[Closed] So who has a 'summer car' then?

Mrs B has a Micra CC which is her main car, boot surprsingly big as (excellent) electric roof folds in. 1600cc motor goes well. Doesn't have the looks of a proper sports convertible.

Other choices which friends have, BMW Z4, Honda S2000, MX5 ... from prior posts here I'd say an MX5 with a folding electric hard roof woukd be perfect - quite rare but look very nice and are cheap, reliable fun.

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Did I mention it's the perfect biking car?
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I suggested an MX5 (a friend has one and has modified it heavily for track days) but she's not keen. Unfortunately I know what she wants and it's not cheap 🙁

Used to have a 1967 mark2 triumph spitfire.

She said I could have the 4x4 or the spitfire, took the 4x4. To be fair the spitfire wouldn't have made the journey from Farnborough to Edinburgh or indeed to the other side of its mot

Unfortunately I know what she wants and it's not cheap...

Go on then... 🙂

Once she's had heated wing mirrors she won't look back. Err?

Is it one of these?
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Yup, bought from new.

But drive it throughout the year..

Like this:

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I've got a 1965 VW Beetle that got driven 851 miles last summer. It cost me £892 to get it through it's MOT two weeks ago. I could have bought a bike for that money.

OH has a 1973 Baja bug which is fun (and for sale, incidentally, 11 months' MOT etc...)

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MX5 is the sensible choice... Cheap to run and there's tonnes of them about, and Japanese build quality is usually better than anyone else's.

I have a BMW Z4. You can pick an early 3L SE like mine for surprisingly little money, and given the engine and box are out of a 3/5 series they're built to do mega miles. The build quality isn't quite up to normal German standards as its built in their US factory, but it's by no means bad, just a couple more rattles and squeaks than you might expect from a BMW. They did a range of engines, the 2L 4 pot is only 150bhp so given the car is heavier than an mx5 it won't be quick, though economy is better by about 15-20% over the 6's. Don't be tempted by the 2.2 6, it's only 20bhp more than the 2L but the cars a fair bit heavier and thirstier. The 2.5 is ok but no cheaper to run than the 3L. The 3L is a corker of an engine, you can drive it like a diesel barely going above 1500 revs and it pulls smoothly all day, or rev it to the redline and it sings! Properly quick too, sub 6sec 0-60 from 230bhp. Mine has the full M Sport pack which included staggered fit 18" wheels with run flat tyres (ditch them for normal tyres if you get one, it makes the world of difference!), full leather, heated seats (you'd be amazed how useful this is in a soft top car!) and crucially a manual gearbox (it's a peach, wouldn't have the auto in this car). The handling is awesome too and it brings a real smile to my face every time I drive it, the boot is huge too for a car of its type! Be careful at T junctions though cos the bonnet is similarly huge... Getting 32mpg combined from my 3L which has impressed me. Some of the competition I looked at were low 20's avg consumption. Speaking of which...

The M version of the Z4 is a thirsty beast. Hugely quick but the 3L is already quick enough, and costs are prohibitive in my book. Buy if you've got deep pockets...

The Honda S2000 is a cult classic now and prices are going up! Bonkers revvy 2L engine with no torque and a 9000rpm redline... Not cheap to run (low to mid 20's mpg despite being a 2L) but bought to do little miles in could be seen as an investment as the prices are going mad!

Porsche Boxster... Lovely motor, don't buy one unless it's new, nearly new with a big warranty, or it's cheap enough that if you had to spend £4K on an engine rebuild tomorrow it wouldn't bother you... Too many nightmare stories out there about them sadly! You may be able to buy them for Ford money, but you need Porsche sized wallets to run them!

Merc SLK... As about 95% are autos I ruled this out instantly, but if you just want to cruise with the top down they're not a bad shout.

Nissan 350z... Big, brash, it could be American not Japanese! Lovely engine but it's a bit of a tank and the soft top is bloody ugly if you ask me.

Audi TT... Just don't like the back end on the soft top myself. Pretty reliable motors, my GF has an S3 which is the same floor pan, drivetrain, suspension, brakes etc. Just can't get excited about the soft top! You can pick good ones up quite cheap mind and they're quick, and a stage one remap costs about £250 and will give you another 40bhp!

I've got a soft top and drive it all year round. The hood has three layers - the outer layer, an insulating layer and a headlining. Absolutely no problem driving it all year round. Get a wind deflector and with decent heaters you can have the top down during bright winter days too without having to dress up like an arctic explorer.

My mum has a summer car. It inevitably has a flat battery, flat tyres and rusty brake disks every spring. It's much better to run them all year round.

In my book, the current bargain convertibles are the BMW Z4, Porsche Boxsters, BMW 6 series and SAAB 9-3s. The Z4s and Boxters are around at £3k upwards, but I suspect you'll get a nicer BMW for your money. The BMWs don't look particularly date either. 6 series are getting cheap now for petrol engined models. And SAABs are around for £2k or so upwards - the 2.0T Aeros will remap to 240-250 bhp for around £100 and the 2.0t cars will map to around 200 bhp for the same money.

MX-5s are available for pocket money, but any 2 litre diesel hatch will be miles faster than you, 6 footers don't really fit with the standard seats, and they rust like it's going out of fashion. But they are pretty good fun.

One other important thing to note is that diesel convertibles are not cricket.

I have a convertible....

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@midlifecrashes car and that first photo single handedly changed my view of MX-5's

OP I don't see the logic of spending decent money on a summer car (unless its a real classic which is a thing of your dreams like an old Merc) something reliable which is going to start and run after months of being idle is what you want imo. Whatever you buy get a simple trickle charger and move the car evry now and again to avoid flat spotting the tyres and oil drying/all going to the sump.

We probably put the roof down a dozen days a year, it was very cool to have the car in the Alps last summer and I squeezed the bike into the boot

It'll be a mini

Porsche Boxster... Lovely motor, don't buy one unless it's new, nearly new with a big warranty, or it's cheap enough that if you had to spend £4K on an engine rebuild tomorrow it wouldn't bother you... Too many nightmare stories out there about them sadly! You may be able to buy them for Ford money, but you need Porsche sized wallets to run them!

Spoke to my local Porsche expert about the so called engine failures. Hes seen about 3 in 15 years across all the range, although if it does go you need more than 4k to fix it. Ideally look for one which has had the IMS refitted, which was the source of the issue on pre 2006 cars.

I have the Boxter S as my summer car, goes like stink but as above you want to factor in around 2k a year on maintanance costs and avoid the main dealer like the plague. Parts are not actually that expensive, the issue is that the engine is stuck somewhere in the belly of the car, so it takes about twice as long to repair anything that goes wrong. I've done 3k in mine in last 2 years, and have spent 4k on fixing it!!! (although that includes the clutch and IMS bearing replacement which comes in at 1800 on its own). Can't bring myself to sell it though...

@tp I imagine I'll have some bills to come but my Cayman S has cost me £300 a year (24 month service intervals) in the 9 years I have had it, low milage mind only 40k on it. Had to replace the tyres 2 years ago as they where cracked, still had plenty of tread (ok so I drive like a grandad, well maybe 😉 ). Boxter etc would be a fine summer car but the £515 road tax is a bore but I suppose you can SORN it half the year.

Something "classic"?

That way big engines and fun don't mean £500+ tax bills. Reliability might not be great but IME they get better with regular use, my MG only broke down. Once when I was commuting in it, probably 10+ midling to major things have needed replacing/fixing since it became a summer car.

Another old Poxster owner here. Wouldn't call it a summer car, per se - weekend one, maybe, as blatting across the moors on a frosty winters night with the roof down and the heating full up is kind of invigorating!

Only had it 6 months, and yes, it's not been cheap. However most of the jobs have been of the "do once and then not have to worry about again" type thing - suspension components etc. The joys of buying a 90k mile sportscar... As above, parts aren't too bad although, yes, engine access could be better! Been doing most of the work myself which saves a few ££. IMS bearing is a worry, but I hoping the failure rate is somewhat overblown! I'll get mine changed when the clutch needs doing.

MX5s never really interested me (plus they rust and that's one thing I can't sort out myself). S2000 - too peaky. Z4 coupe was the other favourite, as I think they look great and a bonkers engine, but my other car is a Beemer and they were just too similar. The Pork is quick and has a very different balance to the others, being mid engined. Even starting is a bit special as it's all churning away right next to your kidneys before exploding into life.

I wasn't actually looking for a soft top, but couldn't stretch to a Cayman, and actually I've come to really enjoy roof down driving, and the missus loves it. There's just a much greater sensory connection with the landscape as you drive through it.

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Very lucky to be in a position to have it, and I'm not sure how long I'll keep it for, but really enjoying it at the mo!

I have a Cayman S and a TVR Vixen as my fun cars.

I've got a 1965 VW Beetle that got driven 851 miles last summer. It cost me £892 to get it through it's MOT two weeks ago. I could have bought a bike for that money

If it's any consolation my dad's got a 1984 Golf GTI convertible that did 90 miles between MOTs last year! Didn't cost £892 to get it through though

I had a Boxster for 18 months and it was an absolute joy. Barely a week goes by when I don't miss it. I'm lucky enough that my drive to the office is across quiet country roads in the Peak District but, if snow and ice was forecast, I simply choose to work from home. In other words, it was a worthy "everyday" car provided you have flexibility to avoid the true winter days.

That said, I did get rid of it for the fear of big bills. As someone said above, the parts aren't too bad (I needed a new clutch) but the engine is buried under a sea of carpet and cloth. In the 18 months I owned it I never even saw the engine! You can't just open a bonnet and have a look.

I looked at and test drove 4 (?) before settling on this one. I'm no car expert, but it was easy to tell the ones that had been looked after from those that hadn't.

[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/6774674846_52cd39df3c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/6774674846_52cd39df3c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/bjDYNJ ]My Boxster[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stilltortoise/ ]stilltortoise[/url], on Flickr

I think i can top the 90 miles between MOTs and 851miles for 892 quids worth of repairs.......

A mate blew his engine on the way back from his MOT (playing silly buggers), spent most of the year tinkering and mucking about, finished rebuilding/replacing the engine about a week before his next MOT. Shakedown was on the way to the MOT centre.

The tester was somewhere confused by the mileage change (about 12) between the two MOTs........ Total cost, somewhat north of 2 grand.

Shame it was only a Capri.

MX5s never really interested me (plus they rust and that's one thing I can't sort out myself).

I think that mainly comes from unsorted imports - the GB ones don't rust any more than any other car. I had my Eunos undersealed properly and it was fine .. body panels are relatively cheap and easy enough to replace at home (but it's not worth the bother assuming you need the new panels sprayed).

I would love my Elise back. Now that's a summer car (though I had a hardtop and drove it year round, it was sub optimal on ice ;-))

I used to have one of these for summer, in this exact colour and configuration, but sold it back in 1998 (in Canada), and haven't had one since:

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If you look at MX5's, don't look at the Mk3, they unfortunately they are the black sheep of the family (and not in a good way)

I also wouldn't get a power roof. The manual version can be put up and down in about 3 seconds, the auto takes much longer!

I have this which only gets used in the Summer for obvious reasons, it has an MX-5 engine if that makes any difference 🙂

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I have a Cayman S and a TVR Vixen as my fun cars.

Nissan Figaro - awesome little cars, cheapish to buy and run, look cool and a bit different. My missus had one but it had to go due to the arrival of the parasites.

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GF has a MX5 mk2 as a daily driver.... 140km round commute each day.

fun car for the weekends. fast, but not Autobahn fast. with a hardtop it feels like a proper car (sort of) and as said above, the foldy roof drops in about 2 seconds.
should prove to be cheap to run... well, assuminig the GF doesn't slide it into a kerb and bugger up the alloys and the allignment again.

We have a 2000 Elise. Hasnt been used much the past couple of years but it always brings a smile to my face when I do go out in it, apart from the kids fighting to see who gets to go in the passenger seat!

Saw my first Dodge Viper is years at the weekend - get one of them!

I have a Cayman S and a TVR Vixen as my fun cars.

There's just a much greater sensory connection with the landscape as you drive through it.

Well the Mrs hankers after a Boxster, partly because we've had 3 as courtesy cars over the last 6 months or so and each time the weather's been good.

Surprised no one has mentioned the mr2 roadster. We loved ours and the mrs used it everyday for stirling to edinburgh commute till it got hit by a truck. Toyota reliabilty (watch the exhaust filter stuff) and mid engine rear wheel drive fun. 3k will get you one easily.

Sold my Z4 Beemer as I quit my job and needed the money.

Surrounded by convertibles last week in the sun 🙁

I need money! (To buy another sun car.)

one of my friends drives around in a Audi A8...he also has a Mclaren MP4-12C which replaced his Ferrari F430

we're not so rich so we have to make do with just the C-Max

+1 for an MX-5

good value, fast enough, easy to drive and perfect bike car 🙂

I use mine all year round

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Vx220 had it for 10years only plays out May to November now though did use it as an everyday car for 18months.....that was fun in winter 😯