The pull of the Pork - a what car thread

[Toooldforthis]

Budget around the £15k mark, been considering an Elise or even a TVR, but have found myself wandering back to the porsche classified ads yet again

In and around that budget, I have seen some nice (and very different) options: 996 C4S, 3.0 SC, Boxster 987S and a Cayman.

The car is going to a summer daily driver, nice little commute of 15 or so miles, mostly country lanes, ocassionally going into London.

Out and out performance is not what I'm after, just an engaging drive and something a bit different to what I've had before - I've previously had a 986 Boxster S, a 996 C4S Cab, a 997 C2S and a 997 Turbo.

Any suggestions Gents?

[barchetta_boy]

a lot of the cars you mention are old and will need maintenance. This is expensive even when the purchase price is low.

I'd go 986S, spend £10k tops and keep a fund of £5k for maintenance and tyres. No way you should be considering aircooled on that budget unless you are handy with spanners.

Or Elise S2 111R.

Joel

[M@1975]

I'd broadly agree but there are some great 996s kicking around. Have a look at 911virgin, they offer a decent degree of piece of mind and have had stuff in recently at your budget.

[supersport]

For around £17 you really can get a lot of metal that isn't as old as you would expect, take a look here: http://www.rpmspecialistcars.co.uk/sales

Top chaps too deal with too :-)

[Toooldforthis]

Cheers fellas, the budget can be spent on the car, servicing and tyres etc aren't a problem

I am veering closer towards a 996 cab this evening...

[SidewaysSi]

Depends what you are after but at this budget and if fun/£ is what you are after, I would suggest an Elise. The Porsches are more complete but the Lotus will probably be more exciting...

[Toooldforthis]

I am 40 odd years old and don't know if clambering in and out of an Elise, bouncing over the potholes, boiling myself with a suit on is going to be ideal for me tbh, but I do plan on driving one shortly!!

[BertBert]

Yes, it's easy to choose between an elise and a porsche. Just going and driving them will do it.

I was trying to scratch the elise itch last year, went and drove one, worked out it wouldn't suit what I wanted to do and got a boxster instead which has been brilliant for the 12 months I've had it. It's now for sale as I have a 911 coming.

Bert

[james S]

The Porsche will be more 'complete' but the Lotus will often be the more fun placeto be. The S2 cars have air con etc and are in fact a very comfortable place to be, no worse than my GT3.

I found the costs a world apart. My Exige S2 didn't depreciate in 3 years and cost me about £250 a year in servicing plus one set of rears in 3 years. The most fun I have ever had with a car and without doubt the cheapest. Only donwside is complete lack of low down torque, but an Exige S addresses this.

It is nothing like as clever as a Porsche, but it is lots an lots of fun

[walm]

james S said:

The S2 cars have air con etc and are in fact a very comfortable place to be, no worse than my GT3.

SOME S2s have aircon - most don't. Certainly not standard and many just take theirs out since it is very expensive to fix.

My MY04 S2 111s was a ridiculously fun car but swapping out for a Boxster 987S is a very different drive.

It was ALWAYS engaging in the go cart.
Whereas in the Boxster you can sit back and relax if you want. You know - without getting rained on, or being shaken to bits or roasting or with the head gasket blowing up (although the engine in the Boxster will cost a LOT more to fix if it goes than a K-series HGF).

One MAJOR difference will be the running costs (even with a bi-annual HGF!).
The main point being that even down at £15k you will have £1.5-2k per annum of depreciation on most pork.
There is simply NO depreciation on Lotuses (particularly the 111s and 111r and Exige variants).

Of course, most people can't understand depreciation and don't recognise it as a real cost but trust me - it's real and it is a massive massive number compared to most other ones...
If you still don't believe me then consider the other savings:
Lower tax
40mpg - not 25mpg. Yes 40!
Lower insurance.
Cheaper servicing (although annual for a Lotus vs. every two years-ish for Pork).
Cheaper tyres (c.£200 cheaper for 4 Yoko Advans vs. 4 Michelin PS2)

Rarer.
People will wave hello in a Lotus on Lotus meeting.
Pork meeting Pork is generally more grumpy.

All IMHO obviously!

Oh and DRIVE THEM ALL! That's the most fun bit.