Buying a new car. Any recommendations?

[MoebiusUK]

Hi all

I know this question must come up a lot but I genuinely need some advice because I'm looking to buy my first sports car and I don't wanna make any stupid mistakes (currently driving a 2001 Vauxhall Vectra, please don't laugh). I don't mind the body shape be it hatchback, coupe or saloon. I'm not really looking for anything German because they're everywhere and it's a little boring.

I have about £6,000-7,000 to spend. I was thinking of maybe a Civic Type-R or an RX-8 (extra high fuel consumption though).

If you had that money, what would you buy?

Thanks!

 

[daan]

I was in that position and I bought an RX8. Ignore the 20mpg and the topping up of the oil every 2nd fill up and the "don't stop the engine while it's still cold" (it'll flood if you stop it, and leave it, without warming it up) and it's a great car. You can also get a great deal on one as folk don't tend to want them these days due to the fuel consumption.

If you're looking at one make sure you do a hot start test. Some RX8s have compression issues and it's highlighted when you try to start it when hot. Get the engine warm on a test drive, park it up for a couple of minutes, then try to start it. If it doesn't start the same as it did when cold, walk away.

Get a good one, and look after it, and it is a great car. You do hear plenty of horror stories, but there are loads of happy RX8 owners out there, including me.

 

[MoebiusUK]

This is excellent advice, thank you! I heard there were a couple things I needed to look out for like that.

Would you (or anyone else) recommend any other cars at all?

I have to admit, the RX-8 was my first choice but I would like to keep an open mind for other cars.

 

[Azuremen]

An M3. Though the Euro models do require a bit more maintenance because of the fancier engine (more so in the E36 models). But they are fantastic cars, comfortable, fairly roomy, quick, decent mileage (I get about 30mpg on the highway), I've known a couple of RX-8 owners that have switched over to E36 M3s (USDM, so 240 HP versus 300) and they love them. The torque is just nice to have, rarely need to shift to pass. And Vadars are probably the most comfortable seats crafted by man.

 

[daan]

I've known a couple of RX-8 owners that have switched over to E36 M3s (USDM, so 240 HP versus 300) and they love them.

Not sure you'd get a decent M3 at that price over here, but a few folk on the RX8 owner's club forum have changed "up" to a BMW 330. They just need to change up slightly earlier from now on...

 

[MoebiusUK]

Cheers for the thoughts Azureman. The BMW is certainly an option. I've had a look on Pistonheads and there doesn't seem to be any that catch my eye...yet, but we'll see.

To be honest, I think I got my heart set on an RX-8. There's something about Japanese sports cars that give me the Gran Turismo feeling, if you know what I mean.

Daan, can I ask, how often do you need to top up the oil? I'm a little worried I may have to do it every two weeks or something.

 

[daan]

Unfortunately, it varies. It's recommended that you check your oil every other time you fill up with petrol (which for me is roughly every 500 miles). The rotary uses oil as a lubricant (obviously) but also as a coolant and the more you rev it, the more it uses. It works out that I need to check it about every fortnight, and usually put about 400-500ml in, but it sometimes doesn't need that much. The consumption can vary from car to car too. It would be so much easier if the car has an oil level guage, but it doesn't, so you have to use the dipstick.

I joined the RX8 owner's club and get a discount from opie oils. I got a 20 litre container of Fuchs Titan, along with a 1 litre, and I decant the oil from the big container into the smaller one and carry that around with me.

It might seem that I'm only pointing out the "bad" points, but you can't beat the smoothness of the rotary as you take it up to the (rev limit warning) beep. The beep becomes so addictive you have to restrict yourself to a few a day. The best part is that it's good for it to take it up to 9500rpm as it makes sure all the ports are working properly and not gunked up by all the oil you're putting in.

 

[Famine]

You know you can get an E39 M5 for £6k now?

Just saying


Incidentally, how old are you?

 

[MoebiusUK]

Ahhh ok, good stuff. I should join the club too. Much appreciated!

 

[MoebiusUK]

You know you can get an E39 M5 for £6k now?

Just saying


Incidentally, how old are you?

I found that for £7k, mileage is so so high on those M5's. 70k plus! But I've also been told that mileage isn't much of a deal on big engines though, they're designed to go 250k.

I'm 27 by the way but I only got my license 3 years ago.

 

[Famine]

70k is chuff all - we run an E39 523 on 170k However, the M5 engine has a service interval of 6,000 (hand-built, tight tolerances).

Have you looked at insurance quotes yet? Your age is in your favour (just), but you won't have much by way of discount. You might find an RX-8 is a bit pricey to insure.

 

[MoebiusUK]

Yeah, that was another issue/worry of mine. Obviously, I'll be driving something quick so I'm willing to pay a moderate amount extra in insurance. Have you heard of Adrian Flux? Apparantly, they're a sports/specialist car insurance company. He's not the only one, my friend who races his Civic Type-R, gave me a list of insurers to speak to:

Chris Knott Insurance
Adrian Flux
Greenlight
A-Plan

I'll give these guys a ring and see what they can do for me. I hope it's not that high though, I'm far too excited so I'll pay anything right now lol

 

[Submerged]

Does it matter on the age of the sports car itself?

Some of the older style ones can be rather fun to have.

 

[Clark]

Renault Clio Sport 182 Cup (maybe try and see if you can get a 182 Trophy, will offer your far more fun than any of the cars mentioned for a fraction of the running costs.

That or a Megane 225 Trophy (only the Trophy or anything after, normal 225's are best avoided).

 

[Famine]

I would advise in the strongest possible terms to avoid Adrian Flux as if your life depends on it. They're very good insurers when you're paying them. Their reputation for paying you, on the other hand, is abysmal.

I'd suggest your first port of call to be confused.com to get an idea of what the bigger insurers want from you and what they offer (additional cover, included breakdown, courtesy car, stereo, glass cover, European cover, NCD protection/guarantee and suchlike). That gives you a baseline for when you try the more specialist insurers. Quick word of warning - insurance has gone up 30% in the last year, so don't be surprised.

 

[MoebiusUK]

Depends on the age, I think. 69 Mustangs are gonna be more expensive to insure than 2006 RX-8's due to its "classic" status.

 

[Famine]

Classic cars are cheaper to insure, actually. Thanks to classic car policies. Much harder to find and buy though - an early Mustang will set you back £25k for a runner.

If you can find a car 14 years old or more, you may qualify for a classic car policy and there are specialist classic insurers too.

 

[MoebiusUK]

I would advise in the strongest possible terms to avoid Adrian Flux as if your life depends on it. They're very good insurers when you're paying them. Their reputation for paying you, on the other hand, is abysmal.

I'd suggest your first port of call to be confused.com to get an idea of what the bigger insurers want from you and what they offer (additional cover, included breakdown, courtesy car, stereo, glass cover, European cover, NCD protection/guarantee and suchlike). That gives you a baseline for when you try the more specialist insurers. Quick word of warning - insurance has gone up 30% in the last year, so don't be surprised.

Oh really? Interesting. I've heard nothing but good things about them but I'll keep that in mind.

I'm going to shop around for the best deal obviously. For now, they're bottom of the list but if Adrian Flux offer me significantly cheaper insurance than a "high street" company, I may ask around a bit more about their policy.

 

[MoebiusUK]

Guys, one more question actually.

Why do some people advertise their RX-8 as a 2.6? It's a 1.3 isn't it?

I don't know much about car mechanics but in GT5, the RX-8 is 2x650cc, I assume that's where the 1300cc comes from.

Are people getting it wrong and thinking is 2x1300cc?

 

[daan]

It is physically 1308cc but they apply an "equivalency formula" to put it up to a 2.6litre so they can tax it more.

EDIT: It says 2616cc on my registration document.

 

[Famine]

Yes and no.

The "cylinder" capacity is 650cc (or so). There are two of them, thus 1.3 (or so). But for VED (road tax) they are classed as 2.6.

The reason for this is the mechanics behind the rotary engine. A piston engine fires once for every two full revolutions of the crank shaft - it goes down [intake], up [compression], down [expansion], up [exhaust], or suck, squish, bang, blow. A rotary engine fires three times for every one full revolution of the crank shaft*, because each space created by the rotor is a combustion chamber and they all rotate through all four steps once in a revolution.

So a single rotor is the equivalent of a six cylinder piston engine - each fires three times per revolution. A twin rotor doubles the capacity, so is thus the equivalent of a six cylinder piston engine with twice the capacity - each moves as much fuel and air through it as the other. A 1.3 2-rotor is mechanically equivalent to a 2.6 6-cylinder piston engine.

Fun, isn't it?

*Yeah, okay, not a crank shaft, but it does the same job

 

[daan]

Or, so they can tax you more...

 

[Azuremen]

You poor guys and getting taxed on displacement. I always forget about that over there, could really dampen the M5 suggestion Famine, with the big V8. That, and the E39 M5 is a lot more maintenance than an M3, though both do need valves adjusted fairly regularly.

 

[AlexGTV]

Fiat 500 Abarth, if you like its looks and don't need a big boot. It's a bargain.

 

[motortrend]

Maybe try finding a good 944 or SC, though you have to be very careful with which one you get and the SC might be more expensive than the budget. I have no first hand experience but all I've heard about the SC is that it's a pretty reliable car, though of course if it breaks it won't be that cheap to fix. It will also probably apply to the classic car insurance Will you be using the car as your daily driver?

 

[Famine]

You poor guys and getting taxed on displacement. I always forget about that over there, could really dampen the M5 suggestion Famine, with the big V8. That, and the E39 M5 is a lot more maintenance than an M3, though both do need valves adjusted fairly regularly.

Not as much as you might think.

For example, post-March-2001 cars are the ones lumped into graded tax bands (which are based on fuel consumption [expressed in its more green face of Carbon Dioxide emissions], rather than engine capacity). A 2001-2003 E39 M5 would cost £245 a year to tax.

Before 2001, cars are put into two groups. £125 a year for cars under 1,549cc, £205 a year for cars over 1,549cc. A 2000 E39 M5 would cost £205 a year to tax.

The RX-8 will always be a 2003-on car and taxed according to fuel consumption. A 2003-2006 model would be taxed at £245 a year and a 2007-on model would be taxed at £435 a year (as the highest tax bands, L and M, were introduced in 2007).


So a pre-March-2001 BMW M5 would be cheaper to tax than any RX-8. A 2001-2003 M5 would be the same to tax as a 2003-2006 RX-8. A 2007-on RX-8 would cost more to tax than the others.

 

[MoebiusUK]

Thanks a lot for your help guys!

Just thought I'd update and let you know that today I bought a 2006 (06) RX-8 Evolve (in blue) with 41k mileage for £5,400. Everything was looked after well (regular oil top-up, services etc), it runs very smoothly and it turns over really well when the engine is hot so I'm very happy.

I drove home and it was the greatest feeling ever. It sounds absolutely beautiful.

 

[motortrend]

Thanks a lot for your help guys!

Just thought I'd update and let you know that today I bought a 2006 (06) RX-8 Evolve (in blue) with 41k mileage for £5,400. Everything was looked after well (regular oil top-up, services etc), it runs very smoothly and it turns over really well when the engine is hot so I'm very happy.

I drove home and it was the greatest feeling ever. It sounds absolutely beautiful.

Grats! Post some pics whenever you can