Thinking of a radical change to my current cars - maybe....
Discussion
I currently have 4 cars - each is quite different and I get a great deal of enjoyment from them : AM Vantage (2006), Ferrari 360 (2001), Alfa Spider (2007), Porsche Cayenne (2003).
In March, the 360 had a major engine issue - not worth going into too much detail here, but basically pistons met exhaust valves on one bank. Car is still being repaired, which is obviously not cheap. Added to the running costs on these cars anyway (even road tax totals almost £1,500), I'm now thinking that the cost has crossed the line into unacceptable (even though my attitude is generally that I enjoy them, could be dead tomorrow, so who cares if they're expensive).
So, I'm considering my options and am interested in opinions. These are the options I've considered so far:
1) Don't change anything. Accept the hit on the 360 - problems like that are rare after all (I've owned the car 5.5 years). Although the failure is a "known weakness", so in theory could happen again.
Pros : I get to keep cars which I enjoy. The 360 can literally put a smile on my face, even if I start the journey in a bad mood
Cons : The cost obviously. I put ~£1k a month into a "car maintenance" fund to run the cars - and the fact that I'll still have to take a significant chunk out of my savings for the 360 problem is not a good thing. It also means the car fund will be wiped out - which means the pending jobs on the other cars (Aston needs something sorting) will have to wait.
2) Sell the 360, keep the others. This would reduce the running costs a fair bit - but surprisingly is my least likely choice. I love the 360 (although somewhat less since the engine failed) - but if I'm going to cut my running costs, I'd like to properly cut my running costs - i.e see option 3 below.
Pros : Still have a nice selection of cars, and the Vantage becomes the "nice" car - although it's nothing like the 360 to drive
Cons : Not sure it makes enough of a difference to the running costs. I'm guessing it would allow me to reduce the car maintenance fund to maybe £700 a month, but that's still quite a lot. And obviously, I no longer have a 360.
3) Sell the 360, Vantage and Alfa Spider. Keep the Cayenne until it dies (it's 16 years old, 105k miles and only worth about 50p - plus is the only practical car I own). Buy one of the current model MX5s (I think they look great) for ~£15-20k as a fun car (the Spider with the roof down is good fun to drive - nothing like the 360, but still decent fun). I used to be into bikes years ago - so chuck £10k on a 2016 Fireblade and get my kicks that way (or become a statistic!). This is probably the option that tempts me the most.
Pros : Still have "fun" stuff. Costs reduce significantly (I'm guessing car maintenance fund should be more like £300). Realise about ~£60k in capital - although it's hard to get decent returns on that these days, and I'm not sure I'd want to sink it into anything too permanent in case I changed my mind.
Cons : Don't really have a "nice" car anymore - and sometimes I really do need a decent drive in a car to make me feel better. I'm worried I'd miss that. The MX5 would no doubt be "fun" - but don't know if it would be enough.
4) Stick the 360 in storage. This is something that somebody suggested on the Ferrari forum, and is quite tempting. Basically take a break from the running costs for a few years - but when I fancy getting back into it, MOT and service and job done. The catch is - although I think that makes some sense with the 360, I don't think it does for the Vantage - so that at least would need to be sold. This is really a variation on option 2).
Pros : Running costs reduce, and it's very easy to get back into it when I want to
Cons : Still some costs related to storage - and cars don't really do that well sat around unused for a couple of years
5) Ditch everything and buy a single "nice" car. BMW / Audi or something, and maybe still have the Fireblade.
Pros : Much reduced running costs
Cons : I think I'd be looking for another car about 5 minutes after I tried this! I enjoy driving all of my cars, and not sure that would still be true
6) Go in completely the opposite direction. Sell the 360, sell the Aston, sell the Alfa. Dump the money into a used McLaren Spider. Accept that it will cost at least as much as my existing cars to run, depreciate quickly and probably have more issues - but at least if the engine went bang it would be under warranty.
Pros : I have always wanted one
Cons : I'm not sure I can actually afford the running costs + depreciation, and am concerned about how quickly I could get my money back out of it if I wanted to. I'm also not sure I really want a ~600bhp turbo charged car.
I genuinely have no idea which direction to go in. My favourite option above is probably 3) for various reasons - although I may change my mind once I'm actually driving the 360 again (and might change my mind if I test drove an MX5).
Prices for cars like the 360 are beginning to drop again - and although that means I'd get less than I would have a couple of years ago, it does have the advantage that if I sold I don't find I'm priced out of the market in 6 months time.
Although I can afford to run the cars I've got, it is a significant enough expense (especially when engines fail!) that the idea of having most of that ~£1k a month back as other disposable income is quite tempting.
Any thoughts - or any other alternatives?
In March, the 360 had a major engine issue - not worth going into too much detail here, but basically pistons met exhaust valves on one bank. Car is still being repaired, which is obviously not cheap. Added to the running costs on these cars anyway (even road tax totals almost £1,500), I'm now thinking that the cost has crossed the line into unacceptable (even though my attitude is generally that I enjoy them, could be dead tomorrow, so who cares if they're expensive).
So, I'm considering my options and am interested in opinions. These are the options I've considered so far:
1) Don't change anything. Accept the hit on the 360 - problems like that are rare after all (I've owned the car 5.5 years). Although the failure is a "known weakness", so in theory could happen again.
Pros : I get to keep cars which I enjoy. The 360 can literally put a smile on my face, even if I start the journey in a bad mood
Cons : The cost obviously. I put ~£1k a month into a "car maintenance" fund to run the cars - and the fact that I'll still have to take a significant chunk out of my savings for the 360 problem is not a good thing. It also means the car fund will be wiped out - which means the pending jobs on the other cars (Aston needs something sorting) will have to wait.
2) Sell the 360, keep the others. This would reduce the running costs a fair bit - but surprisingly is my least likely choice. I love the 360 (although somewhat less since the engine failed) - but if I'm going to cut my running costs, I'd like to properly cut my running costs - i.e see option 3 below.
Pros : Still have a nice selection of cars, and the Vantage becomes the "nice" car - although it's nothing like the 360 to drive
Cons : Not sure it makes enough of a difference to the running costs. I'm guessing it would allow me to reduce the car maintenance fund to maybe £700 a month, but that's still quite a lot. And obviously, I no longer have a 360.
3) Sell the 360, Vantage and Alfa Spider. Keep the Cayenne until it dies (it's 16 years old, 105k miles and only worth about 50p - plus is the only practical car I own). Buy one of the current model MX5s (I think they look great) for ~£15-20k as a fun car (the Spider with the roof down is good fun to drive - nothing like the 360, but still decent fun). I used to be into bikes years ago - so chuck £10k on a 2016 Fireblade and get my kicks that way (or become a statistic!). This is probably the option that tempts me the most.
Pros : Still have "fun" stuff. Costs reduce significantly (I'm guessing car maintenance fund should be more like £300). Realise about ~£60k in capital - although it's hard to get decent returns on that these days, and I'm not sure I'd want to sink it into anything too permanent in case I changed my mind.
Cons : Don't really have a "nice" car anymore - and sometimes I really do need a decent drive in a car to make me feel better. I'm worried I'd miss that. The MX5 would no doubt be "fun" - but don't know if it would be enough.
4) Stick the 360 in storage. This is something that somebody suggested on the Ferrari forum, and is quite tempting. Basically take a break from the running costs for a few years - but when I fancy getting back into it, MOT and service and job done. The catch is - although I think that makes some sense with the 360, I don't think it does for the Vantage - so that at least would need to be sold. This is really a variation on option 2).
Pros : Running costs reduce, and it's very easy to get back into it when I want to
Cons : Still some costs related to storage - and cars don't really do that well sat around unused for a couple of years
5) Ditch everything and buy a single "nice" car. BMW / Audi or something, and maybe still have the Fireblade.
Pros : Much reduced running costs
Cons : I think I'd be looking for another car about 5 minutes after I tried this! I enjoy driving all of my cars, and not sure that would still be true
6) Go in completely the opposite direction. Sell the 360, sell the Aston, sell the Alfa. Dump the money into a used McLaren Spider. Accept that it will cost at least as much as my existing cars to run, depreciate quickly and probably have more issues - but at least if the engine went bang it would be under warranty.
Pros : I have always wanted one
Cons : I'm not sure I can actually afford the running costs + depreciation, and am concerned about how quickly I could get my money back out of it if I wanted to. I'm also not sure I really want a ~600bhp turbo charged car.
I genuinely have no idea which direction to go in. My favourite option above is probably 3) for various reasons - although I may change my mind once I'm actually driving the 360 again (and might change my mind if I test drove an MX5).
Prices for cars like the 360 are beginning to drop again - and although that means I'd get less than I would have a couple of years ago, it does have the advantage that if I sold I don't find I'm priced out of the market in 6 months time.
Although I can afford to run the cars I've got, it is a significant enough expense (especially when engines fail!) that the idea of having most of that ~£1k a month back as other disposable income is quite tempting.
Any thoughts - or any other alternatives?
ZX10R NIN said:
After reading your post, I'd probably sell the Aston this is the car you seemed to talk about the least. Keep the Ferrari as it's the car that puts the biggest smile on your face.
Yes, my thoughts too. It sounds like selling the Ferrari could potentially be very regrettable.Lovely collection, but the Alfa Spider, Ferrari 360 and AM all do roughly the same thing, albeit to greater or lesser degrees. You can only drive one car at a time, although I suppose you don't want to load the miles on the 360.
The way you talk about the Ferrari, I don't think your heart is in selling it. If you've forked out for the repair, it owes you some more happy motoring, so I think that is definitely one to keep. You could also argue that it is unlikely to lose anything in terms of depreciation, and may well appreciate in the coming years...
The way you talk about the Ferrari, I don't think your heart is in selling it. If you've forked out for the repair, it owes you some more happy motoring, so I think that is definitely one to keep. You could also argue that it is unlikely to lose anything in terms of depreciation, and may well appreciate in the coming years...
I'm with the others. You seem attached the the Ferrari and that, to me, says keep it. I'd sell the Vantage myself personally and perhaps trade the Alfa for the MX-5? Then you have practical, cheap sporty and luxurious sporty. Should have reduced running costs going to 3 vehicles, and the MX-5 should of typical Mazda reliability.
Thanks for the replies so far.
I guess it's true that the Aston is the one car that lacks a little purpose. The Cayenne is obviously practical and great in winter. Alfa is nice with the top down when the sun shines, and the Ferrari is just brilliant to drive.
The Aston lives in the shadow of the Ferrari a little - although having said that, while the Ferrari has been in for repair I've enjoyed the Aston a bit more.
One of my friends made a similar comment to "you've paid for an expensive repair, you may as well enjoy it" - which I suppose is true, but on the other hand - it doesn't mean the running costs for the Ferrari will have dropped for the rest of the year (even though it's not really generally excessive).
Kit cars are not my thing at all.
Trading the Alfa for an MX5 is certainly an option - if I also sold the Vantage. I guess convertible, Ferrari and practical Porsche wouldn't be a bad combination - and would probably reduce the running costs a fair bit. The Vantage is post 2006, so eats up about 1/3 of the road tax cost - and it's certainly no cheaper than the 360 to run. More useable day to day though.
I guess it's true that the Aston is the one car that lacks a little purpose. The Cayenne is obviously practical and great in winter. Alfa is nice with the top down when the sun shines, and the Ferrari is just brilliant to drive.
The Aston lives in the shadow of the Ferrari a little - although having said that, while the Ferrari has been in for repair I've enjoyed the Aston a bit more.
One of my friends made a similar comment to "you've paid for an expensive repair, you may as well enjoy it" - which I suppose is true, but on the other hand - it doesn't mean the running costs for the Ferrari will have dropped for the rest of the year (even though it's not really generally excessive).
Kit cars are not my thing at all.
Trading the Alfa for an MX5 is certainly an option - if I also sold the Vantage. I guess convertible, Ferrari and practical Porsche wouldn't be a bad combination - and would probably reduce the running costs a fair bit. The Vantage is post 2006, so eats up about 1/3 of the road tax cost - and it's certainly no cheaper than the 360 to run. More useable day to day though.
only reasonable option for me based on your original post would be to sell the Aston and Alfa and buy an MX-5 for cheap sunny day fun, my own experience of MX-5's suggests it wont throw any significant mainenance costs up and if your buying fairly new you will have a warranty anyway.
Sounds like you really want to keep the ferrari
Sounds like you really want to keep the ferrari
I'd put the Ferrari in storage, sell the Aston and the Alfa, and buy this –
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
andrewparker said:
I'd put the Ferrari in storage, sell the Aston and the Alfa, and buy this –
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
That's strong money for a Boxster....https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Surely an Abarth 124 rather than an MX5 would be more the OP's thing given the Alfa...? Although do we really get enough sunny days in this country to justify a topless car?
andrewparker said:
I'd put the Ferrari in storage, sell the Aston and the Alfa, and buy this –
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Yuk!https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
I've had a couple of 911s - a 964 (which sadly I sold just as people realised what a good car they were), and a 996 turbo. Despite owning the 996 turbo for ~5.5 years, and putting ~40k miles on it (and selling it for what I paid for it) - it still left me pretty cold. I don't know if I'll ever buy a Porsche sports car again.
Also - my g/f had a Boxster when we met, and I used it for a week - it convinced me I made a better decision buying the Alfa Spider. Modern Porsche cars just don't do it for me.
On the other hand, I've just remembered how much I utterly hate driving the g/f's Peugeot 308 - so maybe I should discount any half sensible options!
Fiisch said:
That's strong money for a Boxster....
Surely an Abarth 124 rather than an MX5 would be more the OP's thing given the Alfa...? Although do we really get enough sunny days in this country to justify a topless car?
Until I bought the Alfa, I've always thought convertibles were utterly pointless cars. The reason I bought it is that I'm very precious about where I will park the 360 / Aston - which means the Porsche becomes the car of choice if I'm going to be jammed between other cars somewhere. A few years back, it was a lovely sunny day - but I had to take the Porsche due to where I'd need to park. And I didn't want to.Surely an Abarth 124 rather than an MX5 would be more the OP's thing given the Alfa...? Although do we really get enough sunny days in this country to justify a topless car?
As a result, a month or so later I bought the Alfa - as another "don't care" car. I considered a Brera, but decided it wasn't different enough from my other cars so wouldn't get used - hence I decided to try the convertible.
I've been very pleasantly surprised. I have the top down far more than I expected (although with an Alfa, that might be because it won't always go back up
) - and it really does make driving a fairly ordinary car a much more pleasant experience. Isn't the 124 turbo charged? Not sure that appeals.
I chose the Alfa partly due to the styling - and to be fair in the 2 years I've owned it, it's been mostly faultless so no real reason to change it. But it would be nice to have a modern and fairly reliable alternative.
It strikes me, a rando off of the internet, that the tension here is between the Ferrari and the Aston Martin. Clearly they're not the same, but they do similar enough things that I wonder if one will always feel somewhat redundant while you have the other.
Sure, you've been enjoying the Aston more while the Ferrari's been getting sorted out, but what that says to me is that maybe you tend to nope out of picking the Aston keys up when the Ferrari is available to you. I hate to get all Mumsnet about it but that Marie Kondo thing -- hold it in your hand, does it spark joy? -- can be genuinely handy when it comes to getting shot of stuff. Maybe it's time to put some gentle music on and do some keyfob fingering.
My leaning would be this: since the Ferrari, the Alfa and the Cayenne all do different things, and you appear to get great enjoyment and use out of all three, my play here would be to move the Aston Martin on and keep the rest. Freeing up some cash (a 2006 Vantage must be worth thirty grand, or thereabouts?) means you could replenish some/all of your maintenance slush fund after the Ferrari wiped it out.
(I've recently dived into the world of multi- older car ownership myself and I do feel a lot more comfortable knowing I've got that cash stuffed in an account just in case. And I have an Alfa and a Renault so at some point I am definitely going to need it.
)
Sure, you've been enjoying the Aston more while the Ferrari's been getting sorted out, but what that says to me is that maybe you tend to nope out of picking the Aston keys up when the Ferrari is available to you. I hate to get all Mumsnet about it but that Marie Kondo thing -- hold it in your hand, does it spark joy? -- can be genuinely handy when it comes to getting shot of stuff. Maybe it's time to put some gentle music on and do some keyfob fingering.
My leaning would be this: since the Ferrari, the Alfa and the Cayenne all do different things, and you appear to get great enjoyment and use out of all three, my play here would be to move the Aston Martin on and keep the rest. Freeing up some cash (a 2006 Vantage must be worth thirty grand, or thereabouts?) means you could replenish some/all of your maintenance slush fund after the Ferrari wiped it out.
(I've recently dived into the world of multi- older car ownership myself and I do feel a lot more comfortable knowing I've got that cash stuffed in an account just in case. And I have an Alfa and a Renault so at some point I am definitely going to need it.
)KomodoWagon said:
Sure, you've been enjoying the Aston more while the Ferrari's been getting sorted out, but what that says to me is that maybe you tend to nope out of picking the Aston keys up when the Ferrari is available to you.
Actually, it's probably the other way around. I often can't be bothered to get the Ferrari out of the garage (it's very tight) because I can use the Aston (or sometimes the Alfa) instead. That's not to say that driving the Aston compares to the Ferrari - it really doesn't, and there are times that only the 360 will do - but I'd say the Aston affects how often I use the 360 rather than the other way around.
sparks_E46 said:
Keep the 360, sell the Aston as there are so so many of them about anyway, can’t remember the last time I saw a 360. The Aston has the potential to put up a bill just as big.
I couldn’t imagine walking past a Ferrari 360 to drive an Aston Martin.
I imagine the reason you see so few 360's is there are just so many places you can't take one? Too low, too wide, too much unwanted attention from random scrotes. Beautiful car but if it's never getting out of the garage that's a lot of money to just be sat there?I couldn’t imagine walking past a Ferrari 360 to drive an Aston Martin.
I can't think of an occasion where I've gone somewhere that I'd be happy to take the Aston but not the Ferrari. Generally, that's not been a concern for me other than whether I'll be happy with the parking - too many people seem to think that the car next to them is a door stop.
Surprisingly, the Aston attracts about 90% as much attention as the 360. This is partly because I intentionally chose a non-red 360 (had a red 348 before and that got more attention than I wanted, albeit mostly positive).
Assuming I love the 360 when I get it back, I'll have to work out some numbers. Getting rid of the Aston would likely reduce the running costs a fair bit. Off the top of my head : £1k service, £550 road tax, £500 insurance - so that's ~£200 a month straight off the bat without taking into account tyres and unexpected expenses.
My one concern is that the Aston is a partial daily car - much more so than the 360 - which means that role now falls entirely to the Alfa and Cayenne. Dumping the Alfa and buying an MX5 might make that more acceptable.
At least I know one thing - had to use the g/f's 308 again last night, and it's beyond horrible. Whatever I do decide to do - a "normal" car isn't happening.
Surprisingly, the Aston attracts about 90% as much attention as the 360. This is partly because I intentionally chose a non-red 360 (had a red 348 before and that got more attention than I wanted, albeit mostly positive).
Assuming I love the 360 when I get it back, I'll have to work out some numbers. Getting rid of the Aston would likely reduce the running costs a fair bit. Off the top of my head : £1k service, £550 road tax, £500 insurance - so that's ~£200 a month straight off the bat without taking into account tyres and unexpected expenses.
My one concern is that the Aston is a partial daily car - much more so than the 360 - which means that role now falls entirely to the Alfa and Cayenne. Dumping the Alfa and buying an MX5 might make that more acceptable.
At least I know one thing - had to use the g/f's 308 again last night, and it's beyond horrible. Whatever I do decide to do - a "normal" car isn't happening.
Sell the Alfa & pick up a nice Abarth 124 & then you're sorted.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
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