That's COMPLETE BS - the VW dealers did that around here when the first Amarok's shipped. The GT4 is SUPER limited around here, which is why they got stupid expensive very quickly. I think besides that, there's the question of what you want. There's driver focused and fun (which basically leaves you at Porsche, Lotus and the odd lower end sports car), and then there's fast (which basically leaves you with Porsche and the Nissan GTR around the price you're looking at) The jag F-Type R is a MASSIVELY fun car as well (even if it's mostly by sound), as is the V6 S F-Type, but no rear seats, and they do feel quite heavy (i can only judge the V6S - that's the one I drove)
Pretty much from the moment I drove up and saw it sitting there, I was fairly certain he was going to have a good Friday.
Ah bum, only just seen this. F-Type V8RS would have been my suggestion - such a laugh to drive and so liveable as well. No back seats though. Looks like you've done alright though. Shoot me a PM when you want rid of that BMW wafter, I may be interested.
Jag F Type? Or F Type-R? Not sure on the rear seat situation. Of course you could afford a Tesla Model S at that price too but I admit that's not really what you're after at the moment.
According to my current plans, you won't want it by the time I'm done with it, as I'm just going to keep munching motorways in it until it breaks beyond economical repair. The dealer was trying hard to flog me a new 7er about a year ago, going so far as to give me one for a bank holiday weekend, but whilst it was nice (and I mean, really nice), I bring myself to part with this. I liken it to a really comfy pair of jeans that may get faded and tatty, but they're just so nice to wear that I'm not getting rid of them until I put my knee through. I bought from new because there just wasn't anything on the lightly-used market that ticket the right boxes, which means it's been subject to comical depreciation in the last four years (especially since some of those boxes were purely vanity boxes, like an £1800 paint job), and whilst I clearly knew this going in, it still stings. It also means though, that I can continue to drive it until it breaks for essentially free motoring - there's fewer nicer places to be on a long motorway run, which is 95% of the miles on it, it gets 45mpg sitting at 85mph the speed limit and I expense all of those miles - so until it breaks it's actually a nice little earner! A G Wagon is the only car I can imagine that would be further from what I'm looking for than a Model S Now if Tesla (or anyone else) could crack 400 miles of real world range, I'd be very up for it. What did it for me, and meant I entered the garage intended to have a chat and look around the car, and left with a significantly lighter wallet, a fair chunk over "budget" as well, it was just right: - The garage experience is like none other I've had. No gloss and glam like Porsche, Gray Paul (local Exotics dealer), BMW, Mercedes etc - you can't even see it from the road. You walk in and first thing you're in the workshop, where a handful of techs are working on full fat race cars (a Mosler in pieces and an Evora GT Cup car, turns out the owner of the garage also owns a rather successful race team). It isn't until you tap one of the guys on the shoulder that they direct you to the showroom, hidden from view at the back. You proceed to talk to the "Sales" guy, who ins't trying to sell you anything, he just loves the cars and could talk all day about the cars. He then gives you the keys, says "no rush back, but remember we close at 4:30"... It's 11am. - So of the other recurring suggestions are all nice cars. The F-Type in particular, very nice. I've been in a few of the more lairy ones (not an SVR sadly) and they're all very nice. This Lotus isn't nice, it's special. I'm not behind the wheel of Zondas and Aventadors every week, but have driven a few "real" exotics and passengered in many more - cover the badge and branding in the cabin and there's nothing about the way it looks, sounds and drives that would dispute someone telling you it's a "proper" exotic on the wrong side of £200k, and if that person then told me it was a lotus I'd laugh in their face. The fit and finish is very good - not Porsche excellent, but every bit up to par with just about anything else. Every inch of the interior is covered in Alcantara - dash, doors, seats, console, binnacle, headlining - it's an immensely nice place to be. Gearbox is hugely precise, I think they missed a trick by not having an open grate, but it's a fantastic action. Steering... well it's a lotus. I've never driven a Porsche with this much feel and feedback. It's not the last word in power, 406bhp and a ligh-ish car do make for some scoot, but it's not mind bending like one of the big power modern AWD porshes or a Tesla (one trick pony it may be), the Polestar is probably even quicker 0-30. What makes the difference is the noise this thing makes at full chat (the youtube videos really don't do it justice), which makes "pretty quick" feel like you're in a race car. There was an event at Donnington a couple weeks ago and they brought along a 410 where it tracked alongside a Vulcan amongst others, and was the noisiest thing there. When he told me this before I drove the car I thought he was just getting a bit over-enthusuastic, afterwards I was completely convinced. Before the drive I was pretty convinced, but after the drive there was no way I could go on not having this car in my life.
Something that a lot of exotic/interesting car dealers could learn a lot from - some people like arriving in a glass palace and getting the hard sell and fawned upon, some people want to buy from proper enthusiasts who are only interested in enjoying nice cars. The Evora is one of those projects that started out with modest origins - the early cars were a bit hit and miss inside, gearchange a bit dodgy, the engine needed a bit more personality liberating. Fast forward a few sensible years of development and they've really nailed it, I think they learnt a lot from the V6 Exige development and applied it to the Evora.
Finally cleared out a car shaped hole in my garage last night, which took a good while longer than expected - it's amazing how much junk gets in there when there's no expectation to get a car in. There's still a stack of stuff in the side path to take to the tip. Fortunately next door has a truck suitable for my junk stash and has agreed to a swap of passenger rides
Newsfeed: "Today, Lotus have unveiled their new Evora..." Me: "WTAF LOTUS!!" Newsfeed "... Starting from £112,500, escalating quickly with options, and limited to 60 cars"
http://jalopnik.com/lotus-debuts-new-hey-were-still-trying-special-edition-1797092029 I Know im probs in the minority, but the one thing I really don't like is the exhaust position. Twin center pints would be fine, but I just dont like the standard one.
To me, twin centre exits is a bit supermini-ish. A pet peeve of mine is over-exhausting, so I quite like that there's a single exit. Exhausts on the 458 or Golf R for example make me cringe. Granted, the single exit is infeasibly large, but at least I feel like it's function first and not over-designed. To be honest, what it looks like is secondary to the noise it makes, and the noise it makes is sublime to the point that I'm not sure I care what it looks like. Agreed, speccing one out to the same options as my 400 ended up at £123k though! Or almost a 50% premium That's perilously close to a 540C. The other problem is that once the production run of the GT430 is complete, it's pretty safe money that a Cup 460 will be next. Of course the other issue is that there are 6 for the UK. And they're gone.
I'll keep an eye out for you hooning around Notts. I'm sure there can't be too many bright orange Evoras in the same city! On a similar note you do see some interesting metal in Nottingham. Sure there's the odd Prancing Horse/Lambo but I mean rarer stuff. For example there's a chap around Woodthorpe/Mapperley with (what I assume is) a lovely import vintage American pickup truck that's been lowered and looks immaculate.