Due to recent circumstances, I'll be the co-beneficiary of a smallish estate at some point in the next few months, once Grant of Probate is given. Not being the kind of person who squirrels away money, especially at my time of life, I've pretty much decided to splurge my future ill gotten gains on a new car, which will be my first new car since 1997... which was an R reg Elise after a parting of the ways with Mrs LL Mk1.
Normally I buy privately and third hand...Mazda 626 2.0 petrol, BMW 330 and most recently my 2011 Focus tdci, being the last three cars I've owned. Last week I took a test drive in a new Focus ST3, but the ride on 235/35 rubber was too unforgiving. And ( sorry mr salesman) even if I had liked it I would still have bought privately and second hand!
My mechanic pal has now found me a 4yo ST3 on more forgiving rubber. Three owners, private sale, half the cost of new.
But I still hanker after a new car before I croak...the one I'm test driving has a waiting list ( no, I'm not saying what it is) so the 4yo ST3, should I purchase it, will, in the interim, satisfy my needs.
If the test drive goes well, expect to see the Focus advertised on your friendly motoring forum classifieds tomorrow.
Have a nice weekend everybody... I'm off to see Molly Warburton do a gig in KL tonight. And drink proper beer
|
|
ST sounds like fun. Whatever you're pondering as a new purchase though, I'd be thinking it'd be wise to choose something that is likely to be reasonably future proof. It seems certain that regulations are to become increasingly difficult to navigate.
|
Good morning. My mission, should I choose to accept it, involves petrol, high emissions, but currently excellent residuals. I anticipate keeping it for several years.
Any other advice Runfer?...you're a sensible person
|
|
Dunno about that last statement ! But you really wanted a 3 touring didn't you? Still a very nice car in many of its guises I'd have thought. Do you, or will you still need a bit of luggage space?
|
>> Good morning. My mission, should I choose to accept it, involves petrol, high emissions, but
>> currently excellent residuals. I anticipate keeping it for several years.
Mmmm given the above (petrol, high emissions) being unpopular but you mention a waiting list I'm thinking we are talking something a little exotic?
How long a wait are we talking? Do you really need the ST in between or could the trusty Focus carry on and fill the gap?
If its a bit complicated and you plan to keep it then (being sensible) I would look at warranty post the initial X years - the extended warranty on the Lexus was cheap as chips at £495 for 2 years which covered the same as the original warranty less interior trim I think
|
I'm smitten. Well & truly. Delivery Q4 is as close a delivery as the dealer can estimate, for MY18.
I'd still love a 340 Touring, even a 4 pot 328 (now 330). No deposit has been placed, and I need to put my rational head on for a few days. The current diseasal Focus is fine, having grown on me, but the worst case scenario is Dec delivery and between now & then I could be having fun driving an ST estate. Sans sunroof during the summer months.
It's a First World problem which I feel ever so slightly guilty about
|
>> V8 Mustang?
>>
That's what I was thinking, too!
|
|
I would never wait more than three months, any longer and I know I would change my mind ...
|
May years ago I had a drive in an ST Ford. Fabulous car, so much power but also very practical.
Yes the ride was a bit hard but that was irrelevant working my way up through the A82 through Glencoe etc, plenty of overtaking grunt.
And seats 5, takes the shopping, the dog etc - very practical.
An ST estate ...... that could be very practical!
|
|
I reckon LL has fallen for the new BM 5-series? Touring of course: 530i?!
|
|
Not sure the wait would be that long though for something that's available for a test drive
|
I've just heard that the ST estate has been sold, so back to square one. Even worse, the engine management warning light' has illuminated on the diseasal Focus!
It passed its MOT with flying colours earlier this week, and declared a great little runaround by my mechanic MOT tester friend. I find it hard to believe it's a DPF problem... I drive few annual miles but hardly any is stop/start and it is driven hard to clear out the soot! I regularly red line it when accelerating, hold the gears and always use Shell V Power Nitro.
And now my mechanic friend has gone on holiday for two weeks. Hey ho.
|
|
Go on LL, give us a clue what the new car your looking at is. ;)
|
Fingers crossed then LL. I have only had one of these light up on a diesel car and all it wanted was a new fuel filter.
I wonder about the benefit of harder driving. Probably good for keeping injectors clean, and obviously it might help at the point where it is trying to burn off soot, but wouldn't using more fuel make more soot? I too have a belief that the super-diesel will be beneficial, so I keep buying the stuff.
Who knows. For some reason the manufacturers never say much about how their cars actually work.
|
I bought a fifteen quid code reader when I had an engine management light. Paid for itself straight away when it identified a camshaft position sensor. Simple job to replace it myself.
You can also get them for a fiver that 'talk' to your smartphone or tablet via bluetooth. These also show live data, but be careful, because you need the same version of bluetooth on both devices.
|
A friends code reader shows it as a P2002 fault code. DPF related. Still goes ok. Until it stops, or goes into limp mode. Fingers crossed Its ok until my mechanic pal returns from his holidays in a fortnight.
WBAC online offer is £1700 without knowledge of the engine light
|
Many thanks for that Manatee...whilst trawling the interweb I came upon that very thing. I've been to and fro Aunts flat all week, a daily round trip of 60 miles, most of it at speed & high revs and so far so good.
I've just booked a last minute week away so when I return I'll contact my mechanic pal and see what he recommends. To be honest I want another petrol. Missed out on the ST estate and I keep driving my ex's '03 Lexus IS Sportcross straight six which is still smooth as silk, despite her abusing it over the sat 13 years!
|
Anyways...after due diligence I paid the deposit on my new wheels the day before I went away. Plenty of time to think about colour, options etc as the dealer doesn't find out his allocation until June!
I've never spent that much on a car before, but my Aunt would have enjoyed trips out in it. Half the value of her flat ( my brother gets the other half) I hope! Once I've gutted it, fitted new bathroom, kitchen, flooring throughout and total re decoration. That should keep me out of mischief most of April.
I always believe in saving for a rainy day, but boy does it rain where I live....
|
And my brother is going to treat himself to an Octavia Vrs estate. Good choice.
It doesn't rain as much where he lives
|
I don't know what your choice is, LL (hope you'll tell us in due course) but having had three of them I can certainly agree that your brother's choice of an Octavia vRS estate is a good one. As much performance as a GTI but with much more room, and cheaper to buy and insure.
I had three in a row - I still miss the last and best one, a petrol manual.
|
My bruvver is going for an auto (DSG) with the Octavia. I think they are 'probably' more reliable these days, wet clutch, but if keeping outside of the warranty period I still wouldnt touch onewith the proverbial.
Mine will have the DPK & GTS moniker...
There you go
|
>>DPK
Deutscher Pudel Klub?
|
>> ... DSG... I think they are 'probably' more reliable these days, wet clutch, but if keeping
>> outside of the warranty period I still wouldnt touch onewith the proverbial.
Is DPK a typo... the Porsche has a PDK gearbox, i.e. a dual clutch gearbox. PORSCHE DOPPELUKPPLUNG = PDK. And DOPPELUKPPLUNG means double clutch.
So either you're not getting a Porsche GTS of some sort with a PDK gearbox or you are but you'd not touch one outside of warranty?
Hope you went easy on the options of a 911 GTS!
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 31 Mar 17 at 22:28
|
Apologies. My few remaining brain cells have been well and truly fried in the past few days sun.
Should have said PDK. New. Dealer allocation June. Delivery Q4.
Macan GTS
Thanks Auntie
No regrets whatsoever in blowing the entire inheritance in one fell swoop
|
|
Brilliant! That's the way to do it!
|
Good choice. I'd thought the GTS might have been a little impractical for someone like you.
When you're in Spain or the US, I'll look after it for you for a fee. How much will you want? :-)
|
|
I'm currently in Spain rtj70. My 140k mile 1.6 diseasel Focus is near Bingley should you wish to look after it. No charge. It's clean both inside and out. Let me know.
|
>> Thanks Auntie
>> No regrets whatsoever in blowing the entire inheritance in one fell swoop
>>
You certainly have a good monica at present.
Time for a new one? Macango ? :-)
|
A lovely car, for sure.
Won't it be difficult to keep it safe on your extended trips? Will local scroats not get to realise its in a garage unattended somewhere?
|
"Once I've gutted it, fitted new bathroom, kitchen, flooring...
- what are you getting, a tour bus? :-)
|
At the moment, Night Blue or Agate Grey. Both metallics. My local dealer in Kendal has their GTS demo in Carmine Red. The standard black alcantara interior looks ok with the latter colour ( pano roof to lighten the interior) but with might spend extra on the deep red leather interior to complement the Agate Grey.
Several months before I need decide.
|
>>
>>
>> Several months before I need decide.
>>
That's always the problem for me, in several months I might change my mind on the car, though if not I might then change mind mind on the colour by the time it' is subsequently delivered. I would look nearly new or ex demo and see if there is one I fall in love with.
|
Deposit paid so not sure how that would work... their fully specced GTS demo is over £71k, or so I was told! Residuals are pretty bomb proof at the moment. The wife of a friend of a good friend, whom I have no reason to disbelieve, returned hers after a few days and was refunded 100% of her purchase price, although that was two years ago when supply was limited.
I'll be keeping it for several years, and of 45+ cars owned, only two have ever been new. The last was an R reg Mk1 Elise I swapped for the first Mrs LL back in '97.
Mostly I buy third hand via family, friends & trade contacts. I've convinced myself that the 15mm reduced ride height on the GTS will allow for much easier access for my old Mum!
|
|
Just for a bit of trivia, but encouraging trivia maybe, a friend of mine bought a mildly used Panamera a while back for £76,000. Kept it about 9 months and put 10,000 miles on it and was approached by the dealer he bought it from who offered him £73,000 for it because they had a customer who wanted that exact spec. Seem to keep their value in other words. That may not be your priority but if by some strange chance you decide it's not for you after a while, you shouldn't take too much of a hit.
|
>>. The last was an R reg Mk1 Elise I swapped for the
>> first Mrs LL back in '97.
>>
Swapped a car for a wife eh ...
|
|
...well, at the party, somebody chose his keys (and a misunderstanding ensued)......
|
If she was wife no.1, she too must have been Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.
|
Delivery now improved from Q4 to sometime September. After hours of playing with the configurator, the final spec has been decided and signed off.
Volcano grey... the Panamera 4S in the showroom looked lovely in that colour. In my humble it looks less of a Barbie car in grey than white, and as for the black with blacked out rear windows....DrugDealersRUs
They even let me loose on my own in their demonstrator, and I can honestly say that it handles better than my current 1.6 diesel Focus, although I won't be getting 60+ mpg.
|
Blimmin 'eck
Wow. That's a way to blow some dosh! Good on you for keeping the German economy going.
|
Just to clarify... it's not a Panamera! Residuals still looking very good on the model I have chosen, so as I normally keep 5/6 years I shouldn't lose too much, and in a 'man maths' kinda way I'm not happy about investing that kind of money in a financial package given the current high stock market, and 2% safe interest doesn't appeal in a cash account.
You only live once, and I have been given the totally unexpected opportunity to push the boundaries of car ownership with something which gives me pleasure.
Last edited by: legacylad on Thu 18 May 17 at 10:03
|
>>You only live once, and I have been given the totally unexpected opportunity to push the boundaries of car ownership with something which gives me pleasure<<
You deserve that LL and I'm sure she ( I don't mean SHE disrespectfully) would be delighted at your choice.
It's in the gene's you know and I suspect a chip off the old block in there somewhere:)
Pat
|
>> After hours of playing with the configurator,
>> the final spec has been decided and signed off.
>> Volcano grey...
...looks good in grey...
tinyurl.com/llgreyporsche
|
Brilliant
Not laughed as much in ages..... now emailed to my ex ( with whom I am on good terms) and my CA septic friends
Thanks for that. I cannot stop tittering.
|
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/95/10/5d/95105d903969e0e5e83394b8c50c74bb.jpg
--
Is it a Macan GTS? Bumped into a local acquaintance last weekend who has a red one, looks nice, on Monday I saw one coming the other way and prepared to wave and realised that it was a different reg no, so they are quite common round 'er ...
|
Yes. Give my regards to Barbie next time you see her
That red costs quite a bit more...
|
>> That red costs quite a bit more...
>>
Really, why?
|
Because that is what the market will pay....£1676 over the standard two colours. The other colours are 'only' £632 over the'free' colours...I think red may well be a new colour for Porsche so that may be a factor. Not keen on it myself, although the demo was that colour when I had my initial test drive earlier this year.
Incidentially, the GTS demo was very highly specced and I was told that it was sold, with options well into five figures, at a £500 discount off list. That's about 0.7%!
Obviously some people cannot wait
|
>> Incidentially, the GTS demo was very highly specced and I was told that it was sold,
>> with options well into five figures,
>>
Yes, the price of options can be enormous. It seems most demo cars are loaded with extras.
The S/H Audi Q5 that my son bought, which was not a base model, had £20K+ of optional extras plus winter alloy wheels/tyres at another £1K+.
He has already bought, fortunately at big discounts, several hundred pounds worth of accessories and he plans a couple of retro fits.
(A rare option is side steps at £1k+ and then main dealer fitting)
Oh yes optional extras make big bucks.
|
>>had £20K+ of optional extras...
With that sort of money you could think about paying for the next model up which has the extras included or going for a more premium brand with the extras as standard!
I wonder what the resale value on the extras are after 3 years?
|
>>I wonder what the resale value on the extras are after 3 years?
Perhaps not much in absolute terms, but try selling one without them.
|
I've been closely monitoring prices and specs on the 'Approved pre owned' website, and currently 6/13 are priced at more than I am paying, 5/13 are within a few hundred pounds and the remaining two are lower spec higher miles.
I've not specced 21" bling wheels, ordered standard wheels, seats & audio, but still blown a substantial sum on a nice interior which will hopefully help retain a lot of the cost price should I change in 6 years, which is how long I anticipate keeping it.
Only time will tell, as the landlord said to the bloke with the crossbow
|
|
Best of luck with a 6 year old DSG Porsche... I'm sure it will be fine.
|
>>had £20K+ of optional extras...
>>With that sort of money you could think about paying for the next model up which
>> has the extras included or going for a more premium brand with the extras as standard!
Next model up is a much later car , £10K more and 310bhp replaced by 320/330bhp.
Audi is quite high up in the market.
>>I wonder what the resale value on the extras are after 3 years?
>Perhaps not much in absolute terms, but try selling one without them.
Lots of poverty spec versions for sale.
Few with a panoramic roof.
I have only seen a couple with the off road kit- sump guard and wheel arch extensions.
Good for the urban risks of sleeping policemen :-)
Rarely a must have extra but it was fitted from new.
|
>>Lots of poverty spec versions for sale.
Obviously, because nobody is buying them. Or rather they are preferring to buy the better equipped ones first.
>>Few with a panoramic roof.
Perhaps snapped up as soon as they appear.
|
>> >>I wonder what the resale value on the extras are after 3 years?
>>
>> Perhaps not much in absolute terms, but try selling one without them.
>>
Yep, when I bought my Audi Cab the sales guy told me extras would retain about 10% of what I paid, but without Leather the car would be unwanted on the used market
|
>> or going for a more premium brand with the extras as standard!
For a mid-size sporty SUV, what would be a more premium brand than a Porsche?
|
>> >> or going for a more premium brand with the extras as standard!
>>
>> For a mid-size sporty SUV, what would be a more premium brand than a Porsche?
>>
Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes Benz?
|
>> Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes Benz?
Land Rover?
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 19 May 17 at 10:21
|
>> Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes Benz?
>>
Land Rover?
The majority of reviews of the Q5 /SQ5 until very recently ( new model now out) generally rated it
better than all except the Macan ( ride performance )
The Macan is much more expensive and the LR was best for off road.
The latest Audi has not got 3.0l or 3.0l twin turbo options only 2.0 diesel/petrol versions.
|
The Macan is supposed to be brilliant though perhaps LR are a more premium SUV brand as Porsche don't have a long term reputation for SUVs, rather like if Land Rover introduced a mid/rear engined sports car.
I suppose Audi are in the same realm as BMW and MB with the Q5 etc though I never see Audi as in quite the same league personally, I guess because of the plafform engineering and that an A3 might be little different than an Ibiza or Golf etc.
|
>> Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes Benz?
Just name badges on sheet steel or maybe aluminium, you guys must be brilliant drivers to use these cars to the limits of their capabilities. Or do you all own disused airfields or have a vanity problem? :-)
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 19 May 17 at 10:21
|
>> Just name badges on sheet steel or maybe aluminium, you guys must be brilliant drivers
>> to use these cars to the limits of their capabilities. Or do you all own
>> disused airfields or have a vanity problem? :-)
No just class and taste, but you wouldn't know about that.
|
|
Or you judging by the antique dealers furniture van you use as a driveway ornament.
|
Please Gentlemen, such disparaging remarks do not reflect well in this forum
We are all at liberty to act as we see fit. Which is a good thing. I think?
Many is the time I have flown to sponge off friends in the USA and turned right, paying £500 for my three outbound flights in economy. Those paying several thousand pounds more to travel in business, are quite at liberty to do so. We all arrive at the same time, but they travel in more comfort, and are happy to pay for it.
I know several people who live alone, myself included, who have more than one bedroom, when to all intents and purposes a one bed flat in my area would not unduly affect my quality of life.
Each to their own
|
>>
>> Each to their own
>>
Totally!
|
Test driving ( possible) new car - Runfer D'Hills
