I've gone through house moves, illness, all manner of tomfoolery and then finally settled down and got married. My wife is expecting my first baby, a daughter, and I've been taking stock of my life thus far as impending parenthood seems to encourage.
I've booked in to refresh my advanced driving already, because it's something I enjoy and being honest the thought of driving round this little helpless bundle of life is suddenly daunting. Funny it never really bothered me when it was someone else's child because I know I'm as safe a driver as I can be anyway. Anyway...
With the new arrival cooking on full gas and due in March, I've quit smoking and been saving the £50 a week in a jar. That got me thinking. Up until this last year I'd only ever driven diesels except for my first car 10 years ago, which was a Ford Sierra petrol with RWD goodness. Petrol prices are low (for now) and in the last couple of years I've gone from being obsessed with 'economy' to realising there's more to the story than the pump figures. Overall our 2.0 petrol is costing less than our previous 2.0 diesel!
I have worked out that our 2.0 runabout gets 38mpg average and that a nice E39 540i V8 or Audi A8 4.2 V8 would only really cost an extra £10 or £20 a week for much more smiles and enjoyment versus an econobox. We were wanting a second car anyway so I suggested my wife keep using the existing car as a town runabout and when we take longer trips out at the weekends we should waft in a noisy V8 for a few quid extra in fuel rather than just go in a bland box because it costs £3 less in petrol...
My wife was agreeable and liked the look of Jaguar S series cars though I pointed her towards the E39s. A quick check shows the insurance is actually cheaper for me on the 540i than on a 530i or below, so that's a bonus. The Audi is cheaper than even the 540i! Less people buying big V8s means less claims on them I guess.
We have a moderate disposable income (we tend to try to save £50 to £100 a week after everything's accounted for and we've put some money into the emergency fund) and as such man maths says do it before you're old, the V8s are gone and you regret it.
Research suggests the E39s are relatively solidly built and bulletproof provided one looks for FSH and the usual checks, and the same for the Audi A8s. Our eye has also been caught by the slightly newer (2002-2004) A4 V6 bi-turbo but that just seems like more to potentially go wrong in the longer term.
Budget is flexible and I'm only speculating here atm so, full disclosure: I'm not ready to buy so don't link me then moan when I don't post pics in two days lol. We're considering buying just after the baby gets here towards the summer, and budget would be between £2,500 and £3,500 which seems to net a 2000-2002 model with ~90k to 120k miles and FSH, full leather, all the toys etc. That doesn't seem bad for a second car / toy and by all accounts V8s are lazy and tend to last at least as long as diesels so that mileage isn't an issue if well maintained.
I'd appreciate your feedback, input, ideas, encouragement or scorn in equal measure.
I've booked in to refresh my advanced driving already, because it's something I enjoy and being honest the thought of driving round this little helpless bundle of life is suddenly daunting. Funny it never really bothered me when it was someone else's child because I know I'm as safe a driver as I can be anyway. Anyway...
With the new arrival cooking on full gas and due in March, I've quit smoking and been saving the £50 a week in a jar. That got me thinking. Up until this last year I'd only ever driven diesels except for my first car 10 years ago, which was a Ford Sierra petrol with RWD goodness. Petrol prices are low (for now) and in the last couple of years I've gone from being obsessed with 'economy' to realising there's more to the story than the pump figures. Overall our 2.0 petrol is costing less than our previous 2.0 diesel!
I have worked out that our 2.0 runabout gets 38mpg average and that a nice E39 540i V8 or Audi A8 4.2 V8 would only really cost an extra £10 or £20 a week for much more smiles and enjoyment versus an econobox. We were wanting a second car anyway so I suggested my wife keep using the existing car as a town runabout and when we take longer trips out at the weekends we should waft in a noisy V8 for a few quid extra in fuel rather than just go in a bland box because it costs £3 less in petrol...
My wife was agreeable and liked the look of Jaguar S series cars though I pointed her towards the E39s. A quick check shows the insurance is actually cheaper for me on the 540i than on a 530i or below, so that's a bonus. The Audi is cheaper than even the 540i! Less people buying big V8s means less claims on them I guess.
We have a moderate disposable income (we tend to try to save £50 to £100 a week after everything's accounted for and we've put some money into the emergency fund) and as such man maths says do it before you're old, the V8s are gone and you regret it.
Research suggests the E39s are relatively solidly built and bulletproof provided one looks for FSH and the usual checks, and the same for the Audi A8s. Our eye has also been caught by the slightly newer (2002-2004) A4 V6 bi-turbo but that just seems like more to potentially go wrong in the longer term.
Budget is flexible and I'm only speculating here atm so, full disclosure: I'm not ready to buy so don't link me then moan when I don't post pics in two days lol. We're considering buying just after the baby gets here towards the summer, and budget would be between £2,500 and £3,500 which seems to net a 2000-2002 model with ~90k to 120k miles and FSH, full leather, all the toys etc. That doesn't seem bad for a second car / toy and by all accounts V8s are lazy and tend to last at least as long as diesels so that mileage isn't an issue if well maintained.
I'd appreciate your feedback, input, ideas, encouragement or scorn in equal measure.
I'll come back later, the wife's in hospital today for tests. 
