Anyone driven a MINI?

I'm not really argueing about that, i was using it as an example since Scott mentioned it.

Heh! My brother's got a 147 Selespeed Lusso as a company car, and in the handbook is a list of pretty much every Alfa main dealer in the country (or possibly in Europe), so you know the nearest place to go when it breaks down. Made me chuckle.

Peter

But then you don't pay the rather large subscription necessary to be a member?

That was exactly my point. For that kind of budget, you can have just about any available car (discounting exotica obviously :) - choosing a MINI would be madness !

So why are you looking at a MINI then ?

Why don't you buy a "Porsche 928. Or the aforementioned 740i. Or an M-plated Mercedes W124 320CE Cabriolet" for your £300/month ?

But there are plenty of better "hot hatches" than the MINI. Have you looked at a Leon Cupra R for example ? It's correctly sized, and you can get an almost new one for £15K. You get Brembo 6-pots, 225bhp, 18" Rims, etc. all as standard.

You can easily pick up a good M3 or M5 for your £17K. Or a Supra Turbo, or a Nissan Skyline. You could get a brand-new Civic Type R (if you could put up with the engine :) You could pick up a nice Evo or Impreza, a *MINT* RX 7, a Legacy RSK or Galant VR 4, or any of a bazillion other cars.

Why can't you buy the Beemer on finance for your £300/month ?

Audi A4 is better than both of the above, and you get a better choice of engines.

Don't all cars come with a list of main dealers in the handbook or service history ? All mine have.

Too old. It's a P-plater, £12,995. If I balloon it, it's going to be nearly 3 or 4 years of finance, if I finance it outright it's definitely

Indeed, but it was very expensive.

When I got the 306, I had the chance of the old A4 Cabrio. I wish I'd taken it.

Richard

But it was a very nice car. The Cooper S is quick, comfortable and seems to be very well made :)

Anyway, I'm not getting a MINI :D I just started the ball rolling for my next car.

Because the 740i and 300CE are £13,000 and £15,000 respectively, and therefore vastly in excess of £300 a month with any reasonable finance. £300/month gets £8000, not quite enough for a respectable 300CE Cabriolet. Remember, I want something which is going to be reliable. I found one with 177,000 miles on it - I'm sure it'd be reliable, but not for the sort of use I have in mind :)

As for the 928 - I was /this/ close to it. Then I considered the repair bills should it go wrong. Like a Delorean, it's a dream car - not because it's financially ruinous to buy, but most definitely to run should anything go wrong.

I think the Leon is ugly, though. Whilst I don't care what other people think of my car, I care what I think :D

But it's not £17K! Can you get a 6 month old M5 for £17K? Whilst you can PCP/Contract hire some nearly new cars, they certainly wouldn't cover the age of M5 you get for that money. I wouldn't want an M3.

Anyway, the choice is made. I nearly bought a 2.0i Beetle Cabriolet on a five-year finance deal, but didn't want to be tied in for that long.

So I've ordered the 1.6 on contract hire for £199/month, 2 years. If I don't like it, I'm not stuck with it for too long. If I like it, then I should have saved some money in the meantime. It's 4bhp, 4mph and 0.8 seconds down on the 2.0, and probably far more noticeable in gear, but the Beetle isn't a sports car. I dare say I'll need forcibly prevented from buying another Capri, or Manta, or something along those lines, but at least the Beetle has seats my gf won't complain about, decent build quality, and an excellent driving position :D

(Plus, they are undeniably cute. And I listed my choice of colours as Mellow Yellow, Black, Sundown Orange (Ladybird coloured, it'll get a black car-bra and static-cling dots if I'm not careful) and cyber green.).

Roll on March :)

Richard

Citroens have a book of matches and a built-in TPF&T insurance, with a bus pass. If it breaks down, you throw the match, hold out the bus pass, and wait :)

Richard

Presumably in contract hire type of arrangements, you only pay the mothly fee whilst you have the car, so the £300/month is equivalent to somewhat less on a standard loan.

OTOH, I tend to agree that buying a _new_ car is madness, if only for the depreciation. I'm sure a spending £10k on a secondhand car on a conventional loan would be a better option, and gives a much wider set of options.

Way over priced. Here's £8995 on a P. Looks the business actually:

My god, have VW bought out Ford now, and rebadged the Golf into a Focus?

Check his girlfriends earings (early '80's golf GTi advert)

Yep, not bad with 91,000 as opposed to 57,000 miles and buggered-about-with 2001 bits on a 1996 shell compared to a really straight full history car from a main dealer ;)

Can't even see their page to comment. DNS error. However, I found more appealing RHD Cadillac STS sedans for less with less miles, but I decided against them. A warranted low-mileage executive barge is a very different beast to the cheapest I can find - I've experienced running costs on these things when they go wrong ;)

I must admit to be very excited about my Beetle. Hope it all turns out okay :)

Richard

You may just have a point - but where's your sense of adventure? :)

Strange - I've had that problem once before when them but it's working OK this afternoon.

How much do you have to pay then out of interest?

I must have been gipped, my Xantias didn't come with the matches or bus pass. Either that or previous breakdowns must have used them all up...

-- James

Xantias are too reliable. However, oddly enough, the bloke over the road's Xantia broke down (we thought it was our old one), and the next day we noticed it had been torched by the side of the road ;)

Richard

Hello Nom.

N> The people that expect X to break down regularly (Lada) will remain happy N> when it does.

N> The people that expect X to break down never (Mercedes) will be mad when it N> does - no matter how trivial the fault.

Well said about Ladas. If not for a Niva, I'd never even look at them.

Sergey

... Time is the best teacher; unfortunately, it kills all its students

--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-031023