Sporty Car

whitelightrider · 17-02-2008 10:31pm #1

Folks,

Im looking at buying a sporty car in the next few months. Currently have a 06 Astra diesel, but want something nice before I get married and settle down next year. Was looking at a Celica or something similar looking. Also looked at the Lexus IS220d but am afraid that they may be expensive to service and fix if anything goes wrong with them.

Anyone got any ideas on what would be considered a nice sporty car?

shanel23 · 17-02-2008 10:42pm

Depends on your budget - CLK :cool:

voxpop · 17-02-2008 10:45pm

911;)

whitelightrider · 17-02-2008 10:52pm

€40k would be at the very, very high end of the budget so something less than that.

shanel23 · 17-02-2008 10:56pm

How about this

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=860971

whitelightrider · 17-02-2008 10:59pm

Not really gone on Merc's to be honest Shane. Too pricey for what you get and they dont look great to be honest. If I was spending that kind of money Id nearly get a Lexus IS 220.

--amadeus-- · 17-02-2008 11:05pm

It really depends on what you like. Are you buying a car for it's performance or it's looks? Is the marque heritage important to you or is versatility a factor? What about reliability? And practicality / usability?

The compramise I worked out was to spend a fair amount on my wifes car, getting a sensible diesel engined big load lugger and then spend the balance buying a classic sports car for me

So for 40k you could get yourself a well worn in Golf (for example) for your everyday drive and still have enough left over for a classic for fun and weekends. For example random golf and lots of fun for around half your top whack budget.

And a classic is a great 2nd car - bring in from the UK and pay €50 VRT, €49 per year to tax and peanuts for a classic car insurance policy. Nor do you need to worry about NCTing it - they are exempt.

Chet T16 · 17-02-2008 11:05pm

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=919616

Sporty and practical!

Zonda999 · 17-02-2008 11:11pm

That S4 has it all.Power, Top build quality and understated good looks. Would have it over an E46 M3 anyday

shanel23 · 17-02-2008 11:14pm

Cool enough - each to their own

I love Merc 's drive an E class myself for the last 3 years and absolutely love it - wanted to buy a CLK before I bought the E but was driving on the M7 one day and said to the wife thats what I want next as we drove past a CLK and the comment was "it only has two doors !" scuppered that plan for me

so was "forced to go for the E instead"

Not sure I like the Lexus ... To be honest I'd go BM before Lexus but hey ..

Dare I suggest a 159 ...... I had a 156 before and loved it and the only reason I don't drive a 159 today is because I swore I'd never buy a new car car again ... maybe in a a few more months I'll go Alfa again .... Then again I'd find it hard to switch from a Merc again ... did it once before when I sold my 190E to but the 156 .. loved the 156 but yearned always to drive a Merc again ... I do now

:)

Biro · 17-02-2008 11:28pm

IS220d is fairly friggin far from Sporty.

shanel23 · 17-02-2008 11:36pm

Biro wrote: »

IS220d is fairly friggin far from Sporty.

Biro - I'd totally agree - but hey each to their own - there are those who think a corsa with go faster stripes is a ferrari by another name....:D

Henry Ford III · 18-02-2008 10:15am

All sporty cars will be expensive to fix.

What shape of car do you want? Hatch, saloon, coupe, convertible?

--amadeus-- · 18-02-2008 10:27am

Henry Ford III wrote: »

All sporty cars will be expensive to fix.

Rubbish and a crass over generalisation.

Mazda MX5 is dirt cheap to run. Holds it's value well, small engine so cheap to tax and decent MPG so it's not going to break you in overall running costs and - as a Mazda - it'll never break and if it does it won't be expensive to fix.

Likewise the MG MGF - IIRC it uses a fairly standard Rover K series engine that any experienced grease monkey can maintain (granted suspension failures could be expensive but they are rare). Even the Lotus Elise or something more hardcore like a Caterham have variants that use the K Series.

Or how about an Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220? It carries the standard ECOTEC engine that originated in an Astra! Hardly exotic!!

smash · 18-02-2008 11:48am

this is all you need! http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/ALFA+ROMEO+159/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-89-113-4294964980-4294967222/advert.action?R=200710274525297

Henry Ford III · 18-02-2008 11:57am

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Rubbish and a crass over generalisation.

Rejected

Are you stalking me btw?

Your example is one of the most reliable and affordable cars in it's class. It will cost big bucks if it goes wrong however. How much is an ECU? How much to replace a torn hood?

--amadeus-- · 18-02-2008 12:12pm

Stalking, nah, I'll leave that to teh Renault Owners Group...!

MX5 ECU is £157 (link) so not mad expensive. A C class ECU would set you back over €500 by comparison. Pretty unusual for them to fail as well, I would have thought. A new vinyl roof costs as little as £145, going up depending on model and if you include the window. Again unless you have vandal damage they don't go that badly and the optional hard top will protect it.

And what about the other cars I posted? Vauxhall VX220 that has a souped up ECOTEC engine (rooted in the Astra) or the MGF, Elise and Caterham that have the venerable Rover K series engine?

At the end of teh day a major parts failure will cost you regardless, but a sportscar doesn't have to be eye wateringly expensive, unless you look at the likes of Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and so on.

Henry Ford III · 18-02-2008 12:23pm

Good post. I'm agree the MX-5 is amongst the most affordable sports cars to run. No disputing that.

An aside but a genuine replacement roof is over €1200 plus shipping btw. Fitting it is a time consuming job. 5 hours? I remember Ed China doing one on "Wheeler Dealers".

http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/1261

E92 · 18-02-2008 12:25pm

--amadeus-- wrote: »

And what about the other cars I posted? Vauxhall VX220 that has a souped up ECOTEC engine (rooted in the Astra) or the MGF, Elise and Caterham that have the venerable Rover K series engine?.

Speedster as it's called here has the standard Opel ECOTEC 2.2 litre engine. Same as the one found in Vectras, Astras and Zafiras(though that engine was never offered here in those cars AFAIK).

prospect · 18-02-2008 12:35pm

Zonda999 wrote: »

That S4 has it all.Power, Top build quality and understated good looks. Would have it over an E46 M3 anyday

Disagree. Agree, Disagree and Disagree. Agree.

blackbox · 18-02-2008 12:54pm

What about this baby - and you'll still have money left over to maintain it. Time enough to get married....

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=819537

Sporty Car

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