£8-9k sporty car with better fuel consumption than RX8?

[Skeptic]

Ok, what exactly is it you want from a car? How many miles do you do, what sort of mileage is it? Do you need more than 2 seats? Do you need 4 doors? Is insurance an issue? Are you prepared to pay for the higher maintenance costs of a performance car?

I work in fourteen schools, and an office which means I do a fair bit of driving between those; about 400 miles a month. I also visit my girlfriend in London a fair bit, meaning 3 weekends a month it's ~350 motorway miles.

I am open to most cars, really. I like the styling of the RX8, and really I'd like similar styling. However, I also like the 330ci styling, so it just doesn't have to be 2 seater sports. I, really, don't mind which car, but don't really want an older model. 2004 onwards really, 50k miles ish.

Don't need 4 doors, no, but again am indifferent to this. Insurance isn't that much of an issue; willing to spend around a thousand pounds. More, if needed. Yes I am prepared to pay the costs for a performance car, but again, don't want it to be ridiculous.

Basically, I love cars, and now I can afford a good-ish one, I want to get something I will enjoy driving. I could afford a more expensive car, but really, for my first 'drivers' car, I think my budget is reasonable?

Really appreciating all your help.

 

[wnb]

As title, really.

Looking for a sports-type car like the RX8, but with better fuel. In the end I may still plump for the RX, but just wanted to know the alternatives.

The RX is beautiful though. Love the styling, so perhaps you can see what I'm going for...

Many thanks lovelies.

Fuel economy and the RX8 do not belong in the same sentance. I had mine for a year and I was getting 13mpg. If i drove like a nun I would get about 19. Great car to drive, looks good feels good and the sound system is good.

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

I'm in the market for an S2000 but I'm finding there aren't that many around for sale, unless I'm just being blind. I'm looking on Pistonheads, AutoTader, and local dealers, but I'm finding it hard to find one within budget (8-9k) and the colour I like which is a decent distance from where I live.

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showforum=120

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

It's insurance grp 20, expect it to be more.

Also the S2000 isn't that good on petrol.

What? Mine does 30mpg on average.

I dont get why people think an S2000 is expensive to run, its no more costly than any sports hatchback service and maintenance wise, and its probably one of the easier cars ive ever worked on if you have a mind to service it yourself.
Only insurance is somewhat expensive, but I pay £550 a year :/

 

[Sin_Chase]

S2000 – Too expensive to run

What is expensive to run about an S2000? Genuinely interested considering some of the cars you have not discounted which I would imagine cost the same/more.

 

[Crizzy]

I work in fourteen schools, and an office which means I do a fair bit of driving between those; about 400 miles a month. I also visit my girlfriend in London a fair bit, meaning 3 weekends a month it's ~350 motorway miles.

I am open to most cars, really. I like the styling of the RX8, and really I'd like similar styling. However, I also like the 330ci styling, so it just doesn't have to be 2 seater sports. I, really, don't mind which car, but don't really want an older model. 2004 onwards really, 50k miles ish.

Don't need 4 doors, no, but again am indifferent to this. Insurance isn't that much of an issue; willing to spend around a thousand pounds. More, if needed. Yes I am prepared to pay the costs for a performance car, but again, don't want it to be ridiculous.

Basically, I love cars, and now I can afford a good-ish one, I want to get something I will enjoy driving. I could afford a more expensive car, but really, for my first 'drivers' car, I think my budget is reasonable?

Really appreciating all your help.

Ok, you do around 400 miles commuting + 350 to see your girlfriend + say 250 for other social use, so call it 1000 miles a month. 12k p/a.

Call the RX8 20mpg (ignore town/motorway for now) and fuel prices 115p/l. It will cost £3136 in fuel for the year based on these figures. For comparison a 25mpg car would cost £2509 and a 30mpg car would cost £2091.

So the RX8 would cost an extra £627 more than a 25mpg car or roughly £50 a month, only you know if you can afford the extra dough on the fuel. Obviously these are only estimates, I have read of owners getting an average of 18mpg. Maybe it's worth asking the guys over at the RX8 owners club for their running costs (http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/)

Also you would need to purchase oil on a regular basis as well (1 litre every 2000 miles or so, although this figure does tend to differ a little between owners as well).

You do get a lot of car for money with an RX8 just go into it knowing that the running costs are pretty heavy without the performance of something that returns similar mpg.

With regards to the 330ci - I doubt you would get what you are looking for within your budget, you would need to get one a bit older with more mileage on the clock.

 

[Gib_Gib]

Or get a 325 instead of a 330, still get a 6 cylinder and not too much change in performance.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Or get a 325 instead of a 330, still get a 6 cylinder and not too much change in performance.

But you get the same running costs as the 330.

 

[Skeptic]

Starting to be drawn to a BMW now.....this is so hard. Fun, but hard. I don't know how you guys do it so often.

 

[Irish_Tom]

What is expensive to run about an S2000? Genuinely interested considering some of the cars you have not discounted which I would imagine cost the same/more.

Well I did a fair bit of research on all of the cars I listed and the S2000 came out bottom for everything I was looking at.

• It's the most expensive to insure: £1200 compared to £800 for a Z4.
• It's the most expensive to tax (correct me if I'm wrong) all of the information I found suggested its in the L tax band = £405 a year compared to all of the other cars which are K = £225.
• It's got the worst combined fuel economy 28mpg compared to 30/32 for the others.

I could stretch to accommodate the insurance if it was a band K car (the 530d Sport insurance is about the same at the moment) but there's just no way I can spent £1600 a year to tax and insure it on top of the initial cost, especially with the fuel economy. I realise 2mpg difference isn't going to be much but it's still a consideration.

So unless I've got some facts and figures wrong, I think I'm justified in ruling it out for the above reason.

 

[Crizzy]

Well I did a fair bit of research on all of the cars I listed and the S2000 came out bottom for everything I was looking at.

• It's the most expensive to insure: £1200 compared to £800 for a Z4.
• It's the most expensive to tax (correct me if I'm wrong) all of the information I found suggested its in the L tax band = £405 a year compared to all of the other cars which are K = £225.
• It's got the worst combined fuel economy 28mpg compared to 30/32 for the others.

I could stretch to accommodate the insurance if it was a band K car (the 530d Sport insurance is about the same at the moment) but there's just no way I can spent £1600 a year to tax and insure it on top of the initial cost, especially with the fuel economy. I realise 2mpg difference isn't going to be much but it's still a consideration.

So unless I've got some facts and figures wrong, I think I'm justified in ruling it out for the above reason.

Don't forget that if your S2000 was registered before March 2006 then tax would only be £215.

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

Well I did a fair bit of research on all of the cars I listed and the S2000 came out bottom for everything I was looking at.

• It's the most expensive to insure: £1200 compared to £800 for a Z4.
• It's the most expensive to tax (correct me if I'm wrong) all of the information I found suggested its in the L tax band = £405 a year compared to all of the other cars which are K = £225.
• It's got the worst combined fuel economy 28mpg compared to 30/32 for the others.

I could stretch to accommodate the insurance if it was a band K car (the 530d Sport insurance is about the same at the moment) but there's just no way I can spent £1600 a year to tax and insure it on top of the initial cost, especially with the fuel economy. I realise 2mpg difference isn't going to be much but it's still a consideration.

So unless I've got some facts and figures wrong, I think I'm justified in ruling it out for the above reason.

Mine costs £215 a year to tax (2004), also where are you getting your insurance quotes from? If its confused.com or the like you probably won't get a good quote at all.

Try Sky/Adrian Flux/Chris Knott, if you are over 25 it shouldnt be to bad to insure at all.

 

[Moeks]

But you get the same running costs as the 330.

While I would normally agree with you on this, in this case a 325CI might be appropriate, I think when the total budget is what is stopping someone from getting the 'right' 330CI ...but they could get the right 325CI for quite a bit less then you can certainly make a case for it, I guess it depends how much you actually save though and weather you are the sort of person that would regret getting the 325CI if you could have just saved up a bit longer and bought a 330CI. I know I probably would, but if the op is ok with it, I guess it's fine.

The prices on really good E46 330CI's seem to have gone down and then up again since I got rid of mine, mine was priced up at £11,500 by the dealer I passed it on to, I imagine he sold it for a little less than that, maybe £11k and mine was great, 40k miles, everything except xenons in the spec and was clean as they come (I should have kept it I know).

 

[Amraam]

I work in fourteen schools, and an office which means I do a fair bit of driving between those; about 400 miles a month. I also visit my girlfriend in London a fair bit, meaning 3 weekends a month it's ~350 motorway miles.

I am open to most cars, really. I like the styling of the RX8, and really I'd like similar styling. However, I also like the 330ci styling, so it just doesn't have to be 2 seater sports. I, really, don't mind which car, but don't really want an older model. 2004 onwards really, 50k miles ish.

Don't need 4 doors, no, but again am indifferent to this. Insurance isn't that much of an issue; willing to spend around a thousand pounds. More, if needed. Yes I am prepared to pay the costs for a performance car, but again, don't want it to be ridiculous.

Basically, I love cars, and now I can afford a good-ish one, I want to get something I will enjoy driving. I could afford a more expensive car, but really, for my first 'drivers' car, I think my budget is reasonable?

Really appreciating all your help.

I'm in the exact same boat as you mate. I really love the RX8 and I'd have one in a heart beat, but I think it would just cost too much to run and repair with my salary/age.

I like 350Zs a lot too, but I need 4 seats/decent boot to transport RX planes and helicopters etc.

I've looked at the 1.8T TT quattros, they seem to be going for around £10k too.

 

[probedb]

The Suzuki Cappuccino is a Kei Car

I guess there's a blurry line, but the F1 is a Supercar, you can't deny that. If you say sports car to someone, they instantly think of an old bloke in an MGB driving through British Country lanes

So about the RX7. Your definition says it's not a sports car. I've asked around and an MGB is not what people think of as a sports car these days.

 

[inflames]

I'm in the exact same boat as you mate. I really love the RX8 and I'd have one in a heart beat, but I think it would just cost too much to run and repair with my salary/age.

I like 350Zs a lot too, but I need 4 seats/decent boot to transport RX planes and helicopters etc.

I've looked at the 1.8T TT quattros, they seem to be going for around £10k too.

If you like the 350z, Nissan did the skyline 350gt in Japan and there some that have been imported to the U.K. it’s also known in tank land as the Infinity G35 Iv always liked these.

 

[Drangueos]

I was like WTF... S2000 for 8k? until I realised the massive thread resurrection

 

[Moeks]

...well it popped up in my alerts so it gave me a chance to read back over my 12 year old comment and now my older, wiser self thinks ...yea, good comment, I really wouldn't say anything different now ...in the context of 2010 at least.

 

[DRZ]

If you like the 350z, Nissan did the skyline 350gt in Japan and there some that have been imported to the U.K. it’s also known in tank land as the Infinity G35 Iv always liked these.

Coming in clutch a mere TWELVE YEARS after the OP. Looking forward to yet more time-sensitive posting from this guy.

 

[DampCat]

Coming in clutch a mere TWELVE YEARS after the OP. Looking forward to yet more time-sensitive posting from this guy.

Someone further north mentioned fuel prices of 115p, and I was going to ask where the hell they lived before I realised the dates on the posts.

Do you remember 115p? Those were the days.