1 car, or two - £20k budget

[milb001]

Well, middle of last week I had the unsettling experience of having my house broken into whilst I was asleep, car keys taken and car stolen. The car in question was an M240i, which is the first car I’ve owned in a very long time that I considered to be a keeper.

So, with an insurance settlement expected in the mext week or two, I’m trying to distract myself from any newfound feelings of anxiety by considering what I might replace it with. As much as I gelled with the car, I don’t want to replace it with anything too likely to attract that kind of attention.

I don’t do many miles (perhaps 5-7k/year), my wife has a VW Touareg which fulfils any practical requirements. So my car is mainly used for commuting (mostly country lanes) and the occasional back-road blast.

Now, I do quite like the idea of having two cars - sometimes it’s nice to slip into something comfy with a slushbox and waft to work. However, if that were my only car, I know I’d miss having something to drive spiritedly. Either way, the car(s) need to be reliable above all - I don’t want to spend my weekends fixing them. Economy, practicality and brand don’t matter to me.

Having a budget of around £20k is enough to present some options, but still make this a difficult choice!

At the minute, I’m leaning towards a two-car solution consisting:
W124 e220 Cabriolet - I really like W124’s, this would fulfil wafting, but also give the opportunity for roof down motoring and;
350/370z or Z4 coupe - a cheaper sports car to enjoy on back roads.

Other cars I like:
VX220/Elise - this would take up more of my budget and would need to be accompanied by a cheaper wafter, not sure what.

Porsche Cayman S - this would take up all of my budget and be my only car.

I’ve got a very varied taste in cars and usually tend to lean towards left-field options. I’d love yo hear your thoughts and ideas of any other cars that might be worth considering.

[Type R Tom]

Very similar criteria to you, I have an E46 M3 Cab and a Volvo S40 2.4 auto. the S40 doesn't handle great and the auto is terrible but 5c 2.4l is quite nice to lazy drive. Got a great stereo, heated seats etc. The only downside is MPG similar to M3 with about 50% of the power! £15k would get you a great M3, the rest on a volvo. At that price, you could get a E90 and V8!

[CraigV6]

You don’t want to replace a M240 with something that attracts that kind of attention, but are considering Cayman, VX220, Elise???
They will all grab more attention than a M240 if that’s likely to worry you.

[Tall_Blk]

To be quite honest, with the miles you do I’ll be sticking to a single car.

[keo]

CraigV6 said:

You don’t want to replace a M240 with something that attracts that kind of attention, but are considering Cayman, VX220, Elise???
They will all grab more attention than a M240 if that’s likely to worry you.

VX220/ Elise are completely different though it would take the thief half an hour just to get into one of the things (ok slight exaggeration! But it’s always fun watching people getting into and out of an Elise!)

I always like to say go for two cars but you don’t do many miles. Could you get away as an Elise as your only car? I did when I did about 5k a year. Luckily I never drove it in much bad weather as I worked away most of the time.

[doogle83]

Tall_Blk said:

To be quite honest, with the miles you do I’ll be sticking to a single car.

I do similar miles and tried the 2 car garage thing (S3 / S2000). I just ended up with 2 cars I never really used very much.

I spent £19k on a gen 2 Cayman 2.9 from a Porsche specialist a couple of months back and it is most excellent! Has really brought my love for driving back when I go out just for a blast but is still perfectly comfortable as a daily when needed.

[ChrisH72]

Firstly, it's such a shame that you can't have nice new cars without some scrote stealing it.

From what I see in my area the main targets seem to be relatively new prestige cars like BMW, Audi and Mercs which I guess are massarket and always in demand. I have a fiesta ST and no garage so it's always on my mind that I may wake up one morning to find it gone.

With your low miles I'd just get one do it all car which is what you had with the m240i. A Cayman is a good shout or if you want to scratch the convertible itch then maybe a boxter. Older cars appear to be less desirable to thieves too so I think I'd be going down that route and maybe even spending a bit less.

[milb001]

CraigV6 said:

You don’t want to replace a M240 with something that attracts that kind of attention, but are considering Cayman, VX220, Elise???
They will all grab more attention than a M240 if that’s likely to worry you.

Yes, I don’t think these cars do tend to grab the attention of thieves so much. From what I’ve seen, it’s M cars, AMG’s, ST’s and S/RS’s that get stolen.

We are in the process of improving our security now, and I’ll probably put a disklock on whatever new car I get too. But still, would rather avoid anyone even trying.

[DoubleD]

A £15k Caterham and something else with the left over money.

I don't really get the low miles thing though that others are talking about!

[milb001]

doogle83 said:

I do similar miles and tried the 2 car garage thing (S3 / S2000). I just ended up with 2 cars I never really used very much.

I spent £19k on a gen 2 Cayman 2.9 from a Porsche specialist a couple of months back and it is most excellent! Has really brought my love for driving back when I go out just for a blast but is still perfectly comfortable as a daily when needed.

Good insight, thanks. I think the reason I’d shortlisted the Cayman is that it does seem to be comfortable enough to use daily. My only thing with wanting two cars is that some mornings, when it’s pitch black, you’re half asleep and the country lanes are icy - do I really want to be using a Cayman for that kind of journey?

[ChrisH72]

If you like the thought of an older Merc and also a coupe you could look at a CLK55. Good ones are well within budget and you wouldn't lose money on it. Pre 2005 so lower tax despite being a lovely V8.

[anonymous-user]

2 cars > 1 car

Also gives you a spare car if ones in for service/m.o.t/repairs

[milb001]

ChrisH72 said:

If you like the thought of an older Merc and also a coupe you could look at a CLK55. Good ones are well within budget and you wouldn't lose money on it. Pre 2005 so lower tax despite being a lovely V8.

I don’t like that era of merc. It’s only the 80’s-90’s stuff for me!

[Richard-D]

I like the 2 (at least) car option myself. Currently have a Pathfinder and a Caterham, that combination covers most eventualities for me.

I also don't do many miles but as I need a practical vehicle that can tow and go off road a single vehicle would be very compromised.

[CABC]

if possible, every petrolhead should at least try the 2 car solution to see if it works.

it depends on many variables obviously. Comfort and ease are wonderful most of the time. Visceral thrills are often difficult to achieve, but they are out there. There is simply no one car that gets close to doing what i want.
2 is not enough either

[A500leroy]

id go a bit retro and get the cleanest z3 coupe i could find.

[Mazinbrum]

I’ve got 2 cars but my mileage has recently gone down to about 5k so I’m thinking of selling my TVR and going to one car as running 2 with 2 lots of RFL and insurance etc is quite expensive.

[ZX10R NIN]

If you want a wafty convertible I'd say go for a CLK320 you can pick one up for sensible money.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011226...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011166...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010225...

I'd go for the 500 if wafting is what you're after both the 320/500 are bulletproof & are simple to maintain.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011095...

Then for the fun drivers car I'd go for the 370Z Nismo it's a proper drivers car with a great chassis (better than something like a Z4M) not desirable to thieves.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011015...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-370Z-Nismo/16454...

Now I know this brings you to 21/22k but haggle hard & in reality you should be very close to your 20k budget.

[Tall_Blk]

I have 2 cars and used to do 20,000 miles. But now I do about 1200 and I’ve started to question myself as I’m not driving the fun car enough so much I’m now thinking of just having a fast wagon

[DoubleD]

Tall_Blk said:

I have 2 cars and used to do 20,000 miles. But now I do about 1200 and I’ve started to question myself as I’m not driving the fun car enough so much I’m now thinking of just having a fast wagon

An estate car is ok for transporting stuff around in, but they aren't very exciting.