I have an E46 M3 and I've run it for 33,000 miles and 20 months so far.

I've spent probably £1500 on servicing, £2000 on tyres, and I've so far only spent about £700 on replacables (brakes etc).

Sounds like it'd probably be a bit too much to run, unless you're only going to do small mileage to be honest.

Lovely car though.

 

I've probably done about the same on the Prelude (over five years, hence the servicing) except the exhaust & clutch are still holding on so the £700 isn't yet spent, IYKWIM.

But the depreciation's been tiny, so yer pays yer money...

 

yeah, lets not talk about depreciation. although in the last few months it's appreciated a little bit.

 

I've done a litle more research this afternoon and it does indeed look like it would be pushing it a little as far as keeping it in tip top condition goes.

I guess i'm just going to have to keep dreaming but i'm getting itchy feet and would like a new motor within the next 6 months but I can't find anything that i can afford that excites me.

The Monaro is a possibility but after owning a VX220 (previous car) the thought of falling back into Vauxhalls dealership network again chills my blood (wouldn't trust them to service a spanner never mind anything with moving parts!)

I don't like the 350z, they leave me cold as do Scoobys and Evos.
Elise 111r, I had one for 2 weeks as a courtesy car when my VX was written off - awesome at the right time and place but draining the rest of the time (same as the 220)
Don't want a hot hatch, I left front wheel drive behind me long ago.

Anyone got any other suggestions? The S looks like its going to be a tough act to follow.

 

E39 M5 too old for you? My pop got one recently and I was blown away by it.

Phsyically, they're not that much bigger than an e92 3-series - blame constant bloating of modern cars for that. But it does have that amazing 400bhp V8 and all reviews were very positive to say the least.

 

Think an M5 is going to have the same problems that the M3 would have i.e. i couldn't afford to keep it in top nick.

The problem I have is that over the years i've bought into a few cars that i couldn't really afford to run - when I was 23 I had a Pulsar GTiR and didn't earn enough to maintain it properly. I loved that car and watching it slowly disintegrate and being unable to give it the TLC it deserved broke my heart.

I made a promise after that, if I can't keep it shiny and purring i won't buy it.

I don't want to make the same mistake, not with 16k of my hard earned

 

Why not go for a nice 02ish plate for about £13k and stick a few $$$ in under the bed for running costs?

AFAIK the older models are essentially the same.

 

Well in that case I'd go for something around £14k - maybe a year older, or higher miles - and put your remaining £2k into a couple of years warranty. Will be money well spent if anything goes wrong.

 

Whoops blurter beat me to it

 

Owned my E46 M3 for 4 years & 90K miles now

I can highly recommend them as a great all-round car

mileage isn't too important as long as it's been looked after properly

Expect 21mpg around town & 30mpg on a motorway cruise