes it torque steers but there's something called throttle control, I'm a ford man and i preferred the Astra's overall feel compared to the Focus ST.

Haha, love it. How do you stop your fast car torque-steering? Don't drive it so fast. Excellent.

[Buggerlugz]

I have had a 6 mps for the last 2 years and cant fault it, its had a wheel bearing and thats it.

Its ridiculously fast in stock mode but can be boosted to 300 bhp for £500, as yet I havent felt the need

Fuel consumption is 250 mile to the £70 tank pootling about, 350 mile on motorways

It has a good toys spec I belive which I dont really take much notice of

Youll struggle to spend £7k on one as prices have plummeted

Check out classifieds ebay autotrader etc to see whats available, something like this would e a good buy

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

[physprof]

Temple said:

The fact you're worrying about the Z4M running costs suggests to me you might be pushing it there, i'm 22 my self and i know if i had the choice between any of them i'd pick the Z4M anyday.
.

see my garage for a reality of M..... I'm 1.5K miles away from second Insp. I. (72K miles).

I have a wee service kitty of 600 notes ready to soften to inevitable...

Also the 4 warranty visits have cost me £69 a month (AUC extended) plus 4 x £100 excess during ownership....

my reckoning is without that .... two visits O2 would have been near £750-1000k parts and labour... a third visit not listed a FOC was a in for a week on a PUMA (my third O2 sensors ) the last might have cost £1.5k to diagnose....

oh and road tax is due this month.....475 IIRC.....

and yes 22mpg in super with spirited driving .....

[DukeDickson]

SSBB said:

Temple said:

The fact you're worrying about the Z4M running costs suggests to me you might be pushing it there, i'm 22 my self and i know if i had the choice between any of them i'd pick the Z4M anyday.

Take a look at the Astra VXR (nurb if you can), yes it torque steers but there's something called throttle control, I'm a ford man and i preferred the Astra's overall feel compared to the Focus ST.

Haha, love it. How do you stop your fast car torque-steering? Don't drive it so fast. Excellent.

Speaks volumes


I'd agree with Temple on the money front. OP - If you can't buy the Z4M cash and don't have some spare left over, you're barking up the wrong tree.

As mentioned, chuck in warranty, tax, insurance and other running costs, plus the loan, and you're looking at 500+ per month absolute minimum. Probably a good slug more in reality.


Be realistic, reign the budget in (maybe even go good shed for a year or three) and wait for either what you're looking at now to be a bit cheaper, or for something at the same money to be more recent or interesting.
Tempting as it is, it is always the running costs that you don't quite get when you're young and running something a bit more normal.

[Vitorio]

rb5er said:

Get the ST if you want one.

This, if an ST is truely your dreamcar, you will kick yourself 10 years down the road when you still havent had one (due to constantly going for the other option), and and mortgage/house/kids are eating the funds so you cant have one for a while.

I know i should have bought that alfa GTV 5 years ago, dont have the money for it now