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A friend and I have decided to drive to Italy - what used car would you suggest for a road trip?
A friend and I have decided to drive down to Italy and meet our wives (they are flying down) for a weeks holiday. We thought we would take in the Nurburgring for a lap or two. We need to buy a car to get us there and we had set a budget of around £10k. We fancied several cars such as Focus ST, Fiesta ST, Subaru WRX, Octavia vRS or even a Mercedes S500. A dealer friend offered us a one owner 2001 Golf VR6 with a genuine 80,000 miles for around £4K. The car has obviously been looked after with a full service history complete with receipts. We have contacted the previous owner and he told us that the car had no known faults. We have spotted that the air con is not working and our dealer said he will repair it. I know there are no guarantees but would an older car such as this be okay for such a long journey around 1000 miles each way? We plan to take 3 days travelling each way. What do you think is our best strategy?
Asked on 17 April 2019 by David Collins
Answered by
Andrew Brady
I did a similar trip and spent £500 on an old Mazda MX-5. While great fun, I did end up having to limp it home from the Nurburgring with a slipping clutch. I'm sure a £4000 Golf VR6 would take the trip in its stride - just make sure it's fully serviced and spend a bit of time getting to know the car before the trip. If anything, there's more fun to be had doing it in an older car. It's worth investing in European breakdown cover and read up on the rules around insurance on the Nurburgring itself (i.e. you probably won't have any...).
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