It's the £20k Weekend toy challenge!

What would you do?

4y ago
1.4K

I spend a rather inordinate amount of time pondering what I'd do if granted an arbitrary amount of money to spend as I choose. In most instances, the answer nearly always comes in the form of an Autotrader search which can get quite involved and lead to friends and family wondering why they've not seen me for three days.

This week I've allocated myself an entirely fictional £20k, and have been enjoying the task of identifying which form of financial automotive suicide I'd most like to commit. In general, the only rule I set myself is it needs to have somewhere north of 300hp, have back seats that can, at a pinch, accommodate a baby seat, and ideally be close to the bottom of it's depreciation curve, or on it's way up.

So where would I start. Well, in most instances, I'm nearly always inclined to try and answer any car buying question with the answer "911". However, in this instance, that gets a bit problematic. To make a 911 work for £20k, you're deep into IMS-ageddon territory and, being the snob that I am, I'm not keen on debasing myself with a 996. Either way, I'm faced with really needing £30k to be able to relax.

So what to do? Well, being a Mercedes kinda guy, let's have a look there. I probably should also mention that my weekend toy needs to feel different in "tone" to my daily driver (W205 C200 estate) - so nothing TOO sensible, ideally. An initial browse indicates some surprisingly modern metal for the budget, so long as you aren't scared of potential repair costs. C63s seem a little more resistant to depreciation, but how about a nice CL63 AMG for just under £20k? There's a smorgasbord of CL500s out there from just over £10k, but if you're going this way, you surely want the full fat AMG experience? Looks like they may just be reaching my budget, and surely aren't going to get much lower? Surely?? This was comfortably over £100k just 10 years ago. Ouch.

Http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201601220312572?atmobcid=soc3

To be honest, given the frankly ridiculous exhaust note, well over 500hp of power, and an interior which looks almost as modern as my 2016 C-class, it's a pretty irresistible choice. Not exactly a car suited for such a young, thrusting buck, obvs, but still pretty nice.

The more I look, the search for sub-£20k power seems to be leading me down a few paths to "old man's cars". Next up, how about an XKR? Clearly, these cars depreciated like a stone, and XKRs can be had for much less than £20k. But what does this money get us? Well, something eversoslightly newer than the Merc up there for a start, and something that is undeniably foxy. With 420hp, it's surely not gonna hang about when you ask for some pace, either.

Http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201701311842305?atmobcid=soc3

Being a lateral thinker, I've always been fond of throwing a curveball into the mix. The same applies here, and today's spanner in the works comes to us in the form of this 2001 Bentley Arnage Red Label.

Something just tickles me slightly about the idea of bumming around in a big ol' Bentley. The carpets are thicker than my bedroom, the ride softer than a cloud, and the bellow louder than my arse after Sprouts. I think it'd be hilarious, and the maintenance costs may even be manageable if it's just doing a couple of thousand miles a year.

Http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201612070421722?atmobcid=soc3

Or should I just throw all financial caution into the wind, and buy this?

Http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201701030973989?atmobcid=soc3

So, tell me - what would you do?

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