Advice on quick/practical car for circa £5k...Car Found!

[hopz121]

Well he's got a great car by the sounds of it! Have you got a Z lined up?

Yea hopefully pick it up tomorrow, its a 2003 3.0i in silver with 59k on the clock, will post some pic's when i pick it up.

Best of luck finding the right car there is a fair bit to choose from between your budget.

 

[Woody]

Corolla T sport.... bit bland to look at, but on the roads has 90% of the CTR ability, but with much cheaper running costs.

Cheers Shappers, personally the looks don't do it for me nor 0-60 in 8.5secs and interior also looks a little dull and not many toys. Good shout though! I've looked at the Compressor version too before that one is suggested!

 

[Woody]

Shappers I'm thinking of a 55 reg 6MPS so falls into the lower tax band

Yer I've heard that about the ST's, so might leave those alone. In honesty I think I'd prefer some turbo power rather than N/A (apart from the CTR)...

I agree, I'm ruling out the Saab Aero.

Yes I'm contemplating a Legacy, but finding an estate manual with toys at the right price isn't easy.

 

[Woody]

Had a Skoda vRS (2002) before the Z4 and it was awesome, cheap insurance and solid car, good spec & good fun to drive!

Mine was the older model than the current, but looked pretty awesome and other vRS driver usually wave haha!

I know you did!!

We were kindred spirits at the beginning of our Z days Yamiuchi!

But if I do get back into another one it'll be the next version I know what you mean, vRS drivers were more 'wavey' than Z drivers!

 

[Woody]

Yea hopefully pick it up tomorrow, its a 2003 3.0i in silver with 59k on the clock, will post some pic's when i pick it up.

Best of luck finding the right car there is a fair bit to choose from between your budget.

Nice :8 Look forward to :camera:

I know, it's proving rather stressful trying to choose something. I'm hoping to get the CTR but need a back up plan. I've always been a closet fan of the MPS for some reason...

 

[flimper]

E46 330ci?

Can't find one of those that's either a touring (preferred) or saloon that meet the above criteria. Only Coup's and Vert's...and even they look a bit old and ropey. Have you got a link for one Flimps?

Sorry, hadn't looked, just a stab in the dark!

 

[Shappers]

Corolla T sport.... bit bland to look at, but on the roads has 90% of the CTR ability, but with much cheaper running costs.

Cheers Shappers, personally the looks don't do it for me nor 0-60 in 8.5secs and interior also looks a little dull and not many toys. Good shout though! I've looked at the Compressor version too before that one is suggested!

Ignore the book figure... it has the same engine running gear, and weight as the celica 190, which has a 0-60 of 7 bang on... toyota didn't want Celica owners getting their pants in a twist that the Corolla could keep up... in anything other than bone dry conditions it will be quicker than an Ep3 civic becuase of the traction control...

But yeah, I know waht you're saying about the interior. I think they come with auto wipers though...?

 

[Mowflow]

A mate of mine bought a Corolla T Sport after i told him it was a good car. This was when i had just got my CTR and he wanted one but needed back doors.

He still hates me for giving him this advice. Claims it was the worst car he ever owned due to being so dull in every way. Can't say about it's 0-60 time as there was never any point timing it (is their ever?). What I will say is that when rolling it was never even within sniffing distance of my CTR.

I also doubt it would save you anything on running costs. From memory my CTR never cost more than £130 to service, it needed all brakes replaced once which cost £270 including labour and tyres lasted forever due to it weighing nothing and having low torque. It averaged 34mpg and wasn't expensive to insure. I seem to remember tax was the same as my Z.

I'd even say save a bit more and get an integra type R. Evo mag claimed it was one of the best FWD cars ever.

I hate these threads. They always end up with me on autotrader planning test drives

 

[Woody]

Sorry, hadn't looked, just a stab in the dark!

No need to apologise flimper, any suggestions are helpful/interesting

I think to be honest I'm not fussed for the Corolla, good suggestion tho! Swaying more towards a 55 reg 6MPS. Gets a great review online, shame it's not a hatch but hey ho. £4k seems to get a fairly decent one with 70k miles...

 

[Woody]

I hate these threads. They always end up with me on autotrader planning test drives

:lol:

 

[Shappers]

A mate of mine bought a Corolla T Sport after i told him it was a good car. This was when i had just got my CTR and he wanted one but needed back doors.

He still hates me for giving him this advice. Claims it was the worst car he ever owned due to being so dull in every way. Can't say about it's 0-60 time as there was never any point timing it (is their ever?). What I will say is that when rolling it was never even within sniffing distance of my CTR.

I also doubt it would save you anything on running costs. From memory my CTR never cost more than £130 to service, it needed all brakes replaced once which cost £270 including labour and tyres lasted forever due to it weighing nothing and having low torque. It averaged 34mpg and wasn't expensive to insure. I seem to remember tax was the same as my Z.

I'd even say save a bit more and get an integra type R. Evo mag claimed it was one of the best FWD cars ever.

I hate these threads. They always end up with me on autotrader planning test drives

The one I drove wasn't that bad... but it was the facelift version, which had masses of improvements over the earlier ones (extra bracing, different suspension etc).

 

[Shappers]

Sorry, hadn't looked, just a stab in the dark!

No need to apologise flimper, any suggestions are helpful/interesting

I think to be honest I'm not fussed for the Corolla, good suggestion tho! Swaying more towards a 55 reg 6MPS. Gets a great review online, shame it's not a hatch but hey ho. £4k seems to get a fairly decent one with 70k miles...

My missus has a Mazda 3 in pretty boggo spec... but its a capable enough motor. Surprisingly well bolted together.

They share a lot of chassis with Ford... i'm not sure if the 6 has mondeo underpinnings? (not that its a bad thing!)

The 6MPS is AWD too... useful given the weather we've been having... haha!

 

[flimper]

The Mazda RX-8 has been mentioned, I know the MPG is poor and tax is high, but have you seen just how cheap they are in the first place?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/mazda/rx-8/mazda-rx-8-great-condition-mega-low-mileage/1142838

 

[Shappers]

Very small boot though... so not that pratical. In fact, it looks smaller than a Z4 Roadster boot...

 

[D6GMB]

Will probably get slated for this but have owned 3 in a row and mega reliable but a bit dull but you cant have everything.Honda accord was thinking about the 2.4 engined variety .
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201303115716500/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/manual/price-from/4000/price-to/6000/model/accord/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/ka136dd/page/2/radius/1501?logcode=p

 

[mr wilks]

Golf R32 in different clothes :wink: ? much cheaper & more practical

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201303055624304/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/4000/fuel-type/petrol/price-to/6000/body-type/estate/maximum-age/up_to_7_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/model/passat/make/volkswagen/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/200/page/1/postcode/bb120hr?logcode=p

 

[Woody]

D6GMB, that's a good shout but I don't think it'll have the 'exciting enough' factor for me, just a little bland and barge like. I can't pass judgement tho I suppose as I've never driven one. But I can't get excited about going to see one, so I'm out!

RX8 is just not for me, I have test driven one before and really disliked it, and as said tiny boot etc. I'm looking for more of a hatch/saloon/estate.

MrWilks, for a second there I thought that was the R36, for £5.5k!! But alas no, still a good recommendation though. Might look into that a little more

Still swaying towards an MPS though...

 

[Shappers]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbvKv-PofzM

 

[Mowflow]

That passat is a bloody good shout.

There was a similar thread to this on another forum lately. Quite a few had owned the mps. Glowing reviews from all but biggest complaint was fuel consumption. The z4mc will probably be better in this respect.

 

[Woody]

That passat is a bloody good shout.

There was a similar thread to this on another forum lately. Quite a few had owned the mps. Glowing reviews from all but biggest complaint was fuel consumption. The z4mc will probably be better in this respect.

Looked into it a bit more, it is good but would be difficult finding a pre 23/03/2006 registered one, otherwise it's £460pa tax rather than £270pa. I think mpg would be about the same on them, high twenties average. The equivalent age/mileage Passat though is a good £1.5k more than the MPS from the research I've done. Granted it's more practical being an estate and better made, nicer interior etc. But I'm thinking the Passat would be harder to sell on in 2 or so years being a big old 3.2 V6, whereas the MPS is more of a rare niche. Definitely food for thought.

On a side note, not much has been said about the Volvo V50 T5...?!