Convertible, weekend car, £18k - suggestions?
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Soldato
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If you do go the TVR route, make sure the outriggers have been replaced, preferably with a full body off chassis refurb. Be wary of any with original chassis, especially if it's waxoyled, as while it can protect, it can also hide issues.
The main other thing to worry about potentially is electrical issues, but they're pretty simple cars really.
Engine, gearbox, drivetrain etc are pretty solid on the rover V8 models.
Most of the reliability reputation comes from the original factory build quality - they were rather thrown together. Most cars will have had any issues sorted and there are better solutions/parts to fix any issues which arise.
Good luck.
You should be able to get a good Chimaera 400 for around £12k-£13k and under £10k if you want a project, as they aren't really shifting as private sales. It'll be a bit more for a 450/500. Griff's carry about a £5k premium.
NB - The speed six / AJP8 engined cars are another level up in terms of maintenance cost, as they have bespoke engines etc
The main other thing to worry about potentially is electrical issues, but they're pretty simple cars really.
Engine, gearbox, drivetrain etc are pretty solid on the rover V8 models.
Most of the reliability reputation comes from the original factory build quality - they were rather thrown together. Most cars will have had any issues sorted and there are better solutions/parts to fix any issues which arise.
Good luck.
You should be able to get a good Chimaera 400 for around £12k-£13k and under £10k if you want a project, as they aren't really shifting as private sales. It'll be a bit more for a 450/500. Griff's carry about a £5k premium.
NB - The speed six / AJP8 engined cars are another level up in terms of maintenance cost, as they have bespoke engines etc
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![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
How did we get to Porsche 911, Mercedes SL55 and V8 Powered M3 Convertibles in a thread where he started off expressing worry about the costs of running a 2 litre BMW and saying a Mercedes SLK was out of the question!?
Soldato
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If you're worried about the running costs of an SLK or Z4, I think an MX5 probably makes the most sense.
A 996 will need an engine rebuild as soon as you put it on your drive. If you're looking for low running costs, an old Porsche is very much not the answer!
Z3M?
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Z3M?
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Yes, I think you're right.
For a weekend car, I don't want something that costs £1000/year for something that will only do 1000 miles a year, or can throw £LOL bills at me if something breaks that I can't repair myself. I can service and run the Westfield myself so my external costs are pretty much just the MOT right now. I'd guess the SLK and Z4 are £1000 just for a set of tyres, as an example.
Why guess when you can easily look things up? Tyre costs seem like the least important aspect of all of this - with your anticipated annual mileage you'll need a maximum of a single set of tyres during your ownership unless you damage them or keep the car so long that tyre age is an issue?
The standard wheel size on a 2014 or so Z4 M Sport is 18 inch and a set of 4 Michelin Pilot Sport 5 for this car is just over £600 fitted at Kwik Fit when I checked just now.
I'm not saying that a car like this will be free to run, it really won't, but of the cars mentioned in this thread something like a Z4 is a far more modest suggestion. It is essentially a 2 litre BMW 3 Series with a folding metal roof in terms of its running costs. Things may go wrong, things might be expensive, but this is equally likely if not more so on some of the other suggestions in this thread, particularly the older Porsche suggestions!?
Very few £18k cars are going to offer the 'MOT once a year' experience of your Westfield.
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The OP said in their 1st post fuel costs isn't a concern. They said they wanted a convertible for upto 18k but not an SL or Jag. An E93 M3 is reliable so maintenance costs won't be very high, the only things to make sure they've been done is rod bearings and throttle actuators.
the 36 and 46 are fantastic cars and in x years time you'll get back more than what you paid for it no doubt, what put me off them when i was looking recently is they're at the age when rust starts to become a problem imo. i think the E9x values will start rising as it's the last NA M3, that V8 4.0 is a fantastic engine.
Soldato
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Most of the cars in this thread won't be too expensive to run... Until something significant needs repairing - suspension, engine etc. Even things like brake discs could be vastly more expensive if they're bespoke. The Porsche, M3, TVR etc WILL cost significantly more than something like an MX5 in parts and labour costs.
If you don't go into this with your eyes open, you could end up with a car you can't afford to repair, which is worthless to sell on.
If you don't go into this with your eyes open, you could end up with a car you can't afford to repair, which is worthless to sell on.
It will be materially more expensive than a Z4, a car they are already concerned about the costs of running and which is effectively just an ordinary BMW not an M Power car.
Keeping an old M3 on the road is not a cheap thing to be doing. The concern over running something like that is much more justified than something like a Z4.
Fair play i see your point now, OP is worried about running a Z4 so an M3 would not make sense.
I have a friend who was in a similar positions but between an Elise S2 and a VX220. He went for a VX220 as there was very limited choice of good, well cared for Elises <20k.
It feels great to drive, I had a go of it the other day to compared to my Exige 350 Sport and it still feels super fun to take on a country lane for 1/5th of the price.
His is the 2.2 Non Turbo. Think it was around £12k he paid with 30k miles. I've not experienced the turbo one but heard they can have some issues at times.
It feels great to drive, I had a go of it the other day to compared to my Exige 350 Sport and it still feels super fun to take on a country lane for 1/5th of the price.
His is the 2.2 Non Turbo. Think it was around £12k he paid with 30k miles. I've not experienced the turbo one but heard they can have some issues at times.
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Z4M
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/33491308...uid=F8HQReA4Q2C&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Aside from maintenance, you should get your money back and more when you sell it on.
Aside from maintenance, you should get your money back and more when you sell it on.
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That's really my concern, I don't intend to run the replacement on a shoe string budget but that means being aware of potential huge bills too.
If the Z4 is in the same ball park servicing costs as an S2000 then it's something I can research further. However I really can't imagine that the servicing costs on something like the advert below will be anything like servicing a 2.0L 4-pot:
I have never really taken an interest in all things BMW, but a quick look online suggests the S54 can have some eye watering repair costs and a car 16+ years old will need ongoing maintenance.
All good feedback though chaps, keep it coming
Hard to beat either in terms of smiles/£