Hi all

Well I think my time in sunny North Cyprus is coming to an end and will be returning to old blighty next year!

I have continued reading posts here while out here and am always amazed at enthusiasm still on the forum!

Any how on to cars, I will have a budget of £5000 max. Unfortunately I can't see any appropriate Coupes for this budget so I have been looking at other options

I need something that I won't need to spend to much on to start with until I get my feet back on the ground in blighty 🙂

Needs to be fun/fast/reliable!

Hence I've narrowed down to the SLK 350

I love the looks and stats but yet to drive one.

Opinions please

Frog

Blast from the past! Hope you are well

I didn't have an SLK350 down as "fast" or even "fun" - I assume if you're spending £5k or less, you'll be looking at one of the older R171 models - about 270bhp, but also around 1500kg, so they are never going to set the world alight. That said, its about the same acceleration as a very lightly modded Coupe 20VT, so its not exactly slow either

There are a few Coupes around, but in the time you've been away, they are falling into "second car" category, rather than daily drivers

What about Z4 or 350Z?

This model?

Hi Nigel and Trappy

Yes that model!

I know not fast like your modded coupes but about the same as my old modded coupe which at best I did a 13.6 at the Pod.

I know it will probably be an auto and heavy etc but anything is going to feel fast compared to what I have been driving out here. And even if I had a half decent car here the roads are so bad you wouldn't enjoy it. Also the driving standard here is a joke!

Also I've calmed down a bit, big 50 next year 😁, so won't be ragging it everywhere.


It's just a thought at the moment but I like the shape and even if not lightning fast it will be adequate for me. Although I plan to come to some of the meets when I get back so may change my mind 😳🤗

They are reasonably quick cars, never driven on but there is one which competes at Harewood hillclimb occassionally. Not being cruel but the driver isn't the fastest (he previously had an Audi S3 which I could beat with my standard Coupe) and he has done times in the low 74 seconds on standard road tyres whilst my best is 69.5 on R888s with a few suspension mods.

I’ve not driven one but I drive its big brother - 2014 SL350 which is 200kg heavier and has about 40bhp more. I bought the SL because I firmly believe there’s only so much power that you can use and not frustrate the hell out of you on today’s roads. It’s not a track weapon but I have one of those.

What is good is that its RWD which (whilst I’m posting on a Coupe forum) is just so much more satisfying to drive. It’s also a Merc (from 2005) so the build quality and interior finish will be great (better in my experience than its German competitors). A Boxter or Z4 will be quicker on the track but neither has a folding hard top. You pays your money.

I expect there’s stuff you can do to make it quicker if you need to. Frankly, I run my SL in Economy mode 95+% of the time - there’s hardly been a moment that I wish it were faster.

Hi Frog,

I love it when old members re-surface. Think you were in Guildford and I was (am still) Haslemere.

I have a GTV Cup (for sale) which is outside of your price range, but it got me thinking, how about a non-Cup GTV 3lt V6? Well sorted ones are less than £5k. I believe that Flea (Leighton) can get them up to 250bhp (from 220).

Hi. Yes that's right Guildford born and bred 😎
I will have a look at the GTV.

Thanks for your input guys. Keep it coming

I would second the 350z. I had one for just over a year, it was a 2007 with the 313hp HR engine and I really liked it. Not the most stunningly fast car in the world, but it was fantastic fun to drive, looked great, and never ever let me down. I also drove quite a few of the earlier models, and would definitely recommend starting at the 2006 facelift if you can possibly find one in budget. The revisions to the interior were quite significant in my opinion, the pre-2006 just feel a little bit 'cheap' by comparison.

In fact.. here's a 2006 at a fraction over budget (surely £5k with haggling) https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/...cars&page=4

I looked at that last night!
😎
Very tempting but don't know owe much about them. Are they reliable? Plan to do a lot of driving holidays so reliability needs to be considered.

Trouble now is the more I'm looking the more choice I'm seeing! 😜

Also may be looking at a coupe!

If say I bought an in modded coupe, how much to get to reliable 300 ft/lb in wide band?

A 350Z (and ultimately, a 370) is definitely on my list. I've done a fair bit of research into them and they seem pretty reliable (with caveats!).

I love the looks and old school-ness...

Ok I've narrowed it down to either a coupé 20vt or the 350 slk with AMG suspension!

Still a tough one !

If I buy the merc I think more reliable and less upkeep and if I buy a coupé I'm in for more maintenance possible unreliable given age and I just KNOW the modding bug will come back! 😝

Coupe would be easier and cheaper to fix,and from what I understand them there Mercedes model can be unreliable in the electrics dept.

I’m not sure the Coupe will be easier to fix. If I had the choice to work on any make of car, Merc would be my choice. They’re put together to be maintained. I fitted a tow bar to the E320 and the rear of the car was a doddle to disassemble after 10 years.

TBH I don’t know much about Merc parts costs because I’ve never needed anything much. I think I’ve only bought a couple of bits for my 2006 E-Class in the last two years: brake switch at around £20 and mirror repeater indicator at around £35 - both main dealer prices.

The Fiat wins on tuning potential because of the turbo but it sounds like that’s not a route you want to take.

Good luck with the decision.

What makes the coupe easier to fix and maintain is this very forum!

£5,000 would buy a very nice fiat coupe.

As for a Mercedes I know they make a good car and someone could be very lucky and get a cherished one.
But it still has to be looked after. But lack character imo.

This forum is great. But what makes Mercedes also easy to work on is that there are hundreds of videos and written guides on line showing you step-by-step how to do a job. The Yanks, in particular, are very fond of posting a video or two.

Mercedes also make it attractive to have a full main dealer history.

Having had a melted piston, cracked manifold and corroded rear light surrounds (amongst other faults) on my Coupe, you’ll be hard-pressed to persuade me that the Coupe is the better buy. But RWD is the clincher for me

Mine was faultless. Owned it for just under 18 months and literally nothing went wrong. Servicing was pretty reasonable too. I had a 2007 (so one of the later ones) and bought one with full history and low mileage which looked like it had been well looked after.

Really can't praise them enough. The reason I got rid was needing at least a little bit of back seat practicality, (though I admittedly went totally the opposite direction and got an M5, though now I've settled on something which feels essentially like a cross between the two) but it was the most difficult car I ever had to part with.

Well I've bought a car!

And er, Its none of the above.

After a lot of thinking and consideration to my budget, I've played safe and gone back to the brand that I always seem to do.

It's not a sports car but not a slouch either. I considered reliability, drivability, running costs and practicality with a bit of luxury.

Go on! Have a guess 😜

Thanks for all your input.

I do plan to buy a coupé
In the near future, maybe as a project car when I get settled.

Cheers frog.

Answer tonight 😎

Well, I guess a BMW, but not an "M" if you say "not a sports car" (assuming that an "M" classifies as a sports car?) 520d or 530d?

S type Jag Diesel

Mondeo ST 2.2 TDCI

?

Definitely a BMW of some kind. I guess 330d M sport?

Toyota Soarer

Ok how do I post a picture?
I've tried the "how to" but can't find the button to add files?????


Sorry I'm probably being a numpty!

You don’t “add a file” but you point to a picture hosted elsewhere using the button on the full reply view that looks like a screen...

It is a real pain now Photobucket started preventing links; always used to use it for posting on here. It was suggested setting up a free Flickr account, but I have not done it yet. Worth a try.

You can still use url= links to Photof***it images instead of imgpop, but you have to endure slow or incomplete loading and being bombarbed with adverts, they're certainly doing a good job to drive people away, but as ever, if anything seems too good to be true (free image hosting for forums) it usually is, or will stop at some time in the future...

Edit: Well come on then Frog, spill the beans (photo is optional)

Someone on here said they've been using TinyPic with no issues so I tried it myself. It's worked perfectly so far and is FAR faster than photobucket.

It seems like a retrograde move on behalf of Photobucket but their site was old and clunky and not really suited to fast internet sharing. It seems a strange approach scaring everyone away by becoming subscription only but what they've not been shouting about is the fact that they set up tinypic to host this type of thing. Tinypic is owned by Photobucket and it would have seemed much more friendly had they emailed free accounts and told them to move to tinypic but I suppose they want to try and get you to subscribe as their first option!

We don’t need pics - just what sort of car it is - unless it’s very original