RiotNrrd

I decided to drop the Soarer :( I just cannot afford the insurance quotes! The best I got was 1700 after a lot of grovelling on the phone, and that is still too much. That was from Adrian Flux too - I wonder what could cause the difference from o0O555O0o? I am living in Richmond, I will have 2 years no-claims (touch wood) by the time I want to get insured, I have had my license for 6 years, no points, endorsements or whatever. If anyone is interested, I decided to go for an Alfa Romeo 156 V6 instead - the best quote was half the best Soarer quote, for a car that costs about the same amount. I might try this again next time, and hopefully get more joy from insurers. Thank you all, especially London Bill and o0O555O0o.

Thanks to one and all - you are certainly a helpful and informative bunch! Things have not been moving forward due to me spending the last week flat on my back - I only get a cold once every 2 or 3 years, and then it makes up for lost time... Tomorrow I shall start hitting the insurance companies, and see what they have for me - but based on other people's experience it should not be such an issue. I really want to start moving here, as my Saab does not fill me with confidence these days. It completely cut out while starting it a few days ago - no electricals at all! I have had other electrical faults, so I think it is not 100% healthy. Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted. London Bill - PM sent.

Thanks for that link, London Bill - I will do some telephoning tomorrow and see what I come up with. So far I was quoted 1700 and nearly fell off my chair. OK, so I'm 24, but even so... I'll get back to you once I know what the results are. On the downside, manual cars seem to go for twice the amount that autos do - sheer rarity value? There are two considerations here - having driven a car identical to my current one, but with auto instead of manual, I was shocked at the performance drop, and the fuel efficiency was cut almost in half. This was with the same engine, turbo, everything, maintained by the same dealer. I'd have to be seriously impressed by an auto before I could consider it... Are yours both autos?

Hmm - you would appear to be right, at least according to this review... I really would rather have a manual, which brings the 2.5 TT back into play. I know purists prefer naturally aspirated cars, but I do like a turbo kick! What should I look for that is Soarer-specific to be able to tell whether a candidate car has had enough TLC? I'm not asking about obvious things like tire wear, carpets and so on - can anyone point out something that I would otherwise miss that might make me decide one way or the other? Also, what is the Switchable Sports Automatic transmission that I have seen on some advertised cars? Is this a sequential gearbox? Apologies if this seems obvious - the amount I know about automatic transmissions could fit on the back of a postcard, and still leave plenty of space for the address, the stamp, and "wish you were here".

I am considering buying a Soarer to replace my Saab 9000 Turbo. I know, it's a bit of a jump, but I bought the Saab because I could afford to insure it, which was not the case for anything else with the same power... Insurers hate young male drivers! Anyway - I discarded the 2.5 TT - too much risk of buying something that has been thrashed by boy racers - and the 3.0 - not fun enough, and not cheap enough to make up for it - and so I am looking at 4.0 V8s. While I wait for some insurance quotes, I have some more (barely) technical questions. First of all, there don't seem to be many manual transmission cars about. Is this to be expected, or is it just a random thing at the moment? Secondly, what should I expect in the way of insurance costs? Are we talking sit down and pour a stiff drink, or lie down with a cold compress and half a dozen pills? And of course, I welcome your input on things to avoid at all costs. The main reason I am dumping the Saab in the first place (a year earlier than I had been hoping) is that maintenance costs are spiralling out of control, so I would rather tighten my belt a few notches now and avoid the bread-and-water rations in a year or so... I will be contacting Powerhouse Garage in Camberley, as I work out that way and have read many good things. If anyone is in the Surrey area and wants to talk Soarers, I'll buy the drinks!