Parking £10k-12k in a car. Which one?

[TroubledSoul]

This is theoretical right now, but hopefully my house will sell shortly (owned with my ex) and I will have around £25k. I plan to pay off around £5k of debt and then keep the remaining £20k towards the next house purchase. That won't be for a year or two, however, so I started thinking about parking around £10k of it in a car. I'd have it as well as my existing cars, so it wouldn't get mileage piled on, but it would be a chance to own something else I fancy without sacrificing my current cars.

I am abysmal at saving money and worry that I will fritter away at this if I don't do something with it, but having said that I don't have the balls to risk the whole amount on a car...

So far I have drawn up a list of things around this price point that I'd be interested in owning:


BMW
E46 M3 - Manual
E39 M5
E60 M5
E63 M6

Lotus:
Elise - One S2 available for 12k so slightly over...

Mitsubishi
Evo 6 or X - Not sure the X will appreciate though or even hold its current value but I'd be shocked if I lost anything on a VI. Downside is I have two Subarus and it would be very similar.

PORSCHE
996 911 - Manual C2 or C4

SUBARU
IMPREZA TYPE R - See the comment on the Evo but these are on the up and I have always fancied a two door classic. Rust can quickly appear and take hold however!

TVR
4.0 Chim - Never ever experienced a TVR but would like to... Horror stories of engine failures and rotten chassis scare me!

Toyota
MR2 Turbo - Had many, loved them. Know the common issues and seem to be rising in price.

Vauxhall
Monaro 5.7
VX220 2.2

As I say, theoretical right now but the basis of an idea so don't beat me up if I don't buy any of them

[CS Garth]

May as well get in early. Don’t - keep the money for a house as anything could happen with the car ie unexpected expense, illiquid market when you want to buy a house etc.

With that over with, all decent choices, Lotus would be the pick for me.

[TroubledSoul]

CS Garth said:

May as well get in early. Don’t - keep the money for a house as anything could happen with the car ie unexpected expense, illiquid market when you want to buy a house etc.

With that over with, all decent choices, Lotus would be the pick for me.

Obviously there's a risk, I'm certainly not blind to that, but you only live once and all that guff.

I do like the S2 Elise a hell of a lot. Up there with the 911 as something I've always fancied.

[Weekendrebuild]

wouldn't touch any bmw M car at 10k will likely be very high mileage an hammered . Your list is literally 50% of my weekend toys

E39m5
E60 m5
E46 m3
E46 compact full m3 conversion
Toyota rev4 mr2 turbo
Lotus Elise s1

there the cars I own on your list if I was going to buy one of them at 10 k it would be Eva the lotus, you can pick up cheap s1 easy , watch out for head gasket . Or the mr2 turbo at 10k gets you a nice example with some good mods . Mines running 450 bhp it’s a hoot
The Other cars 10 k is nowhere near enough for half descent car.

Edited by Weekendrebuild on Monday 10th June 08:04

[mr_spock]

If you need to get all the money out in 12 months, don't do it. But if you have to, the 911 will probably be the easiest to move on and might hold value if you buy the right spec and history. But for me, a 911 isn't a special occasion car - it's almost too competent. Great everyday sports car though. Lotus may do it for you, I'm not too knowledgeable. I'd probably go for the TVR as I suspect they're at the bottom of the depreciation curve and most fun in the sort of way I personally like cars to be.

[TroubledSoul]

mr_spock said:

If you need to get all the money out in 12 months, don't do it. But if you have to, the 911 will probably be the easiest to move on and might hold value if you buy the right spec and history. But for me, a 911 isn't a special occasion car - it's almost too competent. Great everyday sports car though. Lotus may do it for you, I'm not too knowledgeable. I'd probably go for the TVR as I suspect they're at the bottom of the depreciation curve and most fun in the sort of way I personally like cars to be.

I think the TVR, the Lotus and the 911 would be my top 3. My problem is I'd probably find it hard to resist spending money on whichever car, upgrading it Of course, I accept that's my hobby and I wouldn't see that part back if I did. I'm pretty good with the spanners and can do most things myself so no worries there.

The 240bhp I've seen quoted seems measly for the 4 litre Chims.

[Weekendrebuild]

Just looked at your garage , I know you want another mr2 , nice big charge cooler in the trunk an a nice big Garret turbo

[stumpage]

TroubledSoul said:

The 240bhp I've seen quoted seems measly for the 4 litre Chims.

It weighs half a ton less than a golf GTI so not that slow.

You won't lose money on a TVR and a decent 4L can be found with outriggers done if you look around.

[griffter]

You won’t get a good 911 for 10k, let alone a manual. If you did pick one up that was superficially good the requirement for costly upkeep to the usual areas (suspension, hard brake lines, inaccessible pipe work) would likely either blow your budget or limit your enjoyment. To say nothing of the over-exaggerated but very real risk of engine failure.
Having said that you can contain the costs considerably if you’re very hands on.

Elise gets my vote too.

[mbwoy84]

Elise. 100%

[TroubledSoul]

Weekendrebuild said:

Just looked at your garage , I know you want another mr2 , nice big charge cooler in the trunk an a nice big Garret turbo

I often reminisce about both my MK2 turbos and my MK3s. The Elise is probably a natural progression from there.

if I fell in love with it I'd sell the Scooby when the time comes tbh.

[iain014]

Z4 Coupe

[designforlife]

I did this, then my plans/circumstances changed.

Bought an Integra DC5 for £9k, sold it for £9k two years later.

It's easy enough picking something that won't depreciate, but you will still be spending money on maintenance and upkeep in that time. My strategy was to buy something as reilable as possible to try and mitigate this, that pretty much wrote off Mitsubishi Evos, as much as I would have loved one.

TBH, knowing that my eventual flat deposit was on 4 wheels made me more anal about it than every other car i've had, and it kind of killed the enjoyment of it for me, i was always worried about unexpected bills or something happening to it that would dent the value.

I'm much happier driving something cheaper and less financially critical day to day, knowing that the rest of that money is safely tucked away in the bank.

But, in your shoes and having made the decision, my money would go into an FD2 Type R civic.

[Weekendrebuild]

TroubledSoul said:

I often reminisce about both my MK2 turbos and my MK3s. The Elise is probably a natural progression from there.

if I fell in love with it I'd sell the Scooby when the time comes tbh.

In all honesty the Elise feels dormant now after forging the mr2 it’s ballistic in the straights ! I’ve not driven the Elise in 5months , if I’m honest the k series will end up in a skip in winter Probably an Audi lump nice bam engine would be good .

[Mr Tidy]

iain014 said:

Z4 Coupe

Beat me to it!

But you could also consider a Z4M Roadster.

[TroubledSoul]

Weekendrebuild said:

In all honesty the Elise feels dormant now after forging the mr2 it’s ballistic in the straights ! I’ve not driven the Elise in 5months , if I’m honest the k series will end up in a skip in winter Probably an Audi lump nice bam engine would be good .

I can imagine. I loved my MK2 MR2 Turbo but the MK3 drastically out handles it so that's the one sticking point really. That and the fact that all the sills rot from inside out and will need doing regardless of how good they look from the outside...

I'd actually love a Z4M... That was actually the car I almost bought last time when I ended up with the 2012 Subaru STI.

[TroubledSoul]

Tell you what, there are a few 911s around £12k, including a couple with IMS and RMS done, and there's a few 3.6s around also. Very tempting.

[SWoll]

TroubledSoul said:

Tell you what, there are a few 911s around £12k, including a couple with IMS and RMS done, and there's a few 3.6s around also. Very tempting.

How lucky are you feeling?

[nunpuncher]

griffter said:

You won’t get a good 911 for 10k, let alone a manual. If you did pick one up that was superficially good the requirement for costly upkeep to the usual areas (suspension, hard brake lines, inaccessible pipe work) would likely either blow your budget or limit your enjoyment. To say nothing of the over-exaggerated but very real risk of engine failure.
Having said that you can contain the costs considerably if you’re very hands on.

Elise gets my vote too.

This. I just bought a 2000 C4 manual for a few grand over your budget and it needed almost £6k of work done on it following a PPI.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I know it's going to need tyres in the next year, suspension components refreshed etc. Fortunately I'm capable of doing a lot of the work myself and (sort of) prepared for the financial commitment.

They also don't seem very easy to sell on. The FB group and forums are full of folk that can't shift good cars because 2 minutes searching google all the cowards get put off.

[Xcore]

tvr, paid around your budget for my 450 chim with outriggers done. More grunt then then then 400 and slightly rarer and more desirable.

Looked at 996s but the maintenance side put me off.

The v8s in early tvrs are just a pushrod rover lump so nothing really to worry about!

Also turbo kits are relatively cheap and add 200bhp if your feeling brave

Edited by Xcore on Wednesday 12th June 13:10