£8000 and 2 years. What can i do??

[mark foster]

After much deliberation I would like some more opinions,

I am 21, at university, and am possibly being employed for a year from september before my final year, for a year in industry. Using the money I earn from that job I will have £8000 to buy a car, maintain, fuel (60 miles/week) and insure for 2 years. So the £8000 will cover all car expenses.

What is the best I can do? as in a fast good looking car?

Rx7 93 on? my preferance but maintainance? Insurance
Celica GT4? " " " "
MR2?
Mx5?

I guess the main issue here is insurance,

Any feedback appreciated

Best Regards,

Mark

[docevi1]

what do you don't want to do is get yourself in too much debt with an unreliable car - if there is a big bill to repair then you are pretty much stuffed.

The best car (apparently) in that light will be the MX5. Meant to be quite good to drive, is reliable and if you can live with the styling then it'll be great for you

[mark foster]

wise words,

btw I will have more than £8000 overall, that is just my car expenditure budget. I like cars but I have other things to spend money on too!!!

[TKMaster!]

A small engined(?sp) caterham or similar are very good fun and fairly cheap to run.

[m3pilot]

Got a mate with a GT4 and i would even consider it if i expected to buy and run it for £8000. Parts are very expensive and its not ecconomical. Personally if i was on a limited budget i wouldn't have a turbo car unless your prepaired to fix it yourself when it brakes.

[windymiller]

RX7 on a budget?

Seriously though, £8000 over 2 YEARS to BUY, RUN and INSURE a car? Rules out most of the above IMHO.

At 21 you're looking at around £1000 to insure? You'll need at least £1000 per year for bits, tax, MOT time, which leaves you £4000 to buy the car, and the chances of you getting a fully-service minter of the above for that...

MX5's the only possibility I'd say.

>> Edited by windymiller on Tuesday 18th April 10:55

[windymiller]

los angeles said:

...I'd spend (say) five thousand on the best late model I can find, keeping three thousand to add some juicy extras if needed: such as a supercharger, or lowered shocks, a better hood, or full leather ... whatever maes your car yours and faster!

Yeah, good plan. That leaves a full £0 to insure and fuel it for 2 years. Wish you were my accountant mate...

[Davi]

what about a non-GT4 Celica?

It's true that spares are horrifically expensive purchased from Toyota, though there are several firms about now that can help there - the thing is, though expensive when they break, they very rarely do! I ran 2 celica's when I was at uni, on a budget that makes yours look like a lottery win, without a problem.

My first Celica was bought for the exhorbitant sum of £275 as an unwanted trade in from the local garage - that ran for 2 years without a single penny being spent on it!!! (literally, I didn't even put new oil or tyres on it)

Personally I'd look at one of those before an MX5 - unless of course your years employment is at a hairdressers...

[mark foster]

well i think i'd better start sharpening my scissors then,

cheers for the help everyone

[flat_steve]

You sound dissapointed boyo... Don't be! I traded from an RX-7 to get me an MX-5!

[windymiller]

Fall on hard-times mate?

[flat_steve]

Not so much that but I'm now looking for a house and there's only a finite amount of time in your life when you can actually afford to own and run a car like that

[windymiller]

Seriously though mate, how did you find running the RX7? I was in a place called WGT (I think) in Cheshire a few years back, and all the engineers/mechanics there said, off the record, they'd never have one because of the problems, etc, but I've always fancied one as a toy.

[flat_steve]

Depends if you get a good one, same as any other car really. Lots of out-of-date myths and hearsay about RX7's tbh, if you tune them they don't last as long and are less reliable (same as everything else so why this is an issue is beyond me). If properly serviced they are fine. Brutally fast even in standard trim and no more expensive to run than a Supra etc (a rebuild is 2.5k to 4k depending on what's being done but price up a rebuild for a Supra - more like 8k). Most are getting on a bit and you do have to budget for that though - my '97 model needed a new solenoid and the turbo manifold had a crack in it in the two years I owned her. Other than that it was my daily drive and didn't miss a beat.

[mark foster]

Not dissapointed you all make alot of sense, i think i knew i had to tone down my choice of car for the budget, and was in denial of the large increase in maintainance which comes with owning a turbo or japanese car.

The mx 5 is a legend and will be alot of fun.

If i go on to get one i'll need one under £4000 really preferably 1.8, and i guess soft top as it'd be slightly lighter.

Anyone got any reccommendations on buying mx5's?? Is it a bad idea to buy one which has been imported??
Will Adrian Flux give me the best quote?

Cheers guys,

Mark

[windymiller]

Not that I watch it, honest, but there was a test on 5th Gear the other week of a Mk1 MX5 v's a new one. The bird who owned the Mk1 paid about £3600 or £3800 for it, and it was pretty mint. That VBH caned it round a track and reckoned it was spot on. May have been the 1.6 though...

Notice the above is all about MX5's and birds...

[luciano]

With a budget of £8k for two years, run away from any RX7 that comes your way. I mean it - run as fast as you can.

I owned one. It was an amazingly fast car (on another level to "normal" fast Jap cars). It was also fun to drive (thanks in part to the way that it insisted on wagging its tail everywhere). They also look pretty good, something that can't be said for most Jap cars. Anyway, the down side is that they cost a fortune to maintain, to insure, and to run (expect less than 20mpg). With an £8k budget, I would certainly avoid. In fact, just avoid full stop.

I also owned a (non GT4) celica. These are reliable but to be honest it was slow and a bit naff.

My suggestions (in no particular order) are:

Alfa GTV
Alfa Spider
Fiat Coupe
Mazda MX5
Fiat Barchetta
BMW 320 coupe
Misubishi FTO
Toyota MR2



None of the above cars should cost you more than £4000. The remaining £4k is for 2 years insurance (£2k?) maintenance (£1k?) and then a grand to keep you afloat.

You might also get an impreza within your budget...?

Good luck.

[joney]

I'd suggest a 306 gti-6 or Rallye. they are fairly pokey cars, but handle very well and are a good example of fun not being in a straight line (although ironically almost all the owners I know don't use the standard issue P6000s). you can pick them up for anything between £1750 for an early high miler or about £4k for a later minter. As long as the cambelt/waterpump/tensioner gets changed every 35k - the only common fault; them going way before the recommended interval- you'll be laughing

That'll leave you a decent amount of cash for insurance, maintanence and trackdays

[iaint]

windymiller said:

RX7 on a budget?

Absolutely. You'd really need to spend £8k on a 3rd gen 7 (FD) to get something mostly reliable. As a 10-14 year old car there's always something to spend on. Insurance at 21 would be a killer - minimum £1500 with a few years NCB.

A well loved 2nd gen 7 would be realistic - £2-3k with ~220hp. Cheap to ensure. 3.5k would get you a mint cabrio for top down summer pullin' power. Bit different to the MX-5 which is a great car.

[mark foster]

Got the job!

So will be going for the MX! Definitely looks like the right option. Churchill have quoted me £863 for a years fully comp on a 1.8 which seems pretty good.

Cheers for the help,

Mark