Cars

[Will]

So I really need to get a car to give myself some freedom, but as we’re trying to buy a house right now I need to be a bit careful about it. I do like something with a bit of performance and plan to buy a Mini Clubman JCW later in the year:

Test drove one a few weeks ago and it was pretty damn awesome, way better than I expected.

Until we have all our finances sorted out I'm just going to buy something much cheaper to keep us going. Max budget is around £5k or so. I went to have a look at a Mk2 Audi TT yesterday: 

But the guy at the dealership seemed incredibly unkeen to sell it. Actually seemed quite nice and I'd probably have taken it if he'd been a bit more forthcoming with information.

So what are you guys driving? Any tips on cars I could look at?

[Sméagol]

I was going to check how long I've had my driver's license, and as it happens I've gotten a letter regarding renewing it a few days ago, just found out.

I've had my driver's license for practically 20 years.

I've not driven a car for probably more than 20 years.

I hate driving, I hate cars. 

In general.

[Goafer]

On 08/01/2022 at 2:59 PM, Will said:

So I really need to get a car to give myself some freedom, but as we’re trying to buy a house right now I need to be a bit careful about it. I do like something with a bit of performance and plan to buy a Mini Clubman JCW later in the year:

Test drove one a few weeks ago and it was pretty damn awesome, way better than I expected.

Until we have all our finances sorted out I'm just going to buy something much cheaper to keep us going. Max budget is around £5k or so. I went to have a look at a Mk2 Audi TT yesterday: 

But the guy at the dealership seemed incredibly unkeen to sell it. Actually seemed quite nice and I'd probably have taken it if he'd been a bit more forthcoming with information.

So what are you guys driving? Any tips on cars I could look at?

From what I remember from when I looked at similar aged Audi S3s a while back, Audis (and most modern German cars) are great, but complicated and expensive to repair when they do start going wrong.

I always found my 2005 Fiesta ST to be a good mix of practicality, performance, comfort and reliability. Things got VERY expensive at around 125k miles though and eventually the engine gave up. Flawless up until that point though, so a low mileage one that's been well maintained should be a safe bet. Just watch for rust, as Fords are awful for it, especially underneath.

As for me, I bloody love cars. Currently have a VW Passat estate and a 1991 VW Scirocco.

A compilation of all the cars I've owned over the years (in the order I owned them):

[Will]

On 1/12/2022 at 11:51 AM, Goafer said:

From what I remember from when I looked at similar aged Audi S3s a while back, Audis (and most modern German cars) are great, but complicated and expensive to repair when they do start going wrong.

Yeah, that’s a good point, some of the repairs I was looking at for the Audi were definitely on the steep side.

I’ve seen a few other TTs and I think it’s definitely a nice mix of practical and fun. Similar to my issues with housing it seems as if nobody actually wants to sell anything. I test drove a car last week which had a few very obvious niggles, but was otherwise pretty great. I said I’d be keen if they were fixed, they said they were on their list of things to sort. I said give me a call when it’s done and I’ll come down and buy it if they’re all good. Did I ever get a call? Of course not. It’s just sat on the website and the other sales places waiting.

Another one I was due to view today looked perfect but unfortunately, someone snapped it up before I got there.

So the search continues, maybe I’ll just put the deposit down on an Emira and hibernate until it’s available.

[Will]

Thinking of a new contender, a Subaru BRZ:

Seems like a good bit of fun and is just practical enough for the day-to-day stuff I need to do.

[Will]

Test drove the BRZ today, it’s brilliant. A lot more fun than I was expecting and WAY more practical than I thought it would be. Tentatively made a reservation awaiting the results of my mortgage stuff going through.

[Will]

It’s bought!

Will be picking this guy up on Saturday, maybe before if everything goes through OK.