Max of 15k to spend. Which car is at its bottom price?

[Percent]

Last year I did 950 miles in total as I don't commute.
I'm looking for suggestions on another car. Mileage really doesn't matter much as long
as it's been well serviced. My current car is a well specced E36 328i coupe which is great fun to drive.

Most cars I want have already seen large price rises. I want something which is a lot of car for the money [performance wise] and must be near its bottom price wise.

A few examples of cars I missed the boat on:

996 - I would love a Turbo but that's 25k+ :/ .. non turbo automatic maybe?
E46 M3 - obviously can be bought for less than 15k but they have already risen a lot.
Lotus Elise S1 - already risen a lot
TR6 - **
E55 AMG

Would E90 M3s be near their bottom price now?

Essentially I don't want to lose any value from the car itself and due to my very low yearly milage I don't mind spending on keeping it in great condition.

[LayZ]

R129 SL500 - not a sports car but quite a good amount of straight line performance

W219 CLS 55 AMG. Design classic, find a nice one, and enjoy.

[wargriff]

Mercedes CL

[L80KUS]

I would say e90 M3’s are near there bottom price. But not the E92 M3’s.

[Xcore]

Z4m?

[samoht]

Honda S2000
Nissan 350Z
Mitsubishi Evo 7

most of the early-90s stuff has already risen quite a bit as you say, key is to look for cars that are around 15-20 years old I think.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'm bias but a C55 AMG are just starting to rise so they'd be a good option:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The CLK55 hasn't made the same jump as the C Class but prices are firming so that's another worth considering:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[flight147z]

z4m

950 miles is crazy. I don't drive to work and still do up to 8,000 miles per year

[cat with a hat]

Xcore said:

Z4m?

eh... not bottom price.

M3 e90 is a good choice!

[Mr Tidy]

+1 for the Z4M - look where Z3M prices are now!

[TheAlastair34]

S1 Elise hasn't really risen much, you would get a very good car for 15k and they cost peanuts to run and feel special

[coldel]

370z are now kicking around at £10k-£15k

Porsche Cayman?

[Darkslider]

MK1 Focus RS is definitely a contender.

Or Mitsubishi Evo X? The V to IX all command more money than the ten, they've got to rebound back up soon?

[coldel]

If you can sneak in a mint R34 GTT you could see price increases further still. A good one was £10k just a few years ago but the price of the R34 GTR is pulling everything up including the R33s.

[nunpuncher]

VX220. And the beauty of that is that unlike many of the others on your list it won't cost an arm and a leg to maintain or even improve.

And in fear of sounding like some sort of Vauxhall fan boy... Monaro.

I think E92 M3s will continue to slowly drop. They are relatively plentiful but worse still, f80s seem to be even more plentiful and are now creeping below £30k pushing the E90s down further. I'm not even sure e46 prices will prop them up as they seem to have some sort of weird cult following who are convinced it's a classic.

[Terzo123]

Monaros in particular the VXR version must be at the bottom of their depreciation curve, that's if they have not already started to creep up ever so slightly.

A good low mileage 350z is well within budget and shouldn't drop much more.

[nunpuncher]

R53 Mini GP.

Could maybe argue the boat has already sailed on them in terms of appreciating but I very much doubt you'd see one depreciate at all.

[Percent]

nunpuncher said:

VX220. And the beauty of that is that unlike many of the others on your list it won't cost an arm and a leg to maintain or even improve.

And in fear of sounding like some sort of Vauxhall fan boy... Monaro.

I think E92 M3s will continue to slowly drop. They are relatively plentiful but worse still, f80s seem to be even more plentiful and are now creeping below £30k pushing the E90s down further. I'm not even sure e46 prices will prop them up as they seem to have some sort of weird cult following who are convinced it's a classic.

Thanks for the tips.

I will keep a keen eye on E92 M3 prices. The Monaro looks interesting but I think a VX220 would be more fun and then if I went down that route it would be the classic VX220 or Elise question..

[TheAlastair34]

Percent said:

Thanks for the tips.

I will keep a keen eye on E92 M3 prices. The Monaro looks interesting but I think a VX220 would be more fun and then if I went down that route it would be the classic VX220 or Elise question..

the VX220 has risen in the last 5 yeears i sold my 03 plate N/A for around 7k and it would be a 10K car now, i replaced it with an Elise 111r which is a better car for me that has risen by around 2k in 4 years, thats a 2006 plate.

Id take an Elise over a VX220 everyday and the price differences isnt as big as it way now so it sways it even more for me

[nunpuncher]

I started looking at VX220s recently so went through the VX220 v Elise comparison.

Price wise you can get a decent NA VX for the price of a ratty/previously crashed S1 or early S2 Elise. Clean S1 Elises seem to fetch more than early S2s which I understand but still think odd. Despite their similarities I read that the VX is slightly less raw than the Elise (still raw compared to most cars though) and has a different character due to the more torquey 2.2 engine which also seems to be a hell of a lot more reliable than the Rover K series engine in the S1 and early S2 Elise.

I came to the conclusion that a NA VX220 would be the route I went as it offers reliable fun with the opportunity of a solid platform for supercharging if you want more power. I love a supercharger.