[Closed] Would you?

For those that feel cheated by the thread title.

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Thought about a 911 turbo or Audi R8 but don't want that much money depreciating away. Also, my cars useage would mean they would be starting 300 days a year so I'm better off hiring something special if I fancy it.

Yes to both of the first 2 posts.

I think it depends on how much of the disposable income I had! Also depends on how super the car is too. If I did I still don't think I would as like you say their too impractical and too obvious. I think I'd prefer the more stealth side of things and get my Golf engine upgraded etc.

Everyone should be content with the Trabant they may eventually be entitled to join a queue to register their interest in buying.

Thanks bear, revived the thread. 🙂

I kind of view supercars and supermodels in a similar fashion. They're great to look at and probably fun to take for a spin every now and again, but I almost certainly wouldn't want one as my daily runabout.

[quote=andyrm ]Yes to both of the first 2 posts.

does having the first improve the chances of the second?

Yup but then I do like my cars, it'll be the Aston over the Ferrari though.

No and no, would rather be wandering around field with

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I think it depends on how much of the disposable income I had!

As for the people using supercars for commuting... I'm undecided. How easy to drive are they in traffic/around town nowadays? Is it a decent option for the well heeled enthusiast or are they still a bugger to drive so it's only those mid life crisis/chronically low self esteem/nobbers who bother?

If money was no object, yes, I would definitely have an Aston.

I would not live in a city with speed bumps though.

Yes, I would buy something, but probably an older Ferrari, depending on how much cash I had, maybe a 328, a 355

If it were a more 'modest' amount, maybe I'd get an older 911

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I like your style jools. I'd have a 288GTO.

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I had a (short) ride in brand new Rolls Royce Phantom last week. Not a super car as such but insanely impractical. Parking pretty much anywhere would be impossible.

Supercars are also mostly too big (mainly too wide) to be comfortable to park in a normal space. Worrying about where to park it would take the fun out of the driving experience for me. Maybe a 911 is a bit more sane - maybe an older one.

Yes, but I know it wouldn't get used as much as a more ordinary car. My brother in law is a bit well off and had a choice in LA between a new range rover and a Lambo Aventadour. He said the RR won out simply cos it was just easier to drive, park, and hop in and out of. I get that.

I'm a fan of Aston Martin personally. I'd definitely buy a DB5 and a Vanquish Carbon.

Everyone should be content with the Trabant they may eventually be entitled to join a queue to register their interest in buying.

Morning or afternoon?

(For those who don't get the joke:

)

OP - probably but I would need millions before entertaining the idea of a supercar. Aston rather than Ferrari for me.

Bear - deffo, but i bet she wouldn't want me to pick her up a Ford Smax!!

No and No.

If it was a choice of 911 circa late 70's with some fuchs alloys on and in that pale green they did back then, then yes. I think my choice may just influence utterly sublime Dr Lucy Worsley to come out for a spin in the English countryside with me too.

*checks bank account

*checks out Porsche world mag..

*checks Lucy's diary

So I was riding in this morning on my functional commuter bike, and passed two £6000 bikes along the way: some sort of beautiful Ibis and a handmade ti road bike. Don't know exactly which models, I'm afraid.

But it did get me to wondering: if I had the disposable income to buy such a thing, would I? And I had to answer 'no'. I can certainly admire them when I see them, but I just have no. interest. whatsoever. in. overly. expensive. specialist. bikes.

They almost seem silly to me. In fact, I used to pass by one when I lived in a different part of the city, and always found it funny that if the owner had have lived one street over, he wouldn't have been able to get to the front of his own house, owing to the fact his road was pedestrianized.

And at the end of the day, that run to the shops is still done seated on a saddle behind a pair of handle bars, turning some pedals. Only mine would say 'Giant' (or whatever) instead of showing a bird or a squiggly signature logo (or whatever).

So, if you had the disposable income would you get an expensive bike? Why? Why not?

Not me, no.

I've nothing against anyone else who enjoys them, but cars in general just don't interest me that much. I didn't even learn to drive till I was in my 30s.

Not for me. Maybe a very top of the range luxury thing, A8, S class, 7 series. For high speed thrills I'd be getting a track day nut case utterly impractical machine. And keep it at my private race circuit.

incidentally my Father in Law has wanted a Delta Integrale for years and years, he finally got one from italy and imported it himself. after about a year of ownership he's moving it on because "he's had his fun"

I wouldn't want a supercar, I'd be more likely to spend a chunk of cash on a not-cheap bike but I wouldn't have a colnago/niner RDO either

[quote=CaptainFlashheart opined]Everyone should be content with the Trabant they may eventually be entitled to join a queue to register their interest in buying.

STraw man arguments are excellent do you get them free with a car?

I dont like cars that much so no amount of money in the world would get me to buy one and if i did MRs JY would never ever give me the key anyway as she, like drac, loves cars.

probably get one for the wife. id continue to baz about in a van with bikes in the back.

I doubt it. Not because I'm particularly opposed to them it's just that virtually every other way of wasting large quantities of cash appeals to me more.

I think with bikes there's a level, above which you're wasting your money. A couple of thousand quid will get you something light and enjoyable with decent kit on it; beyond that you won't see much improvement.

Even if I had the money I'd be way too self-conscious to drive around in something as showy as that. It'd just scream bald, fat bloke having a mid-life crisis. Which is never a good look.

Like jaffejoffer - if I could have anything at the moment, I'd have a van. Think how much I'd have left to spend on coke and hookers 😀

If I was to get something utterly silly, it'd probably be an Atom. They look like a giggle.

tree-magnet - Member

So I was riding in this morning on my functional commuter bike

*and those mainly only really during winter, I still ride my "bestest" road or mtb bike to work (admittedly neither a super bike) in summer.
** you can go fast enough (and do untold damage) in the cheapest production car.

* Lucy's diaries full 🙁

*found the car though...
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If I had the money, without a doubt!

I'd have a Ferrari, or maybe two, a Lambo, a Porsche, an Aston and more. I'd have fast everyday cars, I'd have luxury cars, I'd have huge 4x4's.

I'd have a huge house, with gadgets galore, I'd wear expensive clothes and watches, I'd holiday in disgustingly expensive resorts.

I'd probably have lots of normal stuff too and I'd look after my friends and probably people who I didn't even know.

What's money for, if it isn't for spending?

If money was no object, yes I'd have a supercar.

But not as the everyday runabout.

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Could buy one but I wouldn't it would attract too much attention

Now if there was a V12 4WD Mondeo that looked exactly like a Zetec then you'd be talking

The short version is maybe.

Way-back-when I used to finance a lot of expensive cars, M3s up to Enzos and got to know a lot of owners.

Anyway, it's a strange world Supercar ownership, because despite being wonderful amazing things, they're actually mostly useless. I suspect that quite a few of my customers couldn't reeeeally afford them, or they couldn't stomach the costs anyway - so many times they'd buy a Ferrari 360 or something, then 6 months later they'd be after a settlement figure because they were selling - they'd have done 2000 miles in between - if I knew them well I'd ask them if they liked it "oh yeah, it's amazing, but I've had my fun now" and they'd buy something more everyday like a Boxster or a RS Audi. The most they cost the worse it was - I had a customer buy a Porsche Carrera GT for £300k or something, he sold it a year later with 1000 miles on the clock.

Only a few times would they be completely honest with me, what I've gathered from piecing together the bits and bobs I heard was this:

They are nice to look at, but terrifying to use - not in a "this thing is going to kill me way" if you drive like a normal person and don't piss about with the traction control they're no harder to drive than any other car, well, apart of a big of tunnel vision.

No, the world of supercar owners is fussy to say the least - so you go to buy a Ferrari for £200k, some 'expert' will tell you what over-priced options you need to buy or face ruin "if you don't buy sat-nav for £8k you'll lose £5k in resale!!!!11!!" so you'll end up spending £220k - I don't care who you are, that's a LOT of money. 6 months later it turns up - unless you want one straight away when the dealer will whisper to you about a 'cancelled order' you can have now for only £10k more and because of the 'waiting list' these are "worth more than they are new anyway."

So you take it home to show your Wife and she thinks it's lovely, but probably doesn't want to go in it, and really doesn't want to drive it, because it's bright red and makes too much noise.

So what do you do with it? Well you're not going to put miles on it by driving it to work, and who wants to sit in traffic on a wet Wednesday in Feb in a Ferrari, when almost anything else is more comfortable and warmer (the performance of the climate control not being at the top of the list of priorities for most supercar makers) and mileage is just terrible to values, turn up to a dealer with a 30k mile 4 year old Ferrari and they'll cry "but you used it!!!" and tell you it's worth £50k less, well, only after they've charged you £3k a year to service it, £1000 for a set of tyres or heaven forbid it needs timing belts or you damage it.

You can't really drive them to anywhere either, well not many places - maybe a nice fancy restaurant or pub far from the general public because even though there are only a tiny number of people who will let the green monster drive them to key it, the fear is enough, you don't go to Tesco in a Lambo, you don't even go to Waitrose in a Lambo.

So really, they're only any good for 'high day and holidays' drives, going out to the mountains and country where the roads are quiet, wide and twisty - great - except a 2015 supercar can lap the ring in 7 and 1/2 minutes so it's never going to get into it's stride at legal speeds, okay not everyone it's Sensible Simon, but it's still not going to be into its stride at twice the legal limit and frankly unless you're Jenson Hamilton you'll run out of room and reaction time before you run out of grip and crash into a hedge or tractor.

You could take it on a track... but that's either a massive gamble because Directline won't want to know if you crash it at Brands or you can pay a few thousand more for track day insurance - worse than that it'll start looking a bit second hand at that point - and frankly you couldn't burn money as fast as you'll lose it on a track with your new Ferrari.

It's not about having money to burn either, just because you can afford to spend £200k on a car and not worry about it, doesn't mean you will - you see them all on edge because their wonderfully fragile bit of motoring porn is out of it's air conditioned garage.

Even if I won a rollover on the Euromillions I don't think I'd get a 'Supercar' a 'Sports Car' like an Aston maybe, people tolerate them more and they're more 'everyday' 911's are better, they really are Cars foremost and Sports Cars second, they can cost a fortune, but their owners seemed to love them and keep them a long time and do high mileages. I think I could treat a 911 (not a fancy RS or Turbo one) like I treat my car now and accept cars get scratched and dinged now and again.

binners - Member
Even if I had the money I'd be way too self-conscious to drive around in something as showy as that. It'd just scream bald, fat bloke having a mid-life crisis. Which is never a good look.

I would be avoiding city and town centres for that very reason. I would not be buying it to be looked at

Although a trip to the riviera in one of these does appeal

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For those people not interested by the first couple of posts:

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P-Jay - Member

The short version is maybe.

No and Yes to the first two posts.

Knowing the importance of ground clearance in both the city & country road driving, a RangeRover or equivalent would be my choice of flashness. And I could get the bike in the back, too.

The saddest thing ever was the chap I bought my first house from. He'd scrimped & saved to buy his brand new Lotus something-or-other on retirement, then found that after about 2 months, his back problems meant that he couldn't get into it. Or out, once he'd levered himself in. So he sold at a magnificent loss and regretted the whole damn thing.

A really interesting insight that P-Jay. Thanks for that.

I thought about this. I used to think about what I'd buy but then I realised I really woudn't want to. If I turned up at my mates in some sort of bling, I have a feeling it'd drive a bit of a wedge between us.

And I don't really want to show off. I'd maybe go as far as a BMW 5 series or similar, but that'd be it. Not the sporty ones either - I'd want quiet comfort. If I had that much cash I'd easily be able to afford a track day car and actually race it, which I might do for a bit just to do it.

As said, you can't gun these things on the open road, so better to waft in comfort. Or else resort to making lots of noise for a few seconds on your way to 50mph in a built-up area.

If I had that much disposable income then I'd probably do something useful with it rather than spend it on a car.

I'm not puritain but I sumply couldn't convice myself that spunking that amount of cash on something as frivolous as a car was a valid use of cash.

Same reason I couldn't justify spending huge amounts on a bike.

If I was to get something utterly silly, it'd probably be an Atom.

I've got one of the Intel ones. Really not that quick.

Or else resort to making lots of noise for a few seconds on your way to 50mph in a built-up area.

I'd not thought of that aspect. I don't think I could ever buy a particularly noisy car as I tend to think that it's a spectacularly inconsiderate and shitty thing to drive them around town.

No

Yes

Tank.

[quote=binners ]A really interesting insight that P-Jay. Thanks for that.

+1 - pretty much confirms the thoughts I've always had about them. If I wanted to drive something round a track I'd buy a trackday car. If I wanted something to pose in I'd buy a classic soft-top. If I wanted something nice to drive on the road to go places I'd buy an "ordinary" sportscar.

As for the idea of commuting in a supercar, if I could afford a supercar I wouldn't commute, which is probably why I'll never be able to afford a supercar.

Yes and yes. A few folk at work drive Astons and theres an engineer with a Ferrari 355 or somesuch (runs on standard Fiat parts). I dont begrudge anyone having something that puts a smile on their face, we have the roads out here so why not?

Is that first 911 that of 12 Gauge fame?

I don't think I could ever buy a particularly noisy car as I tend to think that it's a spectacularly inconsiderate and shitty thing to drive them around town.

People go on and on about the noise from these things. Honestly, the supercars I've heard (and I heard a hell of a lot last week as I stayed in Kensington) sound like a racket. I have no idea how it sounds form inside the car but really, it's just a noise.

we have the roads out here

I doubt that.

I've similar views to P-Jay although there does seem to be a similar approach to these things as 'fine wines' or art now.

People are buying them, unseen, and keeping them as investments. they often have no interest in them beyond their market value.

Using sites such as [url= https://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/market-trends ]https://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/market-trends[/url] they try spot 'undervalued' marques/areas and buy at the right time.

Additionally, with classics there's also the element of buying your way into events by owning the right car. Whether it's Goodwood FoS, Pebble Beach or just 'the right' continental tour there's lots of kudos to be had from owning a perfect example of certain marques (and, increasingly, something totally original in unrestored condition - 'preservation' they call it). Even with these owners will employ professional drivers at races because wins in historic races will increease a vehicles value (like a race horse, the owners rarely ride) or just show them as static displays that get taken to and from shows in climate controlled lorries by professionals.

[quote=tree-magnet ]So I was riding in this morning on my functional commuter bike, and passed two £6000 bikes along the way: some sort of beautiful Ibis and a handmade ti road bike. Don't know exactly which models, I'm afraid.
But it did get me to wondering: if I had the disposable income to buy such a thing, would I?

So I was riding in this morning and passed somebody sitting in a brand new VW. It got me to wondering, if I could afford to waste what that would lose in depreciation in a couple of years would I choose to spend it on a really nice bike instead?

Honestly, the supercars I've heard (and I heard a hell of a lot last week as I stayed in Kensington) sound like a racket

Totally agreed. I saw an electric sports car* in town a few weeks back which moved like a greased weael and was almost eerily silent - I thought that was pretty cool.

*forget what it was - they mostly look a bit the same to me to be honest.

You see a lot of Toys here in Shiny Town, some actually drive their Toys to work and back and it's nice to see them in Waitrose carpark under Shiny Town Towers.
Best on I've seen to date is a Porker though, gleaming 70's targa in silver.. A stunner. There are a myriad of Astons to the point of them being boring.

My mate (I've said this before on here) had a McP1 in bright Orange and drove it occasionally. Bought because he could, liked the colour his wife picked out, it sat in the garage having covered 2500 miles in a year. In fact he asked me to drive it whilst he was away in Russia and it was the most bloody awkward car on this planet. I had to drive it up and down Old St just to keep the thing running, what a PITA and heaven forbid should I prang it. He asked me to sell it for him, well hand over the keys to the dealer picking it up. I never asked him how much he got for it, I'm not that crass.

Also you see a lot of flashy ladies too here, some actually work for a living and are pretty damn good at it as well.

You can have both, you may have to come here and vie for it but it's available alright.

I've often wondered about buying a super car. I think you need to understand what you really want. The idea can be different to the experience. Also, you are limited quite a bit on the road when it comes to performance, and the consequences of getting it wrong are pretty daunting. (I've owned a few fast motorbikes)

A couple of years ago I spent a large amount of money on a toy (not a car, but not far off).

Basically I use it when I'm on holiday, so I look forward to using it. I spend time planning a mini adventure and really enjoy it. Go to places where I would not normally go. Places that are beautiful to look at, place that are fun to go to. So the whole thing is a buzz and I really enjoy it. This year I've spent three weeks (two holidays) enjoying it and will spend a further 10 days over Christmas on another mini adventure. Cant wait.

I don't commute to work on it, I don't use it when its not going to be fun.

It has undoubtedly depreciated, but I don't plan on selling it, so that's not a cost I measure. Basically I swopped an asset that was giving me a headache for something I can use and enjoy using.

Before my old man popped his clogs he said to me:

"if you ever think of doing something, FFS do it - you never know when life / health / work will get in the way and before you know it, your too old to do it"

So now for a few weeks a year I'm grinning from ear to ear having a hoot and an adventure.

what about a membership to a car club ? this could be the way of driving daft cars but not having to worry about ownership

I've driven enough to know that they do nothing for me, this is as close as I'd want, supercar engine in something more practical

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A couple of years ago I spent a large amount of money on a toy (not a car, but not far off).

Basically I use it when I'm on holiday, so I look forward to using it. I spend time planning a mini adventure and really enjoy it. Go to places where I would not normally go. Places that are beautiful to look at, place that are fun to go to. So the whole thing is a buzz and I really enjoy it. This year I've spent three weeks (two holidays) enjoying it and will spend a further 10 days over Christmas on another mini adventure. Cant wait.

I don't commute to work on it, I don't use it when its not going to be fun.

It has undoubtedly depreciated, but I don't plan on selling it, so that's not a cost I measure. Basically I swopped an asset that was giving me a headache for something I can use and enjoy using.

Yes, how did you guess 🙂

Cars don't interest me enough, so I wouldn't have one. If I had a truly spectacular amount of money though, I'd have a fast jet. It would have to be one with an unusual amount of headroom (so sadly not a Gnat!) and a two-seater, as I'd not actually be able to fly it myself...

Had a (cheap-ish) fast car in my 20s

Did Trackdays, Euro tours, Le Mans

it was fun, don't want another. 😀 (couldn't get dog, kids, bike in etc)

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In Edinburgh the seikh family that have the monopoly on the tourist tat shops have quite a range of Supercars, Red ones, black ones, green ones, yellow ones, some even have 4 doors and you could pretend they were actually still English. They use them as every day cars so far as I can tell and happily park them outside their shops on the Royal Mile, although I don't doubt this adds to the "stickiness" of the street front of their shops. I do have an issue with the loudness of them as the owners are quite prone to revving the shit out them for the tourists. Apart from the Rollers obv.
Doubt I could ever own something so ostentatious and would prefer a more stealth type performance car, but then I'd probably go get an HGV licence and buy something made by Scania or MAN!

I occasionaly work in Sunningdale, Surrey (one of the most expensive areas in the UK to live). I pass this dealers often and once popped in to have a nosey. The owner was very nice and let me sit in
1. Lamborghini 2. Konnnnigseg (or something) and many more...
The cheapest car in there was a G Wagon at 40k
http://www.supervettura.com/

😀

Here's a picture of my bike

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and another

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That F40 is actually a good investment.

Perhaps if I had several million Id take a punt and put some of it on a car that may will appreciate in value.

At least you can play with that sort of investment whereas a bank account just sits there.

Once upon a time I had the disposable to get that sort of toy.

But I wasn't stupid, I spent the money on a new motorbike each year.

When I was in business I used to reckon that when a business owner bought a big yacht or a really flash car, it was precursor to going broke, ie they were taking their eye off the ball. Wasn't wrong too often. 🙂

I doubt that.

Well, we have free flowing traffic unlike your average city centre. In second or third gear I dare say the roads would be fun. But not the B roads, the 'A' roads are interesting enough...

You'll be breaking the law on those A roads before you get out of 2nd.

I can't afford a flash car but I could afford and run something impractical and fun and very very fast. Probably will, some time, but I'd rather spend time and money on other things for now, which is why I have a diesel estate. Cars are cool though.

Do still have the motorbike in the garage, it's only a little un so there's a few cars out there that can take it in a straight line but none that you can insure for £90 a year 😆

For pure performance and cost value its pretty hard to beat a motorbike (on road or off road), but supercars do look way cool.

Trimix - Member

That F40 is actually a good investment.

Perhaps if I had several million Id take a punt and put some of it on a car that may will appreciate in value.

At least you can play with that sort of investment whereas a bank account just sits there.

If I'm not mistaken 'that' F40 is an LM, so worth about double what a 'normal' one is, probably a million quid or something equally silly.

If I couldn't drive a £200k 458 with an endless supply of parts and more coming down the production line everyday, no way I could face driving a rarer than a rare thing, not to mention a special edition of a rarer than a rare thing with parts being like hens teeth.

I'd be careful of thinking a Classic Car is no-lose gamble either - they've doubled and even trebled in value in the last couple of years - a sure fire sign of a 'bubble' and values have already started to dip at the top.

Hell yes, no question about it, what else are you going to spend it on? House with more bedrooms than you need, coke and hookers?

You wouldn't even need to be that rich these days, in 1995 the average house price was £50k, a Porsche 993 was £65k. In 2015 a house is £195k and the same car is 'only' £75k.

if i had a disposable income there's only one supercar that i'd want and that is the McLaren F1...but as much as i do love them i dont think i'd ever own one if i had the means to do so.
i'd much rather have something practical but gives supercar performance such as an Audi RS6 or BMW M5.

Probably not:

1. Not a good enough driver
2. Always thinking - how many terms' fees does that represent
3. I do 50k mileage in 10 years, so whats the point?

I have considered the option of the occasional weekend hire - better than depreciation, upkeep, angst etc - but still wonder if it makes sense.

I might if I really had loadsa money, but more likely to get a Porsche (911 GT2 RS would be nice) or something, and I'd actually stretch myself a bit to get something lightweight in the real world.

Really a full on supercar would be a bit much for the real world, and a track car would be better for, um, the track, although luckily most modern ones have suspension lifts to get over speed bumps...

I appreciate cars from an aesthetic point of view, but know nothing about them, so any 'supercar' wold be utterly wasted on me (plus I can't drive anyway!). I occasionally go past a house with a lovely old Citroen on the forecourt, always with a fresh puddle of some sort of fluid beneath it. I suppose I'd like something that I found beautiful, which is a very subjective thing. I do find just about al contemporary cars to be really quite boring really. And I don't think cost is necessarily an indicator of style really. I find a well-kept old mini to be vastly nicer than some ostentatious 'performance vehicle'.

So, if you had the disposable income would you get an expensive bike? Why? Why not?

This is more pertinent to myself. I am planning to have a custom frame made, and will probably then go against my own rule of 'use existing parts' and build it up with stuff I really like the look of. A significant element of the project is to be able to have something really unique and personal, something in which I've had a part in it's creation. Interestingly, doing this will still cost less than I could spend on some mass-produced bikes. So I suppose it' all about value to the owner.

What's money for, if it isn't for spending?

Maybe to invest in something with the potential of producing results of greater value than simply money alone?

I would buy an expensive bike, and I have, but I'd stop short of an eight grand tdf wannabe machine. The reason I have expensive bikes is that my riding is good enough for it to be worth it.

Buying a supercar to drive around in on normal roads would be like buying a six grand Bronson or something and just riding it to the shops and back all the time. It'd attract plenty of scorn on here.

No. No I would not.

A fast cruising yacht the other hand...

Ah, you like standing under a cold shower when you tear up your fivers?