How did you end up owning the car(s) that you have now?

[Coaster1]

How did you end up buying the cars that you have now?
What was your thought process? What were the other ‘contenders’?

BMW 318 Touring - just needed a car quickly after the stolen catalytic converter saga, so searched on AT for local cars. The other contender was a Mini Clubman; in hindsight probably should have gone for that.

996 GT3 - always wanted one, my ‘real world’ dream car thanks to EVO, Harris, Meaden, Needell etc; right place right time and found mine privately. Did think about Cayman R / CSL whilst saving up but glad I stuck to my guns.

[Rich B]

Golf GTi
I'd had the M3 for 3 years without any big bills in the 35k miles I'd done, however I needed cash to pay for house renovation work. So I sold it and got the golf for a reasonable priced lease for a couple of years. My petrol bill halved, as well as big savings on stuff like tax and insurance. Basically, it was a purely financial decision.

I don't hate the GTI though, I've definitely warmed to it - particularly its handling (turn in is ridiculously sharp) and I do like stuff like the digital dash, rear camera and the radar cruise control.

F31 320d Msport
It was close between that and a Focus ST estate, but the sensible diesel and far nicer inside won it. 4+ years on it's been a perfect family wagon.

[Jobbo]

Merc CLS: I needed something suitable for my 70-mile commute; stress-reducing to drive, reliable, 40+mpg, not going to depreciate madly with lots of miles. Which meant a budget up to about £15k because if I keep it 3 years and it’s worthless, that’s £5k a year depreciation. It’s been absolutely perfect for the role.

Jimny: after the previous cheap 4x4 died I thought it worth spending slightly more on something fairly single-minded at off-roading. Also small enough not to be a pain to fit in the garage, and Japanese so turn-key reliable. It’s been great at this role but it’s not as good on road so I haven’t driven miles on tarmac to get to green lanes further afield. Maybe I’ll go for something more fun on the road as well next time.

[Coaster1]

Golf GTi
I'd had the M3 for 3 years without any big bills in the 35k miles I'd done, however I needed cash to pay for house renovation work. So I sold it and got the golf for a reasonable priced lease for a couple of years. My petrol bill halved, as well as big savings on stuff like tax and insurance.

I know it’s only extra £25/month or thereabouts but paying £600 tax on a ‘daily’ is still a mental barrier for me.

[Broccers]

Golf GTi
I'd had the M3 for 3 years without any big bills in the 35k miles I'd done, however I needed cash to pay for house renovation work. So I sold it and got the golf for a reasonable priced lease for a couple of years. My petrol bill halved, as well as big savings on stuff like tax and insurance.

I know it’s only extra £25/month or thereabouts but paying £600 tax on a ‘daily’ is still a mental barrier for me.

Boxster
I think its 49 monthly I pay but I'm not forking another 250 on a lease so man maths make it acceptable. Always wanted one. Quite pleased with it, actually gone up in value which is rare.

Mini
Great run around, saw it, bought it. I've looked at the newer clubmans and they're a fortune for decent one. Plus they're massive.

[Explosive Newt]

Both cars sort of bought by committee after discussions on this forum.

Boxster
Went on a Porsche experience day at Silverstone and enjoyed it so much I knew I had to have one. Started looking at used buying guides and a gradual inflation from a 986 for £5k to a 987 S occurred after reading around and advice from many on this forum (particularly GG). Just like a big go kart and absolutely brilliant on a windy road.

Jag
In mid 2020 I found myself twice a week driving across the country to do various ICU work and although I had some spectacular runs in the Boxster (once went the whole way Oxford to Cambridge cross country with the roof down), a trip up to Scotland was making me miss cruise control and finding the firm suspension a bit wearing. I considered more mundane things like an Octavia or even a Volvo but I had always been a Jag fan and a the XF seemed to fit the bill and get good reviews, finding one that had been well looked after for about £6k sealed the deal.
Ticks them easy cruising box very well but equally handles well and in fact the more pliant suspension means it makes a better fist of uneven roads.

[Alex88]

650i Cabrio:
Always admired the looks. Always wanted one and didn't care that people though it was ugly. However, it would appear that the asthetic opinion of these cars has changed quite a lot - whenever one pops up on the PH readers section there's often comments along the lines of 'has aged really well; hated it when it came out' etc.

When I found myself in a position to buy one, I bought the best one there was for sale. Low miles, super spec, immaculate, and it had the 'cheap' tax. Popped up to Stoke-on-Trent from Herts and got it. Have had it 6 years in November. It has given me some grief (naturally) but l still love it. Will open up the exhaust, maybe some Alpina wheels when I have the Dosh. Although I've been talking about that for ages so take it with a pinch of salt.

Civic 2.2 CDTI:
Having bought a house 30 miles away from the office, and not wanting to use the 6, I needed a daily car. Luckily, a family friend was selling his 1 owner Civic. Paid only £1100 for it. Had some teething issues, but now it's solid. Barely costs anything to run, does mega MPG (59+ I've the past 1000 miles, which includes a trip to Cromer). Loads of space, and is actually pretty quick. It's also nice to have a car I can take anywhere/do anything and not have to worry.

Beetle:
GF did have a KA, but it frightened me. I thought it was a complete deathtrap. As she's always wanted a Beetle, I popped online, found a cream facelift one with cream heated leather for a decent price. So back oop north, this time to Manchester. A little concerned I'd waste the jounrney and find a total shed, but no. It was as described, in good nick, good history. Has been a great car, that. Feels really solid but desperately needs a 6th gear..

Mustang 4.6:
GF's car, inherited from her dad who sadly passed this year. We've only driven it once, but it seems in good health. Needs some TLC, though - the wheels are quite badly scuffed and the bonnet is bubbling. The latter being a common problem, apparently.

At some point I'll get those bits fixed, get a machine polisher on it and just tidy it up as we go alone. It was used as a daily and you can tell. Gets lots of thumbs up when out and about.

[Sundayjumper]

This could take me a while I'll keep it brief....

Reliant Scimitar GT SE4a - my Dad had a couple of GTEs when I was little, and more recently a couple of GTCs, but never a GT which (IMO) is a prettier car. This one turned up last year and I bought it as something we could share but I've only seen it once since November because my Dad is utterly smitten with it and it seems to live with him now.

Porsche 996 C2 Aerokit - I had a Scalextric whale-tail 930 in silver when I was little and ever since then I wanted a silver Porsche with a big spoiler.

BMW E36 316i Compact - I'm a serial BMW fanboi so a combination of the 996 starting to feel a bit expensive for Autosolos (tyres...) and wanting to try Targa Rallying, getting an E36 Compact was a no-brainer.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage - just look at it. How could I *not* want one ?

Porsche Cayenne S 957 - I ditched the Touareg because it had developed a chronic water leak (rainwater, inwards) and it was midwinter and it wouldn't dry out and I CBA looking for a water leak in that weather. The Cayenne turned up cheap on ebay allegedly needing a cam chain, but it looked nice in the pics so I bought it completely unseen and had it delivered. There is no such thing as a cheap Porsche.

MINI Cooper S R57 - wife's car. We really liked the R53 ONE we had before, my wife wanted this specific colour and I snuck the ONE -> Cooper S upgrade past her by not mentioning it. Bought it unseen from a place in Plymouth and had it delivered.

BMW 740d - Purchased to replace the 530d because I was starting a a new job with a long commute and although the 530 never did anything wrong I'd never really bonded with it. 740d much more luxurious all round. After 2½ months we went into the first lockdown and I've not been to the office again since.

[240PP]

Went to get an E92 320d, came away with an A5 3.0 TDi.

It does a lot of things well. It’s quite quick, I like the auto box, 45mpg, good on long journeys. I’ll hold on to it until it starts giving me grief.

[DeskJockey]

Galaxy
Needed a family bus with the impending arrival of #3. Tried various large estates, but then thought that maybe the seven seat option would be useful. Initially bought a tatty but high spec S-Max that broke down on the way home from the dealer, so told them to take it back. Galaxy then came up locally and despite being filthy ticked the boxes we needed it to. Been four years of mostly issue free motoring.

Zoe
Wife changed place of work and new location is awful on public transport, so we decided to get a second car. It is a 50ish mile round-trip, sideways through outer London, so electric makes sense. After researching the various options we decided on a Zoe in Dynamic Nav spec with the 41KWh battery. It seemed as if all they ones for sale were with Renault West London, except for a Signature Nav sat with our local Renault dealer two miles away. It was their previous demo that they'd just taken back in P/X so they knew the history. As it was also reasonably priced that sealed the deal.

[PaulJ]

I've had a wide variety of sports cars over the years and never had the need for more than two seats. I went through the early phase of cheap and cheerful (Frog-eye, Sunbeam Alpine, TR3), went through a Lotus phase (Europa, Elan, Seven), Westfields 7, 7SE, SE and Eleven, back to Lotus with an Elise, then 7 Porsches leading up to my current Cayman GTS 4.0. (Sensible 3-door hatchback!).

[Sundayjumper]

It is a 50ish mile round-trip, sideways through outer London...

A dab of oppo and she's away ?

[McSwede]

Our mk1 MX5 was owned by one of my dad's mates for 3 years. He'd bought it from the family that'd bought it from new. Dad had it, then his son, then his daughter.

It was 2010 when we bought it at 47k and it's now at 75k. We put it in storage in Autumn 2012 and me and my Dad fettled back to road worthy condition over Jan/Feb of 2020. A great little project as Dad is in his late 70's so was some cracking QT with the old boy. Loved it!

Looks like we'll take it off the road again this autumn as it needs some rust prevention work and probably a good time to give it a thorough going over. Just keep it garaged for fair weather duties as it's an old bus now at 31years.

We love it though. You can wrong it's neck everywhere and with the Jobbo spec Bilsteins it handles nicely. I don't ever want to get rid of it.

[Zonda_]

Scirocco GT - Always fancied one but there were never any decent examples around when I was looking. This one came up at a garage that although it was 90 miles away it just felt right. The guy out minuscule paint issues that they had repaired before I even saw it so needn’t have bothered but just made me feel happier about it. It was also what seems to be a unique spec, I’ve never seen another one like it. I’ve kept it longer than most of my cars even though there are things I don’t like, the steering is vey heavy and the ride is very stiff even in Comfort mode. On the plus side the DSG box is great and the power is plenty, I’m fairly sure it’s been remapped as it definitely feels more than 210. I keep thinking of alternatives, particularly ones that can accommodate a huge dog but I don’t really want to part with it.

[DeskJockey]

It is a 50ish mile round-trip, sideways through outer London...

A dab of oppo and she's away ?

Yup.

[V8Granite]

2006 ML500 - needed a family car for the ever growing dog and an estate wasn’t talking enough. Tried various SUVs and they were either far too heavy and slow, D3 and XC90, very numb feeling, X5 or just had high running costs.
With air suspension and a good spec this has proven to be a great family car, low running costs for consumables bar brakes and has a real turn of pace when you want to surprise something else and have a bit of fun. The only car I tried which wasn’t stupidly overtyred for the chassis. Now on 130,000 miles.

Mk1 Audi TT 180 - this was a freebie and very badly neglected. Took the front end of the engine apart to fix some previous bodges, suspension all round and Quattro Sport suspension settings make it surprisingly good fun. Absolutely no understeer in the dry at all. I’m not a sideways hero and I’m not that smooth when it does go but I absolutely hate understeer. The wife loves the blue on blue spec but the bodywork is tatty. Now on 162,000 miles.

Mercedes 500e - I wanted something special to keep and tried the Audi RS2, M5, XJR and danced with the idea of an Espada and a Lotus Carlton but the mileage info would have cost me a fortune on the last 2. The more I read about the 500e the more I liked it, I tried Brian Droughts thinking I’d not like the auto but the way it goes down a road reminded me of a very powerful 405 which is exactly how I want a car to feel. Utterly smitten with it. It’s on around 140,000 miles. Currently having a full suspension and bodywork refresh.

1991 Defender - always loved them, they are a great off-roader and very practical for what we use it for. I enjoy how it’s so fun to drive as you are constantly doing something and now I went silly with the suspension it’s hilarious how you can hustle such an agricultural lump. Currently giving me turbo problems which I’m sure is down to the rebuilt turbo but can’t wait to get it back on the road. Now on 248,000 miles.

The best part about multiple cars is you nearly always have the right car for the job and also I’ve not got bored of any of them.

Dave!

[Jimexpl]

Landrover Series IIA - 1968 body with a 1972 Range Rover chassis/running gear.
Bought by my dad when I was 15 to do up as my first car (it had been badly put together circa 1990). Re-wired, restored everything underneath, fitted a brand new 4.0V8 and had it resprayed. Never selling, even though I might only use it a few times a year.

Mini 1275GT (1979)- several mates had minis as first cars and I wanted one, so bought when I was 19. Blew up the engine while at Uni, fitted a rally spec 1330cc engine from M.E.D. 105hp and a blast to drive for up to 50 miles. Only does about 200 miles a year now - if I used it more it would need bodywork (only sills and one A panel have been touched since new), which I'll do when the cash isn't needed for something else. Never selling.

Landrover Series III - 1983 ex police car in the other thread. Bought as an engagement present to myself (originally cheaper than the ring, now definitely not!) to leave in Cornwall as a beach car. Terminal rust found 7 years ago so has had the drawn out restoration on the readers cars thread. Never selling.

Landrover Defender 110 USW (2012) - joint ownership with my dad. Our second Defender, used for property projects and my dad also drives it when he fancies a change. Like Dave, suspension mods make them a surprisingly fun vehicle to hustle) Worth aboout 10k more than we paid for it five years ago, and my daughter is very attached to it. I doubt we'll ever sell it.

Disco Sport 240 Petrol - ticks more boxes for us as a family car than anything else. PCP is up in September and struggling to decide whether to keep it and settle the baloon payment, order another, or sell it and run a £10k XC90 for a couple of years to save some pennies.

325ti Compact - bought mainly because I needed a cheap car to maintain a 10 year NCB on and retain a parking permit and congestion charging residents discount. Messed up on the residents discount (the renewal was due while we were living in Cornwall and I missed the deadline by a week...). Like having a fun car to kick about in as there's nowhere to keep the Land Rovers or Mini in London. I'll sell when funds allow for something better.

[Gavin]

Volvo S60 - the old S40 was dying, went to Cleland's and asked if they had any trade ins. They had the S60 for a grand, SE model so decent spec, under 100k and the Euro 3 D5 lump. It had a ding or dent on pretty much every panel and it is is scruffy inside but it is safe, very comfortable and we have now had it three years of relatively cheap motoring. My wife's Yeti seemed to have a new blemish on the paint every time I washed it so is lovely that we can just park anywhere.

The wagon - was selling the Bongo as it was too small, too slow, too rusty..... spotted the Merc on marketplace and fancied it then watched it come down in price a couple of times. We decided to get another caravan so rather than fit a towbar to the Volvo and get a TT or something cheap and "fun" I convinced my dear wife the Mercedes was immensely practical (7 seats) and so I went and saw it and knocked the chap down further. I have spent a few quid and it needs the wing mirrors looked at, probably broken wiring from folding in, but it has a lot of options, does 40ish on a run and shifts if you floor it and is by some margin, the nicest car i have ever owned.

[Delphi]

Volvo XC40 - I wanted an XC60 but the wife got to pick as that was our agreement. Not sure if there were any other contenders as a family daily, really. She doesn't like BMWs, Mercs or Audis and was looking at a Qashqai (I quickly steered her away from that one). Porsche Macan was potentially on the radar but running costs weren't really worth the extra.

Porsche 928 - I've always wanted one since I was about 12. Had a poster of a black one on my bedroom wall. A mate of mine runs a business hiring out classic/unusual cars for film shoots, adverts etc. and I was idly browsing Autotrader for 928s when I came across one that looked like a decent buy and I pinged him a message to see if he might be interested in it. He replied that he already had two, a GTS and an S4 and that he'd sell me the S4 if I was interested. At the time I wasn't in a position to buy but he said it was mine whenever I was ready. About a year later, I got my accounts back from my accountant and my director's loan account was in credit for a decent amount, so I though "Fuck it, I'm going to do it." We sorted a price and then lockdown hit. Waited 6 months, which gave me time to sort the garage out then got the train down to Essex and drove it back.

[Coaster1]

Great to read about people’s thought process and other cars that were on their shortlists.