OK, £15-18K to spend on an everyday, fun Sports car - what?

Post by **Bootsy** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 8:41 am

A colleague of mine is looking to treat himself to a car with a bit of grunt that he can use every day (10 miles or so) and enjoy at his leisure.

2 seats are fine.

Budget £15-18K

Considerations? Reasonable running costs and reliable plus won't depreciate too badly in a couple of years

So far he's thinking of Nissan 350Z or a 996

Any suggestions?

neil76 · Post by **neil76** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:02 am

Boxster for a 2 seater convertible. Might sneak into a Masser 3200 if he can stomach the potential repair bills.

Audi TT Mk1 QS is in budget and a nicely moddified factory edition (stripped out interior, recaro's, more power)

What a nice 'dilema' to have :D

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:05 am

An impact bumper 911, buy right and they seem to be depreciation proof at the moment.

Should get proper nice one for that kind of money.

hot66 · Post by **hot66** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:06 am

Nige wrote:An impact bumper 911, buy right and they seem to be depreciation proof at the moment.

Should get proper nice one for that kind of money.

that's where my money would go

Post by **Bootsy** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:10 am

No covertibles by the way.

I think he's thinking more modern than Impact Bumper

Keep the suggestions coming!

pmjt · Post by **pmjt** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:20 am

I had just this dilema but with the added twist it had to have a boot and four seats

So I bought this

Alpina B3S - only 24 Touring's ever made, 305bhp and 270lb ft. - the Switchtronic is COMPLETELY unlike Tiptronic and really good fun to play with, the noise is wonderful

The very tasteful interior mods are really nice (real wood etc.) - all in all a nice little Q car. The BEST bit is getting sports cars on your arse, switch to manual mode, drop two cogs and see them disappear in the mirror

hot66 · Post by **hot66** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:21 am

Z3 M-Coupe , prices are holding up well

KS · Post by KS » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:24 am

pmjt wrote:all in all a nice little Q car. The BEST bit is getting Alpina BMWs on your arse, drop two cogs and see them disappear in the mirror

Sounds like me driving my Beetle...

pmjt · Post by **pmjt** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:39 am

KS wrote:
pmjt wrote:all in all a nice little Q car. The BEST bit is getting Alpina BMWs on your arse, drop two cogs and see them disappear in the mirror
Sounds like me driving my Beetle...

dream on

pmjt · Post by **pmjt** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:45 am

hot66 wrote:Z3 M-Coupe , prices are holding up well

The thing that really impressed me with the Alpina, over the M variants, is the much smoother power delivery - they really seem to focus on cam design and torque curve - my B3S is way smoother to drive than the last M3 I had, which was quite lumpy and constantly edgy.

It's not just the engine that's breathed on - suspension, braking, gearbox etc., etc. are all revised to make the B3S.

The other great secret about Alpinas is that, when new they're about 40% premium over the standard car - BUT when they're a few years old, drop to about 10% premium - considerably less than an M.

An Alpina Roadster S will set you back less than a Z4M and is, imho, a better drive.

Philip

ian cox · Post by **ian cox** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:42 am

Hi,
M5 the one before the current one. v8 4.0 litre or an RS4 not the v8 one.
Great uber wagons

Flat 4 · Post by **Flat 4** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:02 pm

How about a 968 club sport, a lot of fun not to costly to repair and the prices of the club sport seem to be holding well. I think that is where my cash would go.

Although if you are up for some turbo lag and can move a little on the budget how about a 924 carrera GT.......

That wouldn't loose any money if you didn't add to many miles.

54Kab · Post by **54Kab** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:03 pm

pmjt wrote:
KS wrote:
pmjt wrote:all in all a nice little Q car. The BEST bit is getting Alpina BMWs on your arse, drop two cogs and see them disappear in the mirror
Sounds like me driving my Beetle...
dream on

...my money's on the beetle

964RS · Post by **964RS** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:32 pm

Problem is you can't guarantee reasonable running costs on an Alpina or M series BMW.

If they go wrong (and they do as mileage goes up...BMW dealers would only part-ex cars up to certain mileages on these cars in the past don't know about now) then they are big £££££.

My money would have been on a boxster all day long tbh. Out of all the cars I've had that have been daily drivers this has been stupidly reliable, cost nothing to run and has the added benefit of top down motoring when the suns out (you can't tell any difference over a coupe I don't think when its up)...its very comfortable, not bad practicality wise for shopping etc and a BLAST!

PhilGarner · Post by **PhilGarner** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:47 pm

£15k 996 + warranty. Hard to beat if you get one of the 95% of them unaffected by engine issues.