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I bought my P38 when I was 19, im now 22, I still have it today, I bought the diesel one.
Dont even bother with the V8 one at your age, 4k a year for insurance is just stupid. If you really do have this ammount of cash spare then look at the diesel ones if you are intent on having one, they tend to be a little bit more reliable but just like their V8 brothers they really, truthfully and honestly, aren't the most reliable vehicles in the world.
The diesel will be cheaper (relative to 4k anyway) to insure leaving you spare £££ for repairs - these are NOT vehicles you can drive into the ground and neglect, they require lots of attention and you can't let faults stack up because it will bite you hard and then you will just have a rather large paperweight on your driveway.
To give you an idea of running costs it costs me around £90-95 to fill mine from empty (and that with the diesel tank which is slightly smaller than the petrol one) - so depending on how much you drive it and the type of driving you do, with the diesel thats around £90 every 300-400 miles. A full service done by a specialist will cost around £450ish BEFORE they find anything else wrong like leaky seals, worn bushes etc. Lastly, in the past year I have had new blend motors, new track rod ends, refurbished fuel injection pump, new in-tank fuel pump, 4 new tyres, a service, ABS sensor, alternator, battery and then there was my whole gearbox problem which dragged on for over a year. I also have a air suspension fault looming which I will need to sort out. To be honest, typing it all out there makes me wonder why on earth I spend my ££ on it
Like Rodent says, they are not a sports car, they can't be driven like one so whizzing about country lanes and whatever is a no no, you WILL end up dead.
So to top it off, I am personally not going to say dont get one, I think you should, they are fantastic vehicles, when they work, but, be prepared for very high running costs and repair bills. Looking back on the time I have owned my P38 I realise that I have devoted many many hours of my time to it, both working on it and going TO work to be able to afford the bills for it.
Please think long and hard before buying, above all though, let us know what you decide to do!
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damn, ive got old
-Wills