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Z4, Boxster, or...?
- Thread starter dave964
- Start date
MalcH
Active member
Never even thought about an M3.
£3k for a clutch. Wow, that figure right there put me off a Gallardo as an alternative to the 360. I was told that was the price of a clutch for one.
I have heard of stretching timing chains. I thought Maserati 4200's did similar. That Prodrive Brera does sound good. Is the prodrive a V6?
dave964
New member
An update to my potential frivolous purchase - that my head knows I should not even be considering!
Got a reply from the dealer this morning - roof has been fixed (flap motors replaced) at a cost of ~£500. He assures me the air con works, but obviously I would check.
I asked on another forum for recommendations of local places to get one serviced (this one would need a service immediately) - and by coincidence there is a place a couple of miles from where I work, which would be very handy - so I went to chat to them at lunchtime.
They said that the model I'm looking at was very solid - in fact, they advised to stay well away from the 3.2 V6. The said the Spider roof doesn't leak - they've never had one in that leaked. Annual service ~£250. I mentioned the timing chain stretch issue, and he said it was good I knew about it - typically happens around the 40k-50k mile mark (exactly where this car is as it happens!) - and that replacing the chain is ~£1500.
The one other issue to look out for apparently is the handbrake. If you have problems with the handbrake cable, it's such a great design (runs under the carpet) that you're looking at 4 hours labour to sort it out - seat has to be removed etc!
It didn't really seem particularly bad news, and I would certainly be happy to take a new purchase there - very helpful guys.
In reality - with tax, insurance and service - I reckon I have to assume the car will cost me ~£600 within a week of buying it.
Having said that - and having seen it - it seems like a pretty well priced car. It is much better than the other Spider I saw - both are the same age, but the one I'm tempted by is much better condition with 48k vs 76k miles - even though you're paying about £1k more for that. But it also compares very well against other spider ads - some with similar mileage are a few k more, and it's hard to see what you're getting for that considering I can't find much wrong with this one. A newly fixed roof is a big plus for me too.
My thought process at the moment is that it seems a well priced decent car, March is a reasonable time to be buying a Spider and if the worst comes to the worst and I decide it was a stupid idea, it should be much easier to sell in a few months time - even if I take a hit of £1k-2k for the experience.
Feel free to tell me this is a stupid idea! (My friends have, but I'm ignoring them - with the exception of one who keeps assuring me that I should actually be buying 2 cars).
Got a reply from the dealer this morning - roof has been fixed (flap motors replaced) at a cost of ~£500. He assures me the air con works, but obviously I would check.
I asked on another forum for recommendations of local places to get one serviced (this one would need a service immediately) - and by coincidence there is a place a couple of miles from where I work, which would be very handy - so I went to chat to them at lunchtime.
They said that the model I'm looking at was very solid - in fact, they advised to stay well away from the 3.2 V6. The said the Spider roof doesn't leak - they've never had one in that leaked. Annual service ~£250. I mentioned the timing chain stretch issue, and he said it was good I knew about it - typically happens around the 40k-50k mile mark (exactly where this car is as it happens!) - and that replacing the chain is ~£1500.
The one other issue to look out for apparently is the handbrake. If you have problems with the handbrake cable, it's such a great design (runs under the carpet) that you're looking at 4 hours labour to sort it out - seat has to be removed etc!
It didn't really seem particularly bad news, and I would certainly be happy to take a new purchase there - very helpful guys.
In reality - with tax, insurance and service - I reckon I have to assume the car will cost me ~£600 within a week of buying it.
Having said that - and having seen it - it seems like a pretty well priced car. It is much better than the other Spider I saw - both are the same age, but the one I'm tempted by is much better condition with 48k vs 76k miles - even though you're paying about £1k more for that. But it also compares very well against other spider ads - some with similar mileage are a few k more, and it's hard to see what you're getting for that considering I can't find much wrong with this one. A newly fixed roof is a big plus for me too.
My thought process at the moment is that it seems a well priced decent car, March is a reasonable time to be buying a Spider and if the worst comes to the worst and I decide it was a stupid idea, it should be much easier to sell in a few months time - even if I take a hit of £1k-2k for the experience.
Feel free to tell me this is a stupid idea! (My friends have, but I'm ignoring them - with the exception of one who keeps assuring me that I should actually be buying 2 cars).
Carlo348
New member
Nope....sounds like a great idea:grin: i have driven the 2.2 and its plenty for the car, good fun too. Be thankful if you get 30mpg but if your right foots like mine 20.....ish.
Looks like the only person you're trying to to justify it is yourself. Even if you keep it for 6months and move it on its going to be a small cost.
Besides...... Its sunny outside, and youve just lost a day:laugh:
Looks like the only person you're trying to to justify it is yourself. Even if you keep it for 6months and move it on its going to be a small cost.
Besides...... Its sunny outside, and youve just lost a day:laugh:
dave964
New member
20-ish??????
The slim justification I was giving myself was : At least it will do almost 30mpg, which is twice what my other cars do! :tongue3:
dave964
New member
OK, so nobody has talked me out of it - I've arranged to see the car for the second time tonight. I'm taking a friend so that I have somebody who's objective - although he is repeatedly telling me to buy it anyway so probably won't be much help!
My head says : view the car again today, sleep on it over the weekend and decide on Monday. My heart says otherwise and I raided the cashpoint this morning so I could leave a few hundred £ deposit tonight if I want to.
And here's some really good man logic - it genuinely did occur to me as I was driving to work :
Tomorrow, I'm driving to Newcastle (back on Sunday) so a 300 mile / 5 hour trip each way and I was debating which car to use. The logical choice is really the Porsche - comfortable, don't care about the mileage, don't care if it's squeezed into the travelodge car park etc.
But the car I will probably take is the Vantage - it could do with a long run, and I'm really looking forward to taking it - albeit on boring motorways. But I do have a few reservations on putting 600 miles on the car in one weekend when I generally only do ~3k miles a year anyway (although it's insured for much more).
But if I bought a 4th car, then the mileage on the Vantage would obviously be less for the remainder of the year anyway. So it all works out perfectly.
(Since it's a Ferrari forum, the reason I'm not taking the 360 is because the weather looks OK but not great - and although it did a fabulous job in Europe last year, I fancy a bit more comfort this weekend!).
My head says : view the car again today, sleep on it over the weekend and decide on Monday. My heart says otherwise and I raided the cashpoint this morning so I could leave a few hundred £ deposit tonight if I want to.
And here's some really good man logic - it genuinely did occur to me as I was driving to work :
Tomorrow, I'm driving to Newcastle (back on Sunday) so a 300 mile / 5 hour trip each way and I was debating which car to use. The logical choice is really the Porsche - comfortable, don't care about the mileage, don't care if it's squeezed into the travelodge car park etc.
But the car I will probably take is the Vantage - it could do with a long run, and I'm really looking forward to taking it - albeit on boring motorways. But I do have a few reservations on putting 600 miles on the car in one weekend when I generally only do ~3k miles a year anyway (although it's insured for much more).
But if I bought a 4th car, then the mileage on the Vantage would obviously be less for the remainder of the year anyway. So it all works out perfectly.
(Since it's a Ferrari forum, the reason I'm not taking the 360 is because the weather looks OK but not great - and although it did a fabulous job in Europe last year, I fancy a bit more comfort this weekend!).
MalcH
Active member
I'm a little envious at all your cars and the potential Spider.
Is it Autolusso by any chance you have been speaking to? They are very good but then so are many others. I just know they are.
The handbrake cable thing. That might be me, I do know one of my rear calipers is sticking on occasion (not currently) and last MOT the handbrake was only 16% I think. Which just passed. The cable as you say is awkwardly routed if it needs replacing. I'm hoping it is just my rear calipers seized because that's an easy fix for me to do.
Are friends telling you not to buy a 4th car (not proper petrolheads then) or not to buy an Alfa (not proper petrolheads then )?
Good luck for this evening and if you buy it, for me at least you must post pictures.
Is it Autolusso by any chance you have been speaking to? They are very good but then so are many others. I just know they are.
The handbrake cable thing. That might be me, I do know one of my rear calipers is sticking on occasion (not currently) and last MOT the handbrake was only 16% I think. Which just passed. The cable as you say is awkwardly routed if it needs replacing. I'm hoping it is just my rear calipers seized because that's an easy fix for me to do.
Are friends telling you not to buy a 4th car (not proper petrolheads then
) or not to buy an Alfa (not proper petrolheads then )?Good luck for this evening and if you buy it, for me at least you must post pictures.
dave964
New member
I'm a little envious at all your cars and the potential Spider.
Is it Autolusso by any chance you have been speaking to? They are very good but then so are many others. I just know they are.
The handbrake cable thing. That might be me, I do know one of my rear calipers is sticking on occasion (not currently) and last MOT the handbrake was only 16% I think. Which just passed. The cable as you say is awkwardly routed if it needs replacing. I'm hoping it is just my rear calipers seized because that's an easy fix for me to do.
Are friends telling you not to buy a 4th car (not proper petrolheads then
Good luck for this evening and if you buy it, for me at least you must post pictures.
The service place I spoke to is Alfanatic. Seemed good guys.
If it wasn't for your suggestion, I think I would have given up on the idea before this - I suspect I would have decided that the Z4 / Boxster etc. just weren't interesting enough and lived with what I had. But the Alfa really does appeal to me - it's different enough to make it interesting, and I think it's a "sensible" choice - as sensible as it could be anyway!
The friends thing is funny. One (a girl, but not a girlfriend) is definitely a petrol head - if I was buying a Supra she'd definitely think it was a good idea. But I've got a few mails from her with statements like "A 4th car? Listen to yourself!!!" - in capitals - so I think she definitely doesn't approve!
Yep, if I do buy it I'll definitely take pics once I get it home.
dave964
New member
Went for the second viewing this evening with my friend.
As we were pulling up, first impressions were positive. When I viewed it the first time it was parked front in to a garage - plenty of room to walk around it but hard to look from a distance. Today, it was parked outside and facing us as we drove up to it - those headlights do look fabulous from the front.
Had a good look around the car. It really is in excellent condition - few stone chips at the front but really very few marks on the body, interior or wheels.
Everything worked, including the roof and air con.
Only 'faults' we found were that the front pads don't have a huge amount of life in them, the rears are better although clearly not new. There is also some marking on the back of the passenger head rest - looks like the roof has caught it in the past. However, it felt like it was black marks 'on' the silver rather than scratches so they may clean off. If not, getting them repainted would be trivial.
So, at this point it was time for the test drive - so far the impression was very positive. The test drive was a big surprise to me though.
I was expecting a fairly low sitting car, and fully expected to be underwhelmed by the power and find the drive was noisy even with the roof up. Basically, the purpose of the test drive was to see if I could live with my preconceived short comings given the other positives the car had.
But that turned out not to be the case. The clutch was a little high, but I was surprised at how quick it was in the first few gears. OK, on a dual carriageway if you put your foot down at 70mph it's not exactly instant power - but it was much quicker than I was expecting.
The other surprise was it's behaviour at speed. It was perfectly quiet - if I'd closed my eyes I honestly would have believed I was in a hard top coupe rather than a spider.
Exhaust sound was lovely, great sporty growl.
I was expecting it to feel like a compromise and it really didn't. In fact, it changed me from : I want a spider but it's not a sensible choice and I should buy the Brera, to : why on earth would I choose the Brera?
Needless to say, I now have a deposit on it.
As we were pulling up, first impressions were positive. When I viewed it the first time it was parked front in to a garage - plenty of room to walk around it but hard to look from a distance. Today, it was parked outside and facing us as we drove up to it - those headlights do look fabulous from the front.
Had a good look around the car. It really is in excellent condition - few stone chips at the front but really very few marks on the body, interior or wheels.
Everything worked, including the roof and air con.
Only 'faults' we found were that the front pads don't have a huge amount of life in them, the rears are better although clearly not new. There is also some marking on the back of the passenger head rest - looks like the roof has caught it in the past. However, it felt like it was black marks 'on' the silver rather than scratches so they may clean off. If not, getting them repainted would be trivial.
So, at this point it was time for the test drive - so far the impression was very positive. The test drive was a big surprise to me though.
I was expecting a fairly low sitting car, and fully expected to be underwhelmed by the power and find the drive was noisy even with the roof up. Basically, the purpose of the test drive was to see if I could live with my preconceived short comings given the other positives the car had.
But that turned out not to be the case. The clutch was a little high, but I was surprised at how quick it was in the first few gears. OK, on a dual carriageway if you put your foot down at 70mph it's not exactly instant power - but it was much quicker than I was expecting.
The other surprise was it's behaviour at speed. It was perfectly quiet - if I'd closed my eyes I honestly would have believed I was in a hard top coupe rather than a spider.
Exhaust sound was lovely, great sporty growl.
I was expecting it to feel like a compromise and it really didn't. In fact, it changed me from : I want a spider but it's not a sensible choice and I should buy the Brera, to : why on earth would I choose the Brera?
Needless to say, I now have a deposit on it.
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Congrats - the obligatory petrol station pic is needed
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Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
dave964
New member
Collected last night.
Clutch bites a bit higher than I like, so not mastered smooth pull aways yet! It's very light though, so guess it's not worn out. It's lovely to drive - I like it far more than I expected to (although I already found that out on the test drive). Sounds lovely, and feels far quicker than the paper figures suggest. Really very pleased I bought it.
Clutch bites a bit higher than I like, so not mastered smooth pull aways yet! It's very light though, so guess it's not worn out. It's lovely to drive - I like it far more than I expected to (although I already found that out on the test drive). Sounds lovely, and feels far quicker than the paper figures suggest. Really very pleased I bought it.
milkshaker0007
Active member
Very nice:thumbsup:
dave964
New member
I know - I am concerned I like it more than I should but I might force myself to park in tight spaces a few times!