Hi all, wanna get your 2 pennies worth of advice.
Im currently driving a puhg junior 1l d reg. doing 60 miles a day of motorway driving, and as you can imagine having done 110k its not gonna last much longer. Im looking at getting soiemthing but cant afford more than £2000 my criteria are:
- Few extras poss e/w c/l p/s etc.
- Nippy. ie turbo or summit.
- happy on a motoway.
- Not a familly car. im only 24 ive got the joys of a mondeo to
come.
Have thought possible an old f/g reg bmw 320se or a hot hatch of some sort just want some suggestions of cars.
Cheers
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What makes you think its not going to last much longer at 110K? Is it giving you trouble?
First of all, if peace of mind and reliability are an important issue, then forget the turbo's and put the extra insurance money towards the car. Another thing would probably be to forget the beamer for a while, especially if you are on a tight budget. Buying it is one thing, maintaining it is another!
Seems though you have already decided you want a supermini or thereabouts, so consider perhaps a clio, pug 306, fiesta or astra. If you want a bit more motorway comfort and cruising I would recommend a cavalier, though as you stated no family car then might be a no no. A golf would be another good choice if you can find one at the right price, forget novas if you want motorway happiness or perhaps a corsa?
S.
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SVPworld (incorporating PSRworld)
www.svpworld.com
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Hi Millay,
Your criteria sound fairly similar to mine, when I was looking about a year ago. In the end, I opted for an H-Reg Audi Coupe 2.0i in black - a car that I'd liked for some time. My reasons were as follows:
Fully loaded (electrics, PAS, sunroof)
Quality build (it feels nice and solid inside and out)
Pretty nippy (it's 115bhp, and happily sits at 100-110mph)
Nice looking
Admittedly it took me about 6 weeks to find the right model, and I won't deny that labour is fairly expensive, but personally I think you'd struggle to find all these things in another car.
On the insurance side, if you're 24, it won't be too bad at all, especially as these cars tend not to be driven by your average boy-racer (too much!).
Finally the cost: I got mine for £2200 in the end, and it's a new (although not 'facelift') shape...
Good luck and happy hunting...
Stuart
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I went looking for something similar 18 months ago, and my first thought was a late Mk2 Golf GTI - big bumpers, upgraded interior. The only problem was that I couldn't find one that hadn't been thrashed, crashed, or had the entire contents of the Ripspeed catalogue thrown at it. So I ended up, like Stuart, with a 'new shape' H reg Audi Coupe, but a 2.3 20 valve. Your chances of finding one of these are not good, the insurance will be dearer than the 4 cylinder 2.0, and mechanical parts tend to be more expensive. It's a pig to work on as well, with very little space in the engine bay.
BUT after it was damaged by a hit and run driver, I thought seriously about replacing it with something else, and really couldn't think of anything else at the price that I would rather have. So I'm paying out to have the body damage repaired, I've found a set of original 6-spoke alloys to replace the battle-scarred TSW's and I'll keep it until either it dies, or I have enough money for something really desirable.
2.3 10 valve is more common and cheaper to run - that 5 cylinder engine sounds lovely and is much smoother than the Golf GTI-derived 'four'. Go and try one - you might like it.
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
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I would second Richard's comments - if I was looking again now, I would almost certainly try to find a 2.3, but at the time insurance prohibited!! I don't know if everyone would agree, but I feel the 2.3 is probably a better car then the 2.6 as well- certainly a bit nippier...
Funnily enough, I went through exactly the same Golf GTI dilemma myself!
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Thanks for all your input, I just gotta start saving now and rapidly.
I had a nice meeting with the AA man the evening after i posted this thread after my car tried to catch fire. im gonna spend this weekend patching it up coz I gotta keep it running for a few months yet. but am gonna start looking around!
Cheers
Andy
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Right a few suggestions for you:
SAAB 900 Turbo Aero: Love it or hate it looks, but they are pretty fast and look nice in the right colours. Cheap now (anything pre 94 in your price range). All the toys. Future classic.
Agree with the others on Audi Coupe - very cheap now.
Citroen hot hatch. 2 grand should by you a nice 2.0 Volcane. Limited street cred, thus low price.
2 grand qualifies you for Porsche ownership, even if it is a 1984 924.
The real performance car bargains are with big cars though. e.g BMW 535i, serious performance for little money. Carlton GSi 3000 24V gives you 204bhp for around £1000. Cheapest 150mph you can buy.
I wish you could post pictures - I tried using my HTML skeelz but it still didn't work. Baby steps!
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