Opinions?

[taylor.v6]

Hi all, first post but I'm after peoples opinion on the Mk2 V6 for sale on pistonheads. LINK

Also after some advice. I'm a civil servant so not exactly made of money. I'll have to get a loan which doesn't concern me but what does is the running costs. Would you recommend owning a V6 as a everyday car bearing in mind im not on a amazing wage
Cheers

 

[paul o]

No , the fuel costs alone would cripple you if you used it as a every day car ,sorry for the negative response but I know how much I put in mine and that's just a weekend toy ,especially with the price of petrol as it is .but I'd still buy one all day long

 

[masterL]

petrol!! and I hate driving these in the wet luckly I don't have to.

 

[thunderstarter]

I suppose it depends on how far you drive to work? If you have a long commute then no, it's not a great everyday car. It's similar consumption though to any other high performance or high capacity prestige car, so unless you can afford to fuel it then I'd stear clear.

Price wise, the phase 2 that's currently for sale on Pistonheads belongs to a forum member and at that money, you won't get a cheaper phase 2 car. I'm not sure on the history of the car in question, but on a car that age, you must factor in consumables, it'll likely need discs, pads, fluid changes, almost certainly a cam belt change soon (waterpump at the same time) potentially a clutch soon, depending how hard it's been driven. Tyres etc etc are all not cheap.... I suppose what I'm saying is you are not buying a Ferrari, but they still cost a bit to run.

 

[roystinho]

What do you drive now? We might be able to say how much more it'll cost you.

I use mine everyday, the commute is a round 17 miles unless I go for a drive after work and find the petrol cost not too bad. If I was doing 50 a day then it might be a different story. As for tyres, I couldn't believe how cheap they were tbh. I was expecting £250 a corner at least, but £150 for fronts and £200 for rears is a bargain I think (my friends E46 330 is more per tyre)

There will be the occasional big bill, my clutch has just gone and I'm changing the flywheel at the same time. Gonna cost about the £1200-£1300 mark, but now that's sorted and the cambelt was done last year then I should. fingers crossed, have a pretty easy time of it.

As for this car, the owner has just piped up 2 posts above ask him

 

[CraigV6]

Do you have access to another car?
The cost of running one shouldn't put you off as it's not too bad (similar to other cars in the same kind of class) but the fact it is quite impractical should, unless you have another car to use.

Practicality issues - only two seats, no boot, terrible turning circle, not multi-story or speed bump friendly, attracts a huge amount of attention (which can get annoying at times), mid-engined, RWD (so no use in the snow and can be difficult to drive in damp conditions if you aren't careful).

I tried running my first one as a daily runner, but ended up having to buy a second car.

My second is a dry weekend toy only.

 

[johnler]

If running cost is a issue then it's the wrong car to go for, because you can't just ignore anything that wants doing on these and they are not new car's
But on the other hand if you bought it I wouldn't think you would lose any money if you had to sell it in 6 months time because of running cost, these car's seem to have bottomed out on price and the one in question is too cheap needs to be another £1500-2000

 

[taylor.v6]

Cheers for the responses

Unfortunately with the cost of tax and insurance I wont be able to own another car. But work is only a 7 mile round trip and i don't use my current car everyday to commute so petrol really isn't a big worry for me. Neither is being practical.

The only thing that is putting me off is running costs as mentioned above. The clutch alone is pretty much my monthly wage ha, and i worry i have is that i will be constantly stressed that something expensive would need replaced

 

[roystinho]

7 miles? Get a pushbike and buy a V6. Job done.

Man maths for a clutch is use a 0% credit card, then when you've payed off enough of the loan refinance your credit card in. It's what I'd have done about 8 years ago so I could afford the car I wanted. This is not sound financial advise however, just a possibility to justify a purchase and what you could do if something bad went on it. Sensible head says if you can't afford it don't buy it, but when was being sensible any fun?

 

[mick.harris]

go for it !!
O.K. my car is a weekend car so petrol isn't an issue, but after insurance the total running cost for last year was £125 for an oil change service,
I backed my wifes honda into a post and that cost me £450, so depends how you drive ,and you need a bit of luck,
but as the others say if you buy right , you'll almost certainly get your money back and a bit more,

 

[ravydavy]

The lack of depreciation should make it worthwile.

 

[Mr Tim]

Are you specifically after a Phase 2? A Phase 1 would be no more/less expensive to run than a Phase 2 and would be cheaper to buy in the first place.

I actually think they're quite reasonable to run, certainly compared to equivalent aged German cars...look at the parts prices of BMW/Merc...

 

[quik99]

A loan is fine as long as you can comfortably afford the repayments. You always need to allow some room for error, otherwise it will ruin your enjoyment of the car.

If you are planning on buying the car to keep for sometime, and will not be adding huge mileage, then go for it. If you are in a position to stump up a reasonable deposit and borrow the rest then that should help protect you against a negative equity situation (simple loan to value maths).

The mk2 Illiad you have seen is known on the forum and in my honest opinion is probably the cheapest mk2 you will find in that condition (it certainly looks like a great example!).

I couldnt live with mine as a daily, however that is down to my job due to driving a lot of miles! (so i have a diesel for that). If i were merely commuting to and from work and it was a short commute (like yours), then i wouldn't hesitate to own one as a daily. Just factor in servicing, rear tyres and perhaps a little contingency fund.... the car is yours!

 

[Matt]

It's an expensive car to run everyday on a loan basis to be honest. Might be better getting a nice 182 for awhile if its an everyday runner as you will just worry about vee constantly.

 

[roystinho]

It's an expensive car to run everyday on a loan basis to be honest. Might be better getting a nice 182 for awhile if its an everyday runner as you will just worry about vee constantly.

Interested why you think this Matt? I've used some different methods of paying for cars (loan, finance, outright) and all have their advantages. I'd have thought a loan would be a good way with a car with little to no depreciation.

If you had a loan payed back at £250 (just for round numbers) then every 4 months you'd get £1k equity, certainly in this car I'd imagine as would it go under £10k doing the odd 7 mile commute plus fun miles?. Then if you needed to sell you after 6 months you either will get £1500 back if you sell at buying price and pay off loan, or you've got £1500 to drop to get rid. You could view it as a rental car almost...

But you wouldn't sell, it would get under your skin and you'd keep it

 

[Matt]

Wasn't really about the loan, more using it for the everyday runner bit.

Just my view but if you are gonna commit to getting something special like a vee on a loan basis then id rather keep it pristine. You could have a 182 runabout and save up or get a loan a year later and have both then. If thAt makes sense.

I actually bought my vee with a part loan too so nothing at all wrong with the loans bit just think that stretching yourself for monthly payments for a daily to works and back is difficult at the best of times.

 

[roystinho]

I get ya

 

[GTTurbo]

7 miles? Get a pushbike and buy a V6. Job done.

My thoughts exactly! Get it bought mate :race:

 

[GTTurbo]

And tbh I can't believe this mk2 Illiad is still available at that price??

 

[taylor.v6]

It does sound tempting, I already cycle to work whenever i can be bothered. If I did get a loan for a v6 i was thinking of getting an extra grand as a back up in case something major needs replacing.