Convertibles - help

Jude13

We are buying a second car as my current car is dead. We already have a 4x4 which my OH uses for her commute as its a long distance and involves a little bit of rough driving. We also do off roading recreationally.

Now since my car will be in the shop and is more of a project the OH wants a safe car preferably a convertible (we don't live in Ireland). I am okay with this as she will be driving it mostly, except for work as I have a 10 minute commute.

So far I have been looking at the Mini Cooper S, VW Eos and if I plan on spending a larger wedge 3 series or clk. I would look at the mx5 and s 2000 but they are very rare in these parts. By the way I am looking for seond hand.

I need something that isn't too girly and is safeish. Any ideas?

I am swayign towards the mini.

Cheers

Big Nasty

Would the S2000 be wasted on her?

If it was me I would probably go with a 3er.

Jude13

No it wouldn't be wasted on her. I was thinking the 3 series however it is quite pricey

Big Nasty

Jude13 wrote: »

No it wouldn't be wasted on her. I was thinking the 3 series however it is quite pricey

I've never driven an S2000. Fine car by all accounts but I would imagine (and I could be wrong here) that the 3er would be easier to live with on a daily basis.

Jude13

I have just had a nightmare with hydralics on a hard top roof, that is why I am waery fo the 3 series convertible, the flip side is I worry about the damage a soft top would get in the sunlight as I cannot guarentee a shade space each day.

thecomedian

The Volvo C70 would be worth a look at.

ShadowHearth

What sort of budget are we looking at?

Jude13

Approx 20k euro

ShadowHearth

Well, then you defenetly could try and find older mx5 or s2000, then keep the rest of the money for drugs, alcohol, slut woman, slut man, holidays, video games, new phone, jewellery, nipple rings, hats etc.

Jude13

I am buying in Dubai so i can get allot more car for that kind of cash AED 100,000.

ShadowHearth

Dunno Dubai pricing, but maybe they got popular brands there that are rare here?

Maybe Merc cl500?

bijapos

What about a classic convertible for a lot less money.

You can get a very good SAAB 900 convertible for €5-6k, and it won't lose it's value, classic looks too so it'll never get old or outdated.

Merc R129's are probably as cheap as they'll ever be, good ones are for well under €10k, the savings can be put into the difference in tax and higher fuel bills. They came on the market around 1990 so classic insurance is available on the early ones.

Merc R107's are actually going up in value, cheap tax on most of them, cheap insurance, cheap parts and easy to fix too. The best ones are the 1985-89 models and they are a car that will always be desirable.

ShadowHearth

OP, dont you have some motor forums in dubai? its hard to judge which concertable would do better as climate and pricing are very different to what we got here.

you would get a lot better advice there m8.

anthony4335

Audi A4, keep the roof conditioned and it should last.

Jude13

Cheers for the advice, the forums here are pretty rubbish and was comfortable using this website as I used it back home. The pirice is one thing but I am really wodnering which one I mentioned would be best,

In relation to the classic car option, I already own a 1990 SL but the OH doesnt like to drive it (its nto workign at the moment) as there are no airbags.

Big Nasty

......

Marcusm

Is Dubai not too hot for regular convertible use? I wouldn't go for anything older unless you were very confident on the air con. I have a cooper S convertible and enjoy driving it - having swapped another Cooper S for it, the only regret I have is that I picked up an auto and really miss the particularly tight manual box my previous mini had. If traffic is as bad in Dubai as it's reputed to be, I wouldn't see a convertible as being all that attractive.

wandererz

When the wife and i were looking for a convertible as a second car we (i) had a few conditions.

• It had to not be the average run of the mill vehicles one sees on the roads on a daily basis.
  
• It had to have a decent interior - i.e. leather, wood trim, heated seats (you probably don't need that).
  
• It had to have a decent amount of space in back and in the trunk.
  
• It had to have a hard top so as to cut down on road noise and not look like a convertible with roof up.

We settled on the Volvo C70. Very distinctive and rock solid.
Roll-over protection system and side impact curtain.

Looks good with roof down (that bit helps in your part of the world) and does not look like hairdressers car with roof up.
Recommend you take a look at that.
Second generation started in 2008. Slight facelift in 2010.

TestTransmission

MCMLXXV wrote: »

I've never driven an S2000. Fine car by all accounts but I would imagine (and I could be wrong here) that the 3er would be easier to live with on a daily basis.

Ah, it's grand... :cool:

Jude13

I have recieved my new work contract so I will be getting a car loan within 3 months, the countdown is on. I (my OH) has narrowed down the search, which would you guys pick.

2005 6-series 645 convertible with 55,000km
http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/autos4x4s/bmw/6-series/2012/11/26/bmw-645-convertible-2005-fsh-lowklmlike-ne-2/?back=ZHViYWkuZHViaXp6bGUuY29tL2NsYXNzaWZpZWQvYXV0b3M0eDRzL2Jtdy82LXNlcmllcy8/c2l0ZT0yJnM9Q0wmcmM9MTQwJmMxPTEyMDImYzI9MTIwNiZwcmljZV9fZ3RlPSZwcmljZV9fbHRlPTE1MDAwMCZ5ZWFyX19ndGU9MjAwNSZ5ZWFyX19sdGU9MjAxMyZraWxvbWV0ZXJzX19ndGU9JmtpbG9tZXRlcnNfX2x0ZT04MDAwMCZrZXl3b3Jkcz0maXNfYmFzaWNfc2VhcmNoX3dpZGdldD0wJmlzX3NlYXJjaD0xJnBsYWNlc19faWRfX2luPUVudGVyK0xvY2F0aW9uJTI4cyUyOStIZXJlJnBsYWNlc19faWRfX2luPSZhZGRlZF9fZ3RlPSZzZWxsZXJfdHlwZT0mYm9keV90eXBlPTM1OA==&pos=1

or 3 series
2009 - 320 with 43,000km
2008- 325 with 66,000km
http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/autos4x4s/bmw/3-series/?price__gte=&price__lte=150000&year__gte=2005&year__lte=2013&kilometers__gte=&kilometers__lte=80000&keywords=&is_basic_search_widget=0&is_search=1&places__id__in=Enter+Location(s)+Here&places__id__in=&added__gte=&seller_type=&body_type=358

Obviously the 6 series is more desirable but it is quite a bit older, however it has very low km but no warranty.

The 2008 3 series I believe has a warranty until the end of 2013. will there be a huge difference in performance between the 325 and 320? I would say the roof make the car quite heavy.

Cheers all

Lurching

If I had your selection, I'd go with the mini.
The Cooper S is a good fun car. I know the S2000 is too, but I think thats a bit of a niche car.
Unless you went big engines (with the exception of the MX5), the other selections wouldnt be as much fun, in my opinion.

Jude13

I Like the mini alright but it won't have the re-sale of the bmw or the fanciness. Plus a soft top in the heat will worry me.

In reality, she loves it but I think its girly, if it wmake more financial sense its a runner though

colm_mcm

645 should be a soft top too.

MrDerp

If speed limits are as unenforced in UAE as a friend has told me, (particularly for foreigners) I'd be all over that 645 like a bad rash

Jude13

colm_mcm wrote: »

645 should be a soft top too.

Yeap, it si a soft top, as per the link.


Speeding is heavily enforced in Dubai and you can have your car imponded quite easily. However I am just buying the car there and will not be driving it int he UAE

racso1975

What about a convertible audi tt or lexus sc430, bmw z series or nissan 350z?

ofcork

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Dunno Dubai pricing, but maybe they got popular brands there that are rare here?

Maybe Merc cl500?

CL 500 is not a convertible.

unkel

Jude13 wrote: »

I have recieved my new work contract so I will be getting a car loan within 3 months, the countdown is on. I (my OH) has narrowed down the search, which would you guys pick.

Let's put it to you this way. Once you move back home, you could probably easily enough afford to own a 320 / 325. I'll say no more. Except go for the other one