[Samoht]

Hi Guys, change of circumstances. I maybe heading overseas for work on a company assignment by year end. I need a car for the remainder of the year as I sold my e92 recently.

Is there a car for ~50k (used) that I can have heaps of fun in and would not lose too much value by 2012?

List so far
- Boxster 987
- 135i 2008/09
- Cayman S (but thats $70k)
- 370z
- E46 M3

wasted the whole day thinking about this. All input appreciated, Many thx.

[Dec540]

Here is how i see it..
The porsche's are going to cost a fair bit to run and very expensive to repair should something go wrong.

The 135 and the 370z are going to be cheaper to run because they are much newer but with a young car comes higher depreciation.

An e46 M3 will be a load of fun and should be that happy medium.. It shouldn't depreciate at all between now and 2012 assuming you pick up a well maintained one for a good price.

[1q2w3e4r]

Why do you say that about the Porsche out of curiosity?

[Dec540]

Originally Posted by 1q2w3e4r

Why do you say that about the Porsche out of curiosity?

I could be entirely wrong but generally speaking different brands have different repair and service prices. E.g we know that a 60k BMW will cost more to service than a 60K Ford. I assume it would be the same with Porsche.

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

mini cooper JCW

[TAAXED]

If you want to have the most fun and retain the most value, pick up a nice low km e46 M3, their prices haven't really moved for the past 3 years or so because of the demand. Although depending on how quickly you need a car, it might be hard to find a 'good' one in a short period of time. If you do find a 'good' one, then it should be fairly easy to sell at the end of the year if you're asking a reasonable price.

Boxster/Cayman, nice cars that should hold their value, but I don't feel like they have enough power when I'm driving them, which annoys me a bit. Also, potentially harder to sell as they're strictly 2 seaters.

370z, I presume you're thinking about this because you haven't driven one? It's crude and sounds like a truck engine at best! Plus they're depreciating like there's no tomorrow.

135i, never driven one before but I imagine it's quite good based on having driven a 335i coupe. I imagine you can probably pick up one that is a few years old with low kms on it and that should make it easier to sell at the end of the year

[TXe92]

neither.. go get a 5.0.. DONE

[quantumx]

Originally Posted by Dec540

I could be entirely wrong but generally speaking different brands have different repair and service prices. E.g we know that a 60k BMW will cost more to service than a 60K Ford. I assume it would be the same with Porsche.

You'd be correct. My 911 is very expensive to fix, considerably more so than the BMW. Unless you are mechanically inclined and can do much of the work yourself, you're going to be forced to pay dealership prices for service, e.g. upwards of $500 oil changes on a 911. Generally depends on your location. Some markets are more expensive than others.

[kjrulz]

Originally Posted by TXe92

neither.. go get a 5.0.. DONE

That's what I would do...for the low price and enormous amount of fun.

[1q2w3e4r]

Originally Posted by briandev

You'd be correct. My 911 is very expensive to fix, considerably more so than the BMW. Unless you are mechanically inclined and can do much of the work yourself, you're going to be forced to pay dealership prices for service, e.g. upwards of $500 oil changes on a 911. Generally depends on your location. Some markets are more expensive than others.

Funny, my turbo's considerably cheaper to own than my BMW's were (M3, M Coupe).

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by TXe92

neither.. go get a 5.0.. DONE

Originally Posted by kjrulz

That's what I would do...for the low price and enormous amount of fun.

If only the Mustang was available in our country....

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

If only the Mustang was available in our country....

Even if it was, would you buy one Jeef?

[Chris.G]

Originally Posted by bmroxm5

Even if it was, would you buy one Jeef?

Why not? It can be modded inexpensively to be an absolute monster and it looks quite decent too. Private importers are charging 130k for them...Ford Aus needs to bring them in.

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by Chris.G

Ford Aus needs to bring them in.

But then no Falcons would be sold.

[Chris.G]

Originally Posted by SBC

But then no Falcons would be sold.

Aside from job losses, its a good thing.

[Samoht]

Alright thanks all, now to pricing, no steals for 135i on carsales some steals for Porsche caymans and boxsters boy they are illiquid. As for e46 they are still pricy for such a old car, but hey if it'll hold it's value I am all for it.( any ideawhat price is acceptable the discrepancy in pricing is ridiculous) Back to work now for me... feel free to link some good finds on carsales!?

[QLD]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ords=&__N=1216 1247 1252 1282 4294967079 4294729565&silo=1011&__No=90&seot=1&tsrc=allcarhom e&__Nne=15&trecs=226&__sid=12F31319ECEF

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by bmroxm5

Even if it was, would you buy one Jeef?

I love pony cars. I'd be on it in an instant, if the price was around ~50k

[MO3]

Originally Posted by QLD

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ords=&__N=1216 1247 1252 1282 4294967079 4294729565&silo=1011&__No=90&seot=1&tsrc=allcarhom e&__Nne=15&trecs=226&__sid=12F31319ECEF

Not that colour!! Pleeeeeeeease!!

[sbce90]

Have you thought about a classic car? Or something slightly older that has appeal which will mean you will not lose any money over a year? Sure, reliability isn't guaranteed... but then again if a 135i or M3 is on the shortlist then I assume it isn't a problem.

eg, old school mustang.

[TAAXED]

^ wouldn't they be hard to sell though if you need to offload it quickly before going overseas?

That pheonix yellow M3 is pretty bad, never liked that colour but some people do...I guess you'd definitely be appealing to a smaller audience when it comes time to sell it.

[johnnydad]

If you are after cheap, fun motoring for a year, I'm not sure that an M3 is the answer. Tyres, brakes, major services and insurance might negate any benefit in resale.

For BMWs, 135i/125is seem harder to come by now, but you may find that in 12 months all the 4 year old ones appear on the market. You could cut your budget and look for a really good 130i hatch perhaps?

Boxster? Maybe - as long as it is a 987, reliability should be OK, but I've watched the values of these (i.e. 986/7) continue to fall almost as much as new cars of equivalent price do.

If you are after fun, you could get a pretty good Lotus Elise for that money instead and they seem to sell more on condition than age and are more scarce, making one potentially more depreciation-proof.

Left of field, a new Megane RS250 - they are in shortish supply new and you might find there are more sellers than buyers in the market for a second-hand one in a year of so.