ChilledBud

I'm considering selling up a few non essential items I have, as in a road bike and my spare AD08's and purchasing a cheap motorway car for my commuting, since the s2000 is doing over 1000 miles a month currently, and having had some pleb key the car whilst parked up. My initial thought was to look at any old thing that had enough T&T to last until later on in the year when hopefully I might be moving work location and as such knocking 5000 miles a year straight off my annual milage.

The Mrs then mentioned maybe selling the Berc HFC and DMS Pro65R Series Exhaust bringing fund up to over £2k and getting me back in a Octavia vRS now the 2002's are going for under £2k. My last one cruised all day at 40mpg on the motorways @ 70mph, all with a sound engine, comfy interior with massive boot space and cruise control for the long journey.

Anyone ever done similar? Part of my worry is ONLY using the s2000 for fun, seems a expensive luxury for some reason then.

gbduo

Or get a S2000 with sky high mileage on it already for £2500 to £3k from ebay and pile the miles on that whilst keeping yours pristine.

Of course, you do then have two S2k insurance premiums to deal with!

I would just get a beaten up Ford Mondeo TDCI Ghia though for less than £2k.

chrispayze

I got a 52 plate Mondeo 18months ago, admittedly cheap from someone else in the family. I enjoy driving the S much more now it's a rarer occurance. Taking into account everything except depreciation (I'll keep both cars until they're dead), I worked out it cost me and extra £500 per year to have both cars (over just the S). Given the reduced mileage (which has now meant I can get future classic insurance, a further saving of £350), it's a no-brainer. And now I have a new job, which requires more motorway travelling, it's even better having the Mondeo. The Modeo is a 2.0L petrol too, so a TD would probably cost less in terms of fuel (although more to go wrong, with turbos etc, whilst the petrol is still smooth at 95k miles).

Hope that helps shape your thoughts.


Edit: It's also nice to take my time with maintenance/upgrades on the S, knowing I don't have to rush to get it back on the road.

Nick Graves

I bought a Prelude (as an experiment) years ago. Brilliant car.

I don't see the point of a dull as dishwater or POS car for everyday - that's like living in misery for 50 weeks for two weeks of packaged bliss(?) on the Costa del Chav.

chrispayze

I know what you mean, but I was looking for a small van to bung my bikes in the back, but my Sis' family were selling the Mundano estate, and it's been a good buy. It's dull driving on motorways anyway, so I don't see the point of having an interesting car to sit at 75 in a straight line. It was also £500 quid plus four tyres, so can't really complain. And it makes the S seem even more exciting, maybe even prevents me spending more money on power upgrades!

s2konroids

Mine getting long in the tooth and wanting to reduce miles on it, I'm currently looking at Fabia VRS's with around 70k on them - they are reasonably quick and good MPG just dire interior.

Hard to find an unmolested one as most have been chipped.

Spin

A chipped motor will not always be a bad one as long as full history and sensible owners, a lot of 'enthusiasts' have the cars remapped but then stll wrap the car in cotton wool.
My daily S3 is running stage 2 software with approx 330 bhp but can't say I ever mistreat it I just tend to use the additional low down torque and short shift - a bit of a difference to the heady delights provided by the s2000.

I'd vote buying a high mileage na aspirated petrol for use on the motorway and keep the s2000 for sunny days/weekends, it can seem excessive owning 2 cars but as much as I love and appreciate the S2000 can't say I would want to use it on the motorway everyday.

High mileage 2.0 mondeo or Passat, nice and comfy, almost 40 mpg and common as muck so cheap as chips

s2konroids

I'd also like an old 2004 BMW 330d, yeah true it can be both ways though.

chrispayze

The 330d or 320d are good motors. A mate of mine has just traded his 02 330d in for a new model of the same. He'd been through suspension etc but the engine was fine (inc turbos etc) after 250k miles! Edit: bit more expensive than mondeo/passat though.

s2konroids

Yeah, the problem is I would spend money tweaking it but not a lot as thats what the S is for.

How much was his 250k car worth?, thats some good mileage, i guess 100K would be fine for a long time.