What made you choose your current car?
What made you choose your current car?
Author
Discussion

Stick Legs

Original Poster:

8,924 posts

194 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Just wondering what drives us (pardon the pun) to buy the cars we do?

In my case I wanted to have something fast & practical that would not be ruinous to run.
Having a lot of llove for old BMW's since childhood I though that it would have been cool to buy a new BMW BITD and just keep it.
I really liked my old E28 528i & figured the F10 530d is the modern equivelant. So that was how.


TheAngryDog

13,229 posts

238 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I'd wanted an M5 for years. When the chance came to buy one I did just that.

I wanted a V8, 4 doors and something that didnt stand out, but the people who knew, knew. I like saloon cars and I like quick cars.

Edited by TheAngryDog on Friday 20th June 12:03

ManiacGT

537 posts

204 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Loved the styling. Gorgeous sounding exhaust and engine with the DCT blips and bangs on overrun. Some great toys. Very quick.


Mr SFJ

4,089 posts

151 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I bought that particular one because of all of the options I wanted, and more.

The alloys were a must, as were rear parking sensors.

The reason I chose that model of car is because of it's sleeper effect, A Punto with 120hp, 155lb-ft torque catches out most people and I do get some shocked faces hehe

Also because of it's exclusivity, there are only 1600 registered on the UK roads and it feels nice owning something you don't see every day.

Everybody who's sat in, and seen how it goes all say that it's a bloody fast car and it changes their opinion on Fiat.

V88Dicky

7,366 posts

212 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Various videos like this;

http://youtu.be/htvTzFx2zuU

Plus a Top Gear episode from around 2003

r44flyer

516 posts

245 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Stylish
Large estate with roof rails
Economical
Climate control
Remote control parking heater
On board sat nav
Strong internet technical knowledge base
Second hand value for money

MG ZT-T

Daston

6,148 posts

232 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
The MG ZS was due to a shed of the week thread on PH a while back. I was selling the Tuscan and looking for a family car that was a bit of fun too. Was originally thinking Evo's or Subarus but the budget wasn't really there.

I didn't even know they came with a 2.5 V6 or the chassis was that good! So now have a practical family car purchased for a very good price which handles well and has a good sound track smile

The RX7 is being purchased due to a few factors. 1) I love japanese cars not sure why but I like the sound of a turbo charged engine and the looks of crazy wings etc. 2) They are rare, not seen one on the road for a very long time 3) Its a 2+2 (at a push) so for local events we can even take the little one (when we have one). 4) The rotary is nothing like any engine I have owned. 5) I can tinker with it for days smile

Rawwr

22,722 posts

263 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Heated seats.

cocopop

1,300 posts

234 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Nothing else would do. Lots of stuff appealed, but I always came back to FD RX7s.

Plus after I started talking to importers, I was told 'we can have a tuning shop of your choice build it to absolutely any spec you want'.

plus5dB

986 posts

176 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I had a tiny budget and a requirement to buy the best car I could in 1 week as I was about to begin my first job after uni. A cheap e46 318 appeared which is a good base car and the small engine meant it was ok to insure as I'd never been a policy holder before.

It was only ever intended to be a stop gap but the thing just won't break down and with my recent wedding I've had no chance to save up for anything better. Thankfully, plans are coming together for me to move into V8 ownership within the next year.

joema

2,754 posts

208 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I wanted something more practical than my alfa 156, so I bought an M3. Fail.

I could get the rear seat down plus was bored to death by diesels. I missed my Golf which showed no sign of being alive.

Japveesix

4,576 posts

197 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I needed to reduce my running costs from my old FTO (200bhp V6, import, 25mpg) but still wanted something rare, fun, nippy, unusual and affordable.

Went to see an Ignis Sport and loved it. It's a lot of car for the money, very entertaining and quite unusual (hardly anyone knows what it is) and it should hopefully be a much cheaper car to run long term. This particular one was immaculate too with a solid service history. smile

DrDoofenshmirtz

16,952 posts

229 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
SAAB 93.
Looks good. Was in fantastic condition. It was cheap. It's not a BMW. SAAB driver image (cool, calm, collected, intelligent, nice).

y2blade

56,318 posts

244 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I Wanted a "Q-car" AWD wagon.



The deal was sealed once MissB and I watched a few clips on YouTube
this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWVGXW2jLmQ

and this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQB5_BzVO94


A year and a half later, I wouldn't change it for ANYTHING else.
cloud9





timjswan

1,265 posts

148 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
I bought mine (my second car, Fiat Grande Punto) after my first car shat itself. It was a 2000 Polo that needed a replacement engine worth more than the car. In hindsight I shouldn't have bought the thing, it had been hammered and not been maintained judging by the state of the engine big end bearings. I should have got it checked over first but didn't since I didn't know what I was doing; I guess I've learn't from that experience. The car I drive now was recommended to me through my mechanic mate from school. After losing all that money on the Polo I needed a car that was solid (yes, I know it's a Fiat) and had been looked after well and those were the only requirements. I've been driving it for a couple of years and apart from droplinks, one spring and part used steering rack (was only £100 to replace) it's been fine.

SeeFive

8,353 posts

262 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Needed a V8 rumble which was mass produced, not an overpriced German eurobox clitoris (every **** has got one), was simple and inexpensive to maintain, was unusual and quick enough and handled accordingly with enough creature comforts for long journeys. It also had to be a manual.

I like to be different in my choice of cars, and there were not many candidates 10 years ago.


DervVW

2,223 posts

168 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Mr SFJ said:
I bought that particular one because of all of the options I wanted, and more.
Also because of it's exclusivity, there are only 1600 registered on the UK roads and it feels nice owning something you don't see every day.
How do you find this out?
Sounds like the perfect sleeper car

VF7

3,403 posts

244 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
small as I live in the city center
not too flash so it blends in nicely
people who know appreciate it, others don't notice
leather
heated seats
glass sunroof
automatic AC
factory GPS (absolutely useless but nice to look at)
6 speed
125hp/1000kg
low on fuel, tax, insurance
quality
the fact it's quite rare (even more so with those options)
being in my twenties, the very time to drive a hot hatch


-> Lupo GTI



ETA:

not that one can't/shouldn't drive a hot hatch beeing 30+ but IMHO every decade there is a category of cars that suits you best:

20's hot hatch
30's sports car
40's family estate
50's classic car
60's ???

Ideally you accumulate them.
Of course this list is not set in stone and can/should be altered due to personal circumstances and/or tastes. Just a sentiment from my side.


Edited by VF7 on Friday 20th June 12:45

BritishRacinGrin

26,498 posts

189 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
Primarily I needed something which could do race weekend duties... Tow the Caterham, fit wheels, tools, spares, jerry cans, engines etc in the boot. So a largeish estate. But I wanted it to be one of those models where to my eyes at least the estate looked better than the saloon. I wanted something oldish with enduring quality which'd be simple and enjoyable to work on whilst being modern enough to get a reasonable amount of performance from a reasonable amount of fuel and to be liveable with on a day-to-day basis. I wanted manual 'box, more than four cylinders and ideally rear wheel drive.
I arrived at an E34 BMW, a late one with the Motronic 2.5L 24v VANOS engine. It's been superb. So much so that I'm keeping it even though I sold the Caterham in December.
It's sitting unloved on my driveway in the UK at the moment but when I get back from my work placement in Thailand I'm going to do it up and personalise it a bit. Re-sale value, after all, is irrelevant if you're not planning to sell!

Dave Hedgehog

16,321 posts

233 months

Friday 20th June 2014
quotequote all
lots of space and 4wd pace

plus an engine with lovely noise and oodles of character, sod the environment tongue out