Recommend me a car - Quick, daily driveable up to £12k?

[Magnum0]

I'm after some car advice, I'm looking for something that meets the following criteria.

Quick: able to keep up with most things on the road, sub 5 second 0-60
Daily driveable: I don't commute far to work, 9 miles each way. I just wouldn't want anything too extreme that would be a pain to drive most of the time.
Depreciation: Hopefully something that won't depreciate, possibly even go up in value.
Budget: up to £12,000, but that really is the top of the budget.
Condition: If I can only get a sh!tter that fits in the budget, I'd rather pick something else.
Reliability: ok, ok, you have the three things: cheap, fast, reliable...pick two. But absolute money pits are out of the question...


Things I've been looking at recently:

Mk1 Focus RS - you can get a decent spec one within budget, definitely a future investment too. I like the look of them. There's one on ebay now for £12000, nice spec with 380bhp.

B5 S4 - I've heard mixed things about the B5 S4, but I've always loved the look of a Nogaro Blue saloon. There's one on ebay now. Very serious spec but on the top end of my budget and not far off double the price of any others on the market.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-S4-B5-NOGARO-BLUE-F...


Anything else I should consider?

Thanks for any help

Matt

[M-SportMatt]

The FRS is a good shout but using for commuting and keeping in a condition where the value holds/goes up will cost you, value with RS's is often a function of mileage anyway

How about an Alpina D3 as a left field shout

[designforlife]

Not quite in the 5s, but certainly not slow- How about an Integra DC5?

£9-10k would buy a minter, they're reliable, handle fantastically and totally useable as a daily. Won't lose value, if anything a good example should appreciate over the next few years.

Ah sorry, re-read OP and see sub 5...Teg would probably be too slow for you.

[Magnum0]

M-SportMatt said:

The FRS is a good shout but using for commuting and keeping in a condition where the value holds/goes up will cost you, value with RS's is often a function of mileage anyway

How about an Alpina D3 as a left field shout

I do quite like the Alpina D3, although I'd probably go for the B10 5 series if I went down that route.
I've been looking at e46 m3's. They've gone up in price a bit recently but still within budget. To be honest though, I don't think they really sound that good. I'm sure if I drove one I'd fall in love with it.

designforlife said:

Not quite in the 5s, but certainly not slow- How about an Integra DC5?

£9-10k would buy a minter, they're reliable, handle fantastically and totally useable as a daily. Won't lose value, if anything a good example should appreciate over the next few years.

Ah sorry, re-read OP and see sub 5...Teg would probably be too slow for you.

I shouldn't have said it needs to be a sub 5 second car, at the end of the day it is just a number. I'd just like it to be not far off the level of a mk3 Focus RS, the car I was pining over but recently realising I can't have it.
I do like the DC5 but I think if I went jap I'd want something a bit faster. It's a shame the r32 GTR wouldn't fit into the budget. S15's are kind of appealing to me but the interior doesn't look great

[Scottie - NW]

With an S15 you can easily fit a lot of different seats though, there is a wide range of good recaros etc from other jap cars for sale where they have gone for race seats.

[sparks_E39]

E39 M5? Just about 5 seconds to 60. They rust like no tomorrow though.

[Ahbefive]

Impreza STi

A hatchback one is now in budget which is better suited to a daiĺy than the older ones. Older ones are best though