I quite fancy some open top motoring....

londonTiger

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

If you think about it, you'll save a lot of money by renting a soft top car for the sunny days you fancy having the wind blow through your hair. for the other 320+ days of the year any other is more practical, and you'd spend less.

based on the countless number of people who claim to be fleeced by hire companies by taking their excess on minor dings that cost far less than the excess to repair. To occasions where the comany just loses the vehicle and calls customer if they returned it.

I would never rent a vehicle.

motorguy

Another vote for the MX5. Theres an MX5 for every budget and they're easily resold.

Great cars.

For that budget, aim for a "mk 2.5" car and watch for sill / bulkhead rot. Check some of the mx5 forums for more info.

motorguy

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

If you think about it, you'll save a lot of money by renting a soft top car for the sunny days you fancy having the wind blow through your hair. for the other 320+ days of the year any other is more practical, and you'd spend less.

Open top motoring isnt just about hot sunny days (in fact, its one of the worst times to have the hood down)

I've had various open top cars and i've had the hood down in the snow in January before now!

If its not raining heavily, you can get the hood down any time.

harrys_dad

Some interesting comments above about the Focus convertible (presumably the folding hard top one). These leaked like sieves, despite what Ford said. I bought one in March 08, brand new, having been told they had fixed the roof problems. The first time it rained it leaked. I checked more on the internet and found that Ford had set up three special centres just to fix the roofs on Focus CCs. They lied to me (Big main dealer in Birmingham).

I rejected the car and got a full refund within four weeks (luckily I had a consumer advice background and had another car so was able to drive the Focus back to the dealer and drop the keys on their desk).

They stopped producing this car soon after, presumably because they couldn't find a permanent fix for the leaky roof. It was a great shame because it was excellent value for money and very well designed.

As far as the Saab mentioned by the OP it looks to me like a lot of car for the money, but buying a 13 year old car for that money is always a gamble. How lucky do you feel?

Hoof_Hearted

It's amazing that pretty well everybody who has ever owned a MX-5 remains a fan. Mechanically, they seem very robust.

The MX-5 is more fun but as Harry's Dad says, it does seem a lot of car for the money.

I'll sleep on it. I agree with the comments about car hire -- to many cowboys for my liking.

Strider590

MX5, be careful with the area between the door and the rear arch, there's a water trap in there, it's not uncommon to find 6 inches of water inside that area (in cases where it hasn't already rusted through).
Also be careful of the diff, they're not very robust and even just a light spin into a kerb can crack the diff casing.

z1a

I've owned a 1998 9-3 petrol turbo for the last 6 years, only paid £1900 for it, had been very well looked after by its 1 previous owner.
In the 6 years I've done about 60k miles with only 1 minor problem - coil pack went, luckily at home, easily sorted for about 60 quid from ebay.
I've been all over in it, including Algarve, south of France, Benidorm & pretty much all over England.
I would happily jump in it now and drive anywhere without worry. As long as you change the oil frequently or I believe you can kill the turbo.
Being a rag top, rather than rigid, you can easily fit all your holiday luggage in the boot, there are 4 of us and we have always managed enough for a 2 week holiday.
I will be keeping mine until it has a major MOT failure or expensive fault.
Biggest problem for me is forgetting to cover my bald head with a baseball cap - got a peeling scalp now just from last Sunday. Beware that baseball caps tend to blow off at about 100MPh ( or so I'm told.;) )

Gloomendoom

I thought the boot was on the small side.

Depends what you are used to, I suppose.

BeenThroughItAll

tommyjj wrote: »

Several friends & family members have had Saab 93s of that age, and they've all developed serious problems. However, in all cases the mileages were in excess of 100,000 by the time problems arose.

Watch out for issues with the dual-mass flywheel (which you should be able to hear) and steering rack problems.

For that price, and with that mileage, I'd say go for it.

Well, that will not be a problem with an automatic...

bobbymotors

I own a 99 Merc 230CLK convertible with everything on it, and its been bullet proof in 7 years of ownership.

You can buy a really nice one for £2000