Scottish Elises

Faither and I swap car mags every month and I am now reading “Straight Six”

Is that the opposite of The Village People?

Well the M2 went last week after 14 months.

Long story short i took redundancy in Dec which wasn't great timing and once we'd done the "oh sh*t i might not get a job for another 6 months" budget the m2 was starting to look very expensive to do 2k miles a year. Even though a job was pretty much nailed on before the deal was signed and sealed i still went through with it as the ear worm had burrowed in and i just couldn't justify the cost.

Depreciation is one issue (bought for £33.5k, then retailed for £28.5k after 14 months....i obviously got less than that) but the main one was running costs. Essentially with a car that new (66 plate) you really have to use a BMW dealer to maximise residuals, and although not much seems to go wrong with them the warranty at £800 a year looks pretty sensible. Insurance isn't cheap. Tax isn't cheap.

So for me i'm £1,700 a year before I've driven it out the garage. Plus depreciation. Add fuel and i'm £1 a mile. Yes i know i should just drive it more often....

To many that's just the price of motoring but in my advancing years with my growing family i just couldn't justify it anymore. Even more so when you realise that selling it and buying it's replacement paid off the last of the finance on the family bus and saved us another £400 a month. it's a lovely car but it's not worth that.

So it was more practical than the evora but ultimately not as practical as the volvo and with an 8 month old now going everywhere with us practicality wins out.

I'll miss it. I still LOVE the wya it looks and the sound of that engine but being honest.....i'm probably just as happy in it's replacement and it's just over half the size in CC terms. In fact i'm loving having a hot hatch again, and (whisper it) a car that i don't have to be as careful with. Reminds me of being back in the Vx or the mx5 when all that mattered was having a laugh and depreciation wasn't such a concern.

Dig through the archives of SE, it's a common pattern. 20 years from now your kids will be grown up, you'll be driving something fun again (probably by then will have to be electric or pre-2000 V12 - probably sold to you by Mr Boag - as that's all that will be available ). Meanwhile I'll be 75 (inshallah) and still touring the country (albeit on a canal boat rather than in a car, by then!).

I think it's much easier to justify the man-maths when you are a wee bit younger and... *shock*.. less responsible.

I always pretended to be too sensible to be stupid so I took the view that if I bought something for £X then on the basis it should never be worth less than £Y, that never seemed so bad because they were both quite big numbers. Now I find myself focusing on on the difference between X and Y and and realising it can be a big number as well and end up over thinking it

I find it helps to never remember what I paid for a car ... if X is unknown then X-Y is not knowable The Zaphod Beeblebrox approach to buying and selling cars!

Since we sold the RS4 and replaced it with the Golf GTi PP, I have kept track of a potential depreciation tracker.

I am just using my Autotrader account and using possible private prices as the baseline. The difference over the last year is that the RS4 virtually cost £3k more in depreciation. Admit the RS4 was a higher price point but given the difference in the servicing/consumables it would likely be closer to £5k+

Just updated the warranty on the Golf and unlimited cover was £334 compared to £800+ for the RS4 (essential item in the RS4 with the suspension).

Obviously would not have done this if it was the other way around but kind of makes us feel good on the car change, especially when the GTi is more fun than the RS4 for our day to day use.

George



Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

The great thing about the game of life is that you get to make the rules that suit you best

I think that’s eminently quotable

I have decided to come out of the closet and bought a Frozen Grey Z4 M40i for sh*ts and giggles.
Haven't driven it yet......Just interweb research.........Pick it up on Friday'
seemingly quite a weapon.........with 500watts of Harman Kardon to play my ghey anthems....when I get fed up of the engine rasp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TN8fHOnW0M


#nohairdresserstoolsleftinthisvehicleovernight

H8OAG wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:36 pm

I have decided to come out of the closet and bought a Frozen Grey Z4 M40i for sh*ts and giggles.
Haven't driven it yet......Just interweb research.........Pick it up on Friday'
seemingly quite a weapon.........with 500watts of Harman Kardon to play my ghey anthems....when I get fed up of the engine rasp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TN8fHOnW0M


#nohairdresserstoolsleftinthisvehicleovernight

Ape and I will grant you access to one of our M140i Cruizes.

Sanjøy wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:40 pm

H8OAG wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:36 pm

I have decided to come out of the closet and bought a Frozen Grey Z4 M40i for sh*ts and giggles.
Haven't driven it yet......Just interweb research.........Pick it up on Friday'
seemingly quite a weapon.........with 500watts of Harman Kardon to play my ghey anthems....when I get fed up of the engine rasp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TN8fHOnW0M


#nohairdresserstoolsleftinthisvehicleovernight

Ape and I will grant you access to one of our M140i Cruizes.

Thanks Sanj
Look forward to that
If you squint your eyes.........WankR looks like an aged Jimmy Somerville

For the younger readers....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2XI2STP3D4

Congrats, Iain. On both the return to civilisation and the new coupe

x

H8OAG wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:49 pm

Sanjøy wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:40 pm

H8OAG wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:36 pm

I have decided to come out of the closet and bought a Frozen Grey Z4 M40i for sh*ts and giggles.
Haven't driven it yet......Just interweb research.........Pick it up on Friday'
seemingly quite a weapon.........with 500watts of Harman Kardon to play my ghey anthems....when I get fed up of the engine rasp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TN8fHOnW0M


#nohairdresserstoolsleftinthisvehicleovernight

Ape and I will grant you access to one of our M140i Cruizes.

Thanks Sanj
Look forward to that
If you squint your eyes.........WankR looks like an aged Jimmy Somerville

You’re not the first person to say that. Supposedly also like a fat Andy Bell from Erasure