Decisions decisions....911, M6, 4200GT, XKR, CL AMG etc. etc
Decisions decisions....911, M6, 4200GT, XKR, CL AMG etc. etc
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mmarksx19

Original Poster:

66 posts

119 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
quotequote all
Hi all,

I am in the very lucky (for me) position to be looking at buying myself a dream car with a budget of £15k.
Having owned countless cars in the past (about 200) but most of them bought based on being sub £500 rather than desire I am now in the position to buy a keeper but don't want to get bored after 3 months. I have owned some nice cars (A8L, Boxster S, GS450H, Alfa 166 etc) but never spent this much before!

I keep looking at the classifieds and thinking 'thats the one' then seeing something else so I am really torn.

I do 100 miles a day commuting so will keep my old Citroen C4 as a commuter apart from the days I am bored (hopefully not all of them).

I am not a fast driver but do like the option of speed and like to accelerate when needed or to keep my weekly 500 mile trip to another office interesting.

So far I have thought about 911's, M6 or 650i, 4200Gt or Quattroporte, XKr, CL63 or CL600, and want thoughts from you as to what I might miss being ruled by my heart on this one.

Ideally reasonable fuel economy, affordable servicing, automatic, 4/5 seats, nice noise, brutal acceleration and mainly the smile factor every time I use it.
I do like buttons as well.

90% of the time it will be just me in it or me and the wife but I do want the option to seat 2 people in the back when needed.

So, thoughts on the above or other options I have missed???????

Edited by mmarksx19 on Wednesday 5th July 11:14

tektas

293 posts

117 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
quotequote all
I think it would be helpful if you could give us more details regarding your criteria.

What is a "reasonable" fuel economy for you? What acceleration is "brutal"?

Just from the Cars you mentioned, if we go by sound, take the E63 M6, for "brutal" acceleration take e.g. an CL55 AMG with the supercharger smile

mmarksx19

Original Poster:

66 posts

119 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
quotequote all
I suppose reasonable fuel consumption would be to achieve 25mpg on a steady motorway run.
Having owned a Boxster S (986), you get used to a level of acceleration so something that makes the hairs stand up!

Trouble is I keep switching from semi-sensible (M5/M6/CL) to forget being sensible (Maserati/911 etc). By sensible I mean not having repair bills of £1000s every year, room for people, comfortable. By not sensible I mean limited rear room, exotic, etc. I'm really torn and I'm sure others have been in this situation.

My ideal vehicle would therefore be the looks and drama of the Maserati, the space of an M5, the comfort & buttons of a limo, the performance and sound of a TVR and the build of a merc!

Chris Stott

17,430 posts

215 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
quotequote all
996's (only 911 in your budget range)...

Fabulous cars to drive, but you need to go in to them with your eyes open.

The easy stuff first... Unless the driver/front seat passenger are short, you won't get adults in the back of a 996 for anything more than a very short trip... though you can get a couple of kids in them. And to maintain one properly, you will spend more than £1k/year (mine has cost around double that, on average, over the past 10 years/100k miles). They will do >25 on a steady run.

You could run one 'on a budget', but the likely outcome is a car that will gradually deteriorate... they are >10 years old now, and even seemingly minor faults will cost you decent money to fix... it will pretty much be £1k every time it sees a garage, and it will need rear tyres (c.£400/pair) every 8k miles.

All of this over and above the risk of IMS failure or bore scoring resulting in a £10-12k bill for an engine rebuild.

Oh, and IMHO, tiptronics (auto gearboxes) do not suit normally aspirated 996's... they need to have a manual box.

edward1

839 posts

284 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
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unless your requirement to occasionally seat 4 people is limited to 2+ 2 small children I wouldn't consider an XKr. 15k should get you an XF though even if it would be a 4.2 supercharged rather than the 5.0 or if you prefer the shape the x350 xjr. The jag v8's can sound good with the right exhaust fitted.

As the previous comment regarding the porsche, any of the cars you have listed will be 10+ years old and in my experience regardless of make, 10-15yrs seems to be when electrical issues start to show up. These can be more costly than you may like to fix. I quite fancied a quattroporte until I watched an old road test. The comments on the ride over potholes and in town put me off completely especially when the comment was that the XJ was a much better car overall.

LordHaveMurci

12,273 posts

187 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
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Are you looking a for a 2+2 sports car or a GT?

I test drove back to back a 4.3 AM V8 Vantage, 997 Carrera (non S), Maserati 4200GT. Loved all three of them for very different reasons but as I wanted a car that was great to drive, it had to be a 911 for me & I ended up purchasing my 996, this was 8yrs ago.
With PSE or a decent sports exhaust they sound great too smile

As said above, they aren't cheap to run, mine has averaged about £1500pa with a local indie doing all the work, 25mpg on a run should be easily achievable, have never worked out my economy though.

996's are also increasing in value at the moment so buy wisely & you could do alright.

Re -reading your post, I'm not sure a 911 is the car for you.

Edited by LordHaveMurci on Wednesday 5th July 14:51

brownspeed

975 posts

149 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
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you can get 2 people in the back of a 911- ...........only if you don't like them tho...........

Pazuzu

481 posts

254 months

Wednesday 5th July 2017
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I've just had a very similar dilemma - similar cars but a budget of £25k.

Bought a 997 Carrera 2S today and couldn't be happier smile

Phil

anonymous-user

72 months

Thursday 6th July 2017
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I would buy an XK 4.2 (2006-on)

XKR, if you can find a good one.

ZX10R NIN

29,502 posts

143 months

Thursday 6th July 2017
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The Mercedes CL is a great GT car with your budget I'd go for a 500 rather than the 600 I like the V12 but there a bit more maintenance heavy compared to the 500 it's a proper 2+2 with next level comfort.

My dad & uncle have a CL63 & 500 my dad is on his second & will get an S Coupe in a few years time, the 500 is a good car & you won't worry about the performance deficit to the 63.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Yiliterate

3,789 posts

224 months

Friday 7th July 2017
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As touched on above, there's a reasonable amount within scope but, by the sounds of it, the challenge will be more on the maintenance side. Given your budget and requirements, something like an Audi S5 V8 might offer the best compromise. Not quite a rocket-ship but more than enough grunt, good-looking (IMO), usable rear seats, okay-ish mpg (the later supercharged V6 would be better but doesn't give you quite the same sense of occasion without the V8 soundtrack), tiptronic box (doesn't seem to have the same reliability concerns as the dsg box of that era but I'm no expert on that), plenty of toys, the right side of 10yrs old and running costs not in the 'junior super car' league anyway...

rockits

785 posts

180 months

Monday 17th July 2017
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I'm a little biased as chose the 4200 then added a QP Exec GT.. They sound fantastic with a little exhaust tweak.

I've not had an M6 but had an E60 M5 and not a CL AMG but had an SL60, SL55 and E55.

They are all so different. However the Maserati does something that many others can't do. You can't quite put your finger on it but it either gets you or it doesn't.

The QP V is one of the best value cars you can buy at the moment IMHO. You need to make sure you are ready for the potential running's costs though. It helps if you are half handy with a spanner but these aren't cheap to run.