And as he wondered into motors...

bigredshark

bigredshark

bigredshark

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30 Jun 2005
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Thought I'd poke my head in, with a reason obviously, I'm rather stumped for choosing a car...

Essentially, I don't drive to work (London, tube's so much easier) so I'm looking for something fun for the weekends etc, not too bothered about acres of space but some would be nice.

I almost went for a 330Cd last year but decided against it on the grounds it was too much money for the amount I'd use it.

I've also considered and disregarded a Lotus Elise, it's nice and great to drive, not quite a comfortable as I'd prefer but the deciding factor is in an accident I'd have little or no chance (a friend had a head on with a lotus, he was fine but there was nothing left of the lotus, driver had no chance, believe me that put me off)

So, I'm open to suggestions, I'll probably reject all and sundry as a way of narrowing things down but hey...anybody???
 
I'd look at used if it was something special but I'd prefer new, money wise, well, I looked at the new 330Cd seriously, so that (32ish k) is the maximum i could afford but really I'd prefer somewhere below or around 25k
 
What sort of lotus did your friend hit because the Elise is a very safe car. The tub is very stiff and strong. It's usually the clams that take all the damage, not the passenger :)

Personally i'd definately be having an elise, the perfect weekend car if you require practicality.
 
You could get yourself a really nice used 330Ci or even a Cd for that sort of money. From what I can gather from your original post, you say you don't use the car much therefore unless you prefer the driving style of the diesel to the petrol, go for the petrol. A diesel won't offer much extra in the way of economy unless you do a lot of miles.

Unless you plan to keep the car for ages, buying new is a silly move, especially with that amount of money. The second you turn the key it will drop a few grand of its value in an instant. Used BMW's from the approved used programme are excellent cars and offer much better value for money than new models.

For your budget you could easily get a fully loaded 2005 BMW 330Ci M Sport with the comfort of a BMW warranty and full dealer services. You could even have a couple of grand to spare for insurance and other things.
 
Porsche 911 993? Or a fairly new Boxter S.

94465-3.jpg
 
It was an elise, to be fair it was at very high speed (combined speed probably at least 130mph) but the elise really just came apart, his car (A4 3.0D) was a mess but he was fine apart from a few aches.
 
The Elise is very, very strong, there's not many cars that I would prefer to be in a crash in. It will look a mess, but I bet the passenger cell was almost totally intact.
 
You could get a nearly new 330cd/i for much lower than your budget with the full kit.

Alternatively your budget will stretch to an e46 M3 or e39 M5 if you want something really special :)
 
If you do go for an Elise in the end go for an S2 Exige. :D

Thought about a very late Esprit? 350bhp in the last form, 0-60 in 4.5 and with a top speed of 175mph it aint half bad. :D Can get 2001-2002 one too which isn't old at all.
 
I don't drive a lot because I live in london and unless I'm going outside of london I'll use the tube, work doesn't take me away that much so that use is minimal. Essentially it'll be short trips away (i regularly find myself with 4 days free to go away). I want something that I can enjoy throwing around back roads in the west country and still it be possible to drive across bits of europe in (maybe go to switzerland..).

The BMW is very tempting, it's good to drive and nicely made but it's quite a big car for my needs.

The Boxter has crossed my mind, though I'm not really sure how good it is??

The S2000 has been recommended and I've driven a friends, it's a maybe, it's good without being amazing and I'm a little put off by it being a Honda (irrational I know, but next to the SLK or Z4 it seems, less...)

I did consider (slightly lower down the price bracket) the Audi A3 sportbak, theres a 170bhp 2.0 D that looks quite nice.

Oh, I do reasonably like diesel cars, the torque is very nice and I like the presence of a turbo a lot (used to have a A4 2.0 T FSI as a company car - old job).

Any other thoughts? Saab 9-3 maybe???

That said, I'm remembering how much i desired the 330Cd before....
 
You seem confused, are you after buying a badge or a good car, you say you want something to throw down a back road but then say you are thinking about a 9 - 3 before we can answer perhaps you need to get it straight in your own head what you need / want?
 
Muncher said:
The Elise is very, very strong, there's not many cars that I would prefer to be in a crash in. It will look a mess, but I bet the passenger cell was almost totally intact.
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The crash was fatal for the Elise driver, maybe an extreme case (almost certainly at that speed) but scary for me. I know my driving could use improvement and I do drive too fast sometimes, so something to forgive that would be nice.

I want somethign good to drive, but not anything too loony as insurance would be painful and it wouldn't be too sensible.

The E46 M3 would be brilliant but I'm not sure in my head I can justify it over the 330Ci..
 
bigredshark said:
The S2000 has been recommended and I've driven a friends, it's a maybe, it's good without being amazing and I'm a little put off by it being a Honda (irrational I know, but next to the SLK or Z4 it seems, less...)
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Yes it is less. Less to buy and less to run :p

http://www.topgear.com/drives/B5/R6/roadtests/01/01.html

Quite a good review. It's definately a car that you grow to enjoy and use properly.
 
The Boxter is an excellent car in its class. Superb handling, if you get the Boxter S then it is fast enough with the 3.2 260bhp engine. Perfect for top down country road drives.
 
Firestar_3x said:
You seem confused, are you after buying a badge or a good car, you say you want something to throw down a back road but then say you are thinking about a 9 - 3 before we can answer perhaps you need to get it straight in your own head what you need / want?
Click to expand...

There's an extent to which I will spend more for a badge and I freely admit that, I wouldn't buy a badge if it was an inferior car however.

I do want something thats fun to drive and i can throw around little lanes a bit.

The 9-3 I mentioned as it's a similar size to the 3 series and I know it has several petrol turbo versions available. I've never driven it and know very little about it, I take it it's not exactly a drivers car then?
 
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