Discussion
Long time lurker here.
Having never had anything "fun", following a bit of a nasty incident which involved closing the M32 on a dark Wednesday evening in December (and making the BBC Radio 2 traffic news), an opportunity arose, to scratch an itch.
Sadly we were rear ended by a Ford Focus that was going at some speed, whilst we were stationary in traffic. Thankfully the German tank, took the impact like a Sherman, and ensured that me and the wife made it home to see the kids.
Following some negotiations with insurers, the car was written off.
Despite the Audi being a money pit (new turbo, clutch and flywheel in the last two years), I loved the car and was resigned to the fact of running it into the ground now that all the "big" jobs had been done.
Moving on to it's replacement.
We are preparing to move this year so PCP/lease/salary sacrifice were not an option.
Having spent the last year getting the credit cards down, we were almost debt free (bar the existing mortgage) but the payout from the car and given the mileage it was on (139,000), meant that options were limited at this price point.
I don't know if anyone has looked recently, but finding a vehicle that is Euro 6 (I work in Bristol which now has the dreaded ULEZ) and around £5k, limits the options.
Have spent a number of weeks looking at dogs, I decided to up the Budget to £10k and try to find something that would hopefully keep its value, when inevitable the prices start to become a bit more sensible whilst having a bit of fun / mid life crisis at the same time.
With a bit of Man Maths I ended up with a very clean looking and totally standard, two owner M135i. It ticks the Euro 6 box and achieves a 30+ mpg, on the commute to Bristol, whilst still capable of a sub 6 sec 0-60 when feeling like it.
Dad points were also won as in the words of a Ten year old boy "it sounds like a race car".
Our friendly Mechanic has given it a good once over and said it was a good straight car which looked like it had done half the mileage it is on. Usual minor rocker cover oil leak which will monitor and sort at the next service.
Plan is to just drive it and pay lumps off the credit card each month . With a bit of luck, it will cost me less than a PCP for 3 years.
Having never had anything "fun", following a bit of a nasty incident which involved closing the M32 on a dark Wednesday evening in December (and making the BBC Radio 2 traffic news), an opportunity arose, to scratch an itch.
Sadly we were rear ended by a Ford Focus that was going at some speed, whilst we were stationary in traffic. Thankfully the German tank, took the impact like a Sherman, and ensured that me and the wife made it home to see the kids.
Following some negotiations with insurers, the car was written off.
Despite the Audi being a money pit (new turbo, clutch and flywheel in the last two years), I loved the car and was resigned to the fact of running it into the ground now that all the "big" jobs had been done.
Moving on to it's replacement.
We are preparing to move this year so PCP/lease/salary sacrifice were not an option.
Having spent the last year getting the credit cards down, we were almost debt free (bar the existing mortgage) but the payout from the car and given the mileage it was on (139,000), meant that options were limited at this price point.
I don't know if anyone has looked recently, but finding a vehicle that is Euro 6 (I work in Bristol which now has the dreaded ULEZ) and around £5k, limits the options.
Have spent a number of weeks looking at dogs, I decided to up the Budget to £10k and try to find something that would hopefully keep its value, when inevitable the prices start to become a bit more sensible whilst having a bit of fun / mid life crisis at the same time.
With a bit of Man Maths I ended up with a very clean looking and totally standard, two owner M135i. It ticks the Euro 6 box and achieves a 30+ mpg, on the commute to Bristol, whilst still capable of a sub 6 sec 0-60 when feeling like it.
Dad points were also won as in the words of a Ten year old boy "it sounds like a race car".
Our friendly Mechanic has given it a good once over and said it was a good straight car which looked like it had done half the mileage it is on. Usual minor rocker cover oil leak which will monitor and sort at the next service.
Plan is to just drive it and pay lumps off the credit card each month . With a bit of luck, it will cost me less than a PCP for 3 years.
coolchris said:
Good cars bought a 150k miles 13 plate this time last year.Cars not missed a beat the auto box is fast and smooth as silk and the engines a peach.For the money got to be the best value for money of the fast hatches out there.
Agreed, this one is on 103,000, 2014 and auto. Very pleased with it so far. SteBrown91 said:
Nice car, but with CAZ/ULEZ zones the car only has to be Euro 6 for diesel, it can be Euro 4 for petrol.
Until they need some more money, ha. Managed a 37mpg, 400mile round trip to Newquay at the weekend, which I was pleased with.
Just had a speeding notice through for doing 80mph on the A30 in Bodmin at 10am on the Sunday morning.
Boochi said:
SteBrown91 said:
Nice car, but with CAZ/ULEZ zones the car only has to be Euro 6 for diesel, it can be Euro 4 for petrol.
Until they need some more money, ha.
Nice car OP- I'd like a go in an N55 at some point. I'v spent a lot of time with the B58 (which is spectacular) but I also adore my N52, and the N55 feels like the 'missing link'. I absolutely would've gone for an M135i myself when I was shopping for mine but they were stretching my budget, and combined with the much higher insurance quotes I was getting and extra reliability worries of the turbo, it was all too much...
mooseracer said:
Boochi said:
Just had a speeding notice through for doing 80mph on the A30 in Bodmin at 10am on the Sunday morning.
They were there again this morning, sigh. Waze let me down.Target locked. I was going downhill and safely overtaking.
Edited by Boochi on Tuesday 20th February 20:43
Kart16 said:
Boochi said:
Excuse me, off topic, how did you get these actual pictures in color? Thanks. Not sure if it is the same with all forces, but this was Devon and Cornwall Police and the copper had a hand held device.
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