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Jaguar F Type

It does in my book, a great car and a supercar, with Japanese quality engineering.

I think 964 values are now rising, 5 to 10 years ago they were in the trough. 993s are getting seriously expensive, last of the line and all that. 996s are a serious bargain and the value can only go one way if you keep it for a while. I can't see anyone losing too much on a £10k 996 in decent order, other than normal running costs for an older car.
 
stevec67 said:
It does in my book, a great car and a supercar, with Japanese quality engineering.

I think 964 values are now rising, 5 to 10 years ago they were in the trough. 993s are getting seriously expensive, last of the line and all that. 996s are a serious bargain and the value can only go one way if you keep it for a while. I can't see anyone losing too much on a £10k 996 in decent order, other than normal running costs for an older car.
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Personally I don't think 996s will follow suit like that, both for mechanical and for aesthetic reasons, but also because there are so many around. I'd say the 997 bucks that slump on aesthetics, just about on mechanicals, but the amount of supply ought to keep long term prices sensible.
 
I agree that the 996 won't become the next 993, it's not aircooled and it has a few niggles associated with the cooling system, RMS and first generation complex electronics that are going to take some fettling when the damp gets in. However it will always be there as the opener, the one you CAN afford if you buy carefully. The Boxster OTOH seems to be going the way of the 924/944, where you can get an early one for loose change, and have been able to do ever since they hit 15 years old.
 
Chaps

Can some kind hearted person please give me a list of soft top Porsches.

I know the Boxster is one, are there any others.

Regards

Mick
 
Mick P said:
Chaps

Can some kind hearted person please give me a list of soft top Porsches.

I know the Boxster is one, are there any others.

Regards

Mick
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Mick if you do not know the answer to that question you do not deserve a Porsche.
 
wacko said:
Mick if you do not know the answer to that question you do not deserve a Porsche.
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Steve

Thank you, I never knew that

wacko

Sensible people pick other peoples brains. The person who deserves a Porsche is the person who buys it.

Mick
 
Jonathan Ribee said:
911s - The modern Targa has a sliding glass room - which is worth looking at if you want a ragtop. The modern 911 (997) - the very, very sporty ones (GT3, GT2) only come as coupes - but all the other variants (2, 4, 2S, 4S, Turbo) all have soft top options.

Old Targas were like mini soft tops.

Boxster - all.

Steve missed the 500/550 spider from the old ones list. Prohibitively expensive. Famously crashed by Mr "What Have You Got".
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Jonathan

Are there any with removable or folding metal roofs ?

Mick
 
Oh yes, I forgot that one wasn't called a 356. Not that I fancy handing over £500k for a VW Beetle in a posh frock.
 
Jonathan Ribee said:
Mick - to be clear - the modern Targa is a glass roof, the old ones were a folding metal manually removed roof. There is no folding metal roof. Jonathan
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The old Targas also had a fixed roll-hoop. Some had a fixed rear window and some had a zip-out vinyl one.

porsche-911-targa-02.jpg
img-1146818715.jpg
 
The older removeable metal roof 911's had a habit of leaking a bit & IMHO are not 911's for beginners or casual drivers. They are enthusiasts cars.
The early glass-roof Targas, 993's also had a rep for leaks that could be a bugger to totally cure. So again, 911's pre 996 or 997 Gen I would say are best left to 911 enthusiasts & not an ideal 911 beginners car.
If Mrs Mick is to be the primary driver, going on the cars already mooted as likely purchases, I doubt a 911 will end up on their driveway.
Audi A3/A4 or TT convertibles or SLK/SL if tin top is a must. Or a BM Tin top convertible, 330d maybe? Not my cuppa tea, but lots of people rate 'em.
Matt.
 
Mick P said:
Jonathan

Are there any with removable or folding metal roofs ?

Mick
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Partner's has a solid roof which we put on for the winter months if that's what you mean.
It clips on in a couple of minutes, main thing is to do it when the ragtop is well dry as that folds down rather than being removed.

It's a 2003 Carrera, i can't remember if that is an option or standard.

Good for extra security if you're driving down to the costa or parking in Brixton although the ragtop is multi skinned and tough.
 
Mick,

Always fun to chat about nice cars (or HiFi) - but obviously the same maxims apply.

Therefore test drives are everything, and that includes the motorway as well as lovely country roads if that's where you'll be using it. Good dealers will let you have one overnight so you can properly live with it. Perhaps only if new, but always worth an ask. Oh, and make sure you demo the exact model you're going to buy. A friend once demo'ed an Audi 80 - they didn't have the Quatro avaialble, so he just thought it was OK to demo the next best in the range. They didn't point out that the Quatro had almost no boot space due to the 4WD gubbins!

Did you list the requirements at any point in the last 19 pages? Are they must have, desirable or a bonus?

New?
Two door?
Convertible?
Fast? How fast :) ?
Economical?
Absolute budget?
Annual milage?

Also what is the typical use for this car? And what's the other car (assuming you have one)?

I could spend all day talking cars, but you don't want to buy the car that I want do you?
 
Chaps

I will probably buy something about 2 or 3 years old, I am after all only a poor old pensioner and my eyes water at the rapid depreciation of a brand new car. I might have dived in for a F type, but once I sat in it, I realised it was far too blingy for comfort and not for me.

So I still expect to end up with either a SLK or Boxster and will buy in the winter when prices are flat.

Thanks for the info on the rag top Porsches, it is a lot clearer now.

Regards

Mick
 
For starters I have to say that I have never had a Porsche, so I'm an outsider here.

But I've always quite fancied a 911 until a friend of mine bought one, new, about seven years ago, having wanted one since he was a kid, and his business was doing extremely well. Immediately his business began to slide and just about everything in his life turned to crap - all sorts of random things happened, illnesses, family members dying, house had serious problems, work ceased. After two years he sold it and tried to find normality again.
Obviously it was coincidental and nonsense to relate the two, but he's said he'll never touch one again.

What I was actually going to say was; I don't personally think a 911 looks 'right' with a soft or Targa top, unless it's 70s or 80s. I'm thinking that you have to be a Porsche enthusiast to have a 911 and is isn't for the casual car buyer. I think an appreciation of the marque should be a necessary entry qualification.

If Mrs Mick was really going to get something that ruffled her hair and was on the Mick list of sensibleness with costs of running, value, reliability, comfort, easy in-out access for stiff bones, etc etc, to me it looks like the Mazda MX5 is tailor made. Seriously.
It isn't much money, and Mick could buy whatever trim and leather he..sorry..she, wants.

With the greatest respect, Mr & Mrs Mick are not really wanting a supercar, in spite of being distracted initially by the thought of one. The remnants of that initial thought have become seriously diluted since and I suspect that the 911 interest is fuelled by the misconception that they are an everyday car that fulfils the initial brief, but is a tame alternative. They can be an everyday car, but that'll be a Porsche enthusiast talking.

The Mazda MX5 fits the bill absolutely here. It's no supercar, but it's become clear that a supercar really isn't in the running, except as a poster on the study wall.
I have never, ever, heard of anyone being disappointed with an MX5.

I am absolutely convinced that the MX5 ticks all the boxes for Mr & Mrs Mick. (and just look at the price!)
 
The latest 911 ragtop has a very sophististicated roof mechanism and the roof profile is almost the same as the coupe.
Any 911 (except perhaps GT2) can very much be a daily use car. Indeed that is one of it's main advantages over other supercars.
Having said that the Mazda is a great fun car.
 
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