None of them. A 5.0 V8 XK of about 2003 vintage. Lovely sound, driven carefully reasonably economic and a timeless classic in convertible trim.

Paul, I like your style but what do you class as "reasonably economic!"?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3737284.htm

These are good value and a bit left field.

20's ?

Out of those, Mk5 R32 DSG.

DSG for the ease and comfort, R32 for the noise!

Out of those on your list then the MK6 GTi

But if you are considering a MK1 TT then why not a MK2 TT?

This is where my money went after looking at Fabia's, Polo's MK6 Golf's and MK2 TT's, the TT is certainly the better car from our list.

The MK6 Golf is a huge leap forward compared to the MK5 - nowhere near as many creaks from the dash, if any unlike all MK5's.

DSG if you keep it under warranty, manual if you intend to have it outside of the warranty.

Sorry to hear about your mother in law and good luck with the new car search. You deserve it :-)

I know it's not on the list but what about an octavia VRS?

Still familiar, but also something different. Can take your brothers/ wife and still have fun :-)

DSG is faster especialy if your tracking it or going for drives

DSG out of warranty as long as its been serviced as per shouldn't be a problem as its the older wet clutch system which has uprated aftermarket parts available.

The other thing to consider is getting the other half into a DSG car for a test as she may love or hate DSG.

I prefer the looks of the Ed30GTI over the Mk5 GTi and the Mk5 to the Mk6 GTI but the Mk6 R over the lot.

But for performance it would have to be the S3 because despite the front wheel rear wheel 4 wheel drive arguments 4 driven wheels always gives more traction out of a corner.

The R32 will likely come with a lot of toys compaired to the S3, however the running costs would worry me.

My suggestion would be find out if the you and the other half can drive DSG or if it'll be an issue.

Then move forward with that covered. The other thing to take into mind is jumping between manual and DSG takes adjustment

Sorry to hear about your mum in law, what choice did you make in the end?

R32 manual for me, friend has one and it is very nice to drive and (IMO) very nice place to be in!

Sorry to hear about your mum in law, what choice did you make in the end?

Thanks very much, still getting rid of cars at the moment.

The Wife and I have decided we'll be changing the whole fleet.

She has her eye on the Fiat 500 to replace the SDI, and my budget

for a newer car is is bang on the threshold between pre and post

facelift S3. I prefer the look of the older style with the twin headlamps.

The DRLs on the newer ones (2008 onwards) look like dame ednas glasses

and the foglamp grilles have been needlessly blinged up.

But TBH until my Fab and MX are sold, I'll be getting nothing new.

I was in a similar position to you and waited nearly 18 months before getting my new car due to issues with offloading other bits and bobs, but it was worth the wait and I'm sure it'll be the same for you and your wife - it may even help you move on a bit.