I fancy a luxury sort of car with squishy seats and a decent boot. It needs to have sturdy wheels as the roads around here are a disgrace. Stopping for potholes is not an option.
So far I'm torn between several ludicrous cars: 996 911 with 4wd & tiptronic , S class S500, Maserati 4200 and a Porsche Cayenne.
The S500 I've seen is about the cheapest to buy of all the above for what looks like a half decent one. No decent side on close ups of door bottoms or wheel arches as they rust there apparently.
How do you verify mileage on these cars? Many claim 50k and have seats that look like they've been in a zoo.
None of the above are practical in a normal person's sense obviously. It's just bang for buck luxury without running costs that are murderous. Mildly painful I'm used to
I don't do a great mileage and would just like something nice and luxurious and not scruffy for a change.
2005/55 reg is the latest I'd want as I'm not paying £500 pa tax. W/X is earliest as they're getting old. Nothing French either. Nor diesel.
Ideas and observations?
Enormous apologies if you have considered this or have owned previously but the cars you mention might be in the range of £20-30k to buy, but their running costs are still those of a car costing £100k. I mention this as you didn't like the idea of road tax of £500/yr and were looking at used, which made me think you might have to stick to a budget. The cars you mention are not really budget friendly, so I figured I'd write this post.
Excluding fuel, insurance and road tax, you can easily expect a 911 of any flavour to set you back a minimum (assuming nothing major goes wrong...unlikely pre 991 (2011)) £5k/year. S class would be slightly cheaper at around £3k (AMG £5k+). Maserati would come in at around £6-10k per year (possibly more) and a Cayenne similar to a 911, probably 20% more.
This is friendly advice mate but make sure you know what you're getting into. A 996 C4S from 2002 might seem cheap at around £20k or so, but they have a very strong reputation for their engines exploding and at £15k a pop, including Porsche goodwill subsidy which you're not guaranteed to get, it's not for everyone. Porsche have also never officially admitted there is an issue with their W/C engines from 98 to 2011, have a read around.......they did make alterations, which confirmed the issue, but did not admit it. However, the issue of exploding engines does not have only one cause! Some genuine experts in the brand estimate failure rates could be up to 25%, with a rather significant embarrassment factor and cover up taking place. Personally, out of 5 owners of such vehicles, 3 of them failed completely over the years, at varying mileages, from 8k to 48k, if memory serves.
My personal opinon...Porsche water cooled models from 1998 to 2010 are not what I would consider reliable at all. The 991 supposedly changed this, when released in 2011, but its price remains rather high as a result. That said, a turbo model from any year is a sound bet as they use different engines to the other models. but prices match accordingly, starting at £40k for an early water cooled model in decent shape. Air cooled 911 fine and a collectors item, any turbo fine and a collectors item, watercooled N/A, nope. Not in a month of sundays unless it's a 991 or later.
Just my 2p mate having been through the debacle myself. I've had a 911 W/C an S class and did 6 months of research on Maserati before deciding to buy some scratch cards instead. Current car is a loaner Audi A5 whilst ours gets repaired for the 6th time. New car coming soon I think.
I hope the above helps in some way. Not at all intending to be critical of you or your ideas.
PS. Just read up and I notice at least one fault of the 911, the RMS, has been discussed already. I'm glad but the engine issues are not limited to the 996 model or the RMS. A rebuild has not been possible for many owners either, so do use my higher estimate, basically a new engine (retail price) when considering. Unfortunately for Porsche, it was much more serious than that. Truth be told, I'm not even sure the 991 has remedied all of the issues. I sound anti-Porsche but they are actually my favourite car brand but their reputation I feel was severely damaged. A 911 turbo is on my horizon, but not for a few years yet.
