Un RAVelled

My wife has a very trusty (and not rusty) RAV-4. She bought it new on a 2001Y plate, and it's now covered 92,000 miles and never missed a beat, it still has the original exhaust. I drive a faithful old 1997P Corolla, which has a mere 66,000 miles on it. We are both looking at retiring within the year, and I'm wondering what to do. I thought of buying a small sports-type car for the summer so that we can enjoy the open air, and we also need a family-type car for going on holiday, collecting groceries or taking allotment rubbish to the local tip. It would be a shame to have, say, an MX-5 sitting in the drive for several (cold) months of the year. It would also deteriorate if it's not used. Secondly, we don't really want to have two cars. Can you recommend a vehicle to replace the two we have? Perhaps a family convertible. As we are so used to Toyota reliability, I don't want the hassle of purchasing a 'dog' that's likely to need anything other than normal service appointments. We've got so used to Toyota reliability that we want to stay away from the garage until it's service time. We would rather buy a low mileage second-hand car, than a new one, due to the immediate (and significant) loss in value that results as soon as the vehicle leaves the forecourt.

Asked on 31 October 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
I'm afraid I can't recommend any cheap coupe convertibles on the basis of Toyota reliability because they all have some quirks. But if you have £35,000, then the Lexus IS250C is a really lovely car. By far the most refined convertible available anywhere with the roof down. No buffeting at all. Test and video test at www.honestjohn.co.uk With Sterling still 25% - 45% down on the Euro and the Yen, but new car prices only having gone up about 12%, new car prices have further to go, so buying new these days is not such a bad thing. Used car prices rose every month this year from January to August and only stopped rising in September.
Dear Honest John,

Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
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