New Car

[Fidgits]

I'm getting very tempted to change my car...

current ideas are:

Lotus Elise (series 2)

Very fast, lots of fun... not very practical for work, maybe uncomfortable for distances?

VX200 Turbo

As above, slightly cheaper, comfier... but has a vauxhall Badge!

Mini Cooper S

More practical, loads of fun... expensive for what it is

also considering - Z3, boxster and new astra...

any comments or help welcome...

[Rash@R.A.Motors]

If u go for a Z3 make sure its the Z M Coupe 3.2... OOoooohhhh never a sexy car made.... those arches.... ummm dribble...dribble...dribble....

Rash.

[dave5282]

I think 'personally' going form lex, to a mini cooper, you would miss the luxury motorway cruise-ability.

VX, umm V for vauxhall but quick

Lotus elise, nice car, but the miles you do, it would probably cripple you??

New astra..come on fidge, clarksons sidekick described it as the car for junior reps..nuff said!

Although I quite fancy one, and have been seen at a dealer sat in one quite recently

[Fidgits]

I think 'personally' going form lex, to a mini cooper, you would miss the luxury motorway cruse-ability.

VX, umm V for vauxhall but quick

Lotus elise, nice car, but the miles you do, it would probably cripple you??

yeah, thats what i was thinking Dave...

Although, just been looking on the BMW site, and i probably could afford a used Z4, although i prefer the looks of tre Z3, or maybe a 330Ci...

Oh, and cant afford the M roadster Rash.. :(

[Bibbs]

Pro's

Elise .. proper car

Boxter .. not a 911, but still cool

Con's

VX220 .. vauxhall

Mini .. girls car

Z3 .. erm, bimmer, and a girls car

Astro .. vauxhall

[Fidgits]

New astra..come on fidge, clarksons sidekick described it as the car for junior reps..nuff said!

Although I quite fancy one, and have been seen at a dealer sat in one quite recently

yeah, that was the sensible side of my brain talking (was thinking of the Diesel)... but it has been silenced now..

[jaxx]

Pro's

Elise .. proper car

Boxter .. not a 911, but still cool

Con's

VX220 .. vauxhall

Mini .. girls car

Z3 .. erm, bimmer, and a girls car

Astro .. vauxhall

agree with lotus

boxter - poormans porsche/posh hairdresser

beemer 330c is a nice idea tho

[dave5282]

New astra..come on fidge, clarksons sidekick described it as the car for junior reps..nuff said!

Although I quite fancy one, and have been seen at a dealer sat in one quite recently

yeah, that was the sensible side of my brain talking (was thinking of the Diesel)... but it has been silenced now..

They only have a 1.9 CDTI, and its output is nothing of what you can get if you went say VAG

[Bibbs]

agree with lotus

:D

boxter - poormans porsche/posh hairdresser

- but out of that lot it's got to be second ..

beemer 330c is a nice idea tho

Slow, over-rated and IT'S A DAMN BIMMER ..

BWM is the biggest advert to the world that you nothing about cars ..

[cokg2]

They only have a 1.9 CDTI, and its output is nothing of what you can get if you went say VAG

Its actually a 1.7CDTi engine, you can get them in either 80 or 100ps.

Not a bad car to be honest, good price, and looks quite nice inside and output.

I may be biased as i worked in the headoffice, but i really like them.

Plus its build in Ellesmere Port, so good for the economy

[dave5282]

Sorry, I meant 1.7!!

still not the output of the volks/audi's though, but all's relative and the price is reasonable to

[Fidgits]

couldnt give a *ahem* about supporting the economy, otherwise i'd be buying a civic (built in swindon)...

i dunno.. anyone got any other ideas/suggesstions?

Fancy a sports car, reasonable to insure... reliability important, oh, and want to project a decent image...

tried a S2000, wasnt impressed...

oh, and must be less than 3 years old, and max price of 25k, but would prefer sub 20k...

[dave5282]

Mercedez Benz? (not up on what classes, so i wont prtetend I am)

Audi, s3, a4 maybe?

[Fidgits]

Mercedez Benz? (not up on what classes, so i wont prtetend I am)

Audi, s3, a4 maybe?

yeah, the SLK's okay, but very 'girls car', and expensive to insure..

Looked at Audis, but when i say 'sports car', i mean more Elise/Boxster than 'hot hatch'...

[Bibbs]

Sports car AND a good image ..

Most people don't see the two together ..

What's your rough budget? You say you want reliability so that's anything british out ..

[Fidgits]

Sports car AND a good image ..

Most people don't see the two together ..

What's your rough budget? You say you want reliability so that's anything british out ..

yeah, i'd love a TVR, but drink too much fuel and cant risk the reliability...

As i said about prefer sub 20k, but might be able to stretch to 25k... TBH i havent looked at how much i can afford.. only in the early stages at the mo..

[Bibbs]

TVR, Lotus, Noble etc. all suffer from reliability .. and the new Elise with the Toyota (not rover) engine should be better, but I think they are a bit pricey ..

Then you have the MR2, MX-5, MGF, Z3 group .. all a bit girly for my tastes ..

[cokg2]

theres the ferrari and maserati dealership here in Loughborough

Im constantly amazed by the price of the maserati's.

cheap

[Bibbs]

2001 HOLDEN HOLDEN HSV GTS VX 6-spead manual,5.7L 350bhp ,Black metallic,ABS,anti theft system ,alarm-tracker,cd-radio player,full leather,FSH,just serviced , very clean car.

£24,995

[Bibbs]

I take it Skylines, RX7s, Supras are too old?

[Yarisboy]

Firstly, you can't compare the lotus elise to the vx TURBO... the turbo is stupidly quick - who cares if it's got vauxhall Badge, it's an elise - but faster, and rarer. I don't think it's a good idea for motorway miles though.

By the way Ian you will be able to afford an M coupe with £20-25k.... they are great cars as well, there's one lives not far down the road here.

Boxter - time and again voted best sports car on all the tv shows, all the magazines etc - the poor man's 911? who cares? It's the closest thing you'll get to a 911 without spending silly money :)

330ci - great motorway cars, good image, tidy - just put the BMW bashing on this site to one side and see it for the great car it really is. Also look into the 330d Ian, with around £500-600 you can get 230bhp and close to 350torque out of those monsters... not to mention great economy.

A4 - nice car but then i'm bias... the 1.9tdi with all the extras and sport body kit etc is good, and with £400 it's at 200bhp and 300torque & 40mpg.

If it has to be sports car... I saw something on men&motors the other night and they LOVED the MX-5... rated it above the S2000 and Z4, might be worth a drive?

Boxter has to be the ultimate affordable sports car however - image, style, handling.... just try and get the 3.2 boxster S ;)

you could even try a celica tsport with all extras.... they're nippy, I don't think it quite fits your criteria though

Sam

[Maz]

I'm getting very tempted to change my car...

current ideas are:

Lotus Elise (series 2)

Very fast, lots of fun... not very practical for work, maybe uncomfortable for distances?

VX200 Turbo

As above, slightly cheaper, comfier... but has a vauxhall badge!

Mini Cooper S

More practical, loads of fun... expensive for what it is

also considering - Z3, boxster and new astra...

any comments or help welcome...

911, RX7, EVO 8, FERRARI 360M - Modena B) B) B) B) B) they are what i call FUN... :D :D :D

[kimi]

dont go with the lotus recently had to do few miles in one,no fun headache + backache & i'm only about the same size as you!

vauxhall-should keep u fit pushing it

bmw z3-u taking up hairdressing then?

mini cooper-nice but girly betta off import a turbo yaris

Have you thought bout a Mazda RX8 lovely looking inside+out,its only

a 1.3 cheap insurance&tax,£21,000ish & 270bhp

or go for a SKYLINE and f**k the insurance .

[tooyoung]

... I saw something on men&motors the other night ...

Do we really want to know ;)

[Fidgits]

hmmm... interesting feedback...

Okay, Supra/Skyline, very expensive insurance, wont fit in the garage, very high running costs... and most of all, cant find/afford one thats less than 3 years old

Same with maserati, plus they break down all the time...

Thanks for the input on the Elise Kimi, guess i would have to try one to see how comfy it was...

Had thought about the RX-8, quite a lot... still there, but there are issues with the rotary engine, and its a bit thirsty (both fuel and oil)...

the 330 i was looking at was the convertiable.. also consider the 320 convetible, as cheaper on fuel.. wonder if they do a diesel rag top??

the Z3, point taken, but still an okay car, impressed with the price for the M, need to check insurance though... any comments on the Z4??

ideally, i'd like a 2 seater, or 2+2, convertible, no too bothered about all out performance, as long as 0-60 is below 9.5 secs..

Must be good looking, and a little different...