The future of my coupe.

I love my coupe. But weirdly I've always known buying it was a bit of a mistake.

I'm quite an impulsive person. I did everything you shouldn't do when going to look at a car. I fell in love by the time I'd walked past it to his front door. I had the asking price in cash in my pocket and I simply wasn't listening to him by the time the multitude of scapes, small dents were being pointed out to me.
I was just imagining driving home. 70 miles of A roads.

I became the worlds worst haggler.

"Well I'm looking for £2250 for it."
"There you go"

My coupe has never been perfect. I've never had enough money to take care of it as well as I would have liked. I've had several single bills over £600, one of £1500 (not an engine rebuild) and more £50-£150 bills than I want to think about. It's got loads of annoying body damage. But it's still really pretty, really fast and proper good fun.
The time has come. I have a bit of money to spend and I have a choice to make. Sensible Jon would by something else at this point. A 350Z, a Boxter, an M3, a Mazda 3MPS...........or something. And part of me wants this. But then I'd have to sell my coupe. Considering the money cars on here go for I wouldn't get £1000. Or I'd have to break it........that's just not happening. Soooo to bring this long winded and self indulgent post to the point. I'm going to keep my coupe and.........errr mend it.

Oh how I'm looking forward to the piss takes from my friends and work colleagues.


I reckon there is scrape and or small dent damage on every panel. There is a dent in the rear right corner (which looks difficult to me). I want all that sorted. This means full respray I know - and I'd want a high quality one. I want to rebuild the engine and put in any sensible upgrades which will increase reliability. Not power...... necessarily Referb the alloys. Get a new or referb the current turbo. Probably new shocks etc. Remember - I've been doing very simple services on this car myself for 4 years and fixing things when they break and it's done 55,000 miles in this time. They'll be lots of little things which will add up.

Am I an idiot? Should I let it die and buy a lovely shiney low mileage coupe from a forum member who's treated their car better than I have......

My guess is I'd need £6000. You can buy a lot for £6000. You can't buy love though. Christ I make myself cringe sometimes.

Oh mods I already have are a nice blue flame exhaust, GTEC1, manual boost controller and a K@N filter. Oh and it's got a crack in the exhaust manifold. And no under tray. (Those last two aren't intentional mods)

A freshly painted and well presented Coupe is something that still makes sense, and is really quite special. Simon Cowell does not have a monopoly on the "X factor".

I know how you feel with that.


Regards to your coupe, I always felt better the devil you know, there are limits tho.

Coupe's still looks great, maybe I'm biased.

Keep it and make it better

Good point Flea! Forgot to say part of this project would be bringing it to you for a remap.

Also are there any suggestions as to where I should get the work done. I know there several specialists around the country who really know what they're doing.....But I'd want someone who would help me with the project as a whole, discuss and suggest the work that needs to be done, put me in contact with a body shop who they trust with coupes etc.

or have 2 cars and have coupe on a classic car policy getting bits done gradually on the coupe and as numbers are dropping prices rise and you will have a good example thats worth a bit too? you could put by £2000 for bits on the coupe and run a nice motor for £4000 as an example? or just keep the coupe!
but for the money your talking i would be inclined to buy another coupe with all the bits done with mods your after that needs nothing and save yourself a few quid!
if i was to buy one i have seen in pics recently that may be available i would be looking at sparkymans sprinty which in my eyes is stunning!! but thats just me! all the best
mate and long live the coupe!

You're not an idiot and if you love the car, then go ahead and spend the money on it.

I too, have ran my Coupe on a shoestring budget, although have kept up it's general maintenance, I've also been quite lucky with it.
On the occasion it has presented me with an unexpected bill, then I beg and borrow the money, just to get it back on the road.
Mine's far from perfect and it never will be, but it's mine and I love it, so will keep spending on it when I have to.



You can buy my love for £6,000 and then I'll have a mint Coupe instead

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/03/07/haggling/

/me runs and hides!

Keep the car and lavish it with some money & love.

I've recently bought mine back off my boss after a 4 year spell without one. 2k down in my wallet already with loads more still to do on it, but, for me, its worth every penny.

No other car I've owned makes me feel as good as when I'm driving the coupe.

Good luck with it and keep us updated with your progress

thanks for the advise people, and thanks for the offer Theresa I think.

I'm in the same boat with my coupe. I'll be happy if £6k can put it back to good as new. I've just been quoted over twice that for the bodywork alone . But then I live in Surrey

£12,000!? Oh dear. I've not had a quote yet, was just guessing

Same here.
I'm just about keeping on top of the mechanical side of things (another £500 just spent on brake pipes, exhaust repair and tracking related suspension bits) but the worry of rust is gaining ground.

Still, on the bright side it's less rusty than my 2001 BMW 5 Series

who quoted you that and what for? seems very excessive.

I was faced with the same dilemma a couple of years ago. Spend an estimated £3k - £5k on my monster-mile Sprinty, or cut my losses.

The rust wasn't horribly bad - bottom of the three-quarter panel, bottom of the A and B pillars, inner front wings and ends of the boot floor.

However, some careful investigation found that there were several other areas that were suspect, so the car's fate was sealed.

In the end, the solution I chose (which I'd urge the OP to consider) was that I located and bought a very clean, very low mileage Moonie Plus. It had done just 24,500 miles when I got it. Zero rust anywhere and felt almost new to drive.

Motormech spent a week swapping all the good mechanicals off the Sprinty into the Moonie, and I sold all of the duplicated parts (many of which were from the Moonie, so they sold very well, including the engine and box, suspension, wheels, brakes etc etc)

In the end, the entire episode cost me well under half the lower estimate of restoring the Sprinty.

If you can find a near-perfect late model Plus, even if it costs top dollar, then it will almost certainly be a cheaper option than restoring your current car, especially after you've sold or broken the existing car.

I would also buy another with the mods already done and keep yours as a project/trackday toy???

Nigel/Daz - thanks for the replies

So what I really need to do is get the current car assessed properly. Until then I guess I can't really make the right choice.

Learn to get your hands dirty. 6k buys you a very lot of coupé that way. For me it has to be done that way. I wouldn't dream of paying for work I was capable of. And you get satisfaction.

Check over the car before you start, but I'd take a DIY second car approach to it. Just remember that a cheaper daily runner will cover the cost of the coupé over just running the coupé.