Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) If not a Morgan??

Just waved goodbye to my Plus4.

And now for something completely different.

Suggestions, other than another Morgan!

Mazda MX5 and lots of cash left over for petrol.

A couple of friends have them and are both very pleased. One couple are active in the MX5 Owners Club and speak very highly of it - plenty of drives out and other activities. Also has the advantage of supreme reliability and an excellent dealer network.

Paul,
I beg to differ about Mazda dealers, I have run 3 different Mazda 6s for well over 200,000 miles , the cars are good and reliable BUT when they go wrong the Main Dealers are not helpful or knowledgable and charge the earth. (e.g. 75,000 mile service £1050 plus VAT , independent £540 all in) However there are enough Mazda trained technicians out there who have set themselves up as independents who are really good. Perhaps I have been unlucky, but a bit of research on the web revealed that my issues were all well known, and others had experienced similar problems in trying to get the dealer network to remedy the issues.

I have a track record of pondering for a long time ( dithering?? ) over sports car replacement . It all depends on what you want from the car.

It might not be obvious to you, but you have been enjoying something very distinctive and the attention that gets so something ordinary like the Z4 or the Mazda might not float your boat.

Anyway, your choices fall into a few groups:
1/ ageing supercar - someone has suggested an Aston Vantage for example. Main negative here is running costs ( as an illustration my car costs 17mpg, £1300 insurance, £500 tax and £1000 annual service) but chose carefully and you could gain on depreciation.. Whats more leggy high mileage ones arent worth much so you cant use them for much more than say 2k miles a year Astons have a poor reliability reputation.

My suggestion in this group would be a Ferrari 348 which is just at the bottom of the J curve before rising in value like its older brothers. 300 bhp 1.5 t but not full of electronics.

2/ The bland and ordinary but serviceable - like the Z4, the mazda, the slk and the TT . Anywhere from 20k new to 50k but with more sensible running costs. Many feel like a German saloon from the inside ie they are bland

3/ Left field like Lotus and you may include the better kit cars in this group. My Elise was one of the most reliable cars I ever had and very comfortable too. We did take it touring to Spain and swmbo was happy , but if you are more than 6ft or 90kg, forget it.

4/ Porkers deserve a category on their own because they do perform, they are more sensible to run cost wise but they are so common as to completely blend in. And depreciation is high unless you go for an exotic variant like a GT3RS. I would add the F type to this group.

I tried the lot. Apart from the Lotus, which was the most fun, the ones that attracted me most were the latest Plus 8 and the car I bought. They were the "special" cars. The Jag was too heavy and too complicated, the Porkers were somehow just too competent and characterless. The Aston was too old man. The Mazda was a good car but no bigger inside than the Lotus.And the Z4 etc left me feeling " why bother".