Your "model path" or thought process for buying your last car?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

gr1nch

Active Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
729
Location
Louth, Lincolnshire
Car
2017 W222 S350d AMG Line Premium Plus : Iridium Silver and Black Nappa
We can end up seriously considering quite (sometimes wildly) different cars at times eh? I'm interested to know other members thought processes when homing in on a model, perhaps of your dreams.

Over a process of a six months, mine started with thinking: exciting 3-year old performance car, but ended up new saloon. Maybe boring for some, but I'm happy with the decision!
Current car: Saab convertible.

Maserati GT (quite a jump) > CLS > A7 biturbo > A8 > S8 > Bentley GT > CLS > E350d coupé > E350d saloon (new* from now on) > AMG GT (wife's idea!) > SL400 (common sense prevails) > S350d

* The new E-class saloon convinced me it had to be a Mercedes, such was the wow factor of the new tech and build quality.

What was yours?
 
Our SL400 was something we'd never considered until we sat in one at MB world. We weren't even looking for a second car.

Mrs Red is a wheelchair user, we'd simply never looked at anything other than Estate cars for ease of entry/exit and loadspace.

We were surprised to find the SL easy to get in and out of for Mrs Red and once the false boot floor was removed we could fit her wheelchair and still fold the roof. 6 months later it arrived.

Our E estate is being replaced by an Audi S6 Avant, but we went around the houses looking at all sorts of things.

Range Rover Sport > Volvo XC90 > Jaguar F-Pace > GLE > (at which point we decided we didn't like SUV's) > New E class Estate > New C Class Estate> GLC > Audi S6 Avant > Ferrari FF > Audi S6 Avant

The FF/GTC4 Lusso is going to happen at some point in the future but I've no idea when. There is nothing else like them on the road and I'm completely smitten. I got some pretty sensible (relative) finance quotes for an FF but the reality is if I buy one of these it really needs to be outright or very close to outright because I think once I buy one I'm unlikely to want to ever sell it. This is the first supercar I've ever genuinely considered buying. Everything else has always been a little too hardcore or completely impractical. The FF was a complete game changer.
 
Last edited:
My daily drive is a company car so for the past 11 years I have had a rolling list of nice to have interesting marques, mx5, Porsche Boxster S, X3 and now S class 320 CDI. all of the cars fit in the 3 to 6 K£ range and I spend a long time looking for a "steel" my internal goal is to depreciate no more than £300/yr excluding service items etc. this is a goal I have met for over 20 years, on the list at the same time as the S class was an XF. Not sure where next but for the next 2 years it's MB all the way.
 
Having offloaded a number of vehicles, I suddenly found myself down to the SL, and an ancient BMW R100 that hadn't had an MoT since the early 90s.

Bought a £400 Volvo to tide me over while considering a permanent solution which went something like:

Audi S4 (B8) > S3 > A5 coupe > E-class coupe > BMW E65 > W221 > XC60 > Fiesta ST > Focus ST > C350e > M135i

Got all the way to signing the order with BMW and had a last minute crisis of confidence. Idle curiosity while passing the local Renault dealer saw me stop and look at a Renault Zoe...the next thing I know, I've signed a 3 year lease because it's cheaper than putting fuel in the Volvo every month. :doh:
 
Mine is quite boring since we have been back in the UK after 9 years of living in Greece.

I have always wanted a Porsche 911. Now I have got one. Nothing special or flash or expensive. Just a £20000 Porsche. It's silver.
We needed a family car. I bought my dads Jaaag S Type. It's a lovely car in Jewish racing gold.
In Skiathos we needed a car. I bought a Dacia. It lives in the car park at the airport most of the time.
 
The Porsche is a keeper. I can't really afford to upgrade to what I want.

Re the Jaaag. I would love an S Type R. But we have spent a few quid on ours so I am now more eager to get it into perfect condition.

The Dacia lives in Skiathos airport car park and is a boring car.
 
Remapped Saab convertible to current car:

Process was deciding I should get a more efficient but interesting car, cheaper to run....

Then brother in law got a 330 6 cylinder,
I liked the sound (not the badge) and decided I wanted one

Week later found and bought the more expensive to run, less efficient CLK and thought what the heck

Next car might have to be a hybrid...
 
Danes, The Saab Cabrio floats my boat. My sister is on her second now and she uses it as a runaround, shopping and spare. They have an ex Saab mechanic in their avenue. In real terms, what are they like to live with?
 
Darrell said:
Danes, The Saab Cabrini floats my boat. My sister is on her second now and she uses it as a runaround, shopping and spare. They have an ex Saab mechanic in their avenue. In real terms, what are they like to live with?
sorry, I meant Fabes.
 
I honestly wouldn't know where to begin with this thread. :D
 
sorry, I meant Fabes.

They can creak a bit and the diesels ( the 1.9tid, not the later ttid) have a reputation for failures, but the petrols are pretty solid, very tunable and can shift :thumb:

Front springs can be an issue, eilbach can help (I didn't feel the need though)
Active forums, parts and still a decent network of indi's

Had mine 5 years, utterly reliable chain cam, good roof, good interior (post 2007) as much space as the CLK but refinement doesn't match a CLK

Fuel is okay, high 20s to low 40s for the 2.0T Aero manual I had, but you could see less than that after a noob tune remap and run:rock:

Had mine for 5 fun years and only sold it as I had an itch for a V6 and didn't want to compare another Saab to mine (which was / is the Auto Express review car).
Would recommend one, parts are fine and they're cheaper than a comparable CLK, but not as refined and getting a little old in the tooth now (says he!):eek:
 
Coming up to retirement I decided to treat myself and replace the CLK230 I'd had for nine years. For most of my life I've hankered after various generations of Aston Martins so I was very tempted to get one of the many used models available for not much more than £40k. But then I happened to be browsing around my local MB dealership and saw in the showroom a facelift W204. I liked the changes that had been made over the earlier version, particularly the non pop-up screen. I told the salesman that I'd been delighted with my CLK, but having driven a few 320s would like 6 pots. Before I knew it, I'd agreed to have a C350CDI for a day, followed by a day in the petrol version. I was impressed with the CDI, it being significantly faster and smoother than what I'd been used to. But when I drove off in the C350 petrol the next day it immediately felt like yet another leap in likeability. Reading the brochure and seeing all the options I could get had me signing on the dotted line. It's certainly not an Aston Martin but it's the exact spec I wanted and it's far more practical, even if it probably has depreciated more than a used AM would have done.
 
My mate rang me and said he had an s55 Kompressor come in as a PX, I picked it up the next morning!
 
I was going to wait to cash in some of my pension before I bought the CLS I always dreamed of, but a car crash two years back changed my mind, when some dopy mare pulled out without even looking, almost killing us.

Knowing that life can end in a moment of stupidity, I decided there and then not to wait, and found the perfect example that ticked all the boxes and more.

(Plus, with all those extra air bags, if some idiot pulls out in front of me, I'm more likely to survive.)
 
I honestly wouldn't know where to begin with this thread. :D

That's me and you. :D

I just buy them because. Then play with them, then sell at a massive loss, rinse and repeat. :bannana:
 
I was driving up the A59 to work one morning in my Honda (with a cast on my wrist) and at the "ice cream" roundabout there was this lovely, lovely, glowingly beautiful, bright green car for sale at the front of a house! :D

I fell in love at first sight, but rather than rush up to the door that very moment, I carried on to work. I thought about it for all of 30 minutes and decided to visit the house on my way home. The owner of the car gave me a little test drive (ie, him driving, I didn't ask, I knew the cast would put him off) and then I asked if my regular motor mechanic could give it a once over (he's only round the corner). I mentioned it to another friend who warned me off. Well, the mechanic passed the little car fit, the other friend rang later and said he had spoken with a dealer who knew the seller who had said he was an honest chap. I had a little haggle (a very small one), and a "nephew" drove it home for me.

Joy! Clearly I don't need two cars, and I wouldn't have bought any other car. In a typically girlie way, I fell for the colour!

Only two months and 18 days now and she's back on the road!
 
I wanted another 211 estate, more driving licence-friendly than the 55K, not diesel, but still with adequate performance. Hence the E350 petrol. Simples.

The SL500? Well, it looked ace in the pictures...
 
Our SL400 was something we'd never considered until we sat in one at MB world. We weren't even looking for a second car.

Mrs Red is a wheelchair user, we'd simply never looked at anything other than Estate cars for ease of entry/exit and loadspace.

We were surprised to find the SL easy to get in and out of for Mrs Red and once the false boot floor was removed we could fit her wheelchair and still fold the roof. 6 months later it arrived.

Our E estate is being replaced by an Audi S6 Avant, but we went around the houses looking at all sorts of things.

Range Rover Sport > Volvo XC90 > Jaguar F-Pace > GLE > (at which point we decided we didn't like SUV's) > New E class Estate > New C Class Estate> GLC > Audi S6 Avant > Ferrari FF > Audi S6 Avant

The FF/GTC4 Lusso is going to happen at some point in the future but I've no idea when. There is nothing else like them on the road and I'm completely smitten. I got some pretty sensible (relative) finance quotes for an FF but the reality is if I buy one of these it really needs to be outright or very close to outright because I think once I buy one I'm unlikely to want to ever sell it. This is the first supercar I've ever genuinely considered buying. Everything else has always been a little too hardcore or completely impractical. The FF was a complete game changer.

The FF is a very versatile sports car. You get Ferrari looks, sound and performance but in a hatchback with fold down rear seats. What more could anyone want? :rock:
 
I'm currently looking at an R230, and whilst researching its history, I've discovered it has had three owners, each with their own private plates, all of which are currently on Land Rovers - two 2016, and one 2015 model. What are the odds? If I buy it, I don't intend following suit further up the road.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom