Hi all,
for the last 5 years ive just driven old citroen xantias. Ex taxis that i have purchased for 500-800 quid at a time from my father who has used them for the previous few years. They have done me great aside from one of two problems, the worst being the heater matrix once that cost about 350 to fix.
Anyway, im bored of that now, so im looking for a new car. Somthing between 1500-2000 that is nice to drive. I was looking at an old bmw 3 series, 96ish.
What would you guys reccomend?
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Are you of an age where insurance is a high proportion of your budget? A 3 series might be nice but insurance could be an issue and so could the cost of spares, if you needed them!
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First off I wouldn't spend that budget. Very little difference in reliability between a £800-£1000 car and a £1500-£2000 car. The difference is that if you get a big bill on a £800 car you can chuck it, but if you get a £600 bill on a £2k car you can't. A 96 3 series could have been thoroughly abused by at least one of its owners, and you won't find many (if any) one owner 3s of that age.
Either spend £1,000 or spend £4-£5k, IMHO.
I'd have slung two cans of Bar'sleaks in the Xantia with the dodgy matrix and put it in the paper that Friday....
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Insurance isnt to bad , 25 years old, have 5 no claims and all that.
I was considering buying an impreza sport 99 v reg off a friend of mine for 3250 a few weeks back but wasnt able to for various reasons. It only had 47k on the clock, 1 previous owner and full subaru service history. Gutted i didnt get it now :(
What cars would you guys reccomend then that wont cost a fortune to run?
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So do you want reliable, or flash? - by the sound of the Impreza, you want flash. Keep searching for another one like it, I'd suggest, but it will have been thrashed, that's certainty. No point in owning one otherwise.
How about a Peugeot 405 Mi 16? - one on Autotrader for £950 in Stratford on Avon, see tinyurl.com/frdya. Starting to become a classic.
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How about a Peugeot 405 Mi 16? - one on Autotrader for £950 in Stratford on Avon, see tinyurl.com/frdya. Starting to become a classic.
Unfortunately a 405 Mi16 is likely to have been thrashed too. I used to have a J-reg 1.9 one, a great car with 160bhp in a lightweight body, but would inspect very carefully if I went to look at one. The power is well up the 7500rpm rev band, and it cries out to be revved; used to have to change down to 2nd gear for overtakes you'd normally do in 3rd.
The engineering was a bit lightweight too though; I had big recurring problems with gearbox parting company from the engine at 110k miles; bolt threads were stripping out of the alloy castings. Cost me a lot in repairs but still got good memories of it. If in good nick, would be a really good car though.
Mate of mine has a 1995 beemer 318i that he's had for 6 years, and has had hardly any problems with it (but he does low mileage). Would only consider a 6 cylinder one myself though.
:o)
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SEAT Toledo MKII.
£1,300 will get you a mint 1997 either 1.9 diesel or 2.0 sport. The 2.0 sport is FAST.
Basically a MKII Golf.
Utterly bullet proof, a zillion Spanish taxi drivers can't be wrong.
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Nothing flash, the subaru just really was a nice car. It was only the sport model and was mint from the factory with no crappy boy racer style changes.
Those toledos look ok, are they reliable?>> SEAT Toledo MKII.
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Bulletproof and spares cheap as chips if they go wrong.
The amount of car you can get for your money is amazing.
Strictly a MKII Jetta with an extended floor pan but its all essentially MKII Golf kit underneath.
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If you want a prestige car that isn't too flash how about a Saab? I've had 4, including 2 9000s, a 900 Aero ( 900s reaching classic status now and 900 Turbos pretty quick) and currently a 99T reg 9-5. I don't reckon this is now worth more than about £2000 now but still looks good and drives well and all the Saabs I've had have been pretty reliable. Smart without the drug-dealer flash of a BMW.
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I would not buy an Imreza: the maintenance costs on a high mileage one will be crippling.
I disagree with all on BMWs: buy a high mileage one . Provided it has service history the basic design is strong...and maintenance is not expensive..
But you must be choosy and demand a HPI paid by vendor and correctly carried out ( a problem with all these cars). (VIN numbers, etc.)
madf
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