The £25,000 question

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Tue 28 Jan 2020 22:49
The £25,000 question - ajs117

I’m a mid-20’s single professional male looking for a new (or used) car but I just cannot find one perfect for my situation. My budget is max £25k, normally go for something with less than 10k miles on the clock and less than 3 years old. I need something which is head turning but professional, preferably a coupe, not too big (no bigger than a A4) as I have poor eyesight but has to go like stink (sub 8 second 0-60). I do about 12k miles a year either in gridlock town traffic or empty motorways (a diesel hybrid would be perfect but very rare). Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Edited by ajs117 on 28/01/2020 at 22:51

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 00:07
The £25,000 question - Avant

"I need something which is head turning but professional, preferably a coupe, not too big (no bigger than a A4) as I have poor eyesight but has to go like stink (sub 8 second 0-60)."

The juxtaposition of poor eyesight and fast acceleration sounds a bit scary....

Assuming that your optician has cleared you for driving, what about a newish 6-cylinder petrol BMW? There are various models and bodystyles available with that engine.

Some form of Alfa Romeo might suit you, although I'd hesitate to recommend one secondhand unless you're sure it's been looked after (hard to know of course).

Full service history is essential.

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 00:16
The £25,000 question - SLO76
Fills the role quite nicely... Looks great, space for 4 in reasonable comfort, big boot, classy, well made, will do 149mph and 0-60 in just over 7 secs yet it’ll also do 40mpg if driven with restraint plus it has the added bonus of having no diesel or automated manual gearbox reliability worries. Firm riding in S-Line spec but does look pretty. Bit of negotiation would see it bought for nearer £25k.

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20191207512...5


Feeling a bit mad? Not as greedy as the V8 but still goes well and unlikely to go wrong. Not as classy as the Audi but there’s something about them.

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200108593...5


The default choice. Goes great, pretty much as quick as the Audi but it’ll do 50mpg easy enough. Drives well, pretty much new and it’ll seat 4 in reasonable comfort again. Easy to sell on again too if it has a full dealer history, ditto the Audi too. The big Ford will be harder work. These 4cyl BMW’s can chew through timing chains if they don’t see fresh oil EVERY year and not every second as per advice on certain service plans so check what it offers before buying a service pack. It might say every 20,000 miles and thus with your mileage it wouldn’t get an oil change for nearly two years which is not good enough on any chain driven motor, any motor for that matter.


I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20191010316...3

Edited by SLO76 on 29/01/2020 at 00:29

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 06:58
The £25,000 question - paul 1963

Sorry am I missing something? why should the size matter in regard to your poor eyesight?

I'm with Avant, are you ok to drive? not sure I would want 'to go like stink' if I couldn't see properly........this sounds like a wind up.....

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 08:27
The £25,000 question - nellyjak

Sorry am I missing something? why should the size matter in regard to your poor eyesight?

I'm with Avant, are you ok to drive? not sure I would want 'to go like stink' if I couldn't see properly........this sounds like a wind up.....

I agree...what a strange thing to say...makes me somewhat suspicious.

Edited by nellyjak on 29/01/2020 at 08:27

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 11:43
The £25,000 question - galileo

Sorry am I missing something? why should the size matter in regard to your poor eyesight?

I'm with Avant, are you ok to drive? not sure I would want 'to go like stink' if I couldn't see properly........this sounds like a wind up.....

I agree...what a strange thing to say...makes me somewhat suspicious.

It's not just eyesight that is poor, common sense seems to be lacking if he wants to drive fast with poor vision. Then again, if he gets a fast car he may qualify for a Darwin Award quite soon.

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 14:42
The £25,000 question - Engineer Andy

Sorry am I missing something? why should the size matter in regard to your poor eyesight?

I'm with Avant, are you ok to drive? not sure I would want 'to go like stink' if I couldn't see properly........this sounds like a wind up.....

I agree...what a strange thing to say...makes me somewhat suspicious.

Indeed - my spidey-sense is tingling on this one. Odds are its either a spammer or a 'yoof' wind-up merchant. I mean - anyone want to be driven by someone whose eyesight is so bad they can't see the corners of their car (less than the minimum distance to read a number plate) sufficiently?

My advice to the OP - use your youthful computer skills to navigate this website to find the answer for yourself - there's enough facilities and reviews to at least get on the right track - it's not as though there are many newish coupes that are either on the market or are affordable to run these days.

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 09:54
The £25,000 question - Andrew-T

Sorry am I missing something? why should the size matter in regard to your poor eyesight?

Absolutely. If the eyesight is that bad, the smaller the better - less chance of hitting other things :-)

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 11:09
The £25,000 question - paul 1963

Sorry am I missing something? why should the size matter in regard to your poor eyesight?

Absolutely. If the eyesight is that bad, the smaller the better - less chance of hitting other things :-)

Fair point Andrew!! may I therefore suggest he buys a Yamaha R1? 0-60 in around 3 seconds, 180mph top end and very small and light, hopefully his reactions are better than his eyesight:)

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 11:39
The £25,000 question - madf

Reversing sensors front and rear sound like a prereqisite with the specification quoted...

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 11:41
The £25,000 question - badbusdriver

not too big (no bigger than a A4) as I have poor eyesight

A truly bizarre statement!. (as others have noted) What on earth does the size of the car have to do with your eyesight?. The only answer i can come up with is that your eyesight is so poor you need a car with a short bonnet to see beyond the end of it!!. But ultimately, if your eyesight is so poor it dictates the size of car you need, you shouldn't be driving at all, let alone driving a fast car!.

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 12:48
The £25,000 question - Dag Hammar

Take a look at another thread in the Legal Matters, Revoked licence-insurance, posted by ati.

The similarities are apparent. I suspect a wind-up.

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 13:33
The £25,000 question - Bromptonaut

Take a look at another thread in the Legal Matters, Revoked licence-insurance, posted by ati.

The similarities are apparent. I suspect a wind-up.

Both posts are a bit odd but this one more than that in legal.

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Wed 29 Jan 2020 21:14
The £25,000 question - alan1302

I think an autonomous car would be best for the OP.

Will have to wait until he can get one though

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