Car Suggestions?

Paul,
If your not interested in euro boxes you are going to have a very limited choice,but on a more serious note. We bought a Renault Clio 1.6 16 valve in August and have been very pleased with it so far, the Insurance is reasonable that is if you can call todays prices reasonable. Fuel economy is pretty good, with a trip from Brighton to Stirling giving a return of 48.8 mpg with a average speed of 68 mph [ at one time going over Shap I looked at the speedo in horror to see a indicated 100MPH
so a quick ease off was required]
In my book the Clio ticks all of your boxes with the added advantage of one of our naimee's being one of Renaults Engineers on the clio sport range [NO NAMES NO PACK DRILL ]
oldie

If reliability/won/t break every 5 mins is at all an issue, don't get an old alfa or saab.Although I have owned, & loved both brands, reliability/ cheap to fix is well down on their list of abilities.
For a car which fits all your listed criteria, I reckon going japanese is the answer.A Honda civic(type r ),or accord,or crv,& probably equivalent toyota & mazda stuff would definitely be reliable/comfy/swift/economical/sensible insurance(maybe not type r)& come in under £15k new/nearly new,& are easy to sell on,& hold their value well.Subaru's as well, except they are a bit more costly to run.Or how about a golf diesel gti?After years of owning porsches,& mercs, I'm coming to the conclusion that once you can no longer justify losing that much dough on cars,stuff like the honda accord takes a lot of beating for £15-20k.Worth a look, at least. Cheers, matt

I would like to add my favourite Mazda3. The second is Honda Civic.

Ivan

An Audi A3 1.8T will put a smile on yer face.

Ian

merc c43

I'd get me an Impreza Turbo - shop around and you'll get a bargin. They aren't wonderful on gas (assume about 30 mpg), but considering how fast the bloody things go...!

Ugly as sin, but a real thrill. And they don't break.

OK well a few things leap to mind.

In a total shift from the original criteria, I quite like the looks of something totally different like a used Jeep Wrangler or Merc G-Wagon - I think both these probably fall into the £5k ish category so may be second-car territory.

Also I've always liked the new BMW Coupes, especially the current 3-Series. OK there's a certain reputation with BMWs, well, the drivers, but as cars they seem pretty well regarded?

I mentioned a £15k budget but would prefer to stay well below it as I'd sooner just buy the thing than do credit, and I don't fancy blowing a large chunk of my meagre savings!

Audi A3 was something I looked at before I got the Golf, at that time a second hand one 1.6 was similar money to the Golf new, and new A3s seemed a lot of money over the Golf for what seemed to be mostly a badge?

Paul

i just bought a mazda 323f zxi - it's got a 2.0i V6 engine and has all the necessary trimmings (12 cd changer, a/c, e/windows, alloys, yada yada). it is in immaculate condition, has 40,000 miles on the clock and has a full mazda service history. it's not expensive to insure, mazda reliability is second to none, it's great to drive and does 0-60 in around 8 seconds with a top speed of 130mph or so.

all of this cost me just £1700.

bargain.

I ran an E46 3 Series Coupe for 3 years. Refined, well equipped, comfortable and never missed a beat. The handling ride compromise was good but in terms of driving dynamics the previous generation E36 3 Series is unbeatable. I’ve now got a 528 which is worth next to nothing, reasonable to insure and run, does an average of 32mpg, has all the toys and still looks like one of the best cars on the road. And it’s quick. One of BMWs best kept secrets and in plentiful supply for not much money. When it comes to gobbling long journeys at naughty speeds it’s hard to beat. And it steers, changes direction and stops like a car half its size and weight. I’ll be getting another one next year.

I was seriously considering going back to a fully loaded 330Ci Sport, but the packaging and dynamics of the 5 have me hooked. Not to mention the good VFM they offer. Post Summer 2000 models are the ones to go for and Sport trim is best IMO. Only Sat Nav, leather and Xenons needed to complete the already good toy count. (Dipped beam is awful, Xenons are obligatory).

As for the poor reputation of BMWs, don’t worry. They’re now so common that lots of ordinary, polite, sane people drive them. The proportion of irritating and dangerous pricks driving BMWs is no higher than most other makes. VW Golfs are becoming the new BMW – they increasingly seem to be driven by idiots who think they don’t bleed, and that the laws of the road and physics only apply to other people.

FWIW

Harry

I think 4x4s are off the list after sanity kicked in (40 mile round trip to work).

OK, so far on the list are:

Subaru Imprezza - insurance may be a problem, not getting it, just the cost due to nickability?

Honda Civic Type-R - really want to see/try one of these.

BMW 3-Series Coupe - still seem pricey even for four/five year old cars?

Saab 9-3 - had a facelift 900 before I got the Golf, loved it, best seats ever (sad I know).

There's always the option of old Mercs/BMWs but I'm not sure I want to go back to something ten or more years old.

Depreciation is also a factor, I don't want to lose a packet on whatever I get.

Any more suggestions/thoughts would be appreciated, think I may go tyre-kicking tomorrow to get an idea what's out there.



cheers,
Paul

quote:

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Originally posted by HTK:
I ran an E46 3 Series Coupe for 3 years. Refined, well equipped, comfortable and never missed a beat. The handling ride compromise was good but in terms of driving dynamics the previous generation E36 3 Series is unbeatable. I’ve now got a 528 which is worth next to nothing, reasonable to insure and run, does an average of 32mpg, has all the toys and still looks like one of the best cars on the road. And it’s quick. One of BMWs best kept secrets and in plentiful supply for not much money. When it comes to gobbling long journeys at naughty speeds it’s hard to beat. And it steers, changes direction and stops like a car half its size and weight. I’ll be getting another one next year.

I was seriously considering going back to a fully loaded 330Ci Sport, but the packaging and dynamics of the 5 have me hooked. Not to mention the good VFM they offer. Post Summer 2000 models are the ones to go for and Sport trim is best IMO. Only Sat Nav, leather and Xenons needed to complete the already good toy count. (Dipped beam is awful, Xenons are obligatory).

As for the poor reputation of BMWs, don’t worry. They’re now so common that lots of ordinary, polite, sane people drive them. The proportion of irritating and dangerous pricks driving BMWs is no higher than most other makes. VW Golfs are becoming the new BMW – they increasingly seem to be driven by idiots who think they don’t bleed, and that the laws of the road and physics only apply to other people.

FWIW

Harry

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Harry

(sorry for hijacking but it could be of use to you Paul!)

If one was looking for a 5 series under the 10k mark, what should one look for?

Ta in advance...

Jay

You'll get plenty for £10k or less Jay. That puts you nicely in the middle of the previous (non ugly) E39 model range.

You should be able to get something around 5-6 years old outside the dealer network. Pre facelift 525/528, probably with 50-100k on the clock. Condition and service history is everything. Mileage and number of owners doesn’t matter all that much. A telephone call to BMW UK Head Office with the VIN will tell you al you need to know – they are very helpful. Early E39s had iffy blocks which wore fast in some cases. BMW will tell you if the block has been replaced – you won’t find this in the service history. My ’97/98 model has its original block but it’s fine. Symptoms are poor starting, rough idling, low power and vibration – which is easily identified by letting it tick over with the driver’s or front passenger’s door open – if you can see it move, walk away.

£10k or a bit less can still bag you an older but approved used example from a dealer (do a search on bmw.co.uk). Approved used cars are usually mint and are covered by a warranty so good you won’t believe there isn’t a catch. MOT insurance is included (and it will have a year’s MOT anyway, plus HPI check, mileage verification and all that). And they've usually been serviced.

Hope that’s some help. If you want to continue this elsewhere you can Private Fish me (Harry) or I’ll give you an Email address.

Cheers

Harry

So what can anyone tell me about the E46 (I think) BMW Coupes?

Just spending a day having a scout of various websites and noticed my local official BMW dealer is showing a Nov 99 323ci automatic coupe with 40k on the clock for a bit under £12k.

The more I think the more I suspect I'd get bored of "working" a sporty car, whereas perhaps with something such as this I get the best of all worlds, comfort, laziness (auto), speed etc..

Oh, "additional equipment" is:

Automatic Gearbox
Cross Spoke 42-7Jx16
Front Centre Arm Rest
Leather interior
Metallic paint
Sports Seats

And I even like the colour

cheers,
Paul

As I said earlier. A very good package balancing performance with refinement. Take it for a drive and see what you think.

Harry

I'm not sure what they're down to 2nd hand yet, but the Honda Accord diesel looks like it'd fit the bill.

quote:

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Automatic Gearbox
Cross Spoke 42-7Jx16
Front Centre Arm Rest
Leather interior
Metallic paint
Sports Seats

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I hate automatic gearboxes.

A car with an auto gearbox is one with 5 passenger seats and no driver's seat.

Found myself looking at Saab 9-3s now

I used to have a 1995 900 before the Golf, pretty basic spec and 5 door but I loved the thing.

Seems you can get a bloody well specced 9-3 of similar age to the BMWs for about £7.5k from a dealers, think I may go take a look tomorrow.

Wonder if a convertable would be practical - never seen the point as you don't get to use it that much in this country, but they do look cool

Paul

I seriously considered a Saab 9-3 (one of the low pressure turbo ones) before I bought my current car. I liked most things about it but preferred the handling of the Accord I eventually settled on.

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul Hutchings:
Wonder if a convertable would be practical - never seen the point as you don't get to use it that much in this country, but they do look cool

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Hi Paul

We rented one in Australia for a couple of weeks. Took a trip on the Great Ocean Road, south of Melbourne and through Victoria.

I thought it performed pretty well really. Quite comfortable and roomy for a two door. Pretty quick with reasonable handling, bit of flex, as you'd expect (were these build on the Saab platform and not the Vectra?). I don't think I'd really want to push it though....

Boot is a pretty good size but halves in size when the hoods down. When the hoods was up it felt like a normal coupe.

I'd consider buying one....

Jay

Didn't the XJR have a blown V8? I thought the DB7 had a straight six (supercharged) and V12, but may be wrong. Often am.

Hi Oldie

It was the Megane 225 engine, not the RS Clio's. The latter is RenaultSport's own in-house engine and a very fine pocket rocket too.

Thanks for remembering me!

Rana

Like I said Tommy, often wrong. No need to shout.

Rana