Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

There's a lot of interesting material on the auto / finance sector here (this piece and many others) - worth a read...some are pretty eye-watering.

http://wolfstreet.com/2017/05/23/liar-loans-subprime-auto-loan-backed-securities-abs/

Hefty, I couldn't agree more on the classic Porsches. Mental!

Surprising. I guess if you're struggling maybe it's easier to find £350 a month than £1500 in one go.

The other thing that says to me the crash is coming is the spiralling value of classics. I sold a decent 1968 911S 6 years ago for £42k and it wasn't an easy sale. Silverstone Auctions just sold one for £230k.

It's going to come tumbling down soon. The question is how soon. That S might be £275k next year. Or it might be £80k...

It's going to be an interesting ride over the next couple of years - I suspect we'll get "no deal as it's better than a bad deal", leaving us to become the tax-haven that we've threatened to become. That's going to have a huge knock-on effect, but who knows, maybe the supply-side lot are right and what you need to do to really get an economy going is to make rich people even richer, passing the mythical point at which they become so rich that spare money trickles down to the poor, allowing them to buy 60's 911's.

If I missed your earlier replies, apologies, but C55/C63/E55/E63 estates & CLS63 shooting brake all suit? I had a C32 and the violent nature of that engine was something to behold...bit old for your spec admittedly and would need work...but 4.6 0-60 and sooooangry.

I like the E55 AMG estate but they're mainly fucked, these days.

But these people aren't mega rich. They're business owners riding a wave of low interest rates, making a few hundy large a year and struggling to think of things to spend it on. Once rates rise and business slows down and they need to flog their cars to pay the bills there will be no buyers and it'll be a race to the bottom.

I don't think I'll be buying a 68 S for £42k again, but I can see them dropping below £100k in a heart beat.

Still, Stelios is giving £1bn to charity, so trickle-down might be a thing after all.

I think what you're saying is that a '71 912 will be £5,000 just after Brexit, and that I should bide my time?

what else should I replace the Volvo with?

maserati quattroporte and a roof rack

All this beamer talk. Getting tempted by a e34 530i... Plenty for sale here in good condition (love dry countries) for under $4000 Aud. Really classic BMW design. Hmm, my maths says I sell my audi for $18,0000, by the e34 for $3500 and spend the rest on the first service bill.

On paper E91 325i touring has reasonable space, insurance, speed, economy and is shed-like enough to go under the radar a bit. Anything wrong with it?
Edit: other than the not very interesting looks.

tax on that in sweden is roughly £800pa compared to £220 for a 520i or £250 for a 525i

For comparison, my w124 e220 is £240

Considering we spent about £2500 on fuel last year though, we'd save monies on the diesel. Interesting. The case for a E39 just got a bit stronger.

Actually my real answer which everyone will fucking hate, so I didn't even mention it, is a....

.... Range Rover Sport.

Probably leased!

The reality is they are the modern version of all these fast estates. They drive like a saloon. Have tones of space for bikes. Have tonnes of interior space. Are luxurious and comfortable. Use just as ridiculous amount of fuel as all these turbo'd estates.

In fact other than driver stereotypes I'm struggling to think of a counter argument... And let's be honest when Volvos estates were en vogue the drivers were renowned for either being shit, or cunts... and as for beemers their rep has only improved because so many are now either Audi drivers or former Vectra ones.

Tl;Dr ; RR Sport fuck what other people think.

20 grand will get you into a rather nice S212, which apparently is built properly, returning to S124 standards of quality.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-MERCEDES-BENZ-E-CLASS-6-2-E63-AMG-ESTATE-7G-DCT-525PS-W212-LADY-OWNED-FMBSH-/232315215425?hash=item361710de41:g:vygAAOSwcB5ZHyii

Lady owned and everything

It has an AMG-button though, wouldn't mind one of them

They drive like a saloon

I'm going to put it out there and say you've never driven one.

They drive like a 2.5 tonne 4x4. A decent driving 2.5 tonne 4x4, but totally unlike a 5 series or similar. Nothing can disguise the weight and height.

Does it have a Nürnburg ring time?

Anyway, I left a voicemail for the dealer selling the Alpina and they've not come back to me, so fuck that guy - what else should I replace the Volvo with?

C6 RS6 Avant. I would say that, wouldn't I, but it really is both a very silly and a very practical car. Space for many bikes, tick. Auto, tick. Silly amounts of power, tick. Potential for money pit bills, tick. It's perfect for you.

Alex, the bloke at the back of my office has an RS6 like Dan's. I know his name to be Alex because of personalised number plates, including A13X?. It makes a mental noise, like a racing car or something.

That should have been @Dammit

I'd get the E63 tho.

Too scared to continue the car chat in the motorcycle thread but saw this and thought of you guys. Dat engine bay. @TM @Chak

While we're on car finance, I was just at the physio and a woman and her mother were waiting next to me. She was probably 21 years old and was talking about going to the dealership to look at new cars on lease. Then her and her mum were talking about how much it costs to run a car, and how that would be a burden on part-time wages.

We now seem to be at a point where someone who lives at home with their mum, works part-time in a presumably not massively well-paid job, and lives in inner London so barely needs it anyway, is going out and buying a new car. It feels like 2007 all over again.

And, as a cycling advocate who wants to see London less full of pollution and speeding metal boxes, it's not particularly helpful either...

Any mk5 golf folks in here?
Misses is after one for work, 20/25 miles each way of clear motorway and a tiny bit of town traffic so 1.9/2.0 diesel is the ticket. As close to 60mpg as poss.

1.9 pd 105 or 2.0 cr 140?
Want 3 door + sunroof, but not seen any with that yet, maybe it wasn't a choice that you could have in UK?
Power doesn't matter, reliability and very high economy are key
Ideally no dpf on it.
Saw an sdi, I knew they were low on grunt but think it was also very low on compression, needed almost full throttle to hold 65mph on flat Road.

Why would you think dpfs are optional?

Why would you want a diesel?
There will be plenty of more efficient small petrol hatches than a mk5 diesel golf. And you won't be killing puppies with noxious particulates.

If you work on the fully considered co2 value of a much newer petrol car that will achieve anything like the fuel/energy efficiency of an older tdi rather than just the exhaust emissions then you could build a case for a 10 year old diesel that costs £2k over a considerable more valuable car, which will then depreciare even more due to putting a high milage on it
But main argument is private hire /taxi that all run ancient idi diesels often in terrible mechanical condition chugging round city centres.

Some have them some don't.