Cheap Thrills

The Mazda MX-5: Hairdresser’s Car? Or the Best Cheap Car Ever Made?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2567025/fan_mail/new] Everyone knows the Mazda MX-5.  Small. Cute. “Hairdresser’s car.” But where did that reputation come from… and is it completely wrong? In this episode of Cheap Thrills, we dig into one of the most misunderstood cars ever made. From the Clarkson-era stigma to the reality of what it’s actually like to drive, and ultimately.. why if you haven’t driven one properly roof down, revved out and on a great road, then you might not fully understand what makes the car fun. 🎙 Cheap cars. Big opinions. No snobbery.

Ring Run #4: We Fixed The RCZ, Then It Broke.

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2567025/fan_mail/new] We thought we’d fixed it. After everything, the oil leak, the stress, the near disaster, the RCZ was finally right. So we took it to Dartmoor National Park to prove it. And for a while… it was perfect. Clean. Smooth. Effortless. The kind of drive that makes you believe you’ve turned a corner. So we stopped. A rainbow behind the car. One of those rare moments where everything just feels… right. Then it changed. Stranded again with a car that had just decided it wasn’t fixed after all. What followed was a roadside repair that shouldn’t have worked… but somehow did. And just when we thought we’d regained control… A Honda Jazz appeared out of nowhere, driven like it was qualifying for Le Mans—and completely stole the moment. The RCZ lives. For now. Next stop: the Nürburgring.

They Turned Up in a Van… and Tried to Rob Me: Buyer Beware

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2567025/fan_mail/new] BUYER BEWARE is the series where we expose the scams, tricks and tactics nobody tells you about when buying or selling cars. This episode? They don’t message. They don’t email. 👉 They turn up. In this episode of Cheap Thrills, I break down the in-person buyer scams that can cost you thousands  from coordinated callers, to groups arriving on your driveway, to the psychological tricks that make a perfectly good car suddenly sound broken. If you’re selling a car privately, this is the stuff that catches people out. 👉 Multiple buyers, one agenda 👉 The “inspection” designed to shake your confidence 👉 Fake faults, real pressure 👉 And how a £3,000 car becomes a £1,200 “deal” It’s funny… until it’s your car.  Follow Cheap Thrills for: * More Buyer Beware episodes * Marketplace scams & survival tips * And the ongoing attempt to take a £1,600 Peugeot RCZ to the Nürburgring… …which is either brave… …or completely stupid.

Porsche Boxster: The Porsche Everyone Got Wrong… Better Than a 911?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2567025/fan_mail/new] Everyone says the Porsche Boxster is the poor man’s 911… but I think it might actually be better. In this episode of Car Park Confessions, we take a brutally honest (and slightly unhinged) look at one of the most underrated sports cars ever made. * How you can buy a Porsche for the price of a Fiesta * What the Boxster actually shares with the Porsche 911 * Why it might be better to drive on real British B-roads * And whether it quietly embarrasses cars like the Mazda MX-5 and BMW Z4 This isn’t about badge snobbery… It’s about whether the “cheap” Porsche is actually the smartest one. Because once you drive one properly… you start to realise… this might be the Porsche everyone got wrong.

Ring Run #3: My £1,600 Nürburgring Car Is Already Leaking Oil

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2567025/fan_mail/new] The £1,600 Peugeot RCZ Nürburgring project hits its first real crisis. What starts as a simple warning light quickly turns into a dashboard Christmas tree with faults ranging from turbo pressure issues and camshaft timing errors to a completely unrelated driver’s door control panel that has apparently decided it’s also involved. After clearing the codes and enjoying a few weeks of false confidence, the car suddenly throws itself into limp mode thanks to a front wheel speed sensor fault, taking ABS and traction control with it. But the real problem appears when the car goes on the lift. Fresh oil. And lots of it. The culprit looks like a rear main seal leak - one of the most awkward and expensive repairs on the engine, potentially costing half the value of the car. So now the Ring Run faces its first real dilemma. Do you spend £800 fixing a £1,600 car… or gamble and drive it across Europe anyway? Because the last thing anyone wants is to drive all the way to Germany… only to spill oil all over the Nürburgring.