Following the subtle change in avatar message last week (and me hitting 3-0 on Tuesday ), I eventually took some pics of my new car. It’s a f**king great time to be buying a car, with new cars sales flat-lining and the used car market on it’s @rse. Luckily I sold my previous car (55-plate Ibiza Cupra TDI) for a good price at the start of December, giving me the pick of the market.
I considered and tried a few cars before settling on my choice, but ruled all else out in the end:
VX220 n/a – fun, mental handling, but I struggled to get in and out it (I’ve suffer from back trouble)
350z – good handling but low rent interior IMO and high(er) running costs
Clio V6 mk2 – just can’t get it out my system but decent ones were above my budget
Z3M Coupe – still too much £££ for a decent example
Z4 Coupe – above my budget
So I’ve bought a 3.0 BMW Z4 Roadster :evil:. Picked it up from Hartlepool Monday last week – thanks to Rory182 for his help in buying – and my initial impressions are everything I expected. It’s good handling, fun to drive, reasonably quick, has a great interior, and is reasonably cheap to run. And that straight-6 engine… what an engine
- 231hp / 221lbft
- M Sport suspension & optional 18’s
- I avoided the M Sport seats as I’ve got too much “girth” (across the shoulders…) to get comfy in them
- covered only 18.5k miles
- just over 4 years old
It should prove cheaper than my old CTR to run: same road tax band, cheaper insurance(!), better MPG despite better performance, even tyres are cheaper if I go for normal (non run-flats). I just decided I’d had enough of diesel and thought “F**k it!”
And the best part? I bought it privately and only paid what I sold my Ibiza for plus £2.6k. That’s from an Ibiza with an initial RRP of £16.5k, to a Z4 with an RRP of £33k but 11 months older, for the sum of £2.6k. Mental. The used car bargains out there really are brilliant…
It ain’t clean as I’ve done 500 miles since Monday with Christmas visits and the like, but I don’t care LOL, I’m enjoying the driving too much
Cheers
Ally
I considered and tried a few cars before settling on my choice, but ruled all else out in the end:
VX220 n/a – fun, mental handling, but I struggled to get in and out it (I’ve suffer from back trouble)
350z – good handling but low rent interior IMO and high(er) running costs
Clio V6 mk2 – just can’t get it out my system but decent ones were above my budget
Z3M Coupe – still too much £££ for a decent example
Z4 Coupe – above my budget
So I’ve bought a 3.0 BMW Z4 Roadster :evil:. Picked it up from Hartlepool Monday last week – thanks to Rory182 for his help in buying – and my initial impressions are everything I expected. It’s good handling, fun to drive, reasonably quick, has a great interior, and is reasonably cheap to run. And that straight-6 engine… what an engine
- 231hp / 221lbft
- M Sport suspension & optional 18’s
- I avoided the M Sport seats as I’ve got too much “girth” (across the shoulders…) to get comfy in them
- covered only 18.5k miles
- just over 4 years old
It should prove cheaper than my old CTR to run: same road tax band, cheaper insurance(!), better MPG despite better performance, even tyres are cheaper if I go for normal (non run-flats). I just decided I’d had enough of diesel and thought “F**k it!”
And the best part? I bought it privately and only paid what I sold my Ibiza for plus £2.6k. That’s from an Ibiza with an initial RRP of £16.5k, to a Z4 with an RRP of £33k but 11 months older, for the sum of £2.6k. Mental. The used car bargains out there really are brilliant…
It ain’t clean as I’ve done 500 miles since Monday with Christmas visits and the like, but I don’t care LOL, I’m enjoying the driving too much
Cheers
Ally