40-45k, what would you buy?

GarethSouthgate said:
Telling someone that they're wrong can come across as belittling
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Nobody is doing that - you just read it wrong.

The point being made was that if you're comparing cars like that, it's likely that what matters most to you is something that looks great, so save the money and get the Audi or something like a 430i. Because if absolute performance was important, the Audi wouldn't be there. The list of cars tells us something about what does and doesn't matter and this can be used to suggest what is likely to be the best car for him.

Nobody is telling anyone they are 'wrong'. Well, except me telling you that in this post I suppose :D
 
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GarethSouthgate said:
Different price scale but I know someone who was picking between a Civic Type R, a Subaru Legacy and an M135i, for example.
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All cars which handle pretty well though. Where as a regular Audi is a brick with an engine (and feels like it). The opposite end of the fun scale.
 
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Biz.Kid09 said:
I initially started with just thinking I want something a lot nicer, faster, fun, bigger than my current Abarth. I know its not very specific but I don't really have any requirement as such.

I need to learn more about the differences between a 430i and M4, costs involved and so on. M4 just sounds cool and I do like the more aggressive look lol.
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Just go and test drive a few cars, you'll know what suits and has the right blend of fun/theatre etc that suits your preferences.

Personally, if you want something more Abarth in theatre but bigger/faster and more fun, then that sounds like at least an excuse to go and try a Mustang..

A V8 Bullitt edition (2019/2020) with low miles will be ~£40k.. the more track focussed 'Mach I' version is just under £50k for a 2 year old car, or a more VFM standard v8 5.0 GT will be £30k-£35k ..

The servicing/running costs of a Mustang are surprisingly reasonable, it's got the fun/theatre of an M4 with the running costs of a 440i..

I discounted the Mustang and was looking at m440i's and 840i BMWs (I wanted a convertible), but found them a bit ordinary (except performance), but jumping in the Mustang and it had a great standard kit list, which includes a quad valved exhaust (goes from quiet to 'race' and sounds great!).. I test drove one and completely 180'd and ended up in a 55 Edition convertible (comes with everything except magneride as standard) and love it.. It has remote start from the app, but can get keys coded to it to have remote start on the fob and the standard kit list is impressive even by modern cars, so adaptive cruise, heated and cooled seats, digital dash, quad exhaust (with valves), android auto/apple car play, configurable lighting etc.. it's just more classically styled inside which has its own charm.

They also don't seem to attract so many idiots and despite being mass produced cars, people seem to react to them as if special, not to mention most hot hatches etc just leave you alone as they aren't sure of the v8 5.0 part, they have 440BHP in normal GT guise, which is enough, but obviously some supercharge those and bolt on kits will get 650-750BHP easily.
 
Put the noise to one side and you cant go much wrong with a 718 Boxster S or a Cayman if you want a roof. Fantastic cars, always have been and perfect weekend car and a car designed to be open top and 2 seater sports car and it shows.

BUT that is based on being a person who prioritises how a car goes, steers and brakes.
 
Housey said:
Put the noise to one side and you cant go much wrong with a 718 Boxster S or a Cayman if you want a roof. Fantastic cars, always have been and perfect weekend car and a car designed to be open top and 2 seater sports car and it shows.

BUT that is based on being a person who prioritises how a car goes, steers and brakes.
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They don't sound too terrible. They just don't sound as good as a 981 or the 4l engines.
 
Not wanting to do a disservice to MX5s, but "sporty" weekend car for someone who doesn't want high running costs and isn't particularly interested in cars screams MX5 to me.

While you have the budget for eg a Boxster, on the face of it, it doesn't seem like youd take advantage of the extra performance etc and you're saddling yourself with the higher running costs and depreciation.

I'd suggest you test drive examples at each end of the spectrum and see if you think it's worth the extra cost.
 
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MX5 is the best in some ways. There is a reason they are everywhere. They are just easy to own. It's one of the most reliable cars around and they don't need a specialist to work on them
 
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Thanks everyone for the replies. Way too many to reply to individually.

The consensus is to go and see things in person and test drive so that's my plan and I'll report back!

A slight curve ball has appeared today. My work have signed up to Octopus EV scheme, so now I've got a pool of EV cars that appear to make a lot of sense financially in terms of tax and nice things such as servicing and insurance being included as well it being brand new!

I need to have a proper look but on the surface of it the BMW i4 for example is available at a very competitive price.

Just mentioning that might get me banned but I wanted to be honest:D:D
 
Jonnycoupe said:
No need to ban you, does give the option of a work EV and now 10k to a weekend petrol toy?
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hah, well technically I guess so but unfortunately living in London my driveway (fortunate I know!) can only fit one car. I think id struggle to get a parking spot on the road sadly.
 
Gibbo said:
The SVR was more a hot rod, rather than sports car, I did love it for that and out of all the cars I haved owned easily the fastest 0-40mph car, no stupid launch control BS, just mash the throttle and get catapulted and no matter the weather it always hooked up, amazing factory sound track too been a 16/17 car. Epic straight line, epic grip, very comfy and surprisingly efficient on a run with the 8speed auto, bargains today for an SVR as well. I also really enjoyed the relatively short gearing, Porsches biggest failure for me when it comes to fun, if going AUTO short ratios add to the fun and feel of acceleration.

For me its downside was and is does not handle like a true lightweight sports car, simply because its closer too 2 tonne heft, like I say more a sledgehammer and the engine made the car to be honest. But not a delicate handling car and not best for feel and feedback.

I've covered V8 vs V10 on R8's, I even took an R8 V10 S-Tronic for a good 60-70 mile drive recently:


For me and how I enjoy driving (flat out) I found the V8 manual far more engaging to drive, it is nice to be able to drive a car hard and not be worrying about the speed I am doing, I am able to enjoy the V8 manual and even if I get caught speeding I am likely to be in a 75-90mph range so license intact. Whereas the same enjoyment levels in V10 were well over 100 and thus always holding back.

A little like when I got caught speeding in the Clio 172 Cup doing around 94mph in an NSL, just 3 points, whereas the same stretch of road in the SVR at the time was 130+, needless to say if I'd been in the SVR that day the punishment would have been in a different league.

I am a big advocate of faster is never better, plus as the OP says 40-45k I feel a nice SVR is probably slightly beyond budget, though an R should be within, only ever recommend the V8 though, found the V6 very boring to drive as the handling dynamics are simply not good enough, as such you need that V8 it makes the car.
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So confusing post. You have a 600Lt then talk about cars too fast for the road ?
 
Simon said:
So confusing post. You have a 600Lt then talk about cars too fast for the road ?
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It is too fast for the road and have never said otherwise. :)

But I enjoy it drove it at over 180mph on the road on TT and done several track days and run way type stuff for speed kicks.

Thankfully its not to bad to just cruise around in either but to enjoy it and push it means big speeds so I have to be careful.
 
As someone else has said, you've waded in to a discussion where some of the contributors probably lie awake at night wondering what tyres will perform best at 22deg Celsius around the Carousel at the Nurburgring and can tell you the paint colour codes of every car they've ever owned.

For the average Joe like me, and I assume you, just buy whatever you want. Go drive some cars, do the man-maths and whichever grabs you the most and is affordable, is your answer.

Some great suggestions in here, but as the anoraks have said the M cars come with considerably higher running costs so keep that in mind.
 
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