Scooby as a daily shed - Talk me out of it

[Digital]

WRX would be a good alternative to the Exige, I had considered one of the same sort of age recently but decided it wasn't best suited to my commute. It would make a nice alternative car for wet trackdays too

There are a few around with the PPP also, 260ish bhp sounds nice...

[kenny]

Welcome to have it for the day and see what you think?

Careful now, ask Dave Hay what happened when he gave me a shot of his car when I was considering something similar.

Plasticy interior was a bit of a dissapointment, anyone got an idea of standard servicing costs? The one I have my eye on is serviced and MOT'd for the next year plus 6 months tax, has 4 decent tyres and pads so should hopefully be without any bills other than fuel and insurance for a year.

My annual milage is probably around 4-5,k might go up if it does the job of keeping the miles off the Exige a bit more, so hoping no great wear n tear bills.

Considered;
Audi A4 Quatro diesel - rare expensive high miles
CTR - been there done that
Golf GTI - nice car but doesnt get me wet, still expensive.
BMW derv of various sorts- ok but I know I'll get bored quickly, difficult to find low miles.
Everything else - overpriced or dull.

[Lazydonkey]

At that mileage fcuk the mpg - just get it

(the bit that always kills my interesting shed search is my 65 mile a day commute)

[kenny]

FFS, you are supposed to be talking me out of it.



cheers dude

[Lazydonkey]

FFS, you are supposed to be talking me out of it.



cheers dude

Say you do 6k a year then 20mpg is only £48 a month more in fuel then 30mpg

would it make you £48 happier ?

[puffin]

Not looking for a hugely entertained road car, already got one, just want some a wee bit more interesting to keep the miles off the Exige.

What is this???

Such crazy talk. You're never going to sell it anyway, just use the damn thing and enjoy the smile it gives. *and* it'll be cheaper to run than a scooby *and* you won't look like a chav/boy racer/midlife crisis fashion victim.

/105000 miles Lotus as a daily driver faction

[kenny]

I cant use the Exige all the time, turning up for meetings on building sites in an Exige isnt ideal although the chat is interesting, usually gets plenty of closet car and bike fans going, Also draws a few "We must be paying you Engineers too much" comments from guys driving brand new BMWs Mercs etc lol.
Anyway I kinda need something decent(ish) for work and I cant think of anything I want to spend money on other than the Scooby, something new just for the sake of being new sounds terminally dull.

[Graemei]

Damn you! Since you mentioned Scooby's I can't help but think about them, I look at PH and various other sites selling them pretty much every day. Why?! I was happy with my car

Do it. A Scoob of some sorts needs to be owned at some point in life. Only thing that would put me off would be running costs, if they were considered too high for a daily shed.

[~ ~ Cal ~ ~]

Kenwood - you know my thoughts in general but my tips would be :-

1. if you mod. it ( and you will) - your insurance will sky rocket

2. 2.5L WRX models are very quick but don't feel fast if that makes sense. ( i.e you'll hit 70 mph rapidly with little effort)

3. if you dont get an STi model you wont have truly scratched the itch ( gear ratio's and adjustable diff. being main attractions)

4. they sound like nothing else on earth. The soundtrack for me is 95% of the appeal. Wait till after 1 min 40 seconds in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcL-In2rCA8) - if that doesn't hook you, nothing will

5. buy an old shed and you'll get humped on repairs. I know this from bitter experience

All other posts above make sense though. If you do it, then I recommend a 2.5L wagon with PPP and a catback zorst ( despite what I have said above). Leave it alone thereafter. You'll have a very quick and practical chariot without the image issues. If it's out of warranty then your running costs should not be as bad w.r.t FDSH and being able to use independent mech's

Cal

[campbell]

At that mileage fcuk the mpg - just get it

(the bit that always kills my interesting shed search is my 65 mile a day commute)

Wise words.

Kenny, you are only young once, go and scratch the itch.

I can't comment on the approx agegroup of WRX you are talking about but John Stewart will give you a full report I am sure

Our 1999 Turbo 5-dr was a real blast. We managed nearly 3 years with it, probably put about 30k on it. 27mpg if running was skewed towards m-way with a bit of town, 23mpg if skewed the other way and also if you ragged it up north etc. Once got 30mpg out of a long m-way run by brushing the throttle to 70 and no more

Anyway, enough about fuel. It was a brilliant car, had a scoobysport s/s exhaust so sounded like you were idling at the start of a Special Stage anywhere you went, but if you revved it there was still some restraint in the sound (unlike some of the other daft cans around at the time)...and on the m-way it was not obtrusive. However road-roar was noticeable, albeit less when we switched to the old Bridgestone SO2s...nowadays it'd have to be Toyo T1-Rs I guess!

Never had a big bill until the brakes needed dealt with, all round, at 30k-odd miles. Several hundred £££ bill was the death-knell, on top of the fuel cons which was pushing us towards diesel.

7500 mile service intervals hurt a bit, but that's been extended now. Trim was simple but as a result relatively rattle free (not much to rattle!!) and anyway you couldn't hear it over tyre roar or scoobysport warble

Whilst Graeme is right, these things hang on in bends like little else, we didn't find this boring or lacking in challenge, for us it was just really satisfying to tip it into the bend and have the agricultural 4wd deal with the mess and spit us out the other side Some might say that's because we weren't (aren't) very capable drivers but that's out of scope for now.

Cal is also on the money, although I don't agree that it HAS to be a STI. The GB270 is a cracking alternative, but for sure the 2.5 engine is sublime and yes, as Cal says, you get to big speeds without knowing. At all. This is what we found in our test drive of same...in some ways it wasn't exciting enough as a result!! The noisy zorst will help address that a bit maybe?!

Sorry Kenny. Can't talk you out of this one. Buy.

Campbell

[dirkpitt]

hi kenny,

being a fellow exige owner, i cant say that im the best person to advise you on what you should spend your hard urned cash on. however, if i was to buy a scooby do, then the one you must get is this puppy



THE P1

when the other lads where fingering the girls behind the bike sheds and banging one off to cindy crawford in sky magazine.....i was spanking the monkey to this!

[DDtB]

At that mileage fcuk the mpg - just get it

[campbell]

The P1 is surely the collectible of the "original" shape Scoob. But also rivalled by the Series McRae, RB5, and the 22B if you really have money, and gravel in your veins

According to EVO's depreciation-free-motoring review last month, the P1 has levelled out - £12k or so I believe - but will need twice as much TLC as a 2004 WRX I expect. I utterly adored driving Cameron's well cared for example...always felt it was Subaru's "equivalent" to the Elise, showed a delicacy you might not expect from a Jap uber-saloon.

[Dominic]

I get the appeal, but I also know quiet a few folk, similar to yourself, who have lusted after one, gone and got one, and hated the ownership experience, so sold it again, pronto. Evos have always had more appeal to me for some reason. Big D's would be perfect for you - it's silver

[Fluoxetine]

The P1 is surely the collectible of the "original" shape Scoob. But also rivalled by the Series McRae, RB5, and the 22B if you really have money, and gravel in your veins

According to EVO's depreciation-free-motoring review last month, the P1 has levelled out - £12k or so I believe - but will need twice as much TLC as a 2004 WRX I expect. I utterly adored driving Cameron's well cared for example...always felt it was Subaru's "equivalent" to the Elise, showed a delicacy you might not expect from a Jap uber-saloon.

Nah - You want the STi Type R for an Elise equivalent - Shame I couldn't drive mine for toffee...