After coming back to Coupe ownership for the 8th time, Ive realised im permanently skint while its on the road,.

Ive realised its now classed as an older car, A nail if you like and simply cannot be classed as reliable as modern day machines, VXR, Focus ST, Copra R etc etc are all soo pretty, so reliable and all are nearly new,.

This is a 1998 20vt I have, Its full spec, Its had turbo seals done, Manifolds cracked, Electrices recently caught on fire, brakes wobble at silly speed, God the lists endless,

A friend has a 130k Cupra and it drives like new, And has needed nothing in 3 years except brakes and tyres,... This 20vt has 95k and is far from in every way.

They DO NOT age gracefully they are full of age related niggles and cannot compete in the reliability steaks as per VAG etc..

Im now driving my GF's lovely New Megane CC, Its lovely - feels new and is bang up2 date,

I can even do a trip WITHOUT checking the dash for warning lights etc.

Back in 2003 when I had my first Coupe they were cool and fast,

Now I drive it on a sunny day, RX8's TT's Go past and I know what theyre thinking, 'Ha bet that cost £1200!' And theyre right theres no money in even the best coupes.. Old hat old news, old mechanics...

Now as LE's are fetching as low as £2500 I believe they are pants.

Not a week goes by without a new noise of problem occuring.

Im now buying a TDI A3 Quattro and Il just watch my piggy bank brimming within a week.

RIP Fiat Coupe,.. Long live NEW or just reliable cars that are worth more that a few K.

Chrissy, Not Chrissy20vt

I shall expect coupe 9 within the year

I'm still on coupe 1 - thirteen years later. It's left me on the side of the road, what, twice in that time?

Yes but its a 16v N/A Deemed the more reliable of the Coops,. They are not fast enough to break or get hot enough to detonate!

And I presume you maintain it to your very best, If you dont pamper them they just die, The other cars I mentioned are more forgiving.

If youre not prepared to maintain them to their best and pamper them then perhaps it's not the right car for you.

Coupe's are delicate and cant take abuse or neglect but they can be very reliable.

They can be reliable at a cost of probably triple and equivalent car for age and mileage..

Wrong in so many ways I don't know where to begin...

Who gives a damn what drivers of RX8s and TTs think?

I drive my coupe because I want to drive it, not for anyone else's benefit.

Not of the same power though.

And you can bet your life your GF'S Megane will go wrong and won't age gracefully.

Any sports/high powered car needs time and money spending on them - it catches up with any car sooner or later.

None of the cars mentioned above are future classics, all copied the coupe styling in some way, ( brembos, red stitching, titanium details etc etc ) and none of them will look good almost 15years after their original design, why come on a coupe forum and slate the coupe ??

Chrissy, I'm on my second. I budget to spend £1k a year, and always spend less than that (Thanks CarlT, Alternative Autos and Matt at Seawall)

Just look after it, and it won't ever cost you the earth. My latest one cost me £1400 to buy at the beginning of this year, but it still looks like a car worth 10 times that much. TT and RX8 drivers who actually KNOW about cars (or is that mutually exclusive) know that the coop is a faster car than theirs, a better car, a prettier car...its just that it is older.

But screw what you think other people think. I drive a coop because it suits me. It is unique enough to be different, and flash and fast enough to give me the kicks I need.

I worry that when this one has done its time on this earth, that I'll be unable to find a decent (Fiat Coupe)replacement.

i have mates with tr4s others with tr6 other with porche,alvis,e type,the list is endless,when i bought my 20vt ,they all said brilliant when can they go out in it.They know its a fragile classic to be.But its a great car.
I love it

That's why I drive mine.

And as for the Megane CC, my wife's workmate has one - 58 reg. Within 2 weeks it was back in the dealership as the passenger seat wouldn't lock on the runners. When she accelerated it shot backwards, opposite when she braked.

Well I have just sort of done the opposite, getting rid of the new cars and enjoying driving again. Driving a BMW 5 series as work car. The coupe is in a different league. Yes it is Italian and yes you're going to have problems but what fun, you're never get that in a cc. As for cost a good car does'nt need to cost a fortune. Drove a Ferrari and prefer an X1/9. German cars have there uses they are a good taxi etc.

I like your write up, the Coupe is old hat compared to modern machinery and neglected it is a timebomb. You are not going to get far with comments like that here though are you, lots of people love their coupes.

Many modify the cars beyond what they were designed for and have ploughed thousands in to them, totally misguided in my mind but hey let them, maybe some could do with a reality check of where modern sports/luxury cars are OE without 'rebuilding' the entire Bangle concept i.e. engine mods, suspension, wheels, seats, ARBs etc etc

I like my Coupe it is well cared for inside and out and has given me nearly 4 years of driving pleasure for next to nowt. I don't put it anywhere near modern sports stuff it just isn't in the same league but as a stylish 2nd hand sporty car I quite like it.

I wouldn't have a new car if you paid me. I work on brand new and future design cars in my job working in new car development. And i happen to be an auto electrician in that field. If you had any idea how modern cars worked and how fragile they are then you would think very differently. Yes modern technololgy is wonderful, we now make engines that will do 70+ mpg. However that engine has 30 plus sensors and actuators. It can only be fixed after very expensive dealer only diagnostics. If you flick your wipers in a modern car your instantly dealing with 3 if not 4 ECU's on modern cars.

I've had more modern cars, i had a nice Peugeot 307 110hdi, nice and modern, quite low miles. And from when i bought it i had nothing but trouble. After the 5th dealer visit to do with the DPF system as only they could talk to the engine ECU i got sick and tired of it and sold it, making a large loss in the process.

Ill stick to my coupe thanks. I had a miss fire the other day, i traced it to a little bit of water down one of the spark plug holes. No biggy, i got the water out, cleaned the connections and the car ran perfectly. If you have a miss fire on latest generation engine, the MIL light will flag up, ur car will go into restricted performance and you will have no choice but to take it to a dealer. Say for example a spark plug has degraded...to get to the spark plugs on several modern engines that i know well is a 3 hour plus job. On 2 i can think of off the top of my head it is 3 times that long and involves dropping the coolant out of the engine and is a major strip down job.

I have had the good fortune of driving a couple of RX-8's and both the new and old TT's. They to me are if im honest dull and lifeless. Yes great machines...but they give no driving pleasure at all. Everything about them is artificial. As for Focus ST's and such like both through the bends and on the straights my lightly modified coupe will leave them for dust. Nothing gives me more satisfaction then seeing the look on their faces as they disappear into my rear view mirror.

I have one coupe, i have just bought another, one is a project to bring it back to the state it should be in and why?? because i love them and i want to see every coupe on the road that i can.

Sorry for the long post but i feel strongly

Old car, not the same driving experience as newer cars, some won't be as reliable etc etc. All well and good. Not everybody seeks the same thing from a car. The following statement is just plain daft though:

"Now I drive it on a sunny day, RX8's TT's Go past and I know what theyre thinking, 'Ha bet that cost £1200!' And theyre right theres no money in even the best coupes.."

Are you really that hung up on how much people think your car is worth? If you're after something really ostentatious, to show those blighters just how much cash you have, you'd be wanting a Porsche SUV or some such. Yup, that oughta do it - show the world how rich you are.

What's the point? That's nothing to do with a passion for cars, it's just a materialistic statement. Shame

Buy a Porsche SUV and everyone will be thinking, what an ar$e, that thing will be depreciating faster than Zimbabwean inflation is increasing

Yes, you may spend less on maintaining a newer car (probably not an Audi however, given the cost of parts), but you'll probably lose more in depreciation in the long term

For the money i don't think there is a car out there that can compete, still get admiring looks i bet you don't in megane cc

You slate them... I BET you you have another coupe in the next five years!

"Buy a Porsche SUV and everyone will be thinking, what an ar$e, that thing will be depreciating faster than Zimbabwean inflation is increasing \:D"

Isn't that why some folk buy them..? To show just how much money they can flush down the toilet without even missing it.. Waddaya mean you're not impressed, do you have any idea how much it cost!!

I don't really see the point in that. Especially considering the Coupe wasn't even that expensive when new anyway

anyone can afford a coupe, but it doesnt mean they will b able to maintain it. who carez what the rx8 and tt drivers think, fccuk them

Sounds a bit like the Coupe blinkers have come of Chrissy.

Realising its now classed as an older car?? Yes, obviously!

Just sounds like its time to move on thats all, it will happen to everyone eventually.
When you own a car your very fond of its on quite a pedestal. For example threads where people state if i won the Euromillions i would still have my coop. Maybe you would, but you would probably take the Lambo out the garage more often than your Fiat.

If you have the money to move on to something better then do it. I spent out quite a bit on my Z4, but haven't spent a penny on a mechanical problem since. Like you say the pennies build up and you don't feel like the car is raping you each month.

I agree that the new hatches are pretty cool looking, if you showed a picture of them to me 10 years ago i would have thought they looked mental! Often overlooked though as you're so used to the sight of them now.

In the words of d1ckhead Ramsey..Coop ownership...Done. You wont forget it though.

I hide the receipts from myself and can’t remember how much it cost me so the Coupé is very cheap... in my mind.

Sorry, I just read "devils advocate" when I see posts like yours Chrissy.

We all know most of the points in your post are fairly accurate.

But, if you're a true car enthusiast, there's so much more to owning a car than maintenance costs and reliability issues.

That said, it sounds like I'm confirming the Coupe is unreliable. In my experience, it's not.

I still don't understand why it's taken you 8 coupes to come to this conclusion

Well I'm still on my first 20vt, 12 years old now and owned since virtually new, phase sensor meant I was without it a while, other problems were rounded sump plug thread and sump off meaning off the road a while, CODE box getting corrupted mean more down time, but as for actual breakdowns at the side of the road, ummm, struggling to think now, I did have a boost hose pop off, fixed that myself, what else? I really can't think. It's no less reliable than wifey's 5 year old V40. If it's been properly looked after from new there's no reason why it won't last another 10-15 years...(he says hopefully )

LOL, I do tend to agree with Chrissy, but it seems it has taken him too long to get to this point. The coop is what it is, it is a cheap fast car, but with that comes all the complications of owning a cheap fast car.

My first coop was one of the youngest coops in the country and had no issues at all, my second coop was modded and still had no issues, but that was 4 years ago, you can bet they are suffering now. But that doesn't matter as long as you go into coop buying with your eyes wide open.

If you are not prepared to spend the money on the coop then you shouldn't have one, but that doesn't just for the coop, but any old fast car. It has nothing to do with Italian flair, style, etc, forget all that and remember it is an old fast car.

To try and compare it to, say, my ST, is rubbish, as the ST is 2 years old compared to a 12 year old car. You can bet when the ST is 12 years old, it will suffer!

But just to pick up on a couple of other points I don't think the coop was the first car to use red stitching, brembos and titanium, I really don't think you can say that!

A few things:
1. You are comparing a modified car with a standard car, where one has more power, so yes it may leave it for dust!
2. Leave it for dust, LMAO, what does that mean, your car probably does 0-60 in 5.8 seconds, an ST will do it in 6.4 seconds (well mine does), is that leaving it for dust, as for straights well maybe, but we don't live in the US do we, as for twisties, dream on!

Interesting and brave post. It's your point of view and don't be put off by the baying mob with pitch forks.



They are still cool and fast, it's just they are now cool and fast and very, very cheap.


Secondly your experience with Coops is inevitably down to the particular examples you are buying. i.e. dogs.

Buy cheap, buy twice.

You'll have just the same problems with your A3 TDI unless you do your homework first.

I've got two quality German cars now, one 8 years old and one 16 years old. Both will cost me more to maintain than I paid on both my Coops over the same period of ownership.

Old cars cost money. New cars cost even more, end of.