Justify your car decision.

2005 Impreza STi PPP - no justification whatsoever, test drove it last Tuesday, quick chat with Will Gill on MSN... Picked it up last Thursday!

Justification for my previous car (Jeep G/C 4.7 V8) - Family oriented and fast, to compliment the Cobra...

Cobra - Again - None at all, loved the shape/style from as far back as I remember. Spent 7 years building it, now sadly will have to go, due to medical reasons :(
 
Honda Integra SiR-G Import.

Bought it as i always hankered for a Teg and my old Rover Coupe killing itself and nearly me gave me the opportunity to get one (as i had vowed to never sell my Rover)

Went for the SiR as there uber rare, JDM silver tegs are particularly an uncommon site on UK roads, the insurance was way cheaper than the Type R and i could actually insure it under 25 including declaring my mods aswell as the purchase price a good £2k less than the Type R's at that time.

Has a superb engine, the legendary B18C just with slightly more road bias and race car esque suspension setup with double wishbones all round, with the LSD and equal length shafts to keep the power down and compose the chassis. Climate control and the tarty foldy mirrors are rather nice too :p Ideal car for to me tinker with and now with the brakes and suspension modifed its a brillant all rounder car.

Got a baby now, but no reason to get rid of the car, it always does 30+ mpg and has a huge boot and i own it anyway so no finance etc that needs killing off :D
 
1997 Citroen Xantia 1.8 16v Lx with Aircon

I bought this car primarily because it was for sale within walking distance of my house and was very cheap, this was useful as my previous car had been written off and I needed a car straight away, i.e. no time to wait for insurance money. Total cost for the car inc. 1 years tax, and 1 years MOT was £500.

At the time I thought I’d drive it for a couple of months, sort the insurance and buy something else, however it won me over and 8 months down the line I couldn’t imagine selling it, short of buying a better Xantia / Xm.

The best thing about this car is the comfort, the seats are comfortable and velour trimmed (better than cloth or leather imo), road noise is very quiet especially for a ten year old car, stock radio and speakers are very impressive and the suspension is perfect, sure it rolls a huge amount if you try to take a corner quickly but you soon realise that this is a car designed to be driven in a relaxed manner, sure you can drive it fast if you want to, there’s enough power to get you going pretty quickly, but you’d be missing the point of this car totally.

I used to spend my time on the road charging around in an under powered Nissan Primera with no aircon, getting hot, bothered and generally stressed out. However in the past 8 months of Citroen ownership I have been a changed man, these days when someone pulls out in front of me in at a Junction I just apply the (excellent) brakes, slow down and instead of swearing at the offending car I just think “Poor bloke, obviously just wants to get home quickly and get out of his horrible BMW” and continue on my journey without my blood pressure rising at all.

If only everyone drove a big Citroen… The roads would be a much more relaxing place to be.
 
Capri 2.8i as my 1st car.

Why?

I like the look and sound, and the fact there aint many around no more.

Mechanical work costs nothing as my dad knows the cars inside out now as he had one for 10 years.

I can stick a V8 in there when i get bored and insurance allows :D.
 
Mazda MX5 1.8iS MK2

Wanted a fun car for the summer, had to be good down the back roads, fun enough in a straight line, reliable and worth while modding.

I've not been disappointed its all i could have hoped for and more, so much so i'n going to use it as ny main car all year round, its going to be a hard act to follow when i come to sell it (If i ever get bored!)
 
Violent-J said:
That must be a GREAT car. :)
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Not wanting to put you down or anything, but not really, its just better than a micra.

Fiesta Zetec S mk5, mod cons, amazing handling, faster than most peoples cars my age who havnt yet finished education, reasonable to insure considering it looks like a hot hatch, and goes like a fairly mild one, good car to learn driving fast at, nice colour (imperial blue), reliable (i hope it will be) and it seems to be holding its value better than i thought it would, which is handy cause im selling it soon for an MX5 now iv got more money and insurance is less of a death slap, i hope.
 
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test drove it, fell in love with it.

It's a perfect all round day to day car, it's comfortable, a good cruiser, but yet when you want to hoon it, it really does fly.
 
1980 Triumph Spitfire 1500, first car...Why?

- I have always quite fancied one
- Great looks
- Easy to do work on
- Makes me learn about mechanics
- Fun to drive
- Cheaper to insure than the other cars I was looking at (a touch over £1k)
- Easy to find parts
 
1.8 Civic VTI

I think mine was a bit of a hasty purchase (the particular example I bought) but after reading around a bit, I liked the idea of a quick ish car that was insurable, economical enough and I wouldn't kill myself in.

What really did it is the subtle (or none existent?) Rover esque styling. Its not that I'm a fan of Rover's but people don't expect it to be reasonably quick at first glance. But 169bhp with LSD, decent brakes, OK ish handling and a close ratio gearbox that can get you to mental speeds quickly decided it.

I wouldn't buy another VTEC though, I want something with a turbo next :cool:
 
As a student, I can only justify a single car. I needed something that:

1) Was reasonably cheap to run
2) Was very reliable. I cannot be bothered to be fixing things all the time. It needed to just work.
3) Was reasonably fast. Note, I said reasonably fast. Not a rocket, I was 19, but quick enough that overtaking isnt much of an issue, etc etc. 0-60 in about 9 seconds.
4) Had LOADS of toys. Seriously, I love buttons. I want everything electric simply becuase I think its cool.
5) MUST have air conditioning
6) I make occasional long distance trips, so ability on the Motorway is important - for this, I also wanted cruise control
7) Despite the motorway ability, I also wanted something that was fun to throw around without compromising the long distance ability in the way something like a 205 GTi would
8) I wanted a car that I felt looked good. Something which is always smart, doesn't look like an old banger.
9) I hate paying over the odds. I didn't want to pay a fortune for a car simply becuase of its image.
10) Wanted a nice interior.

Had £3000 to spend nearly 3 years ago now.

I looked into many cars, infact my initial shortlist compromised of:

Peugeot 406 2.0 Turbo Executive
Vauxhall Vectra CDX
Citroen Xantia HDi Exclusive
Citroen Xsara VTR 16v
Nissan Primera
Ford Mondeo Ghia X

Some other stuff as well.

Whittled the choice down eventually to between the 406 and the Mondeo - the 406 was the better looking car in standard form, but Mondeo was marginally better handling, had a nicer interior, a bit more kit, was much more reliable and also had excellent aftermarket styling available in the form of the now infamous RSAP kit.

So, I spent 6 months finding the right Mondeo Ghia X and eventually bought a 4 year old 1 owner from new example in mint condition for £350 under my budget. However, it still wasn't QUITE what I wanted - when I parked the car and walked away each time I saw a nice looking regular Mondeo with a stonechipped front bumper (100k on the motorway!).

So I bought the RSAP styling which transformed the look of the car in my opinion. Even 2 years after I had it fitted I *still* think it looks damn good, I still glance at it when I walk away, and I still think it looks like its worth a darn sight more than it really is. All its cost me is... Eagle F1's x many, £20 every year for an MOT, tax, insurance and fuel. Oh, and some ICE and stuff :)

Did I make the right choice? Too right I did, I have never, ever regretted buying it and doubt I ever will. I suspect it will be the best car I ever buy - I doubt its replacement, a particular German car, will prove to be as reliable and easy to live with, despite the fact its better in other ways.
 
Golf VR6

Justification:

- Came with mods already (tubular manifold, 2.5" bore exhaust, Big TB, etc)
- 2.8 V6
- Awesome noise
- (edit) Most importantly it was cheap!

Not as capable as my 306 GTI but I take corners sensible most of the time now anyway! It urinates on my GTI for overtaking, and top end tho. Loads of midrang goodness. :)
 
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I don't need to justify my purchases to anyone!

Well..ok then I'm an idiot with a compulsive purchase disorder.

MR2 - My 16vGTE was getting very very tired and I wanted something newer, quicker and RWD. The MR2 fitted the budget. I test drove several and then bought what turned out to be a somewhat neglected car and had to spend a lot of money putting it right. Still don't regret it one bit.

Civic VTi (Rebadged Rover). Impending and unplanned arrival of offspring required rapid re-evaluation of transportation requirements. Unlike most new families I didn't feel compelled to buy an oversized, under sprung, under powered wobbly pile of gutless crud otherwise known as an MPV. The Civic turned up localy at a irrestiable price, and though it has high mileage it's is dead reliable, doesdn't burn any oil and still goes well. Just not as well as the MR2.

Sylva Striker. Progress of the Locost (bought around the same time as the MR2 IIRC) has been on hold for a couple of years, I fancied a 7 style car for the summer. The Sylva turned up at an affordable price.

The MR2 was never sold (I just couldn't bear to see it go), and since the other half now has an Estate I don't need a practical car. But do I sell the paragon of reliability that is the Civic? Hmm... Think the locost will have to go too, even though I have amassed probably several thousand pounds worth of parts over the years. I just need the space.
 
willd58 said:
...m selling it soon for an MX5 now iv got more money and insurance is less of a death slap, i hope.
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:D

reasons for buying... hrm, had just got a car allowance and fancied spending a little more on a car as i was spending so much time in it every day.

Basically wanted something that would make me smile on the drive to and from work, wasn't too expensive to run and was relyable.

Space and number of seats didn't bother me and i didn't have a garage to do up a classic while running a heap so went for a couple of drives in small, light two seaters, drove a mrk1 mx5 and liked it, drove the mrk2 conran edition and fell in love with it.

Still loveing it a year and a half on (although still hankering after a rotary, but i wouldn't want to leave it on the street so a bit of a no no :() pretty much the longest i've ever owned a car :eek:
 
Nissan Almera N16 SXE 2.2 dCi

After long set of miserable french cars and countless adventures with old German cars I needed something to clock long miles:
- cheap, up to 7k
- ultra reliable
- as low milage and as new as possible, preferably still under warranty
- economical
- aircon, full electrics
- had to be on the smaller side - small enough to be parked everywhere in London, including tight office parking elevators, but big enough to take a rack or so full of equipment with seats down
- capable of long motorway milages (up to 50k a year), long international trips, harsh conditions
- reasonably refined

The only car that fully fitted the bill was Almera. Initially I bought nearly new 1.5 SE, but it was slow and gearbox was notchy so I soon replaced it with 2.2 dCi. First one was presumed jinxed as it was driven into twice in 6 months, so I'm on my second diesel Almera now and this one stays for a while. It's reasonably quick 136 bhp, 6 speed version with stability control and full pack of safety features - 4 airbags, esp, ebd, sensors etc, colour screen, DVD sat nav, climate control, re-tuned suspension, 16 inch alloys with wider tyres, blaupunkt 6 way speaker set and extended onboard computer- kinda nissan's take on idrive. I plan to swap it when it reaches 100k miles on the clock, roughly in 50k miles or next 12 months, but I still haven't found decent replacement - so far, with small exception of completely uneconomical japanese imports, every car in that price range left me deeply unimpressed...
 
VW Golf MK5 GTI - £24.5k of my cash (paid in cash for those that need to know)

I only bought it because its slower than a 330i ;)

Really, as Jeremy Clarkson put it, it is all things to all men...just a supreme machine reborn!
 
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