E85 for £3200 or less
- Thread starter Ozyboyross
- Start date
Attleborough, Norfolk
enuff_zed said:Never been much of an ornithologist but I know a blue tit when I see one :roll:bigwinn said:enuff_zed said:Aye! Vall said that too.
Until the photos appeared I always assumed she meant the car!
Stop bragging man
You just don't know when to stop do you Enuff........
:wink:
Just fell off my chair! Cheers John!john-e89 said:enuff_zed said:I'm sure you'll tell me......................Dad!john-e89 said:You just don't know when to stop do you Enuff........
Dad....!!Bollocks you.... :lol:
Gave us something to laugh about in crappy times.
Have sent you a PM - wasn’t planning for mine to go just yet but if it’s of interest then I’m happy to chat albeit it will be for sale slightly above your budget.
2.5i SE, silver, 6spd manual, full service history and with far too much money spent on it in the past year. It has a (very common) valve cover gasket leak which needs sorting but looks like you might have some local friends who’ll make light work of that.
I’m based in Essex so not a million miles away.
2.5i SE, silver, 6spd manual, full service history and with far too much money spent on it in the past year. It has a (very common) valve cover gasket leak which needs sorting but looks like you might have some local friends who’ll make light work of that.
I’m based in Essex so not a million miles away.
jacobhue said:
Yup that’s about it
Scubaregs said:
Short term not masses, but long term I will have if that makes sense?
I could go to £3500 now and possibly another £1000 if I waited a month if £4500 would get me a nicer car.
Ozyboyross said:
Well you'd get a bit nicer, or a bit newer, or possibly the same as you're looking at now, but a 3 litre.
Not my money to play with but I think I'd go halfway. A 2.5i will be more than adequate for what you need, so push up to your upper limit on that but bear in mind it may need work in a month or two. Look at MOT history, see what advisories it had last year and budget for them being fails next time around.
You may find yourself hovering over the pre- and post-facelift models if you move your budget up a little. Not that much to choose between them really, except some minor cosmetic changes and different engine outputs
Pre-facelift (M54) - 2.2i (170bhp), 2.5i (192bhp), 3.0i (231bhp)
Post facelift (N52 - 2.5i (177bhp), 2.5si (218bhp), 3.0si (265?bhp)
Time to do a bit of research.
If it helps, by Saturday morning I will have a pre-facelift 2.5i auto and a post-facelift 2.5si manual on my drive. So if you wanted to nip down the A11 you could compare and contrast between the two to give you some idea.
Oh and could probably get the 3.0i auto back here for you to look at too if needed.
Like you Stuart, I do most of my own work. God only knows how much that's saved me in labour charges.bigwinn said:
As I've said before, you can do all four corners of the suspension, including shocks, mounts, arb links and bushes for under £500 in parts. Be interesting to see the labour charge for that though.
Therefore I think Ross should be looking at either a car that has had all that done, or risk buying a newer one that hasn't.
All of the models are getting on a bit now and the mechanical stuff is pretty simple in the main.
With people not too far away who can help out then I would say, if he sees one that just gels with him straight away for whatever reason, then check what may need doing, ask for advice on here and tee up some help. Then use the issues to haggle the price.
Alternatively, wait for your next one to come off the production line, with everything sorted.
enuff_zed said:Like you Stuart, I do most of my own work. God only knows how much that's saved me in labour charges.bigwinn said:
As I've said before, you can do all four corners of the suspension, including shocks, mounts, arb links and bushes for under £500 in parts. Be interesting to see the labour charge for that though.
Therefore I think Ross should be looking at either a car that has had all that done, or risk buying a newer one that hasn't.
All of the models are getting on a bit now and the mechanical stuff is pretty simple in the main.
With people not too far away who can help out then I would say, if he sees one that just gels with him straight away for whatever reason, then check what may need doing, ask for advice on here and tee up some help. Then use the issues to haggle the price.
Alternatively, wait for your next one to come off the production line, with everything sorted.
I would have hoped that £3-3.5 would get me a useable car thats not a constant headache, I appreciate things will break on an older car but I do need to feel like I can jump in it whenever I need to and use it.
Im just very impatient and want everything yesterday, but I am very interested in Stuarts 2.2 hes working on, and possible the 2.5 he already has on eBay.
Ross, let me know if you want mine left on the table as an option or not.
As you know, some cosmetic bits that could be improved over time. But mechanically, you’d just need to order a valve cover gasket and find a time to get it fitted and then you’re away! Happy to share some of the invoices if you’d like; £2k+ spent in last year (admittedly some went on labour), including replacement of diff, rear wheel bearings, new front brake callipers, discs & pads, replacement front wishbones and renewed gearbox oil among other things.
Alternatively, it will be up for sale in April/May with VCG replaced and fresh MOT.
As you know, some cosmetic bits that could be improved over time. But mechanically, you’d just need to order a valve cover gasket and find a time to get it fitted and then you’re away! Happy to share some of the invoices if you’d like; £2k+ spent in last year (admittedly some went on labour), including replacement of diff, rear wheel bearings, new front brake callipers, discs & pads, replacement front wishbones and renewed gearbox oil among other things.
Alternatively, it will be up for sale in April/May with VCG replaced and fresh MOT.
NiallR said:
Not ruled anything out at the moment, just have alot going on in the background, current landlord has sold our house, we had found somewhere to go but the new landlord pulled out at the last minute to give it to his brother instead, having a nightmare!! have 6 weeks to find a new house for my family so the car stuffs on a backburner a little bit, Still looking and thinking about options when I have time, but its not a priority right now.