Dick Lovett Swindon – Official Maserati Representation to end

[rockits]

Enjoying the Vantage, Dean? Sounds that way!

Yes, very much so. All sorted now and even my new Porterfield pads have bedded in now so 99% silent. Even got my agreed settlement payment come over this week from the dealer I bought from so all good

Not craving any more power at all and more than happy with the 4.3 on the road.

 

[Andyk]

Yes, very much so. All sorted now and even my new Porterfield pads have bedded in now so 99% silent. Even got my agreed settlement payment come over this week from the dealer I bought from so all good

Not craving any more power at all and more than happy with the 4.3 on the road.

Great to hear and even better that you are happy with the power as you hear many saying the 4.3 needs more..I have only drove a 4.3 on track and loved it......Looking forward to when I can finally get one now Dean.......

 

[rockits]

Great to hear and even better that you are happy with the power as you hear many saying the 4.3 needs more..I have only drove a 4.3 on track and loved it......Looking forward to when I can finally get one now Dean.......

Do it asap and you will never regret it.

I think it is one of those things where you want the 'best' option but when you get it you find you didn't really need it at all.

What helped me a little is having a couple of cars that are still great characterful cars to drive that aren't intimately all about outright speed. The Alfa GT 3.2 and the 306 GTi-6 are perfect examples. Plenty fast enough to enjoy at their full and never do you wish they had more power. I've said before the Alfa would benefit from an extra 500rpm before the rev limiter lickdd in but it doesn't need more power.

The XJL SuperSport is realistically too fast and not necessarily better for it. I think 400bhp in your ultimate fast sports road car is perfect. Do I lust after an 800bhp Superfast? No....not really.

Would I be any better off or happier with a 4.7 V8 Vantage? No, I didn't think or believe so and don't find myself looking at ads for 4.7's wanting to 'upgrade'. I also prefer the older style dash and centre console to that later one so that helped me decide as.well.

I guess for me it is all about real world use and also when is enough enough for people. We often demand and want more than we actually need. The day when we stop demanding more than we actually need in reality will be a better day IMHO for many reasons.

We never seem to be happy with what we have actually got often always wanting more. Our poor planet is suffering in many ways due to this. I agree that we should demand more from efficiency and many improvements we can make in many ways to make our lives and planet better. What we shouldn't do is want, demand and obtain more when in reality we don't really need it.

Trouble is the govt and many car manufacturers need us to keep buying more new cars even though we dont really need them. I'm still a believer that we should make our stuff last longer and repair/reuse when we can. We recycle 90% of cardboard boxes produced but only reuse 10%. Crazy really.

 

[philw696]

Spot on Dean.
Like many of us here I have spent some serious cash on cars but not as much as others but still plenty.
Now I have a £10K Porsche for pleasure and it ticks the boxes.
My nice daily go anywhere Jaguar XF again a £10K car and for everything else the little Renault 4.
Still watching the market on the Jaguar X150 XK/XKR as they seem absolute Bargains.
Don't think I will ever spend £40K upwards again if my own hard earned.
Just my thoughts but I'm for preserving what we have.

 

[rockits]

Spot on Dean.
Like many of us here I have spent some serious cash on cars but not as much as others but still plenty.
Now I have a £10K Porsche for pleasure and it ticks the boxes.
My nice daily go anywhere Jaguar XF again a £10K car and for everything else the little Renault 4.
Still watching the market on the Jaguar X150 XK/XKR as they seem absolute Bargains.
Don't think I will ever spend £40K upwards again if my own hard earned.
Just my thoughts but I'm for preserving what we have.

I couldn't agree more and I'm in the same camp.

I have only ever bought one new car and that was a 2002 Hyundai Coupe V6 when the new shape came out for £17k.

I have never spent more than £25k on a car for myself and the most expensive car I have ever bought was the 3 year old Discovery Sport for my wife/kids at £26k earlier this year.

There is so much perfectly good and usable stuff out there at modest levels it is untrue. I too had a 987 Boxster 3.2 S which I bought for £13k maybe 6 or so years back now. Cracking VFM and great cars.

To me a 'perfect' new car these days is often too good and sterile to be enjoyed. To be forced into buying a much older used example that is better IMHO with tons more character for tons less cash is a win win for me. I care less how many miles/owners it has to a point and certainly have no interest in what the number plate says.

 

[philw696]

Again absolutely spot on mate and the enjoyment of quality motoring without really breaking the bank its a Win Win situation.