Should I buy a Diablo ?

[richardmancunian]

I know its up to me but I would appreciate some thoughts as to whether I should buy a cheap (£50k ish) Diablo.

I have owned lots Esprits over 6 years with my latest one being a 2001 V8 GT. It is mint stonkingly quick (0-100 9,5) and i drive it about 8000 miles per annum as a second car. I paid £30k for it and its is spot on. It feels like a perfect compromise between supercar and sensible money.

I have the ability to buy a more expensive car but not the appetite for hefty depreciation.

My Esprits whilst not being hugely expensive to buy have been expensive to keep (clutch on V8 nearly £2k other Esprit bills for enigine rebuilds £3.5k etc )

I am very very happy with my Esprit. It really is quicker and rarer than most things out there but a Diablo still enters my mind now and again!

Trouble is I reckon I could only drive the Diablo 3k miles per annum without getting silly bills (£5k in one go) or without suffering hefty depreciation.

Also I have only really heard of 2 people near Manchester who sell them Amari (specialist cars) whose reputation is tainted and Martin Ingham.

Anybody know anything about Martin Ingham and let me know if you think I should buy one!

I also thought about a Testarossa £35k but its getting on and not that quick.

[Jonny5]

If you can find a good one, go for it ! Carlo from www.topgear-cars.co.uk has a good reputation, and I've never heard anything negative about Martin Ingham ... always liked his advertisements. Mine was bought with the help of [e-mail]. Jason Barker is a good guy too (ex lambo sales manager in the Diablo era)

As to running costs, the only major things to go are clutches ( Mike Pullen @ 2,200 for the full clutch & flywheel inc fitting) and the valve change is the big service ( circa £1500 )

The key thing here is finding a good one... The later cars (SV's etc) seem to hold their value well - so no real problems with depreciation.

[elms]

Agreed. Mike Pullen can keep the running costs down to a minimal amount, any servicing or repair work for Lambos he's the only man I now call.

As for depreciation, they have certainly done the worst they are going to do for sometime now. Buy a good one and you wont regret it - the only problem you will find is that you will soon be on first name terms with the cashiers at your local Shell garage as when driven hard, they are thirsty buggers!

Buy a good one and you wont regret it. Nothing gives quite a sense of occasion as driving a Diablo

[graeme73s]

You will not regret it one bit. Just make sure that as with any car you buy the best that you can afford

[wazza]

I bought my car from Carlo at Topgear Specialist Cars and nobody in my opinion comes more highly recommended. My advice is go and see him. If you are serious about buying a Diablo then there is nowhere else you can go and see 5-6 Diablos for sale together in the same place. You need to spend time with the cars and drive them before you can form a true opinion of what you want. Do your research and buy the best car that you can. With Diablo's the best can also be the oldest. History and maintenance are more important than mileage as well. Take your time and choose wisely.

[ahaughton]

Does anyone have Mike Pullens URL?

[elms]

ahaughton said:

Does anyone have Mike Pullens URL?

www.members.aol.com/offshore105/new.html

[Jonny5]

elms said:

ahaughton said:

Does anyone have Mike Pullens URL?

www.members.aol.com/offshore105/new.html

aka www.lamborghinisport.com ;D

[ahaughton]

Jonny5 said:

elms said:

ahaughton said:

Does anyone have Mike Pullens URL?

www.members.aol.com/offshore105/new.html

aka www.lamborghinisport.com ;D

Cheers chaps :-)

[crikeymikey]

You won't lose money on a £50K Diablo, so I wouldn;t woory about the 'D' word.
But... remember. This is still a £150K supercar, and the running costs will reflect this. There are no budget parts in a Diablo. The suspension, brakes and clutch will financially ruin you if you're expecting a cheap drive.
Life's short (often shorter than you're expecting) so follow the advice above and go for it.
Better to have memories than dreams (and all that guff!).

[richardmancunian]

Thanks very much for the advice guys very much appreciated.

(I love Pistonheads and have got to say more feedback here than in the Lambo site forums)

I am thinking hard and if my Esprit was on its last legs (as other ones have been) then the decision would have been made by now.

I may buy now or wait a year when the Esprit is tired. If I buy one I will let you know!

Thanks again

[Jonny5]

crikeymikey said:

You won't lose money on a £50K Diablo, so I wouldn;t woory about the 'D' word.
But... remember. This is still a £150K supercar, and the running costs will reflect this. There are no budget parts in a Diablo. The suspension, brakes and clutch will financially ruin you if you're expecting a cheap drive.
Life's short (often shorter than you're expecting) so follow the advice above and go for it.
Better to have memories than dreams (and all that guff!).

what he said

[lambochick]

Just a short addendum, as you asked in your original post. I bought my Countach from Martin Ingham, trading in my Lotus Elise S2. I found him to be fair and helpful, and came away with the opinion that he trades cars almost as a hobby rather than coming across as a hard nosed businessman who will screw you for every penny he can get.