and best of all I have also got the permission

So in the new year its car shopping time Coming from my Mundano STd anything will feel quick, so my current list is:


Audi S5 - but the MPG really puts me off

M3 Convert - but the MPG really puts me off

330/335 Convert - MPG is alot better, but need to drive one
Megane 250 - I loved my R26, one of the, if not the best car I have EVER owned, shame the yellow is though

Watch this space

Damn

I hate thread titles that promise stories of sexual disease and turn out mundane

How about a lovely little Smart coupe cabriolet? 53 plate, 21k miles, black/silver, 54 horses engine. 60-70 mpg easily.

Will be up for sale later this week. Early xmas present for someone!

As a new baby carrier? I know 20VT Plus (which as we all know is almost a people carrier). It could come with an virtually brand new exercise machine to help Mrs (and possibly Mr) JimO lose any surplus post natal weight.

My offer of fifty quid for the Mondeo still stands

Ahhh! Just get the Renault, then write a review, this will help me too as I'm thinking about getting one as my main car Just do it, you know it makes sense.

Why not a 330d/335d + remap? Good MPG and very quick.

I have a diesel at the mo and although high mpg is nice, I do miss 5000,6000,7000 rpm!!

Also with the BMWs the diesels are A LOT more and I don't do enough miles to appreciate the saving that a diesel would make offset against the purchase price.

When I say the MPG puts me off that's only due to it being mid teens and just becomes a chore being in the petrol station every 2 weeks!

Also, due to everyone else worrying about the cost of fuel the value of M3s / S5s has dropped very nicely

M3 CS? WHAT a car!

..and a review to whet your appetite

Those Megane 250s look like a good car and real hoot to drive. They're still pricey though and depreciation on any Renault is going to sting.

I'd take the CS. Almost depreciation proof and a great car. Yes it'll cost a bit more on maintenance than a French shopping trolley, but I find it easier to justify spending, say, £3k a year on improving and maintaining a car than losing £3k in depreciation yet still having to service, MOT and re-shoe it.

I don't think you'd lose more than a grand a year depreciation on the CS tops, the residuals are really solid. It'd probably level off and maybe even appreciate at some point in the not too distant future. I wish I could afford one.

Before you go for a megane 250, do try a Scirocco, GT or R. I have a GT, mostly because I don't like the body kit on the R. It does 35+ mpg, has 210ps, so quick enough, and a decent boot. DSG gearbox is fantastic, too. Whats not to like? I can even get both kids in the back.

The m3 would be mighty tempting though.

Audi A5 3.0 TT diesel

An Audi A5 TT 3.0 diesel, havent you got 2 cars mixed up there

I also can't find any CS convertibles on Autotrader! It has to be a convertible or it will be the Meg

A friend has a Scirocco GT with DSG but I just don't get it, its nice and all and quick and that - but I just don't get floated by it!

twin turbo!

http://www.eurocarblog.com/post/4433/new-audi-30-tdi-twinturbo-engine

I've just been looking at the prices of Merc SL's, they have dropped massive amounts.
Theres some real bargains out there.

S5

Some of the v8 M3's have dropped to the price of a 330d!

I was tempted.

Is the steering on the S5 any better than any other Audi? Or is it as wooden as the rest of them? Yet to drive an Audi that I've not hated the steering on.

The CS is a great call, by all accounts the best of the E46 line (without spending much more on a CSL) but if it has to be a convertible a non-CS M3 sounds like a good call to me.

I'm with MRS on Audis, and can't see the S5 being massively interesting - good, fast, competent with a nice interior, yes. Brilliant as a toy? Hmmm. Also, they seem to come in at about 20k, which is as near as makes no difference RS4 (albeit non-convertible) money.

As to mpg I think you just need to accept it's a toy and won't get diesel-like economy, but you'll be able to rev it, it'll be fast, look good, sound good etc etc etc.

Would you really buy a diesel (or even choose any car as a toy) on the basis that you didn't have to fill up every two weeks?

You're bloody mad JimO, buying a convertible with a baby? why it'll get ruddy pneumonia. And as for a 3 door Megane, terribly cramped. Are you sure you can afford it? Oh it's past your bed-time too young man

I was waiting for that - but in my defense - I bought the wife a Qashqai, so I am excused from all comments

Well I've started to sweeten the 'I've bought myself another coupé' line by discussing what to replace her Clio with in march. I even said she looked pretty before she left this morning when in fact she quite resembled a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig


(Yes, I know I look like I'm carrying twins before anyone says!)

Saved for potential future use

Twice

Oh Stan, There's soooo much incriminating evidence littered about this place about Mrs Stan, I don't have the time/inclination to quote it all. In fact it makes up about 85% total content of the forum

Surely with a convertible you can just pop the baby over the door without opening it? Actually more practical than a car with doors - job done