£25-30k

[DOD]Asprilla

[DOD]Asprilla

[DOD]Asprilla

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10 Nov 2003
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Location
Surrey, by the river
In about 4-6 months I'm going to be hoping to spend £25-30k on a second car and I'm looking for recommendations.

Not looking for new and I want for something sporty, with only two doors and preferably no roof but with reasonable practicality, like you can fit some shopping in it at least. It's not going to be just for the weekends.

I've been having a look on Autotrader and the following have appealed to me:

1998 ASTON MARTIN DB7 Volante 80k miles
2006 BMW Z4 3.0si <5k miles
2002 Jaguar 4.2 XKR 63k miles
2002 Maserati 4.2 Cambiocorsa 25k miles
2004 Mercedes SLK350 14k miles
2000 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 40k miles
2003 Porsche Boxter S 26k miles
......or some sort of TVR

I only want to keep it for a year or two and the plan is to only be doing about 6k miles a year. For insurance my budget is about £1k though that's flexible and I know that the Z4 will only set me back about £700 and the Aston, about £900.

What I want to know, if you've got the time is what you'd get the money and why (or why not the others)?

At the moment I'm like a kid in a sweet shop and I'm just being dazzled by all the shiny things, so I need some advice.

Cheers for any help.
 
Nice budget, congratulations. Difficult to buy in, though.

The Aston is gorgeous but will be a nightmare to own.

For me, it would come down to the SLK350, which is fantastic, the Z4 3.0, which is great, or the 911.

I dont know which I would chose, the difficulty is justifying the purchase of a 7 year old car for £30k with the 911.
 
[TW]Fox said:
I dont know which I would chose, the difficulty is justifying the purchase of a 7 year old car for £30k with the 911.
Click to expand...

Cheers,

That's pretty much where I'm sitting at the moment, although the Z4 is slightly ahead of the SLK. I don't want to spend the next 6 months trying to look for each when I can try to find a good example of one, if you know what I mean.
 
The 911 is the best car there, it's a fantastic car, arguably the best sports car of all time, and definately the one to get. But it's 7 years old. The SLK will have warranty. And a great 3.5 V6. And a cool roof. And be easier to own. But the Z4 is.. less girly. Yea. But the 911.. wow, thats a Porsche. But..

I half envy you and I half don't :p - at least you know whatever you buy, you'll have an absolutely great car on the drive.
 
Most of the cars listed in OP are pretty high mileage and/or won't get you let out of side turnings...

Can get this near-new (<2000miles) 2003 TVR T350 for £25k

LK53OGE%20005hi_490x400.JPG


Or you could pick up a new or near-new Lotus Elise or Exige.

I really don't think I could spend ~£30k on a 7 year old Porka Carrera with 40,000 on the clock.
 
It's taken me six moths to get permission from the other half to get this far, there is no way she'd go for an Elise or an Exige unfortunately, and besides I like my creature comforts too.

I'm shying away from a TVR because most of what I've heard about them says I'd need another £15k to keep it on the road for two years, before petrol, tax, insurance, etc. Saying that, I have always loved them.
 
You can get a Sagaris for close to 30k now. Have been looking at them with a friend this weekend....wasnt a massive TVR fan before but I have totally changed my opinion since going in a Sagaris :cool:
If that doesnt appeal to you I would definitely look at the Boxster S or 911 C4.
You can pick up an SL500 for 30k too.
 
NathanE said:
Seriously, you'd be mad to buy something "old" when deals like this are about.
Click to expand...

Respect to it as a very capable motor, but as the good man above says, its absolutely no 911. I'd take the 6-7 year old Porsche every day of the week.
 
The Europa S is no 911.

There... Happy? :p

You've got to admit that black Europa S looks drop dead gorgeous in that pic though... admit it......!
 
why get a porsche? out of that list, there common as muck.

You got the cash, get something a little diffrent and more fun, 911 glue themself to the road, where's the fun in that.

Lotus Europa
TVR T350

are the best so far, from your list jag, as the Aston might be a bit unreliable at that age?
 
If I were to stick you your list. 911 is the best car out of the lot, it probably wouldn't bother me that it was 7 years old.

What would bother me, is that I could have something like this, or this for the same money.

The former is maybe a bit to "focused" (in the similar way to an Exige) for your needs though. And the TVR will break a lot :)
 
I think I'd go with the Maserati from that list, seeing as it's a second car. If, on the other hand it was your daily driver then it wouldn't get a look in.

I certainly wouldn't throw 30K at a Z4 unless it was the M Coupe and that's coming from a Z4 owner. 12 months ago I'd have considered a TVR T350 but certainly not now.

I personally would be tempted to save a little longer and plump for a something a little more exotic maybe a LHD 355? I think the fun factor would outweigh the reliability 'issues' associated with owning a car like this.
 
For me, it would be none of those because I'd be looking at getting a good TVR instead. Sorry, I know this doesn't help you!!!!
 
Giddy said:
I personally would be tempted to save a little longer and plump for a something a little more exotic maybe a LHD 355? I think the fun factor would outweigh the reliability 'issues' associated with owning a car like this.
Click to expand...


I looked through them on PH a minute ago, I resisted suggesting it for some reason though.

Might be a bit tight on his 1k insurance budget though :p


Thing is, it's all very well us suggesting what we'd get with our (in most cases) make believe 30k, but I bet the 911 is the easiest car to own and live with.
 
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