Bye bye MX5.

Howard · 5 May 2012 at 13:21

You'll be sorely missed

Today I sold him, after four years of hassle free fun, top-down pleasure and hoonage, to a nice guy from Bath.

It's always painful watching someone else drive off with your pride and joy, isn't it?

So it's back to one car for me now and the money shall be saved. I may well be back to two cars in the future though, who knows!

Howard · 5 May 2012 at 18:23

I tried, boy did I try to sell it to someone I know, but nope. The guy who bought it was a very decent gent to be fair, so I know it's going to a good home.

I got £2,600 for it in the end.

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 07:59

Yeah it was partly financial, partly 'cos it didn't get used a great deal, I thought it better to send it off to a good home before I just get sick of it and want / need to spend more on it etc etc.. The buyer is happy, I'm happy that I got around the amount I wanted (I assumed it was worth between 2.5 and 3k so wasn't far wrong!) but it's strange it not being on the drive

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 08:13

The ST220 isn't going anywhere any time soon though.. I've gotta own at least one interesting car

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 09:26

I still love driving my Mondeo. Sure it's not as chuckable as the MX5 and you can't (easily) oversteer round roundabouts but it's got plenty of grunt and has a little bit of hooligan inside it that comes alive when you give it some stick. I too love those round white signs with the diagonal black line :cool:

Dup said:
I think I've come to terms with losing mine already.

This was the case for me when I advertised it. It's not a decision I've made lightly but I made it and things move on. It was a brilliant car, that really ticked all the boxes. I had loads of fun in it.

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 10:20

Crizzy said:
So Howard did you get the choice between keeping either the MX-5 or the ST220, or do you require the extra space that made the decision for you?

If not the latter then would you still have kept the ST220? Why?

I bought the MX5 in 2008 as a 'toy' to supplement my daily which was, at the time, a Honda Accord. I then upgraded from the Honda to the Mondeo in 2010 as I just wanted a better daily to sit alongside the 'toy'. Greedy, I know.

But lately I've just not been using the MX5 as much and the extra burden of double the running costs, etc, I feel has become less 'necessary' as a result of this. It's not ideal for my commute, **** for long journeys and I like the space, comfort and equipment offered by the Mondeo.

If I had a different commute (i.e. mostly rural B-roads and whatnot) I'd probably have something different and more like a hot hatch or an Impreza or something. I just think the Mondeo offers the best balance of abilities for my use at the moment, and for the forseeable future.

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 10:41

No, if you're happy with the lack of practicality and general 'quality' then it's fine as a daily. I don't think there's any strict rules which stipulate which cars can and can't be used as toys though

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 11:03

Imy said:
I've got the opposite problem. I only need the practicality and cruising comfort of the ST220 some of the time and my commute is mostly urban driving with traffic.

I was thinking of having 2 cars like the setup you just come from. Was it really costing you double? From my perspective if I get a small petrol engined car, it should do double the mpg of the ST220 so shifting the mileage onto that would save me a grand/year right away in fuel. Insurance would be the same or less on a multi-car policy. Tax/MOT would be additional but isn't a lot. I would save a bit on tyres if I don't go with 18" wheels on the other car. Servicing would be a bit more but not a lot more.

Of course none of that takes into account of the cost of the 2nd car itself and the depreciation on it.

2 x insurance at roughly the same cost, 2 x tax, 2 x MOT, fuel for the MX5 (not as economical as you'd think, but it was a toy so irrelevant really). Plus servicing and modifications, and the equity from the actual car itself. All this added up to a reasonable saving after getting rid. To some people this is all probably small change but I don't earn a vast amount and thought that now I've had my fun, the money and priorities would be better placed elsewhere.

If you want a second fun car I'd absolutely not try and dissuade you, but different people have different priorities

Howard · 11 May 2012 at 11:14

It was because of my age I guess! That and the MX5 was modified. I had a multicar policy with Admiral when I first bought it but when I started modifying it, it quickly became something for which standard 'high street' insurance wasn't suitable.