Budget Spacious Powerful Car Needed

[ShadowLeeds]

Hi all,
My 1st post. Hope you can help.

I loved my 2.0i Ghia Mondeo 1998 Mondeo hatchback (Scrapped in 2013 due to Rust)

I now have a 1.8 Focus 2004 hatchback which has done about 20,000 miles which I will have to scrap in a couple of weeks due to rust and it needs new brakes and tyres........

-I'm in my 40's with 17 years no claims so insurance is not an issue.
-I do about 1,000 miles per year so fuel is not an issue.
-I'm not bothered about colour etc.

-I want to spend up to £2000 to £2500 max on a car that will last 1 year per £500 I spend; so I'd like to get 5 years from a car at the top end of my budget.
-Ideally I'd like a hatchback about the size of my old Mondeo with at least or ideally a fair bit more power.
-When I drive, I often drive up Garrowby Hill (a 20% gradient) with luggage and I and I also need power for overtaking on the long single lane route.
-I'll never wear a car out due to mileage but I really need something that is low maintainance and doesn't rust

Am I asking the impossible? Any Ideas?

[Tuvra]

Toyota Auris T180, what do I win?

[Dapster]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...




http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-SAAB-9000-Aero-/272...



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-800-2-0L-820-VITES...

[ShadowLeeds]

Many of these cars are around (or a bit over) my £2,500 which equates to a 5+ year lifetime.
I've got a 2004 Ford Focus rusting away on my drive which will fail its MOT in a couple of weeks. My Ford Mondeo died of rust after 15 years too.

Will a 2005 Mondeo really last another 5 years?

The more advice I get the better. I just cant afford to spend 5 years savings on a car that will last one year or that means I'll be walking for four years!

[OldGermanHeaps]

Mk3 mondeo is fully galvanised so should last longer than the previous models. I'd go for a vrs though if there is a decent one available in budget.
Also who is telling you these cars need to be scrapped? Are you getting a quote from the right places for welding? Evena fred flintstone mazda campervan i had where the floor was hanging off it and the sills were swiss cheese £250 saw it welded up to the point where it's still mot'd and taxed 7 years down the line.
To make a £2500 car last 5 years you will need to budget a few quid for repairs, if you can't make some changes elsewhere in your life to up your income a bit it might be an idea to get a £1000 basic model toyota or honda and save £1500 for 5 years of proper maintenance and give up on performance, beggars can't be choosers.

Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Friday 31st March 00:10

[ShadowLeeds]

TY
I notice that all (but one) the cars for sale have their number plates masked out.
When I put the reg of my last 2 cars online it tells me exactly why they failed MOT and all kinds of useful info.
I've never bought a car (other than from family or friends before) so I'm a total noob.
Do they have something to hide?

[ShadowLeeds]

OldGermanHeaps said:

Mk3 mondeo is fully galvanised so should last longer than the previous models. I'd go for a vrs though if there is a decent one available in budget.
Also who is telling you these cars need to be scrapped? Are you getting a quote from the right places for welding? Evena fred flintstone mazda campervan i had where the floor was hanging off it and the sills were swiss cheese £250 saw it welded up to the point where it's still mot'd and taxed 7 years down the line.
To make a £2500 car last 5 years you will need to budget a few quid for repairs, if you can't make some changes elsewhere in your life to up your income a bit it might be an idea to get a £1000 basic model toyota or honda and save £1500 for 5 years of proper maintenance and give up on performance, beggars can't be choosers.

Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Friday 31st March 00:10

Very fair and candid reply. TY.
My reasoning regarding performance vs cost is that I assumed that with the current massive costs of fuel and insurance that I could get a fairly powerful, high insurance group car relatively inexpensively. Fuel and insurance are not an issue for me.

Perhaps I might need to adjust my expectations or find a bit more in my budget.

Edited by ShadowLeeds on Friday 31st March 01:04

[OldGermanHeaps]

Quite often though the more powerful cars have more to go wrong, and when they do, bits are more expensive, even consumables like brakes, tyres, shocks which eats into your 5 years on not much money plan. For example there the st mondeo clutch is about double the price of a normal mondeo clutch, tyres and suspension way dearer too. If £2500 is your total over 5 years you cant spunk the full amount on the car the only thing you can guarantee is that something will need replaced in those 5 years.
Go to a college and let the students practice welding on your focus?

[seadragon]

I had an old Mondeo estate, cant remember what year it was, maybe 05, but it was a 3.0 petrol Titanium X. Worth a look if you don't mind paying a bit extra on petrol. It was a pretty decent car

[Tuvra]

ShadowLeeds said:

TY
I notice that all (but one) the cars for sale have their number plates masked out.
When I put the reg of my last 2 cars online it tells me exactly why they failed MOT and all kinds of useful info.
I've never bought a car (other than from family or friends before) so I'm a total noob.
Do they have something to hide?

Since the online MOT checking thing became available, I would say the dealers are almost certainly trying to hide the cars MOT History.

ETA:-
You won't go far wrong with a Volvo, T5 or D5. This S80 Facelift with the lovely modern interior is seriously close to the budget. I'd ignore the mileage, there's some for sale with 280k+ on the clock!

Edited by Tuvra on Friday 31st March 10:00

[Monkeylegend]

ShadowLeeds said:

I've got a 2004 Ford Focus rusting away on my drive which will fail its MOT in a couple of weeks.

Has the Focus only done 20k miles or was that a typo?

[Barkychoc]

Subaru Legacy 3.0 Spec B. (edited - someone already posted above the green one)

Flat 6 engine, available in manual or auto.

Lovely smooth powerful car, nothing like the bad boy imprezas.

They take massive mileage without blinking.

The End.

Edited by Barkychoc on Friday 31st March 13:33

[ShadowLeeds]

Monkeylegend said:

Has the Focus only done 20k miles or was that a typo?

13,373 on the clock but it had to have a dashboard replacement (known fault) after about 10,000 miles so its done about 23-24,000 miles.
Trouble is that it needs:-
4 new tyres (due to cracking), new brakes all round, drivers side window not working, air con is poor, drivers-side windscreen demisting doesn't work, generally poor condition and it had to have welding last MOT.

I just don't know if it's worth spending the money on it if it's corroding and needs all that work.

Trouble is that the only "safe" option I have (from the garage owner that I know) is to buy a 1.4 2007 Vectra estate for £2000 and although its in great condition and a good buy it's not really my ideal car. I just don't know what to do.

[Monkeylegend]

ShadowLeeds said:

Monkeylegend said:

Has the Focus only done 20k miles or was that a typo?

13,373 on the clock but it had to have a dashboard replacement (known fault) after about 10,000 miles so its done about 23-24,000 miles.
Trouble is that it needs:-
4 new tyres (due to cracking), new brakes all round, drivers side window not working, air con is poor, drivers-side windscreen demisting doesn't work, generally poor condition and it had to have welding last MOT.

I just don't know if it's worth spending the money on it if it's corroding and needs all that work.

Trouble is that the only "safe" option I have (from the garage owner that I know) is to buy a 1.4 2007 Vectra estate for £2000 and although its in great condition and a good buy it's not really my ideal car. I just don't know what to do.

Might be worth breaking or selling for spares rather than scrapping at that mileage.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say any of the cars listed below will fit the bill I'd take a Mondeo over the Octavia as it's a better steer but there are no truly bad cars now, which Mondeo you choose is a harder choice do you go for the N/A or Turbo engine.

2008 Mazda6 2.5 Sport 170bhp 135k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2005 Mondeo ST 80k 225bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2007 Mondeo 2.5T Titanium X 100k 220bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2005 Accord Executive 77k 190bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2006 Vectra VXR 126k 255bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Saab 9-3 Aero 115k 250bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2006 Octavia VRS 94k 200bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[ShadowLeeds]

Monkeylegend said:

Might be worth breaking or selling for spares rather than scrapping at that mileage.

What do you think it'd be worth?

[jas xjr]

this was £800 with 11 months mot. really clean inside and out. good cheap cars are out there. i only wish i had your budget when i was looking

[ShadowLeeds]

jas xjr said:

this was £800 with 11 months mot. really clean inside and out. good cheap cars are out there. i only wish i had your budget when i was looking

That's put the cat amongst the pigeons (yet) again . That was my thought initially.
Is there a TeamSpeak channel where people chat about such things?

[blearyeyedboy]

To give you a steer:

No one on Earth can promise you that any car will definitely be alive in 5 years once you get down to that price point. Hell, no one can promise that of any car.

I just traded in my 56 plate Octavia vRS with 110,000 miles in October, and I imagine it retailed somewhere at £2500 somewhere. I've looked after it and it's a clean car, and I think it has a good chance of making the next 5 years. One big engine fault, or a turbo failure, or an electrical issue could make the whole thing uneconomic. Hand on heart, I don't know of anything that would do so when I sold it and thought it was a great car, but would I bet money I couldn't afford to lose on it still being alive in 5 years? No way.

My advice would be: Spend far less than the £2500 you've budgeted for (that 5 series looks lovely for under a grand), be picky if something doesn't look clean and looked after, and avoid anything mechanically or electrically complicated. If you need something with enough poke but which doesn't need to be a Performance model, and it doesn't matter if it's fun to drive, I'd consider a petrol Avensis (as long as you don't buy a former taxi!)

Or you could go for a much more dramatic solution, based on something you wrote...

ShadowLeeds said:

-I do about 1,000 miles per year

For £2500 and the money you'd spend on tax/insurance/maintenance, if you're driving so little have you thought about just hiring a car when you need one?

As an example for Leeds:

https://www.enterprisecarclub.co.uk/gb/en/programs...

[sparks_E39]

jas xjr said:

this was £800 with 11 months mot. really clean inside and out. good cheap cars are out there. i only wish i had your budget when i was looking

I budgeted £1500 per year on both my 528i and 530i Sport on running costs excluding fuel, and met or exceeded that in most of the 8 years I had them. I'll be completely honest and say that an E39 is not a sensible proposition on a budget. They also suffer enormously with rust. Also I found the less I drove mine the more troublesome it was. Circa 4/5 years ago they were a great buy at sensible prices, now the good one's are expensive and the cheap ones are (largely) heaps with the odd gem, but they hide abuse well. Get an 8-10 year old Focus, they seem pretty reliable.