Reply With QuoteLand Rover Defender every time. Spend £20K on the car and £20K on a few watches. Everyone's a winner.Originally Posted by ditchvisitor
So I'm on the hunt for a weekend toy for a 2-3 year but possibly 5 year ownership, the criteria are:
Max budget £40k
Not lose any money, ideally a good investment car that will see a little profit.
Not be too expensive to run.
Be a bit of an occasion to drive.
On the list so far are:
996 Turbo
E46 M3 CSL
Lotus Exige S RGB
Over to you lot!
Last edited by ditchvisitor; 14th October 2017 at 11:40.
Land Rover Defender every time. Spend £20K on the car and £20K on a few watches. Everyone's a winner.
All the above are good options, how about an R8?
Seriously, what about a Jag XK?
I had considered an R8 however they're just a bit clinical I feel and I'm not that sure about long term residuals.
I'm not a massive XK fan and I don't see them maintaining value let alone going up!
Cayman
Maserati Quattroporte, lot of fun for the money not so much to lose!
TVR Tuscan or T350.
It’s sort of what I did. Now I’m selling the watches to buy another Land Rover!Land Rover Defender every time. Spend £20K on the car and £20K on a few watches. Everyone's a winner.
Looking for a V8 Range Rover Classic.
I'd take the M3 at that money.
Very fragile and expensive to repair.
You will struggle to get a decent 996 Turbo for £40k - will probably be a tiptronic and be high mileage at that budget, if you can stretch it a bit tit might be doable. 997 Turbo's are holding well and a much improved car over the 996.
M3 is a good shout.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
If you buy a V8 you'll be spending all of the money you make on petrol!
Found a Seal grey 996 Turbo manual with 77k miles, it's in very good condition, I had it inspected by 9Excellence on Thursday, the owner isn't moving much on price with regards the bits that got picked up.
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I've had 2 Tuscans before, I am tempted however not sure the wife would be.
E92 M3 coupe, V8 power, top example sub £30k, great car but looking a little dated when compared to the new model but great for a weekend tear up.
Easy answer: alfa 4c
I said cheap to run and not tank like a lead ballon!
For me at that money, it would be back to Porsche for a Cayman or Boxster (before a 911, having owned both). Or, for something totally different, strong residuals and cheap to run - Morgan... drive a new one and you'll see what I mean...
I know, but I’m expecting diesels will increasingly be a liability.
Having owned all the cars you suggested in your first post, i can guarantee the alfa will be cheaper than any.I said cheap to run and not tank like a lead ballon!
996 turbos are 12-15 years old and things go wrong, sometimes big time and cost a bomb to fix. Rads, maf sensors, risk of over revs, turbos seizing etc etc
Exige, alfa 4c very similarly built. Alfa has a carbon tub and more special as a result. Alfaworks sorts the chassis and take power to 300bhp very easily with a map.
£40k for a CSL? At that price, beware of CatC/D cars or starship milers. Don’t be put off by track use. It’s no point having a CSL if you don’t take it on track.
Which leads to my next point - a CSL is a great (if now expensive) track car. I’m not entirely sure if it would make for a great weekend, ‘toy’ car. Same for the Exige. Exceptional on track but compromised on the roads. Does your ‘weekend plan’ involve trackdays?
I suppose it depends on what you're looking for in a weekend car. From the ads that you've posted the TVR will probably give you the greatest sense of occasion, the Porsche the secure acceleration and speed, the Exige the raw kart-like ability to murder bends and the Aston for the sheer class.
I can't imagine that either the Porsche or the Aston would be cheap to run, the Porsche may gain in value and the Aston quite possibly not. TVR has a worse reputation for poor build quality and reliability than Lotus plus you've already had a couple, the Exige will give you a huge thrill on the road and would be the best out of the bunch if you were thinking of taking part in a track day or two. I should think that it would be the cheapest to run, it'll have the best fuel economy and being relatively light consumables like brakes last good while, and there's a huge owner's club scene.
I may be a touch bias as I'm a S2 111s Elise owner however I'd pick the Exige as it should fulfill your cost/depreciation reqs and be an absolute riot to drive.
On reflection, I would try and find the oldest, nicest Morgan +8 that you can for your £40k budget.
Always an occasion to drive, a properly sorted one will leave most things on the road for dead and will scare you (and others), if/when required.
If you want real fun, get yourself a motorbike. £10k will get you something outrageous that is perhaps a year or so old, and at worse you may lose a couple of grand. I had a 20k Elise 111r in the garage but always chose a £5k fireblade for Sunday fun.
With the Competition Pack should help retain its value. The current version looks cool and is a great car but the v8 should be something folks will like in years to come when everything is running off a host of U2s....
Thanks for all the points/comments, I've had a couple of 111's before and been on a fair few trackdays so would probably do a couple depending on the car of course. I've had big bikes before and sold the 1098S last year, wouldn't get another one past Mrs Ditchvisitor!
I would probably have to up the budget for a decent CSL but that's the car I see most likely to return the most cash long term.
What are the issues with the 996 Turbo?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I would agree that a 40g CSL would be a bargain if it was a Good One, but it won't be. However feel that for infrequent mischief, they are magnificent. My money would be with a low mileage E46 M3 manual coupe.
I'd go Porsche; but maybe a Cayman 987R instead of the obvious 911.
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Stop fannying about and buy the Porsche. You've been wandering around with sad puppy dog eyes and if you don't get it then you'll regret it.
It won't be the right choice however, that'd be the Aston!
My CSL had coilovers, AP brakes (front and rear) and full SS exhaust. Far too easy to get into licence losing territory on the road (I’ve got that particular t-shirt) :( and very compromised. But exceptional on track.
I really wouldn’t bother with a CSL unless you are going to track it regularly. There are more fun, ‘weekend cars’ out there.
Not many cars meet this criteria but my suggestion is an Evo VI TME in red with SCP. They have doubled in 18 mths and show no signs of slowing down. As for an ccasion to drive, well hell yes!
Too many have been messed with and they have an image problem for me
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When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Needs tyres/radiators/condensors and he isn't moving on the price, there are a couple of other little bits but they could be sorted in due course.
If you can spanner yourself then it's about feasible - if you want to pay for it doing then the £40k budget is well and truly busted.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
This 996 Turbo looked decent value....
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...sche-Turbo-Tip
Lotus Exige V6 - won't depreciate much at all, if you can stretch to £50k then the LF1 variant. Has been holding price very well.
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...dition/7520551
Lotus Evora S - Been in the £30k to £40k range for several years now depending on age and mileage
Cayman will depreciate like a stone over 5 years, just sold mine after 9 months, fantastic car though.
R8 especially a manual and again if you can find another £10k then the V10. Lost just £500 after 5 months ownership of a V10 could easily have been a small profit if I had held out for a better offer.
I've just bought a 2007 Lotus Europa - will hold it's value. An Elise with more sound insulation basically.
Will Blackham (respected for his stock choice in the Lotus community) has a nice one here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...y-rare/7778910
Check the rest of his stock. The Sports Racer Elise - I used to own that model (only 50 built) and it's worth more now than I sold it for about 7 years ago.
With one eye on residual / potential future value and the other on the speedo I'd have the following on my list:
996 tt manual
Cayman R manual
Boxster Spyder
When I was in the market for a weekend toy earlier this year the E92 M3 was great value at £20Kish as well.
Great position to be in, keep us posted
Ian
ETA
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...istory/7540220
This looks like a great car - of the 3 you listed this one all day every day
Last edited by ism123; 23rd September 2017 at 23:08.
Don't go Lotus or TVR unless you are handy with spanners or tolerant of roadside abandonment. A cheap 996 turbo is a bad idea IMO, indeed any cheap Porsche is a bad idea. With £40k I would get the best 997 gen2 I could find, ideally in power kit S form (or GTS if they have fallen that low yet) but the PSE is a must on a DFI engines Porsche as otherwise they sound dull. Don't mess about, no one regrets buying a sound 911 but plenty regret buying a crap one.
I disagree on Lotus reliability. I've owned a Elise Sports Racer, a Original S1, a VX220, an Evora S, an Elise SC and just picked up a Europa. I've never been left by the road side or had to call out the AA to get it started all were very reliable, all were daily drivers for me. Couple of flat battery's after coming home from holiday as to be expected and the known clutch issue on the Evora was biggest problem I encountered.
I am glad your experience was positive but you can't escape the fact that they are in effect series built kit cars. Chapman's philosophy was added lightness, fantastic for the track but which can make for a poor road car. The culture of under investment and financial jiggery pokery he instilled continues to this day. Same goes for TVR, well the kit car bit at least. Lotus have employed some of the world's most amazing automotive engineers with expertise in engine and chassis design but quality and reliability just aren't their thing seemingly. Sometimes it wasn't their fault, any K Series Elise is a disaster waiting to happen. I have driven several Loti and have waited by the roadside more than once. I always give any Lotus I see a cheery wave. The AA man fixing it seems to appreciate the gesture of support.
Last edited by Padders; 24th September 2017 at 06:12.
The 997 and Cayman are definitely out due to the bore scoring issues but I'm still very keen on the 996 Turbo, I think a good V8 Vantage might also tempt me. I think investment wise the CSL is the best bet financial but finding a decent one in good condition might be hard.
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...6#/description
Last edited by ditchvisitor; 24th September 2017 at 07:55.
Your urban myth is about 30-40 years out of date.
V8 Vantages are good cars, not great cars. They look great but they are relatively heavy and that obviously effects the driving dynamics. But the values of the earlier 4.3s have effectively plateaued. I sold mine for pretty much what I paid for it 2 years later.
I still stand by what I said above. A CSL won’t make for a great weekend car. It is, after all, ‘just’ an e46 coupe (of which there are millions on the road). Your £40k would be just as safe in any number of more beautiful, older, classic cars. If you’re lucky, you’ll pick the right one and the value will go up a bit.
You should be able to pick up a good 981 series Cayman. I didn't think the bore scoring was an issue with that generation.
R8 for me it's my daily although £40k is a bit on the low side at this sort of level of car would only buy main dealer with full warranty/history etc
Have you considered a Caterham 7?
Maserati GranTurismo.
So clever my foot fell off.
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