I don’t really get car envy, but if anyone here buys a Lancia Stratos (real or fake) I will be forced to rip their arms off and beat them with the soggy end.

Interesting debate.
A few people in my office have leases on fairly nice cars (BMW 335D M-Sport, big Mercedes thing, new Jag, etc)
They are all either older (with grown up kids) or younger with no kids.
However others on similar salaries drive 1.0 Focus Ecoboosts, or Toyota Prius.
I have a company car (Passat Estate) which despite being dull, suits my needs (I do 25k P/A, most of which is motorway miles)
However if I opted out I’d get a bit over £400 PCM before tax to spend on a car.
That would make a reasonable dent in the lease on that Audi.
If we weren’t paying £600+ per month for childcare + a huge mortgage I’d be temped.

I recently bought one of the new RHD ford mustangs. It has a totally unnecessary 435 horsepower, it is big, relatively impractical (only really a 2 seater), a bit juvenile (it has a feature to allow you to do burnouts!). I have put a removable towbar on it enable me to carry bikes on the back (a bit of a no no amongst mustang aficionados but hey ho).
One thing it is though is immense fun to drive and makes me smile every time I drive it. The sound and power of the 5.0 litre V8 and the sense of occasion you feel peering over the long bonnet is intoxicating. Life is short and you may as well enjoy it if you can.
Effeminate overly complicated and overly serious Euro cars like some of the German offerings do little for me and don’t give me much car envy.
But crude loud brash American muscle is different – I find them irresistible! Each to there own I suppose.

Freeagent – Not entirely convinced by that. If you choose wisely you can get nice cars for the same price as a Passat/Mondeo etc.

I currently have a BMW 3 Series and its costing me less than it would do for a Passat/Mondeo.

I have a new top of the range 3 series on order, and it is going to cost me less than the current one.

I have something worse than a boring estate car – A boring estate car trying very hard to be a not-boring estate car and failing miserably 😀

A Toyota Avensis with 180bhp, just enough to trick you into thinking it’s faster than a normal estate wagon, but not enough to actually be any faster, and ‘economical enough’ to not be worth worrying over but not as frugal as it should be. Suspension that is just a bit firmer than normal to make you think it’s sportier, but not good enough to actually handle well, and a typically dull Japanese interior with no exciting features whatsoever, but enough electric gadgets to make you think it’s been well specced.

I hate it*, but it’s reliable and cheap and big so erm, I still have it 🙁

I miss my older crapper cars to be honest, they had character and were fun, even if a couple of them were literally held together with gaffer tape, in fact I think my old Hilux was more tape than steel towards the end…

I appreciate properly nice cars, classics, interesting custom builds, or mental super cars, but an expensive euro wagon is never going to get me excited.

* it also appears that everyone nearby does too, it’s been driven into about half a dozen times since we got it, the first time being the day after we got it, and no I haven’t bothered fixing it, all the scuffs and dents are still there.

There’s something to be said for a total shonker.

I bought an old Volvo estate for £250 once cos it was winter, I couldn’t ride my motorbike and didn’t fancy getting the bus to a party.

Had loads of miles on, but had 6 months tax/test

Not giving a damn about it was great.

How far back is that wall I’m reversing to? Oh, I hit it? Far enough.

Also quite handy in those “two of us are trying to get into the same space” situations. Do I look worried about scraping this?

Got bored one day waiting on a pal so was throwing stones at it and accidentally smashed a window in the back. Just made a new one out of gaffa tape. Job jobbed.

Got a wee MX5 now which is fun and pretty cheap to buy/run

freeagent, FunkyDunc – similar here, with company car (BMW 520d estate) that goes back in February and I go onto an allowance. Looking at PCP’s i will be no better or worse off with something like an A6 Estate, Passat Alltrack, Disco Sport, or I could get a Superb Estate for about £100 a month less. My kids are 10 and 13 and appear to be badge snobs 🙁

No interest in German ego-chariots, but if you bought a restored 2CV, DS etc I’d be very jealous indeed.

Different strokes, innit?

As to the family who waved as they passed me from the open topped Tatra last year,
I’d have buried you all at the side of the road, changed my name to Mildred and lived the rest of my life as an itinerant Yak hearder, just for a sit behind the wheel.

Is this by any chance for sale?

*everything* is for sale (well not quite). Price is usually the issue though…

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=9003&i=8

I knew it would be 6 figures; didn’t think it would be half way to seven… 😯

There’s so many variants using that basic body.
Even a good nick boggy standard 1750GTVs like me dear old mum’s are asking circa £30.
Probably have to settle for one of those…

Iainc – have you looked at 330e, a lot of car for not much money. They are going to be bringing out a 530e & 540e too.

I’ve just looked at rough quotes through my work, a Superb Estate fully maintained & insurance etc would be £430 pm. New BMW is going to be £330pm all in

What kid would turn down a £10 a week pocket money raise to pay dad’s badged car?

What kid would turn down a £10 a week pocket money raise to pay dad’s badged car?

What use is a tenner a week when your dad is a smug ****?

So unlike the majority of posters on this thread, I recently rediscovered some enthusiasm for 4 wheeled vehicles. Possibly because I now do less than 10k miles a year where I used to do 25/30k, but also helped by the fact that I now have a VW Caddy for work so didn’t need to buy myself anything practical at all. So my (capable but dull) 3 series estate went and I’ve now got an old Z4. The GF does less miles than me too, about 3/4K a year, drove her S3 again the other night and that really is good fun to drive!

However… These cars are 13 and 16 years old respectively. Both of them together cost less than my main MTB is worth, they are not scrimped on servicing wise but I’m lucky in that if something happens that I can’t afford to fix, I can park my Z4 up and continue to use my work van until pay day when I can afford to fix the car. Fortunately it’s only a 3L rather than an M so maintenance costs aren’t too high compared to some. Neither are what you would call economical (get 28-30mpg from both) but at the milage we do in them, the cost of the petrol isn’t really an issue.

And neither is the depreciation! You see this is where my car envy stops… Once bitten, twice shy and all that, but I’m not envious of anyone with an expensive car on a lease. Especially if it’s just a hopped up repmobile with a few toys and big wheels. “But it’s only £500 a month on a lease” I’ve heard people say before to justify cars like that. My car won’t lose £500 a year, let alone a month, in depreciation! My GF’s S3 is going back up in value! The thing is that most cars that are least are not that desirable anyway, and those that are desirable enough to me aren’t the kind you’re likely to get a lease on, unless you really are crazy!

I get quite a bit more enjoyment from driving my Z4 than most would understand, considering it’s a bit tatty and 13 years old, but I enjoy it and it’s all mine, no monthly payments etc. I’d love a newer, lower milage less tatty one of course I would, but I’m not going to enter into a lease in order to get one! More than anything, it’s depreciation that can kill my enjoyment of cars, so managing the financial losses is the best way to fix that for me.

The one thing that irks me still is that in 2001 I nearly bought an E30 M3 for £6500, but talked myself out of it cos the running costs would have been higher than I realistically could have afforded… Poor condition versions of that car are now fetching £25k, with A1 condition examples fetching the best part of 6 figures now! Hindsight eh! Still I’m sure I’ll see a few next weekend at Goodwood where they’re celebrating BMW’s Centenary, shall be cruising down top down in my Z4 too having booked the Friday off work for it. Lovely! 😉

Freeagent – Not entirely convinced by that. If you choose wisely you can get nice cars for the same price as a Passat/Mondeo etc.

I currently have a BMW 3 Series and its costing me less than it would do for a Passat/Mondeo.

I have a new top of the range 3 series on order, and it is going to cost me less than the current one.

You are right – however considering the miles I do, I feel I’m better off staying in the company scheme.
I think paying for insurance/tyres/servicing would come as a shock!

This will be the last big diesel barge I have though, the BIK Tax is making them unviable unless you really need one.
I’ve got about 22 months left on this one, when it goes it’ll be replaced by a plug-in Hybrid of some sort (Golf GTE looking favourite)
I’m planning to buy an old Landrover as a ‘fun car’ when I’ve got a bit more cash.

(Golf GTE looking favourite)

Why not the BMW 330e then? Its a plug in hybrid, more power, better range, better drive etc etc. Just note though that current waiting time is 9 months approx !

I only get car envy over fast estates (diesel passat driver here) and nice vans.

In an ideal world I’d have a standard STW issue T5 kombi and a small fast hatch like a fiesta st or a clio 197

I used to be a car dick but now I’m much more pragmatic. It’s a bang for buck thing. I have a sedate estate with around 100hp which is nice.

But for kicks I have a bike with around the same, delivered in a far more exciting fashion.

Properly fast car is a rich man’s game. My bike will do 0-60in about 3 seconds it’d cost me about 25 times what I paid for it for a car to do the same.

Why do people always compare a 3 series with a Mondeo, when they’re more the size of a Focus?

You must be thinking 3 series of old. Granted current 3 series isn’t quite as big as Mondeo, but it’s way bigger than Focus/Audi A3

Van envy. I get van envy these days.

Cars…do me a favour.

You must be thinking 3 series of old. Granted current 3 series isn’t quite as big as Mondeo, but it’s way bigger than Focus/Audi A3

I was going to post a “you sure about that Funky? it doesn’t seem right to me” kind of post. But, uh, I spent ages compiling this instead.

All with seats folded flat, in ascending order:

Audi A3 Sportback (Not really an estate) 1220 litres
Golf Estate 1270
BMW E91 3 series 1385
Current 3 series (F31) 1500
Current Focus estate 1518
5 series estate 1670
Mondeo estate 1680 (the older one was bigger apparently)
Octavia estate 1740

Van envy. I get van envy these days

Me too. Love my T5 but really wish I still had my aircooled T25, which was easily both the best and worst vehicle I’ve ever had.

Well there we go again – Superficial has posted the stats, but you can’t really compare an A3 with a Focus either. As shown by his figures a Mondeo is 5 series size.

BMW E91

See that one is a lot smaller than the latest series after 2012.

Besides which I wasn’t talking about folded down seats, I’m talking about cabin size and space.

Well, I had a go in the S5. And was disappointed TBH.

Its ok in the front, but cramped in the back. The leather doesn’t have quite as a “soft” feel as BMW’s and it doesn’t have a “leather smell”.

Then for a 337bhp car it was quick but didn’t feel it from the inside. The auto box didn’t feel dynamic, the noise was a angry wasp rasp rather then a burble, and well, what more could I say? The ride was fidgety as well, different but no better than BMW’s MSport setup. It just felt like a car you could point in straight line and show off to people and then be underwhelmed later.

Maybe I’ve got used to a highish torque diesel and prefer the “shove” but I’m glad I haven’t invested in one.

Fortunately my new “leather smell” air freshener has arrived so I can enjoy my engine and the pretense of a leather interior for the meantime.

Argh, I’m guessing there’s a lot of people like me. I love cars – my dream is a 911, so I’m jealous of the earlier poster – but I’m just too tight to spend the cash, especially in a world of speed cameras, other ‘bad’ drivers and kids that trash anything you own. Would love something fun, but unless I could buy it outright and honestly not be too worried about it, then it’s not happening. On that basis, my 25 year old Scirroco was my best car.

I think this is quite often the case with fast saloon cars. unbelievably rapid for a 4 seat family car however, they simply don’t excite. Audi’s are particularly ‘bad’ at this. Maybe they are just too good / competent to be fun?
The 911 was always (from a small boy) my dream car. I recently drove a Carrera 4S. Absolutely gutted – I didn’t really like it. Maybe if I had the bottle to cane it down a b road, it would have been brilliant however down the A34 it just wasn’t
Ho humm, back to the diesel hatchback!

Tend to agree Kryton. I test drove an S4 with the same engine (supercharged V6 not the new turbo) albeit with a manual ‘box and it was fairly rapid but just didn’t excite.. I ended up going for an M135 with correct wheel drive for bigger smiles!

I bought an RS5 about 3 months ago… Amazingly fast, very nice, but thinking about selling it already. Not sure why I need it, in the end.

I prefer driving the Mazda and when the lease expires on mine next year I am buying a couple of years old hack car (I’d prefer to get a Mondeo estate, my wife fancies a Qashqui +2).

Get the diesel with the manual ‘box. I drove a 115ps petrol auto yesterday, and it was like driving my 110ps Octy 1.9TDi when it used to go into limp mode. Any get-up-and-go got up early and went a long time ago!
A bit uncertain through bendy roads, too, but the seats are marvellous, they really hug you close, some of the best I’ve driven in/on.
The Vauxhall Mokka is a much, much nicer car to drive, similar size, but the steering is lovely and light and responsive, and it feels very sure-footed on windy up-and-down A-roads.
Much nicer looking than the Qashqai, too, IMHO.

I thought the Vauxhall Mokka was one of the worst cars I’ve been in! I was a passenger, but the driver thought the same. It was a wee while ago now, and my memory is a bit vague on all its bad points, but I remember it being extremely noisy and uncomfortable. Afterwards, I looked up some owners’ reviews online, and many criticised exactly the same points we’d raised. I remember one guy saying he’d chosen one as a company car, and had to plead with his HR department for permission to change it for something else, as there was no way he could continue driving it!

Have got a 64 plate Mazda 3 and love it, spent more on it than I should have.
Thing is I don’t really worry about other cars, def. suffer van envy and bike envy though.

I thought the Vauxhall Mokka was one of the worst cars I’ve been in! I was a passenger, but the driver thought the same. It was a wee while ago now, and my memory is a bit vague on all its bad points, but I remember it being extremely noisy and uncomfortable. Afterwards, I looked up some owners’ reviews online, and many criticised exactly the same points we’d raised. I remember one guy saying he’d chosen one as a company car, and had to plead with his HR department for permission to change it for something else, as there was no way he could continue driving it!

I actually had a look online, and the Top Gear review said the same, but added that Vauxhall were rushing through an upgrade, which makes me think the more recent models have been significantly improved; certainly the one I drove Friday was very pleasant for the fifty miles or so I was in it, although the seats didn’t hug you like the Qashqai seats did.
The Qashqai only had around 20k on the clock, but I really wasn’t impressed, whereas the Mokka was quite easy to hustle along on some fairly windy roads between Yeovil and Bristol.
I can certainly see why people like them, you get a great view of everything sat up that bit higher.
Clearly long-ish test drives are very much in order.
The diesel manual Qashqai would probably be a whole lot different, mind, but the handling was still a bit ‘wallowing’ and soft, I didn’t feel comfortable on the twisty bits.
I’m no SmurfMat, mind, I drive a Skoda!

Anyway, going back to car envy, I did feel a real pang when I saw this parked in Bath this afternoon:

Yummy!
In the real world of cars that you could actually afford to run, I really, really want one of these:

Not the sort of car likely to get the usual suspects doing the whole finger-wagging thing.

There’s some nonsense being spouted on this thread. An S-line A4 is not comparable to an RS4. I had one and it was flippin mint until it was nicked. Got an M6 now that spun a shell after 150 miles and lunched the engine. I’d have another rs in a heartbeat, I’ll never buy another bmw again.

I had a sit in a Dacia Logan today, onlu went to have a look to kill the idea off of getting one to replace the current leased focus. It was surprisingly decent, going to test one next weekend and may well get a top o the range one for the price of a 3 year old focus zetec

Flange was that a brand new M6?

Maybe I’ve got used to a highish torque diesel and prefer the “shove” but I’m glad I haven’t invested in one.

was that a 7 sec shove or 9 sec shove…

🙂