SE or standard - which spec?

[Roadsterstu]

Seen this advertised at Sunwin Mazda, Guiseley, Leeds:

Appears not to be a SE, but would I be best advised to go for the SE or the lower spec? Obviously the price is cheaper but I have also heard the lower spec car is almost 100kg lighter. Can the option count make standard all but SE in specification? If that is the case what options should I look for? Will long term value/collectability be affected by the car not being the SE? The mileage is a little higher than many that are for sale. Will this be an issue? Is the price fair - it seems a resonable starting point to me.

I see there is a car advertised, linked to from the For Sale section, at a classic dealer, advertised as SE but from the photos appears not to be. I'm getting confused now!

http://tinyurl.com/ny76qw

[Tim]

If you could find out the vin number Stuart I could look it up to see whats what.

If you are in this for the long run then I don't think the spec is important. It boils down to taste. I have an SE because it was important to me not for collect-ability but for the sound system, head lights etc. If you like to have loaded cars wait for an SE. If you want the driving experience with no frills go for the standard. There are also cars with in between specs so not clear cut.

[Roadsterstu]

Thanks Tim. Yes, will get the VIN number when I go. Thought about this a little more and I want the car for the driving experience, not so much the kit count. I spoke with the salesman and am going to view and hopefully drive tomorrow afternoon. The only option he reckons is the sunroof. It has an aftermarket Blaupunkt head unit with satnav, but then I use a Tomtom, so again not that bothered. Just making myself a checklist of things to watch out for...

[JohnB]

Hi Stuart, I've got a non SE and have to say I'm not bothered about it at all, it might be harder to sell but then I don't intend to.
Sure the SE has a lot more toys, just depends how important these are to you, electric and heated seats, sunroof, auto dip mirror and wipers I can live without (more stuff to go wrong ) The built in satnav is not as good as my tom tom, unless perhaps you spend a fortune upgrading it. Cruise control would be nice though and parking sensors. Does the SE have more airbags?
I was lucky in that mine was specced up a bit with the better headlights, alcantara/leather seats and electric rear windows all of which I really like.
Having said all that I got the non-SE as it was a good price, local and low mileage, I could have easily ended up with an SE but I don't regret my decision. Cheers, John.

[ksilver]

I agree with JohnB. When I started to look at 260's I wanted an SE primarily for leather seats and cruise control (The rest was of no concern). I hadn't driven or been in a 260 at that point so decided I needed to find one for a test drive.

The nearest one was a non-SE (#317), When I drove it I just had to have it and do not regret the purchase in the slightest. I do not believe anyone will buy a 260 because of the SE toys, its all about what's under the bonnet and the way it drives/handles.

If you want a 260, go look at it, have a drive , and you'll know if you want it or not .

[SteveChilds]

Have to say I pretty much wanted an SE, I wouldn't have bought mine if it wasn't an SE...

But then a) I like my toys and b) had a top spec CDTi at the time so it would have been a step down in spec. The only thing I wish mine had was alcantara seats.

[Alicatt]

Never liked the Alcantara, it felt so fake when I took the test drive in a ZT260 SE just before I placed my order for mine.
As at the time of buying the car I did big mileages on business and so wanted the "toys" of the SE, especialy for the phone integration which worked very well, infact it worked better than the phone integration in my 2008MY Range Rover Sport! Dosn't work so well now tho as due to "upgrading" my phone the fancy functions that the system could do are now gone and I'm left with just basic operation... it can answer the call through the audio system.

[JohnB]

Just wanted to add that in all the meetings I have been to nobody has made disparaging remarks about mine not being an SE. More may prefer to have an SE but these is no looking down on us non SE owners within the forum.
In fact what a great bunch of people

"Never liked the Alcantara, it felt so fake when I took the test drive in a ZT260 SE just before I placed my order for mine." I actually prefer it, it looks classy and brightens up the interior. Would love to replace the grey with green or red alcantara.

[Alicatt]

maybe it was just on the car that I drove, it was the DP's car from Trident Garage and had a blue alcantara insert on the seat while the body of the car was typhoon blue.

[Stu C]

I wasn't bothered about an SE or not, i wanted a nice genuine car for the right money You can always add bits later on which i think a few people have...like Leather, heated seats etc...

When in Holland sat in Martins car which has alcantara (which i have never sat on before!) and liked it, felt alot like my old Rover 600 with velour seats