[Bob in St. Louis]

Understood John, Gotcha! 
Sorry to hear you drove a 9².  A marketing mistake IMO.

Bob 

[ooheadsoo]

Hm I just realised that I have 3 friends with S2000s.  Really worth alook, IMO.  Solid car, tight as a drum, screams like a motorcycle if you push the revs near 9000.

[thunderbrick]

Had a '67 Lemans ragtop, and my brother STILL has it.  I have ridden in others since then, and other than the ability to load it up like an Okie in the "Grapes of Wrath", I wouldn't have another one.  I even hate the sunroof on my E39 5-series, 'though liked it better on my '91 beater.  I don't like the sun in my face and shoulders.  I didn't realize why, until I saw some Christmas party photos from last night.  SHIT!! Where'd my friggin' hair go!?!?!?!?   
 
By the way, Bob in St Louis, a few years ago I drove a used 9-5 (I think) full aero at your dealership, and it looked super cool, and took my breath away!  It should have come with free radar detectors and cloaking devices!!  Just the $$$ timing was bad.  My ex-wife (with my help) bought a used Audi wagon from your shop.  It seems to be holding up.  Last I checked your salesforce was not a bunch of a** holes.  Not so true of others in your locale.

[Bob in St. Louis]

  Thanks Bob (TOB "The Other Bob"). You've told me that before and I keep forgetting to tell my coworkers they're not a bunch of a-holes. 

HEY JOHN: How about spending the same amount of cash on an old (reasonably restored) classic like Scott mentioned?

Like one of these 1965 Thunderbirds:



I'm sure Australia has a market for them, or a 40 year old Aussie equivalent.

Of course fuel economy sucks. 
Whatcha think?

Bob

[mfsoa]

We got a 1990 Miata last year that my wife uses as her daily driver year round in New Jersey.
Any thing above 50F and the tops down. Tons of gorgeous country roads around here - Poconos, Delaware River etc.
Sure it shakes a bit over bumps, but that's kinda the charm. Handles amazingy - Mass is the enemy, momentum your friend.
And with I think 116 HP you can actually DRIVE the thing, ya' know, lay into the throttle a bit, unlike much more powerful cars where if you drive them at 20% of their potential you are going stupid fast. I at 90mph in my 4 cyl Accord, there is no sensation of "fast" to me so I don't want to know what'd happen with double that power.

So for me, the little Miata tweaks all my car Joneses.

-Mike

[JohnR]

Thanks for all the good advice, guys, I'm absorbing it all! I have a test drive of a petrol EOS scheduled tomorrow. I don't think I can go for the diesel, I talked to someone today in a diesel Golf and she said great mileage, but yeah the motor is kinda noisy. Some thoughts at this point -

The Honda and Saab are 40-50% more than the VW here, in the base model. That (unless I'm completely smitten) puts them out of reach. BMW - forget it

I drove a Miata a few years back (friend had one). I didn't like it, to be honest, but it must be time for another try

I can get an extra two years on the VW factory warranty (extend it to 5 years) if I want to pay for it.

Scott/Marbles/Bob -- I love to look at classics like that, in fact I admired a Mustang outside the Post Office today. But I just don't have the time or skills to give them the TLC they need. And anyway, many of them wouldn't even fit up my (steep and winding) driveway I don't think

John-TCG - hm, the Mini Cooper looks interesting, to be honest I didn't even know they were available in convertible    I worry about the soft top but then again I don't park in the nasty city very often, and thinking long term I'm more comfortable about reliability. Pricing seems roughly equivalent, give or take, with the VW. Pity their website sucks or I'd know more about them by now

[JohnR]

PS. I took some shots of some classic convertibles not too long ago -

http://www.lostupnorth.net/shoots/morganrally/

[MonkeyBoogers4]

I just bought an 01 miata last Summer, and it has been great.  Is would definitely be helpful to have a second car/winter car, but as long as there's no ice, I've drivin' it in 20 degree weather with no problem (soft top only) plus, it's so small, it heats and cools very quickly with the top up.  If you want a fun car, a miata's the way to go, check out miata.net for more info, but you won't find much negative post about them there.  Also, after driving this car, provided the monetary ability, I plan to always have a convertible in my garage.  It's so nice to have the top down while driving if your like me and love the wind, plus it makes you feel like your driving faster than you are and therefore is more fun.  I don't suppose I have to mention the amazing handling of the miata too.  And for this crowd, the audio in a convertible sounds much better from the lack of hard surfaces and reverberations and such.

[ooheadsoo]

The Honda S2000 at MSRP is a great deal, but if you have to pay 40-50% more...tough call.  The most common complaint I see with owners complaining about their S2000s is not being able to race the big boys.  Of course, this also depends heavily on the road conditions.  But at 40-50% more, you're near Corvette/BMW territory, at least in the US market.  If you're more likely to scream down a sweeping highway than tear up twisty back roads and will spend $50k USD, I wouldn't get the S2000, either.

[CSI]

My wife drives a beautiful 1992 Infiniti M30 Convertible, Burgundy with black top and white leather interior. I say beautiful which may raise eyebrows among car guys - the M30 was a clean but not striking design. But with the top down the car is transformed into a really cool looking ride. We love it. They only made about 1500 of them (the top was done here in California) and Infiniti quit making convertibles until now. A new one based on the G series will be released in 2010.

I have great respect for those of you who run convertibles in climates less mild than So. Ca. But then, you probably appreciate them even more on a crisp spring day - or bundled up and cruising top down through New England when the colors change.......sweet.