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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to buy a mid-life crisis car?

99 replies

huffythethreadslayer · 06/10/2010 22:43

In my defence, I am middle aged (45 this year) and am in the middle of a health scare (lump on neck...probably a cyst, but has scared the sensible out of me) and so....I'm looking at something completely impractical and fun to drive instead of the boring old Ford Fiesta I'd been looking at.

Dd is 10 and really wants a convertible mini, but it's more than I can afford, but I am now thinking soft top instead of big booted :)

What do you reckon??

OP posts:
Vallhala · 06/10/2010 22:46

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Go for it!

I recommend an Alfa Spider!

You're only 45 once, life's too short not to, you deserve it... do you need any more cliches?

Just. Go. For. It.

Val (45 year old petrol-head).

Chil1234 · 06/10/2010 22:47

Oh go for it. It's only a car and I don't think a soft-top necessarily screams 'feeling old!!!' - although you might want to wait until the spring because October's not the month to drive with the top down. If you don't like it you can always sell it again.

chitchat09 · 06/10/2010 22:48

Just call it a mid-life spoil - don't you deserve it??!!

Original poster
huffythethreadslayer · 06/10/2010 23:07

Thank you ladies. Sadly the budget won't spread to an Alfa spider! I think it's more likely to be a Sportska or a mini convertible :(

Still better than a ford fiesta :)

OP posts:
verytellytubby · 06/10/2010 23:08

Yessssss!!!!

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 06/10/2010 23:12

How about an MX-5? It's our middle-aged car. Grin

Not wildly practical, a two-seater convertible with a tiny boot, but it's ever so much fun...

Original poster
huffythethreadslayer · 07/10/2010 11:45

Off to google MX-5 before my sensible gene kicks back in and tells me a Fiesta is the right way to go Grin

OP posts:
IslandMoose · 07/10/2010 12:06

I'd definitely recommend an MX-5 - we've had two and they're great fun (like driving a go-kart). Also very reliable and not expensive (you should be able to find, say, a five year old one for £5-6 thousand, especially at this time of year.

Have fun!

nocake · 07/10/2010 12:19

I loved my MX5. The best car I've ever owned. I imported mine from Japan so it was dirt cheap and had crappy Japanese tyres so was hilarious round corners. You could throw it into the corner, feel the rear end break away, hear your passenger scream then flick the steering wheel and bring it all back together. Soooooo much fun.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 07/10/2010 14:03

Our 12 year-old, under 40K MX-5 cost under £3K. Grin What do you think now you've googled, huffythethreadslayer?

caramelwaffle · 07/10/2010 14:16

Go for the fun car. Definitely.

PanicMode · 07/10/2010 14:23

Definitely go for the fun car - I had to sell my convertible when I had DC1. When DC4 goes to secondary school, I'll be buying another one!!

MrsJohnDeere · 07/10/2010 14:26

We had a mid-life crisis MX-5 for several months. Dh loved it, I hated it and refused to drive it. It scared the hell out of me (rear wheel drive, ice, roundabouts, tendency to oversteer are bad combinations).

Then we replaced it with the yearning for lost youth impreza, which dh crashed in the snow and ice.

I'd go for a Fiesta (one of the new ones though) over a soft top any day.

nocake · 07/10/2010 14:32

Scared you? They're not powerful enough to scare anyone.

And there's nothing fun about a Fiesta.

Original poster
huffythethreadslayer · 07/10/2010 14:35

I'm so torn!!! My practical side knows that a 2 seater roadster is not the practical car for a woman with a pre-teen. But I've been SO sensible my entire life. I got a lump on my neck and I'm waiting to see what it is. I know it's not life threatening, but it's made me realise that life is short. My mum died earlier this year and left me a little money and what did I do? Paid it off the mortgage.

I love the look of the MX, but I like the reliability of Ford. I like the Nissan C+C cos it's a 4 seater (by the skin of it's teeth) and I would love, love, love a Mini, because it would be a full on 4 seater and would look fab on my drive.

I can't go car shopping now as I'm signed off work, but as soon as I'm back (and I'm hoping that'll be next week, after I've seen the consultant) I'm going to sit in all these lovely cars and see which one feels right.

I have added the MX to the list :)

OP posts:
MrsJohnDeere · 07/10/2010 14:36

Fiestas go much faster ime.

Scared me because it span out of control on the roundabout (twice).

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 07/10/2010 14:46

I think I actually drive slower in the MX-5 than I do in my sensible Focus; everything feels so much faster when you're that close to the ground. Grin And it's definitely not as comfortable (though you can have the top down on a sunny winter day, the heater is fantastic!) and nowhere near as practical - but it really is loads of fun.

warthog · 07/10/2010 14:48

oh no please don't.

cars are SUCH a waste of money. throwing it away.

why don't you go on a really nice holiday instead?

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 07/10/2010 14:49

MX5s are very reliable.

And they're fast. At least mine is. I'm not sure what the 0-60 is. Will Google.

You need to drive them in a particular way, ime, as they're rear wheel drive. Otherwise yes, you can spin them out.

But I bloody love mine. It's the single best thing I have ever, ever bought.

Funnily enough huffy the day I bought mine roughly coincided with the anniversay of my mum's death and that made the decision feel even more right. She'd have loved it.

nocake · 07/10/2010 14:49

If a car spins out of control it's almost always down to the driver not the car.

Fiestas may be faster but they're sooooo dull (even the high performance ones) and this thread is about a mid-life crisis car.

huffy, why do you think Ford are reliable? In the JD Power survey Ford generally comes quite low down.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 07/10/2010 14:50

Disagree that they're a waste of money. My darling little car gives me (possibly too much) pleasure every single day. It makes me smile on the way to work, seriously.

Boring cars are a complete waste of money though. Grin

Oh and huffy, my 10yo ds really, really loves it, too.

nocake · 07/10/2010 14:53

I agree. My MX5 was a complete waste of money. It cost me £1,900 to get it into the UK and on the road. I had two years of brilliant fun driving it then sold it for over £3k Grin

Original poster
huffythethreadslayer · 07/10/2010 14:55

I've had fiestas for the last two cars. Prior to that I had a Nova (ah, that was a lovely car, but the Corsa was crap in comparison).

My first 'want' car was an old English white Morris Minor, split screen, soft top. I didn't get it. I put a deposit on it, but couldn't scrape the money together to pay the balance (I was a very poor post student at the time).

Now I've driven a soft top moggy (thank you DH) and it was painful. Fun for a day or two, (we hired it for an anniversary) but it didn't do more than 50 with my foot right down. So....now it's time for fun.

And I'm still going with the 'see how they feel' motto. As soon as I'm fit again, I'm off to one of these big car supermarkets, to sit in all the drop head cars I can find that are vageuly in my budget.

I'm looking forward to it :)

OP posts:
Original poster
huffythethreadslayer · 07/10/2010 14:56

Oh...and we're looking at a holiday in Orlando too...which is why I can't spend much more than £5k on the car.

If that sounds show-offy in the current economic climate, I would add that we haven't been abroad for years. And when we did it was France, staying with friends.

OP posts:
mnistooaddictive · 07/10/2010 15:00

Buy the car you want, life is too short not too!
Have a fab holiday and who cares if it sounds show-offy. sounds like you deserve a bit of fun!

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