Newbie!

Hi

First post here so be gentle

I am looking into getting a new car and have narrowed the choice down to two cars:

A) a supra

B) an FTO

The FTO was originally my first choice, I have saved the cash to be able to spend 7k to about 8k, all in.

I wanted the GPX mivec FTO. Problem is I took too long to save and now my mate has gone and bought an fto in red and is the GPX version – my ideal car, not saying I can’t have one still but want be a bit different!

I still fancy an FTO but with my mate buying one it is still on the cards but has sort of taken the novelty off it.

This is when I started looking around and have found some quite good supras in my budget and insurance is surprisingly good.

I have done some research, both on the web and in this forum and wondered if these assumptions are anywhere near accurate?

Petrol = about 300 miles to a £60 tank? A mix of town and open road driving? (This is the non-turbo, haven’t looked into twin turbo that much but had an insurance quote and for a UK spec TT it is £930 FC).

Is a mpg of 20-25 too much to expect, from either the twin turbo or non-turbo.

Tyres = new rears every year, guessing £300?

Oil change = every 3k-4k? never tried anything mechanical, but will give it a go, is it difficult? Was always practical with all my old cars but that was wiring the stereo and body panels.

Any other issues?

Any good information sites (apart from this one )

I know the running costs of the supra are going to be more than the FTO but in general I was wondering how much more. My mates FTO mivec gets 300 miles to a 35 fill up.

I average about 8k mile a year, mostly city driving.

Any suggestions of any other cars look at along the lines of FTO/supra.

300 miles to 60 quid sounds bout right

for 20 quid i get 120-130 miles

so for me im looking nearer 360-390ish.

Tyres definatly once a year.

If you want cheap tyres you could prob get 2 rear tyres for bout 200, but as this keeps you on the road i suggest a bit more money invested into them.

Oil change same as any other car really.

I have had my NA supra 8months now.not 1 single problem apart from dead battery!

Havent had to replace anything done my own oil change. and of course 2 new rear tyres

Insurance wise - the UK TT is always gonna be much cheaper then a NA or import TT. Just because it is a UK Car and not a Import. UK cars are a bit more pricey,due to numbers of them and benefits of insurance

Also a NA and a UK TT will run on normal Unleaded whilst a Import TT is best run on Shell optimax

I noticed your looking at costs so thought that might help a little.

Hi. First of all, there is no comparison between the FTO and a Supra (even an NA ). The Supra is a far faster car in all ways.

Originally posted by sandman978

Petrol = about 300 miles to a £60 tank? A mix of town and open road driving? (This is the non-turbo, haven’t looked into twin turbo that much but had an insurance quote and for a UK spec TT it is £930 FC).

You will almost certainly find that the insurance on a NA will be quite a lot more than a UK spec TT, because they are all imports and the insurance companies cane you for some reason. Get a few quotes from some of the specialists, and don't assume a TT will be hugely more expensive to insure.

Is a mpg of 20-25 too much to expect, from either the twin turbo or non-turbo.

I get around 19mpg from everyday driving with a TT. NA is not that much more economical, but doesn't need Optimax so you save a bit there.

Tyres = new rears every year, guessing £300?

Oil change = every 3k-4k? never tried anything mechanical, but will give it a go, is it difficult?

More like £200 if you shop around and go to somewhere like Micheldever (that's for Goodyear F1s on the 17s). Oil change is easy enough apart from the fact that the filter is a sod to get to.

Any good information sites (apart from this one )

There's www.mkiv.com, the USA site.

Also www.mkiv.co.nz has info on the specs and so on.

thanks, yeah the quote for the tt was for uk spec

found an n-plate non turbo for 8k but got to go see it and see if it is uk or import

i am looking at costs you are right, don't want to go into this with my eyes closed!

the tyres yeah i had allocated the 300 to get a fairly decent brand.

whats sort of roads you on? mine is alot of town driving.

Hi and welcome,

£8000 for a non turbo seems a bit expensive to me unless it really good. If you look hard enough you can get TT for that sort of money.

Fuel wise on a mixture of roads before the new exhaust I was getting 200 miles to £25 of petrol but that's pretty calm driving, city driving does use up noticeably more fuel

If its a non turbo it will be an import as all non turbos are. Touch wood I've had no problems with the non turbo. The TT is obviously faster with the risk of the turbos blowing which seems to happen quite a lot on this site. NA is still fast and I'm happy enough with it as I don't really drive that fast but then again I've never been in a TT.

Insurance wise get lots of quotes from specialist companies like Adrian Flux but UK TT is the cheapest for sure. I'd wouldn't mind buying a UK TT to replace my NA in the future but I would want a manual like my NA so finding one in good condition with less than a million miles for a good price isn't going to be easy.

The cheapest car to buy and run baring insurance has to be the NA, much less to go wrong but its about weighing up what you want really. I've put about 4000 miles on my tires and they still have at least 80% wear left.

Good luck making a decision.

mine is town driving mainly, with a few long roads.

i can tell you the NA is a import, all NA's are imports.

other things to note when looking cam belt should be changed at 60,000km so if it gone by check it been done and if coming up add cost on for that.

Thanks for all replies

will see what this non turbo is like, i am hoping knock the price down a bit with any luck.

I have test drove a non turbo but there was a constant rattle in the back, that was an l plate one for 7k

my current insurance will insure me on an sz (from what i can see this is non-turbo) for an extra 300 for the rest on my policy (nearly six months)

al;so whats servicing costs like?

Not a lot more I can add to that, so I'll just say hello and welcome

SZ is indeed a Non Turbo

and the rattle it is a common problem, the boot rubbers, i get the slight rattle as well sometimes, there is some threads on it somewhere, use the search button if you want mate.

I think they cheap enough to change, but a pain in the arse!

Servicing I cant really say as i have a guy who does mine for me,so i dont pay nothing near what i should

Cam belt is bout 250 quid, but thats a one off of course and you may get a car with one done.

General maintanance you can do so with the NA it is just the yearly service of Air filter, spark plugs (if needed) oil etc...

I only got NA coz had dreams of turbos going bang and me crying! lol

this is what you want!

should out do your FTO mate nicely

Mine for sale, you have PM

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome, buy a Auto TT Supra for £8k and leave your mate in the FTO well behind

For £8k you will only get a Auto though, or a manual N/A. For a UK spec your talking over £12k and thats if you can find one

Hope this helps,

Paul

a cheap ish TT could be the right way to go, and even the uk's can be picked up for £8-10k money if your patient......

True, you can pick up a Auto UK car for around 10k, but when one comes available.......nobody knows