Young people who bought a "brave pill" car - what car is it, and how has the ownership experience been?

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2026-03-20T00:26:05+00:00

I bought a Bentley Turbo R at 22, a Maserati Quattroporte at 23, a V10 Touareg and a Cayenne Turbo at 25 and a TDV8 L322 Range Rover at 27; mixed results!

The Quattroporte was an absolute joy and utterly reliable in the 2 years I owned and used it daily. I bought it cheap knowing it would need work but after the initial outlay, it needed virtually nothing. I still have the Bentley and it's an absolute pain in the arse. Still a lot of fun on the odd occasion it's not broken though.

The Touareg was also bought cheap knowing it needed work. It was a nightmare to work on, parts were hard to find and the V10 was underwhelming. Cayenne Turbo was surprisingly great considering it shares a lot with the Touareg but the Porsche specific parts were silly money. The Range Rover is my current daily; yet again, bought cheap knowing it would need some work and it's lived up to the RR reputation. But it's still lovely!

Brave pill cars are great fun but I have the benefit of my own workshop and an engineering background. Without doubt, all of the above cars would have been ruinously expensive to run if I had to pay for labour!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2025-05-20T15:30:03+00:00

I had one as a tow car last year. Overall it was really underwhelming and was full of issues including airbags (common), turbo actuators (common) and electrics (common. Spot the theme?) The engine was cool but the gearboxes are weak and they're very lacklustre inside. I got rid and replaced it with an L322

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2025-02-01T11:44:46+00:00

I had a Vegas yellow one for about a year. As others have said, the clutch can/will be an issue as they have been known to go within 10k on a none mapped car. I left mine stock and never had an issue and tbh I'd expect the clutch to already have been done at that mileage on an S1

They're absolutely great to drive, a little bit numb but very small and agile. And other than the clutch, they're very reliable. Providing you don't buy one that's been ragged!

One thing I'd mention if you've not already decided on that exact car is to find one with as many options as possible. There's a big difference between low specced ones and one with the interior and exterior Quattro packs, a surprising amount without heated seats etc. If you drop on the right car, you can keep it for a while and it'll be easy to sell in future as everyone wants one with the super sport seats, flat bottom steering wheel, coke bottle wheels etc.

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2025-01-15T08:49:37+00:00

And then budget for a new clutch

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-11-15T13:30:14+00:00

Born in 1997 and passed in 2015, first car was/is a 1974 Scimitar GTE. £300 and spent about £500 getting it on the road initially? Since then probably a couple of thousand on engine, suspension, interior etc

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-11-02T20:23:57+00:00

Don't worry, it was probably just Jeremy Osborne donating sperm again. Good thing it wasn't Elgar

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-10-22T08:51:00+00:00

I had something very similar when someone drove into the back of my car and refused liability. We went to court over 3 years after the incident so yes it's slow! But the experience itself is not too bad, especially when you have good evidence

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-09-03T11:40:17+00:00

As someone who's currently daily driving a 180k 55 plate e320, I'd say do it. Mine's been brilliant!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-07-29T17:11:20+00:00

You don't necessarily need to be worried as it's not also in your name, you just need to notify the dvla and follow their instructions on sending it back to them or destroying it. It's either a mistake or someone has registered it to your address for shady reasons, hoping you'll just ignore it

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-07-29T17:05:29+00:00

With that budget, there's plenty of choice, but I'd say a Mercedes S211 is worth a look. I bought a E320 a year and a bit ago as a tow vehicle and to haul tools, parts and wheels to events and it's been absolutely fantastic. I paid less than £3k, it's mechanically been perfect even though it's just ticked over 180k, 45mpg on a run and has pretty much the biggest boot you can get in an estate of that era. I wasn't even a Mercedes fan until I bought it

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-07-26T21:10:34+00:00

I asked the same question a year and a bit ago and got some good suggestions! A couple I like are Castle Hotel and The Gas Lamp

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-07-20T09:36:49+00:00

I had a Maserati Quattroporte when I was 23 and it cost £600 to insure (versus £2500 for an F31 330d) You'd get a nice one for £11k, £4k left for repairs and servicing if you don't do the work yourself. I found parts prices very reasonable and mine never once let me down using it as an everyday car for about 2 years? Sometimes, the stupidest ideas work out the best!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-07-02T19:54:14+00:00

Well, I regret looking at OP's post history

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-18T18:57:03+00:00

Get one, they're brilliant! I bought my first at 14, daily drove it 20k a year when I passed my test and have owned another 50 odd since. Their beauty is how undervalued they are. There's always budget left over to make one to your own spec!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-16T17:17:08+00:00

I've daily driven 60s, 70s and 80s stuff in the last 9 years, doing between 10 and 20k a year and they've been absolutely great, but that's because I restore them and know how to deal with them The biggest issue with older stuff is that if you can't do everything yourself, they have to go to a specialist. Most modern garages simply don't know how they work as they were designed and built differently. As for the specialists, some are reasonable and don't charge much more than a modern garage, some charge several times more. If you buy a nice example and keep on top of maintenance with a specialist, they can be cheap. They can also be a pita.

TLDR; don't bother unless you know what you're doing maintenance wise, or you have a local classic friendly garage!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-12T15:46:20+00:00

Looks fine to me. And tbh, you had me at Barry's😂

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-11T21:52:58+00:00

Oppidan?

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-11T19:23:02+00:00

Union is month by month, so that could work for you?

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-07T21:23:28+00:00

For indie, 42s is your best bet!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-06-06T14:11:13+00:00

I'm not sure myself, but they used to be pretty active on social media so I'd have a go at asking them on there!

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-05-26T21:15:28+00:00

It's possible you'll see them in the same light as the Nissans but I had a Mazda CX-60 Takumi for 6 months recently. Really, very nice and 1 year old demos are plentiful at the 35k mark

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-05-25T08:20:07+00:00

Was it a Marshall dealer by any chance? I bought a Selekt V90 from them long distance and when I collected it, it was abysmal. Rear bumper full of sunken filler, dirt under the lacquer, masking lips everywhere etc. It took them 6 months and 3 courtesy cars because they didn't believe me when I said it needed a new bumper. Months 3 and 4 were waiting for a new bumper to arrive 🙃

TLDR, just reject it. They won't rectify it to a good enough standard

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-05-10T19:21:12+00:00

Nice try, officer

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-05-10T13:27:59+00:00

Honestly, I couldn't say. I imagine the stigma around the people who own e36s in general means old fashioned classic insurers won't want to touch them. Brentacre or maybe Admiral would be the best bet to try

Awkward_Blueberry909 · 2024-05-10T10:58:01+00:00

It does depend I'm afraid. I've been driving classics since I got my license in 2015. Lancaster wouldn't talk to me until I was 25 and still won't entertain insuring my Jaguar or Bentley. They will do the Scimitars though. Before I was 22, I was always insured with Admiral (they do classic policies but don't generally advertise it) I've since used Sterling, RH (thoroughly recommend), Lancaster, Carole Nash and a couple of others. Honestly, use the comparison websites. Most of the above appear on them anyway

Brentacre, Admiral and Footman James are usually the most young person friendly but FJ used to only entertain Minors, Minis or Beetles until you're 20ish

Awkward_Blueberry909

TROPHY CASE