Thinking of replacing my Smart Roadster for something more practical: decent handling, not slow or super expensive to run/maintain, reliable, bigger boot and more comfy on motorways.

I yearn for something “interesting” (v subjective I know) but it’s a struggle to combine all desired attributes. Current thoughts are:

Beemers: 02/E23/E30 softops (pref Baur) – probably only latter reliable/comfy/affordable.
Audi Coupe (80s), MK1 GTi, 205Gti.
924, Éxcel, Elan M100 (I got a spin in latter recently, felt like a faster poorly built rust proof MX5).

I wondered if anyone had any experience of any of these? Otherwise it’s a warm.hatch as previous threads!

I’ve been considering selling my MX5 for a Mini Cooper S Convertible.

Haven’t done much thinking about it tbh, but maybe something to look at?
Price is about the same, but more seats, more power but no rwd and heavier?

I’m struggling to think of any cars less practical than the Smart Roadster; does the Auto Trader website offer a “lucky dip” button?

I have owned a Mk1 1800 Golf Gti and a 205 1.9Gti., both in the late 80’s so when they were only a few years old, rather than approaching 33 in the case of the Golf, 30 for the 205
Loved both, but even then the brakes on the Golf were considered a bit marginal and whilst the bodyshell of the 205 was much better prepared against rust the interior was not at all robust so buying one in good unadulterated condition might be hard. More room in the golf, better motor in the 205.
At about the same time I also had a Mk 2 Jetta Gti16v. Now that was a car, more room than either of the others, more power than the 205, much more comfortable on longer trips. I wonder if any of those are about? Edit: just looked, 20 left on the road according to howmanyleft
Good luck in finding something suitable

I had an Audi coupe in the early 90s. It was a great car, seven years old when I got it expensive to maintain but would have run for many years if some boat towing arsehole in an 4×4 hadn’t rear ended it when I stopped for a red light.

Mk1 TT, either roadster or coupe.
Find an unbuggered/no blinked out one (plenty around) 225 or even the 180.
Easily affordable in your price bracket.

Or

Yes TT is on the list too, high VED and low mpg against it.

It’s also stupidly chubby, 1.5 tons FFS!

Audi a2 tdi 1.4….

Nippy, cheap to run, high mpg, all aluminium so no tin worm. Tdi is probably one of the most reliable diesel units produced

Volvo 850 T5

Just read more into the TT, actually it’s way more viable than I thought. Shame the soft to has a wee boot.

Audi a2 tdi 1.4….

Nippy, cheap to run, high mpg, all aluminium so no tin worm. Tdi is probably one of the most reliable diesel units produced

….but doesn’t otherwise fit with any of the OP’s criteria :roll:.

Personal opinion inbound.

Our most recent purchase came down to a (maybe 2011) TT 1.8 soft top or an MX5 2l MK3.5 folding hard top.

The TT felt safe but dull, the MX5 left me with a smile on my face without having to drive fast. So we got the MX5.

Boot is big enough for the weekly shopping for us, maybe not if you have 3 kids.

Alfa Spider 🙂

What’s the budget here ? Good E30s are getting very thin on the ground nowadays.

That silver TT that bikebouy posted looks good. I never liked them before. IIRC the coupe has a surprisingly large boot.

And the rear seats fold flat.

I’ve got an E30 which seems to tick all your boxes.

Been our family daily driver for a year and covered 11,000 miles, including a trip to Morzine last month.

As practical as any small five door estate really. Bikes, dogs and kids all go in no bother.

It’s no sports car but nice enough to drive with lovely 170bhp straight six, nicely balanced handling and lsd.

Getting hard to find decent examples, but definitely worth the effort!

edit; just realised you want a convertible which is obviously different, but they’re mechanically pretty much identical

I’ve been considering selling my MX5 for a Mini Cooper S Convertible.

Don’t. Unless you really need the seats, I think the 5 is more practical, a better drive (probably not faster – but more fun) and possibly going by a couple of friends experience more reliable.

Elan M100 is in enthusiast territory to be honest. An MX5 would be a better daily driver, or a S1 Elise would be roughly the same ball park and a better pain/pleasure ratio. That said, I’d love an M100.

TT coupe is a sound choice, though the 3.2 might be a touch pricey to run.

I like A2s 🙂 I have owned a Eunos, which rusted away, plastic does appeal. MK3 quite thirsty no? Mate had a TT and we put our bikes in it 🙂

Thinking of £5K, and it’d live in the street.

Doesn’t have to be a convertible

itstartedwithakona – Member
I’ve got an E30 which seems to tick all your boxes.

Was that parked halfway down the hill where you drop onto the road from the Super Morzine lift run? If so, looked very smart, was noted by a couple of us in the group!

OP, Mk2 Scirocco? £5k would get you one with a 20VT conversion I’d have thought which would tick a number of your boxes!

Yep, that was mine.

Thanks!

Yeah, it seems unlikely, especially mine is the top spec best model and really low miles. With a nicer stereo.

Tempted to get a test drive in the mini though

itstartedwithakona – Member

I’ve got an E30

Cracking looking motor.
Well jeal’! 🙂

Good call on the Z350 mrjmt, much more fun than a TT!

BMW Z4 also available for same sort of money but not particularly great to drive.

Thanks sbob!

BMW Z4 also available for same sort of money but not particularly great to drive.

I just sold a 3.0i Z4, hence the recommendation for the 350Z!

It was certainly quick, but blimey it was badly built. I can only assume I got one that was build on a friday afternoon or something. Or it was cursed.

mrjmt – Member

It was certainly quick, but blimey it was badly built. I can only assume I got one that was build on a friday afternoon or something. Or it was cursed.

They were mostly built in the US.

Al – are you sure you meant E30? You could get a good BMW E46 330Ci convertible for £5k. Personally, I’d go for a Coupe. You can fold the seats and it’s surprisingly practical. I got 4 bikes, 2 tents, a load of camping gear and 2 people into mine for Mountain Mayhem in 2010.

I had a Mk1 TT coupe, I had the OE Audi roof bars for bikes, and sometimes put one inside. Mine was a ’99 225 so cheaper tax.

I had a 350z (can you get one for 5k?!) mine was 04 pre the big tax, frustrating for bikes as strap on rack only, and boot taken up with strut – until I got one of these shipped over from rockauto.com £160, a US trailer hitch and used a US square hitch bike rack on that. http://www.curtmfg.com/part/114832

I now run a Porsche 996 with OE roof bars – loads of room for kit in the boot and inside. You would need to almost double the budget for one.

However you could get into a 986 boxster for £5k. Superb car.

The car that popped into my head was Nissan 350Z, which someone else appears to have posted a pic of above.

I imagine the tax would be quite high & fuel consumption not great, but probably a decent choice.

but doesn’t otherwise fit with any of the OP’s criteria :roll:.

Which bit did I miss….?

350Z, Boxster, Fiat Coupe, GTV all been considered but just too inefficient/costly to run.

Daffy – Member

Al – are you sure you meant E30? You could get a good BMW E46 330Ci convertible for £5k. Personally, I’d go for a Coupe

Yup, E30 or older, ie more “classic”. Which Coupe?

Mk1 Scirocco is klovely…but rusty? Not a fan of the Mk2.

dot you hanker or indeed own retro bikes as well al (hands up to at least two here).

Having had a brace of 205s and a MkII Golf GTI to follow, I’m not sure the reality – if you even get hold of running models – would;d be as expected. Mind you mate Gary has an X reg TT that he uses for biking, what a faff!!

cynic-al – Member
Which Coupe?

I get over 30mpg out of my Touring (which is heavier) and almost 40mpg on a run if driven carefully.

Link to eBay 330Ci

Thanks, kcal I don’t do retro bikes for that reason, you may have a point re those cars. I certainly would not want anything like the P1800 or Amazon I had, and guess a 02 might not be much more sophisticated. I’m hoping a E30 might be just modern enough.

I drive a pool car for work which exacerbates any differences with my own car.

Yeah, so long as you go for a later, well specced E30 there’s very little compromise compared to a modern car. It’ll have ABS, power steering, air con, electric windows, etc…

Mechanically they’re pretty robust and there’s plenty around with mega mileage to prove this. When things do go wrong, parts are cheap and easy to find, even through main dealers in most cases.

Big thing to look out for is rust.

Lots of information on e30zone.net

Thanks, I am thinking it’s the best balance. Esp a convertible. I’m hoping mpg/VED not too bad but I am not looking for a rocket – even a 316 is 10s to 60 which is fine.

I presume they are old enough that DIY spannering is possible too.

One of these? Brera is also available as a coupe which has a boot that will take a bike.

SAAB 9-5 convertible?

Just get a Panda 100hp and stick a strut brace on it..

Alphas…high servicing costs?

Panda – Swift or Colt way cheaper to run. I won’t be hooning it, just don’t always drive like a pensioner (though I frequently do for mpg!)