to buy a mid-life crisis car?

[huffythethreadslayer]

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??

I've got an SLK (old one 3.2l V6) and I love, love, love it. I've had it from new and it's 8 years old now. I should get rid of it but I'm unlikely to. They're quite expensive to maintain though.

Anywaaaaaay, I like the MX-5 and I think they probably tick all the boxes for being fun, nippy and cheap(ish) to run.

Oh, and I'm 45 too and heartily recommend a mid life crisis. I think mine is in its 10th year with another 10 to go

Ohh I like he sound of this thread!!! I need a new car, but round here we need a 4x4 in the winter.

Fed up with being sensible mum. Am 46 with 2 kids so I am thinking some sort of audi quattro. Anyone had one of those???

Fancy the A5 but it is eyewateringly expensive

I had a 306 cabriolet for a few years and that was great fun. A bit more beefy than a MX5 but sporty nevertheless.

It was £4K when I bought it and sold it at £3.5K after 2 years so didn't lose too much either.

I only sold it because it was inconvenient with a newborn.

I've had peugeots the last 3 cars and I love them.

elastamum no personal experience of a Quattro, but have a friend who swears by their diesel estates. He's a businessman and it's not used as a family car, but he's a)a bit of a petrolhead b)on the mean side of parsimonious when it comes to business and c)someone who covers many, many miles a year, so if it does him, might it do you too?

I loved my MX5 but you really do need a garage for a soft top convertible. Also had a Fiesta at the time for the practicallity. Chopped them both in for a Peugeot 307. Not as nippy as the MX5 but a combination of practical and fun. Hard top convertibles are the way to go if you don't have a garage.

You can buy a hardtop for an MX-5. I bought mine used on ebay (no point in brand new for a 12 year old car) with a cover/hanging bag (so you can store it more easily in the summertime) for £375. (Brand new available near me for £600, covers about £50.)

I do have a garage, but the roof leaks and tbh the car gets dirtier under cover than it does sitting in the yard. I'll admit that the hardtop will be stored in an outbuilding come spring, and of course not everyone has that kind of space.

(Farm dweller here)

elastamum, a friend of mine ran a quattro A6 for years. He loved it, although he's now replaced it with a Jaguar XF.

You could probably get a low-mileage quattro A4 for half the price of a new A5.

"I just think that 'pretend' sports cars are really really sad- and always feel like someone driving one is being a weekend millionaire and a midweek teaching assistant, sorry..."

I am a midweek teaching assistant, so perhaps that's fate then

XF is very cool - that's what I got for my MLC - but practical too as it can still seat 5 and a very big boot.

DW is after a sportier car at some point too - but practicalities are getting in the way just now.

I do like my friend's XF, although he hasn't let me drive it yet (the bastard). And until he told me his had a diesel engine I had no idea.

The only thing about it is that whenever I see the vents swivel up and the gear selector knob emerge from the centre console I can't help but hear the Thunderbirds theme tune

My DS2 has a band and his first gig tune was the Buck Rogers piece - 'he's got a brand new car, looks like a Jaguar... etc' The car has a USB fitted so the music is all on their - and that track comes on first - the LOs all sing along to it.

A friend of mine told my DW that she would need to wipe the seats down after shew sat in it as she got a little moist and it was better than sex (well almost).

@tis fab to drive and as you say it's so quiete inside you can't tell it's a diesel - mine's all Black with big shiney wheels.

Sorry for high jacking the thread but it is a car we love to drive about in and we know we are lucky to be able to have it.

I really liked my old MX5, partly because it was so easy to park!

BUT I found that it was never practical to put the top down, as it just turned my hair into a haystack within 30 seconds.

grendelsmum, just another reason for short haircut and a good hat. Yes, I still get "hat hair" but not caring goes a long way to helping with that!! :-D

Hmmm. A hat and an MX5!

My midlife crisis vehicle is

wait for it

a campervan

a futon on wheels it's been called
with a wee cooker, fridge, plenty storage, cosy and comfy

Well, the kids dont want to fly the nest so DH and I get very little time to be alone

rat speaker, that sounds just LOVELY. Just because I have a two-seater, it's not the only vehicle I wish to own in my lifetime. A camper van is DEFINITELY on our wish list!!!

We bought a Porsche 911 as a present for coming back from a place in Asia where it was prohibitive to buy even the crappiest car (although pre-baby I used to own sportsbikes). It was cheaper than you think (some good things about the credit crunch) but was AMAZING, particularly if you're into the driving experience, as we were as former sportsbikers.

My baby goes in the back in a Britax (and I have never owned a pram, just wraps) Got some people running up to me to complain about parking in the Parent and Child spaces in supermarkets. They couldn't quite square the hippy back carrying child thing with the Porsche owner

It was actually not that uneconomical (well, tyres are another thing)

Sadly, think we're going to have to sell as my daughter's getting long legs now and it means we can't fit in unless my husband does all the driving. And I like driving. So it's going to be someone else's pleasure.

I love driving well-set-up cars. I've had cheapo Lotuses (wonderful, like they are sellotaped to the road) as well.

My advice as a regular buyer?

Never buy new. Ever. It's total madness. We're looking at a car (fancy estate, leather seats, 4.2 etc etc, absolutely pristine, one owner, new tyres, low mileage) that is costing about 6k and cost in 2002 about 70k.

Work out roughly the style of car you want, work out what your depreciation will be over 2-3 and then 4-6 years. Check if any new models are coming out. That will bump the price of your resale by quite a margin.

Check consumables. How much do new tyres cost (I once had a car where they cost about 350 each for back -- ouch)

Check mileage. I mean how much you're going to do. Any more than 15k a year and you'll need low mileage to keep you depreciation low.

Diesel vs petrol? You can pay a 2k premium for some diesel makes, check whether

Erm, the minis aren't that great, the coopers are better and DON'T BUY SOFTTOPS. They are a nightmare. Fucking nightmare. You'll have to replace at some stage. And they break.

Good luck, and enjoy. I love cars. Like bikes more, but being a mother has changed my risk profile. Even my husband hasn't been out on his Bonneville classic bike.

Oh, and if you like cars, really like cars, and you like driving something that tells you where you are going. DO NOT BUY FRONT WHEEL DRIVE (like the Audi TT)

They are fur coat and no knickers.

i luuuuuurve my mx5.

bought it as a back to work treat after having DS, he's 16 months and we travel aroudn very happily in it togther

they're 10 a penny because they've been made, practically unchanged for 20 odd years - and that's because they're fab

get one

Ooh...so much practical advice now. I'm due at the consultants on Monday and am expecting the all clear. That's my signal to go nuts. Next weekend I've earmarked for shopping around the car supermarket type places, just so I can test out a few cars I like the look of.

I'm just off now to see if Evans Halshaw have had anything new and interesting in..then carcraft...then direct cars.

EH are pretty cheap, but the others are definitely just for markers.

Then...small time garages, or even Autotrader, here I come!

We have an MX5. 12 yrs old. Good little car. When I was in labour dh took me to the hospital in it. Now THAT was a move worth watching :D

(and I work as a midweek TA :D )

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.autogaleria.pl/tapety/img/daihatsu/daihatsu_copen_2004_03_s.jpg&imgrefurl=amazingcars-cars.blogspot.com/2010/05/daihatsu-copen-cars.html&h=600&w=800&sz=83&tbnid=ZhzQPAxqoHUbPM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcopen&zoom=1&q=copen&usg=__hvRtWQ-v3LfImV7n15moRBwuCIY=&sa=X&ei=046vTIi_BY2OjAeQoYRt&ved=0CCkQ9QEwAw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here

is what i have you can get one for a couple of years old for not that much depending on the spec.

I love my mx5. I traded in my last one which I bought from new with 30,000 miles on the clock, it was 9 years old. It never ever had a repair in all that time, new tyres and a couple of wipers was/were all it needed. I've now got the new one with the folding hard top and draughts and wind are a thing of the past. Get one I had it to take my DD to school and she loved it.

The only real question I have is whether you are looking for a convertable.

My girlfriend has a ford puma (It is basically a fiesta on steroids). Relatively cheap to pick up, same floorpan and parts as a fiesta but with the nice added advantage of full traction control, bigger engine yet still economical if you drive it sensibly.

I absolutely love the car, you can take country roads at breakneck speeds without worrying about skidding out.

I am currently looking for my midlife (well im 28) crisis car and am stuck between a Honda S2000, TVR S1 (late 80's) and something with a V8.
I would steer well clear of the MGF's as they are either great or will cost you the earth to keep running (you have a 50/50 chance of a good one)