Stopgap car between E46 330 convertible and New Mustang!

[Noel1983]

Evening all,

Small challenge: have a 52 plate e46 330 ci sport convertible that I plan to sell early summer to take advantage of all those keen buyers

I have a new v8 mustang coming whenever they actually land in the country (estimated end if 2015)

So what do I do in the meantime.

Ideally £2-3k purchase price or less and looking to have low cost motoring for six months with lowest possible maintenance cost risk until I take on the beast of a v8 and the costs (and awesomeness) that will come with that!!

So.....any thoughts?

Cheers
Noel

[Pebbles167]

Grab a 90's/00's hot hatch to blast around in until you get the Mustang. They are all pretty practical, cheap to buy & run, reliable, economical (relatively) and above all, a hoot to drive. This will allow you time to get some fuel money together!

My choices?

Renault Clio 172/182
Peugeot 306 GTI6/Rallye
Honda Civic Type R
Ford Focus ST170
Vauxhaull Astra GSI
Seat Leon Cupra R

Many more to choose from.

[Mave]

Why not hang onto the 330? You get to drive it for another summer, and the difference between summer and autumn price is probably less than the financial risk of a new (to you) car?

[Deerfoot]

Mave said:

Why not hang onto the 330? You get to drive it for another summer, and the difference between summer and autumn price is probably less than the financial risk of a new (to you) car?

Absolutely this. On a 52 plate 330 the price difference between selling in spring as opposed to autumn will be a fraction of the cost to swap it.

[Noel1983]

Cheers all, I was thinking the same however it's approaching 105,000 miles so my thinking was there'd be more people interested in a car like that when its sunny than risking it being a harder sell in the winter.

Thoughts and opinions welcome.

[Mephistofleas]

Needs to be polar opposite to the 'stang so you really appreciate it.

2CV?

[Major Fallout]

I would say something heavy big and slow, so the mustang feels like a rocket ship after.

[Mave]

Noel1983 said:

Cheers all, I was thinking the same however it's approaching 105,000 miles so my thinking was there'd be more people interested in a car like that when its sunny than risking it being a harder sell in the winter.

Thoughts and opinions welcome.

Having watched 330i convertibles come and go all over last year, my observation was that good ones went quickly, dogs took months to sell, and asking prices were pretty stable from February to November.

[new666uk]

Take a look at the Shed of the Week posts. Usually something that will keep you motoring and raise a reasonable smile in the process. Very sensible shifting the 'vert for the summer.

Interested in the Mustang myself. I've been on the Ford mailing list for ages waiting for prices etc. Will likely give one a try but the poor V8 mpg puts me off - Europeans just seem to get more out of their V8's.

[Noel1983]

Cheers all, especially interesting re what you've seen watching 330 sales. I've not followed the market since I bought mine but used to watch it like a hawk. Safe to say mine's in the good nick category, I rescued it from Braintree, de pimped it (massive black spoiler, black alloys, white dials, black grills and a variety of other sins - in my opinion of course) and put back to standard. I've got the hard top as well, exterior is immaculate only issue is wheels need refurbing (like that when I bought them second hand) and the roof is immaculate so hopefully will be an easy sell, with the work i've had done at 110k it's barely run in

[T0MMY]

I bought a Xsara VTS (306 Gti6 in an ugly dress) as a stopgap between my 200SX and whatever fast RWD car I wanted next and ended up keeping it for 2 years! Great fun, far better than I thought it'd be.

I've never really paid much attention to the market but it seems to me the reduced demand for convertibles must be somewhat balanced out by the reduced supply as people wait to sell in spring so do prices really vary that much? I sold my MX5 in November for a good price but no idea if I could have got more in summer.

Edited by T0MMY on Friday 23 January 20:17