Considering 1 vs 2 car garage.. £50k budget - Page 1 - Car Buying

T1547

Original Poster

1,247 posts

164 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

Hi All
I am due to be starting a new job in January 27 and will be letting go of my current company car, which is throwing up some choices in terms of what next.

Current garage is a GLA 250e AMG (company car) and my 2021 F Type P450 AWD coupe.

I bought the F type earlier this year for my 40th birthday and has been a lot of fun, but I sort of always considered it as a likely short term proposition. Get the V8 experience out of my system etc. It s a beautiful example in fabulous condition and I get a lot of pleasure from taking it to events, Sunday morning drives, road trips etc. A downside of the car however is that it is two seater and so although my son loves coming in it, we can t use it for family trips. Some family have just moved to Wales which gives some great opportunities for road trips from home (West Sussex), but the 2 seats is already proving a frustration that wifey gets left behind.

The GLA has served its purpose but I get next to to zero pleasure from driving it, has a pretty hateful engine (which has no place in a Mercedes IMO) and has actually been the most unreliable car I ve ever owned (I had it from new). Won t be too sorry to see the back of it.

So what next

The new job entails a mix of 30min each way commute across some excellent Sussex/Surrey B roads, some longer motorway trips, driving to construction sites and also driving to the station. I would like something that is fun to drive yet comfortable enough for long motorway journeys and not overly flash.

I would also like something that works for driving to car shows, b road blasts and long euro road trips.

Ideally I d like to keep something with min 6 cylinders - open to petrol or diesel, manual or auto.

I can see a few potential options for how I could proceed with my £40-50k ish budget.

Option 1.

Keep the F Type and buy something cheap alongside, budget up to £10-15k.

Thinking along the lines of a Ford Focus:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202608104...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609105...

Or a 420i/d Gran Coupe

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607274...

I guess these would be quite decent to drive (?) and would do most of what I need from a family car. F Type stays as the fun car.

Option 2.

Sell the F Type, use the money to buy a more decent work/road trip car compared to option 1 and use the remaining money to buy a fun weekend car.

Work car options:

440i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607144...

330i touring

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609236...

X3M40d

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607244...

Focus ST

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609035...

Plus an MX5:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609115...

Option 3.

Go all in for a one-car solution:

M340i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609226...

F Pace P400

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609256...

I have a couple of months to decide so these are just musings really at this stage. It d be great to hear any thoughts/experiences/suggestions!

Edited by T1547 on Saturday 17th October 11:50

T1547

Original Poster

1,247 posts

164 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

The current F Type:

dave123456

4,003 posts

177 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

I used to run two cars and, as silly as it sounds, alongside an otherwise busy lifestyle I just found the hassle of maintaining, administratively and mechanically, 2 cars, became a bit of a hassle.

I’d go with one car, having said that a nice 911 is on the cards for me as a special car when space allows.

v8notbrave

853 posts

43 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

Personal choice is to have something boring for boring motorway action and then a weekend car feels special, so keep Jag and get something adequate to do other duties is the obvious, you have a wide list inc SUVs etc. Drive a few and focus criteria

Or you could switch out Jag for a 911 or a Maserati with 4 seats etc how big is kid? The chief doesn't like coming in my cars when I press on and try to give the tyres a work out, so if you switch Jag will you use new car properly?

What's your annual mileage? Some like one car to do it all but it would depress me as total private miles is c.20k and being in a great car always trundling along ain't fun

samoht

7,288 posts

176 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

For an only car, could you get an M2? What does a CS run to nowadays?

If two cars, I'd definitely consider an EV if you can home charge, they make the best (low stress, cheap to run) dailies.

£50k might cover eg a Polestar 2 plus a Porsche with a non-chocolate engine.

ZX10R NIN

30,608 posts

155 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

T1547 said:

Hi All
I am due to be starting a new job in January 27 and will be letting go of my current company car, which is throwing up some choices in terms of what next.

Current garage is a GLA 250e AMG (company car) and my 2021 F Type P450 AWD coupe.

I bought the F type earlier this year for my 40th birthday and has been a lot of fun, but I sort of always considered it as a likely short term proposition. Get the V8 experience out of my system etc. It s a beautiful example in fabulous condition and I get a lot of pleasure from taking it to events, Sunday morning drives, road trips etc. A downside of the car however is that it is two seater and so although my son loves coming in it, we can t use it for family trips. Some family have just moved to Wales which gives some great opportunities for road trips from home (West Sussex), but the 2 seats is already proving a frustration that wifey gets left behind.

The GLA has served its purpose but I get next to to zero pleasure from driving it, has a pretty hateful engine (which has no place in a Mercedes IMO) and has actually been the most unreliable car I ve ever owned (I had it from new). Won t be too sorry to see the back of it.

So what next

The new job entails a mix of 30min each way commute across some excellent Sussex/Surrey B roads, some longer motorway trips, driving to construction sites and also driving to the station. I would like something that is fun to drive yet comfortable enough for long motorway journeys and not overly flash.

I would also like something that works for driving to car shows, b road blasts and long euro road trips.

Ideally I d like to keep something with min 6 cylinders - open to petrol or diesel, manual or auto.

I can see a few potential options for how I could proceed with my £40-50k ish budget.

Option 1.

Keep the F Type and buy something cheap alongside, budget up to £10-15k.

Thinking along the lines of a Ford Focus:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202608104...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609105...

Or a 420i/d Gran Coupe

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607274...

I guess these would be quite decent to drive (?) and would do most of what I need from a family car. F Type stays as the fun car.

Option 2.

Sell the F Type, use the money to buy a more decent work/road trip car compared to option 1 and use the remaining money to buy a fun weekend car.

Work car options:

440i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607144...

330i touring

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609236...

X3M40d

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607244...

Focus ST

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609035...

Plus an MX5:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609115...

Option 3.

Go all in for a one-car solution:

M340i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609226...

F Pace P400

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609256...

I have a couple of months to decide so these are just musings really at this stage. It d be great to hear any thoughts/experiences/suggestions!

Edited by T1547 on Saturday 17th October 11:50

Crumpet

5,432 posts

210 months

[report]

[news]

Saturday

I’d say a 911 is pretty much the standard option for the do-it-all car. But with that mileage, on what would be an older car with your budget, I’d say you’re into two car territory or something like an M2 as suggested above.

M2 gives the option of daily commute, four usable seats and then it’s also a handy track car.

I’ve done the one car for everything approach and the multi-car car for everything route. It gets tedious driving a mundane s

tbox when you know you’ve left something interesting in the garage at home but with just the one, nice car it gets tedious putting needless miles on it or parking it in tight spaces. The only solution is to earn massive amounts of money so you can afford whatever you want!

That being said, it’s very possible to get in and out of a 911 and lose relative peanuts, quite possibly much less than you’d lose in depreciation on two lower priced cars. They can be weirdly cheap to run. So my suggestion is take a small loan and buy the cheapest main dealer 991.2 or 992.1 with two years warranty; run it as an only car and enjoy it. Man maths.

Panamax

9,900 posts

64 months

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Saturday

You need a convertible. Simple as that.

Or just go down to one car.

T1547

Original Poster

1,247 posts

164 months

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[news]

Sunday

Thanks all for the suggestions. I do like a 911 and did consider one before getting the F Type (at the time I preferred the looks and newness of the Jag). Unfortunately it wouldn’t work for me as an only car - there will be times in my work usage case where turning up in a Porsche wouldn’t convey the right image and I would also spend my day worrying about it if I left it at the station, construction site car park etc. Not to dismiss a 911 completely by any means, but it would need to be part of a 2-car solution and would replace the Jag (with benefit of 4 seats, although ultimately I may prefer the Jag).

I do quite like the idea of one practical car to do everything as there will be plenty of chances to enjoy it on my commute, family road trips, longer work trips etc. Is something like a M340i/M340d going to be genuinely fun to drive on the right road? I even quite like the idea of getting a low key looking 330d and giving it a good geo, set of tyres and a remap.

T1547

Original Poster

1,247 posts

164 months

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Sunday

ZX10R NIN said:

Thank you - lots to consider there and some new options I hadn’t thought of!

T1547

Original Poster

1,247 posts

164 months

[report]

[news]

Sunday

v8notbrave said:

Personal choice is to have something boring for boring motorway action and then a weekend car feels special, so keep Jag and get something adequate to do other duties is the obvious, you have a wide list inc SUVs etc. Drive a few and focus criteria

Or you could switch out Jag for a 911 or a Maserati with 4 seats etc how big is kid? The chief doesn't like coming in my cars when I press on and try to give the tyres a work out, so if you switch Jag will you use new car properly?

What's your annual mileage? Some like one car to do it all but it would depress me as total private miles is c.20k and being in a great car always trundling along ain't fun

Sprog has just turned 5. My OH isn’t adverse to ‘making progress’ although she gets car sick and doesn’t really like anything too raw. Wouldn’t take her out on a Sunday morning b road that’s for sure, but would be nice to go out as a family for lunch etc. I would estimate annual mileage 15-20k, probably 50/50 work business.

T1547

Original Poster

1,247 posts

164 months

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[news]

Sunday

Panamax said:

You need a convertible. Simple as that.

.

Definitely something I’d like to try.

Fettled 330d plus an MX5 feels like it might be a good combo?

Gtom

1,894 posts

162 months

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[news]

Sunday

I would keep the Jaguar and buy something like this

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609055...

4 years old and 60k miles, 400bhp is only a remap away.

ZX10R NIN

30,608 posts

155 months

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[news]

Sunday

T1547 said:

Thank you - lots to consider there and some new options I hadn t thought of!

Forgot to say chassis wise the G60 is on par with any of the 4 cylinder German offerings whilst being a nicer place to be than all of them.

Patrick Bateman

13,202 posts

204 months

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Yesterday (20:21)

2 cars are great, more so when they’re both different and excel in different roles.

I’ve had a minimum of 2 for the last 12 years and would struggle to go back to one, it is definitely more hassle though, especially if both cars are older.

Ignoring expensive repairs, poorly timed basic maintenance/consumables/insurance/MOT definitely grates and can add up quickly.