The sublime or the ridiculous? Car choice!

Which car??

  • Bmw convertible

    Votes: 12 75.0%

  • Kia Soul

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
I've always previously bought cars without my brain being involved :)
 
Nod said:
Actually, that reminds me of the one Bimmer that didn't cripple me - a 2002! Not year, model!
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I had a 2002 in the late eighties, and I loved that car. It was so basic, yet felt so right, I wish I had kept it.
 
Cartus said:
I personally wouldn't have a convertible again, as a main car anyway. Apart from once or twice by the coast, in the summer, sun shining, it seemed a bit daft where I live and definitely very draughty, especially in the back!
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I wouldn't have a large one (although a mustang might sway me), but the mx-5 works well for us.
 
I do find I have the roof down quite a bit. With a glass rear screen you can put it down on days when you can't with the plastic ones as they become brittle with age and colder weather. The car I'm looking at has all the wind break thingies so it shouldn't be too drafty for front seat passengers. A winter day with the heater on full blast and the heated seats on is quite nice really. It's actually more down to the air patterns within the car and whether they have made sure you don't get a cold draft across your knees and legs. That makes the biggest difference to top down cold weather driving.
 
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srichards said:
I do find I have the roof down quite a bit. With a glass rear screen you can put it down on days when you can't with the plastic ones as they become brittle with age and colder weather. The car I'm looking at has all the wind break thingies so it shouldn't be too drafty for front seat passengers. A winter day with the heater on full blast and the heated seats on is quite nice really. It's actually more down to the air patterns within the car and whether they have made sure you don't get a cold draft across your knees and legs. That makes the biggest difference to top down cold weather driving.
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A car with an airscarf helps too.
 
Mrs Nod's roof was a bit reluctant so we've just had it serviced (yes, I am talking about her car!). Been dull or raining ever since. Sorry!
 
Glorious sunshine today but it's about 3c outside so I don't think I'd want a roof down! It was lashing it down yesterday. Hail at the weekend. Snow predicted again for the end of the week. Where's this Spring business?

BMW seems to be winning still. Damn. I may have to go and buy another money pit and say other people told me to do it ;)
 
I've got a nice furry hat (given to me as a gift before last year's Iceland trip!) which keeps my heed hot and a real Irvin flying jacket for my top half when we've got the top down in winter. Crank the heater up and down to our feet and away we go! Just want a slightly fruitier 'zorst now! (And maybe a respray but that can wait!)
 
Has to be the Kia Soul, come and se me and make sure you get a great deal on a new one.
 
mj4456 said:
Has to be the Kia Soul, come and se me and make sure you get a great deal on a new one.
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Aren't Kia a bit tight with discounts/deals? Our local dealer wouldn't deal @ 2.5% off & we already had a Sportage.
Someone said their margins were very tight & amongst the slimmest + it's about their image & not wanting to devalue it.
 
A 3 series isn't that ridiculous. My first car I was contemplating between a BMW Z4 and a Toyota Yaris SR....Yaris won because I thought with my head and think 300BHP RWD would be a bit silly for the first car.

Get the 3 Series, you can always get a Kia later.
 
I need to find out when BMW ditched semi trailing arm suspension. I know it doesn't suit me.
 
srichards said:
I already decided I couldn't afford one of those and the running costs make even a hardened money pit owner like me wince ;)
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You just have to know where to look, yes Maserati only parts are expensive but you buy them used at a fraction of the cost , a number of parts come from the Alfa parts bin with cross referenced part numbers , it's not horrendous on fuel if you keep your foot out of the carpet, 25mpg at 65mph driving it down to Portsmouth.

8-10 mpg isn't unheard of though :D

The biggest running cost for a car by a country mile is depreciation , spend 15k on a new focus and 10 years later it'll be worth £150 , spend 15k on a Maserati and the way classic car prices are going it could be worth double

This morning I saw a van driver wind the window down so he could hear it go by , people see a Ferrari and think knob, they see a Maserati and you get the thumbs up
 
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Its mainly the cost of ball joints that put me off at £600 a pop and you need loads of them and every few years. When I was looking you could only get them from Maserati so many 3200s were totally uneconomic to buy. I think the 4200 is based on same car so I'd hope they have a cheaper alternative now. Plus I think the cambelt has to be done every other year or 12000 and it's a pig of a job.

I've nearly bought several of the older biturbos and a Ghibli. Can't afford the latter at all. They used to be about £8k!

I may still get one at some point :)
 
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Kia soul is off the list. Can't get the sunroof with the EV even though I'm sure I read in the Kia site it was an option. Bah.

Now wondering about leasing a BMW i3 as you can get a panoramic roof and they do go like stink which appeals to my inner hooligan.
 
srichards said:
Its mainly the cost of ball joints that put me off at £600 a pop and you need loads of them and every few years. When I was looking you could only get them from Maserati so many 3200s were totally uneconomic to buy. I think the 4200 is based on same car so I'd hope they have a cheaper alternative now. Plus I think the cambelt has to be done every other year or 12000 and it's a pig of a job.

I've nearly bought several of the older biturbos and a Ghibli. Can't afford the latter at all. They used to be about £8k!

I may still get one at some point :)
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Cambelt is the 3200 twin turbo, 4200 has a version of the Ferrari 360 engine which is chains , there are more pattern parts these days, wishbones have the ball joint built in they were £1000 but eurospares are doing pattern ones for £400 now
 
wack61 said:
Cambelt is the 3200 twin turbo, 4200 has a version of the Ferrari 360 engine which is chains , there are more pattern parts these days, wishbones have the ball joint built in they were £1000 but eurospares are doing pattern ones for £400 now
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That's good. Might have to put a 4200 back on my list :D
 
srichards said:
Kia soul is off the list. Can't get the sunroof with the EV even though I'm sure I read in the Kia site it was an option. Bah.

Now wondering about leasing a BMW i3 as you can get a panoramic roof and they do go like stink which appeals to my inner hooligan.
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An i3 would be a great choice, very rare on the road too.
What engine is the 3series convertible you were looking at?
 
TopBanana said:
An i3 would be a great choice, very rare on the road too.
What engine is the 3series convertible you were looking at?
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It was the 3 litre.

Looks like i3 is getting an update with longer range so I'm going to wait and see what happens with that. Lead time would be a couple of months.
 
srichards said:
I do find I have the roof down quite a bit. With a glass rear screen you can put it down on days when you can't with the plastic ones as they become brittle with age and colder weather. The car I'm looking at has all the wind break thingies so it shouldn't be too drafty for front seat passengers. A winter day with the heater on full blast and the heated seats on is quite nice really. It's actually more down to the air patterns within the car and whether they have made sure you don't get a cold draft across your knees and legs. That makes the biggest difference to top down cold weather driving.
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The newer mx-5's have a roof down heating mode, to keep occupants warm. Add that to the heated seats and it's possible to drive around roof down on the coldest of days.
With the 12-13 sec electric folding hardtop, it's not too much effort to put it up again if the bad weather comes.
 
wack61 said:
You just have to know where to look, yes Maserati only parts are expensive but you buy them used at a fraction of the cost , a number of parts come from the Alfa parts bin with cross referenced part numbers , it's not horrendous on fuel if you keep your foot out of the carpet, 25mpg at 65mph driving it down to Portsmouth.

8-10 mpg isn't unheard of though :D

The biggest running cost for a car by a country mile is depreciation , spend 15k on a new focus and 10 years later it'll be worth £150 , spend 15k on a Maserati and the way classic car prices are going it could be worth double

This morning I saw a van driver wind the window down so he could hear it go by , people see a Ferrari and think knob, they see a Maserati and you get the thumbs up
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Cambiocorsa gearbox pump failure is around £5k fix, gearbox costs around £2k maintenance every few years, fuel averages about 18mpg on normal driving. Servicing is generally in the £600-800 range. Check for tyre sizes, costs and availability.
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/ for lots of info

There is a lot to be said for driving something different.
 
Byker28i said:
The newer mx-5's have a roof down heating mode, to keep occupants warm. Add that to the heated seats and it's possible to drive around roof down on the coldest of days.
With the 12-13 sec electric folding hardtop, it's not too much effort to put it up again if the bad weather comes.
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The old vinyl manual roof Mk 2 1/2 that Mrs Nod had took under 5 seconds from up to down and down to up. Heater worked well too. Wrap up warm and you don't need a heater - there isn't one on either bike! (Not even heated grips.)
 
The SLKs have the airscarf thing. Was tempted by a local SLK that was very low mileage but it was only the SLK200 so rather slow for my liking. I'd think being the 1.8 the future values wouldn't be as strong as with the 6 cylinder cars. The z3 I have at the moment is quick but it's a skippy idiot over bumps so it has to be replaced.
 
Could be the tyres. Some cars are very susceptible to different tyres.
 
Byker28i said:
Could be the tyres. Some cars are very susceptible to different tyres.
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You're not wrong there, my 4200 had falkens on it before the paintwork , they were on about 2.5mm but on the motorway it tramlined really badly, didn't like the truck ruts at all throwing the car about

I changed them for pilot sport 4s and the difference is amazing , it now feels totally planted, corners better with no tramlining at all , the falkens had worn evenly , before fitting the PS4s I was looking at getting a full alignment but it that different now I don't think I'll bother


Byker28i said:
Cambiocorsa gearbox pump failure is around £5k fix, gearbox costs around £2k maintenance every few years, fuel averages about 18mpg on normal driving. Servicing is generally in the £600-800 range. Check for tyre sizes, costs and availability.
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/ for lots of info

There is a lot to be said for driving something different.
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Alfa Selespeed F1 pump Part no 51736315 £ 319.26 plus vat , no idea where you're getting 5k from , the pump can be refurbished for under £170 , what's the gearbox maintenance cost, clutch ? , I've not read of any gearbox failures , servicing is probably right if you go to a specialist , the service kit with oil is about £250 so the labour is what you're prepared to pay.

I purposely wanted a car that had been serviced outside the specialist/dealer network , it's a different world with forums and the Internet , yes you need a Sd2 or 3 diagnostic machine to read certain fault codes and set the PIS point when you fit a new clutch but servicing is the same as any other car

I have a very competent mechanic who started his career as Carl Foggartys race mechanic in the 80s , I've watched him strip V8s he's never seen before and rebuild them , strip gearboxes with bits all over the place and put them back together so I trust him completely with this

The only condition I've given him is I want him dressed like Hopkirk not Randall when he goes near it .
 

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Main dealer dick lovetts suggested price for changing it. Over £2k for the part, plus it's a pig to change so some significant cost in labour.

Good news if it's an Alfa part.

Other things were told me by the dealer/owners club and forum when I looked into buying one.
Plus my financial consultant has a granturismo, with huge regular bills. Obviously he charges me too much. V8 choices at the time were Maserati, lotus or Tvr so I put a lot of research in. Tvr won on costs, performance, exclusivity and owners club.

Does the Maserati have accepted recognised independents? Tvr have a num bed of recognised ones, a lot now on the official list from the new startup, so it's always one of the selling points who's looked after the car.
 
Main dealer maintenance will always be stupid money compared to using a good indy. The place I took my last Alfa to also does Maserati so I know there is a least one :)
 
Crap car for every day..... nice car for weekend. Been doing this for ages, and never regretted it.
 
I've been on holiday (Rome, yay!) so missed this. I've already suggested what you should buy (and it's not a Kia :naughty:), though it will probably feel slow compared to the mind-boggling insanity that is your "every day" car :D (that I'm very jealous of).

I don't know anyone with a Maserati at present, people I've known that have had them have given similar reports, lovely but ruinously expensive.
 
I've been scouring auto trader and there is literally nothing worth spending money on anywhere within sensible travelling distance that I've found yet.

I basically need a reliable 6 cylinder engine (chain cam not belt) in a non skippy idiot of a car that's not longer than 4.5m and has comfortable, adjustable heated leather seats and ideally a sun roof. 6 cylinders are nice and flexible as I can't be bothered with all this endless gear changing. Automatic would be fine.

Any fuel other than diesel.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Crap car for every day..... nice car for weekend. Been doing this for ages, and never regretted it.
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Close - motorbike for everyday, crap car for the really bad weather (or need to carry something bigger than a backpack) .... nice car for weekend. :D
 
srichards said:
I've been scouring auto trader and there is literally nothing worth spending money on anywhere within sensible travelling distance that I've found yet.

I basically need a reliable 6 cylinder engine (chain cam not belt) in a non skippy idiot of a car that's not longer than 4.5m and has comfortable, adjustable heated leather seats and ideally a sun roof. 6 cylinders are nice and flexible as I can't be bothered with all this endless gear changing. Automatic would be fine.

Any fuel other than diesel.
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So really a merc then. Shame you don't want a diesel as the big merc diesels have stupid amounts of torque which makes them fun.
 
How mych do you want to spend? plenty of SLK55's around at £15k, even more if you drop to the 350, £7K onwards
 
The mercs I was looking at all seem to have gained several grand and now seem over priced. I have started in the £5k bracket but that's just mostly worn out bangers. I don't want to spend more than £8k but to be honest I don't think there is anything decent out there until you start spending 12-13k and that's just too much for a second car and that still isn't any guarantee it won't be another heap from an auction a dealer has just dumped onto the forecourt. The decent local dealer doesn't have anything of interest and I've been checking them for months.

The SLK 280 would be fine really. The SLK200 is just too boring. Also looking at the CLK or the C class with a sunroof as alternatives.

I don't want to travel miles either as it means if there is a problem you've got real hassle trying to fix it although most of the time I wouldn't trust most car dealers to fill a washer bottle so I end up fixing things myself rather than deal with them.
 
srichards said:
6 cylinders are nice and flexible as I can't be bothered with all this endless gear changing.
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I don't get this. I can get away with just 1st, 2nd and 6th if I want to in my Focus and it only has 4 cylinders. Don't really see why you think you'd be endlessly changing gear.
 
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