Second Daily Driver for less than £30k

[rivarama]

My wife and I took the decision to move the family out of central London house to move out to the Chorleywood / Rickmansworth area.

Up to now we only needed 1 car which I used for my commute (MY13 Touareg) and 1 toy (MY08 F430) which I have had to keep in a rented underground parking 5min away from my house.
However our new situation requires us to buy another car which I will be using to commute to work (a short 10miles round trip)

Going fwd, wife will keep the Touareg for herself and it will continue to be used as people carrier to drive the kids to / from school and the family road trip / holiday car. The huge upside is that the Ferrari will be parked at home in an awesome 2 car garage.

Anyway, I now need to decide what car I am going to buy for my commute. Here are some of the criteria that are of importance to me, though flexible as no car will quite check every single box:

- good looking car (quite subjective I know)
- preferably a sports car but I don’t need crazy performance as I have the f430
- reliable to avoid breaking the bank because of reliability issues
- 4 seats preferable to take the kids for fun drives every once in a while without leaving one behind... but we have the Touareg for all other family trip
- at least 3-5 years old, as I don’t want to lose too much in depreciation
- budget £30k max (could stretch to £35k but the wife would bust my balls because of the Ferrari)
- some of the itches I scratched over the past few years: Porsche 911s C2, C4S inc 993 and a Maserati GT 4.2
- again that car will only be used for my short daily commute less than 3k miles a year

Here are some of the cars I am considering so far:
- Maserati GT 4.7 S well sorted for £30k w 40k ish miles (I loved my 4.2 and wouldn’t mind owning another one esp. a 4.7S) and Contigo has a nice MC model w a bit more miles that I am seriously considering
- Higher miles Audi R8 v8 for £30-33k though I heard they are not very practical
- Porsche 997.1 for around £28-30k w 30-40k miles
- 2006 AM vantage V8 w 30-40k miles for £30k - though less practical w no backseats
- 2011+ BMW M3 for £25k
- 2010+ Merc SL350 for £18-20k
- Maserati 4200 manual well sorted for £15k w 40-50k miles

I am also considering the boring and cheaper end of my budget w German cars such as BMW320, Merc E220, Audi A5 all in convertible version (MY11) for £10-12k w 30-40k miles

Have I left any car that you would suggest I consider. Do you have any views on the make/model I am considering? Any horror/amazing stories you would share?

 

[Swedish Paul]

BMW 550. Cheap, almost as good as an m5.

 

[D Walker]

QP...
My daily is a £1300 Golf, I don’t care how I look going to and from work, I’m doing 18k a year mind, unless it matters what you turn up in the car park in, at my place there are top of the range Merc, bm, Audi etc, I park my golf.

 

[rockits]

How many miles will you do & what kind of journeys?

 

[rivarama]

Commute is literally 4.5miles 1 way and I am likely going to do less than 2/3k miles a year as I don’t drive to work every day. Traffic on this 4miles isn’t bad at all either

 

[D Walker]

Bicycle.....

 

[ChrisH]

I love how those are dailys

With a Ferrari in the garage I would air more GT than sports so the only two that really seem to go side by side there albeit at quite different budgets are the GT and the A5. Most of the rest give away too much in space to really fulfil that role IMO.

Nice choice to have mind!

 

[Andyk]

If you need 4 seats out of the list it has to be Phils GTS or the M3....driven both and they are.....GT more Grand Tourer M3 more fun on your fav twisty road.

 

[GeoffCapes]

C63? Or E63

 

[rivarama]

QP...
My daily is a £1300 Golf, I don’t care how I look going to and from work, I’m doing 18k a year mind, unless it matters what you turn up in the car park in, at my place there are top of the range Merc, bm, Audi etc, I park my golf.

I don’t really care about what people in the office think tbh, it’s just that I love cars and want to enjoy every miles I drive. At one point I even considered a Mini Cooper S, but the insurance was so high (more exp than the Touareg) on those that I discounted it v quickly

 

[D Walker]

That’s crazy...

 

[zagatoes30]

All the mid range sporty German saloons / coupes will do this job but functional rather than inspired choice. Lotus Evora could be a hardcore choice dependent of age / size of children, Subaru WRX etc. but I think my choice would be a Volvo V60 Polestar, normal looks on the outside but with a 350BHP sting in its ar5e

 

[rockits]

Surely if the insurance was too high on a Mini Cooper S that was rule out lots of other normally viable options would it not?

 

[Lozzer]

QP...
My daily is a £1300 Golf, I don’t care how I look going to and from work, I’m doing 18k a year mind, unless it matters what you turn up in the car park in, at my place there are top of the range Merc, bm, Audi etc, I park my golf.

That happens a lot at Sellafield, where all they talk about is what pay grade they are on, Not a days work in them, but turn up in an old Corsa and boy they jump on you, asking if you're embarrassed driving it lol.

 

[D Walker]

Used to be like that in the Invista car park...

 

[karatemaserati]

Ghibli S can now be had for 30k

 

[Wack61]

there's a lot to be said for new with warranty , have you considered mustang 5.0 GT , with the discount and 0% finance they work out about the same cost as a 12 month old one bought on finance, if you're a cash buyer a 17 plate is around 30k

 

[rivarama]

Surely if the insurance was too high on a Mini Cooper S that was rule out lots of other normally viable options would it not?

Strangely my insurance on the 430 and Touareg is OKish and I have a 9 NCB. Not sure why minis carry such a premium! Or might be my postcode...

 

[rivarama]

Ghibli S can now be had for 30k

That’s a good option I had not considered. Is the “base” V6 sound any good? The QPVI V6 can also be had for a little over £30k... I have the feeling that those Maserati saloon will continue to depreciate a lot... only need to look at the QPV in the low teens to demonstrate i could easily lose £10k of value over a 2-3yrs period

 

[Ewan]

You'll struggle to get a nice, sensible mileage GT-S 4.7 for £30k. You really need to spend £35k or more for that. But at less than £30k you could buy a lovely 4.2 version. Still perfectly fast enough for the work commute, and just as pretty. After all, you've got the 430 to satisfy your need for speed. (And the GranTurismo will depreciate less than the newer Ghibli or QP IV.)

Personally I'd not bother with something like an Evora (or other sports car) for the daily commute - too much of a compromise in respect of practicality (getting in/out, etc.)