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Life

24th Jul 2010

Dream cars at recession buster prices

They made you drool as a kid but you never dared believe you might own one. The recession however, has changed all that. It's €17,000 Ferrari time.

JOE

They made you drool as a kid but you never dared believe you might actually own your dream car someday. The recession, however, may just change that.

By Robert Carry

When you were a kid there was that one car – the car which prompted you to break into a giddy jog on the rare occasions when one rolled past your house, before leaving you gently weeping as it slipped from view.

You loved it so much you pulled your poster of that tennis player scratching her arse from your bedroom wall to make room for its picture.

The fact that bankers are now being lined up against the wall and shot by the thousand has meant a glut of luxury cars hitting the depressed second-hand car market and if you’re one of the few people lucky enough to still have a job, then the jalopy of your dreams might just be within reach.

In a Jimmy Saville-like bout of selflessness, JOE.ie has trawled second-hand car websites to help bring your life-long ambitions to reality. Here are our picks of the bunch:

Porsche 911 Carrera

No car has triggered more rubber-necking than the iconic Porsche 911 Carrera. The first mark of this motor was released back in 1963 and while dozens of updates have been made in the years since, it has managed to retain a lot of its original character. Put simply, the 911 is probably the most iconic car ever made.

You’re looking at €100,000-plus for a new one, but if you’re willing to forgive a few age-lines and wrinkles, you can get one for a whole lot cheaper. Take this 1998 model (pictured) for example. It’s got a massive 3.4 litre petrol engine, black leather interior, alloy wheels and has only 53,108 km on the clock. The damage? €22,950.

Click here for the rest of her vital statistics.

Audi TT

The Audi TT is one of the youngest models on our list, although it’s older than many would imagine. The first Audi TT convertibles and coupés started dropping back in the late 90s when we were all listening to Oasis and panicking about Y2K. Its sleek, futuristic shape and aggressive front end made it stand out completely from anything else around at the time, earning the car immediate youngster appeal in the process.

There were days when you wouldn’t get much change from €40,000 when buying a top-of-the-range TT but happily, The Best Recession Ever has made them infinitely more attainable. We’ve come across this 2001 Audi TT Coupé Quattro with a 1.7 litre petrol engine for a ludicrous €7,495. She’s got 99,000 on the clock, alloy wheels, CD player and a ton of other fancy extras. Fancy a decade ago, anyway.

Click here for details. Or to buy the thing.

BMW 3 Series

Many an owner of the BMW 3 series has parked his car only to return later to find it covered in the drool of excitable juvenile males. The aggressive headlights, signature kidney-shaped grilles and perfect balance of sporty and classy have made owning this motor a life-long ambition for all too many of us.

You are looking at shelling out €50,000 plus for one of these bad boys new, but you can pick one up for way, way less. While you might have to be willing to head back a decade or more for some of the cars on our list, we found a 2007 BMW 318 model on www.autodirect.ie for a criminally cheap €14,995.

It’s a saloon-style number with 67,547 miles on the clock in an all-business grey colour. It’s got Bluetooth, ABS brakes, AirCon, BMW alloys and a hefty 2.0 litre petrol engine. Be warned, however, that you may well feel bad about paying less than €15,000 for a three-year-old BMW and you might struggle to look the people you’re buying it from in the eye. Happily, autodirect.ie provide a ton of photos and a thorough check by the AA so you can actually reserve it online.

Click here to check out more saucy pics of this little beauty.

Mercedes-Benz SLK

The Mercedes-Benz SLK and the Compressor range were brought out in the mid-90s to compete with the Porsche Boxster and the BMW Z3. However, with its almost Bat Mobile-like dimensions, massive badge and convertible hard-top, it had all the bells and whistles which would appeal to a young man’s sensitivities.

Don’t expect change from €40,000 for a 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLK. With a second-hand model, however, you can expect change from €7,000. You would probably spend that much on bus fares over the course of two years, and these things drive for millennia.

We’ve dug out a sweet metallic silver, 2002 model SLK convertible with 129,000 miles on the clock for a cracking €6,500. It has alloys, CD player, leather interior and a 2.0 litre petrol engine. Sweet as a nut.

Click here to make her yours.

Ferrari 360 Spider


After the words ‘Dada’, ‘Mama’ and ‘ball’, ‘Ferrari’ was the next word out of the mouth of many a little boy. Sadly, we soon realised that unless we went into property development and pulled out at just the right time, we could never have one to call our own. We hate to break it to you, but that is still pretty much the case. What you can do, however, is buy yourself a Ferrari replica.

These surprisingly authentic looking motors when coupled with a Ferrari key-ring will often be enough to convince members of the fairer sex to go for a spin with you.

This roaring red 1998 replica of a Ferrari 360 is the same in many ways – barring the cost. And the 2.0 petrol engine. Which belongs to a Peugeot 206. Anyway, it is one of only two in the entire country so nobody will suspect a thing. You’re talking €13,750 to take it home with you but if you have a particularly gullible mate, maybe one who bought a property in the last two years, then tell him it’s real and you spent €60,000 on it. Then give it six months and offer to swap it for his home. He would be a fool to refuse.

Click here for the rest of the details.