Grateful for Buying Advice and Help
Discussion
Hi all,
So without further ado, let's dive straight into action:
After a long period of toing and froing, I was made redundant yesterday.
There are several reasons directly related to the near future of the company I work(ed) for which I can and will not disclose.
Into this plays that I suffer from severe depression, which renders me useless under stress, unable to concentrate, in lack of sleep, I've lost serious weight (103kg -> 71kg in 6 months without doing sports - I am now going to the gym to hold my weight, so on a good day it'll be 73kg) and am fighting bouts of extreme sadness and lack of everything, contrasted by some emotional highs that I can neither really explain nor enjoy.
I am in psychological and physical treatment and am planning a stay in a specialised facility, but I would be unfit to return to work for several months.
Simply put, they can't afford me anymore.
As some might know, I have a track car project, a Lupo GTI - I could do this since I had a company car as a daily, a burden I do not want the Lupo to bear.
Selling is out of the question, as I love the damn thing and it is (along with my PS3) the only material things I have left after a messy split.
Storage is no problem, I have a parking spot in a closed-off underground car park with one neighbour - my sister. I'll get a thread up asking for tips about storage soon.
Soon I'll have to hand in my company car, so I shall be needing a new daily. I'll have some time off easily now, and after an initial browsing, two cars have stuck in my head, a 1998 Honda Civic Aerodeck Tourer 1.4i and a 1998 Mazda Xedos 2.0i V6. The Civic has particularly caught my eye, and I am going to view both cars on Thursday. Here's the links:
http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=24401382...
http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/mazda-xedos-6...
I'm trying to stay under 2k€ and here's the rundown of what the car should do:
- Safety: I have a 2 and a half year old son who is my life, so if he's gonna come along in the car, it's got to be safe!
- Reliability: Both are Japanese and have had nothing but good experience from Jap cars so far, both have relatively low mileage (Civ 140k km, Xed 115k km) and are really looked after
- Space: Civ's an estate, Xed's a huge saloon. Both are massive steps up from my current fleet.
- easy to work on: I do most of the work myself so servicing is only the cost of parts. The Xed being a 6 cyl I imagine its running costs to be vastly higher, though both cars look easily approachable
- MPG: another in favour of the Civ, though the Xed has the smoother engine
- Comfort: The Mazda must be more comfortable than the Honda, though both again a step up from the Lupo
- Petrol - it must be fueled with dinosaur remains. I am not a diesel fan nor would it make financial sense. Manual or auto doesn't matter.
Also, and this is the more important bit, it needs to be something a bit dull, as to make the Lupo shine even more once it gets back out. It must still have that extra bit of heart that touches me - which both the Aerodeck and the Xedos do!
I have of course also looked at other assorted GTI's, 6 cyl Bimmers, rare French/Italian quirkiness, but even if I were to stretch the budget a bit, not even my man-maths calculator can justify it - I am not looking for power or that wow-effect, but cheap, dull, stupid, simple reliability and space.
I must admit I am extremely biased towards the Civic as I had a 2009 FN2 Type R that was my pride and joy until it met my vengeful ex's apocalyptic fury, which is why it's even more important for me to check out the Xedos - to be able to make a comparison and go for the best car, not the one my nostalgia pushes me towards.
While browsing, I also discovered this:
http://www.luxauto.lu/fr/occasion/subaru-forester-...
Very left-field, fits the bill, though higher mileage and worse MPG... HELP!!!!
Anyone got experience with these cars and/or alternatives to consider?
I live in Luxembourg so am checking Lux, Germany and to a lesser extent France and Belgium, all within a reasonable radius.
Any help and suggestions and criticism is very appreciated, so thanks in advance
Marvin
EDITED TO ADD: the storage thread, many thanks for your advice:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
So without further ado, let's dive straight into action:
After a long period of toing and froing, I was made redundant yesterday.
There are several reasons directly related to the near future of the company I work(ed) for which I can and will not disclose.
Into this plays that I suffer from severe depression, which renders me useless under stress, unable to concentrate, in lack of sleep, I've lost serious weight (103kg -> 71kg in 6 months without doing sports - I am now going to the gym to hold my weight, so on a good day it'll be 73kg) and am fighting bouts of extreme sadness and lack of everything, contrasted by some emotional highs that I can neither really explain nor enjoy.
I am in psychological and physical treatment and am planning a stay in a specialised facility, but I would be unfit to return to work for several months.
Simply put, they can't afford me anymore.
As some might know, I have a track car project, a Lupo GTI - I could do this since I had a company car as a daily, a burden I do not want the Lupo to bear.
Selling is out of the question, as I love the damn thing and it is (along with my PS3) the only material things I have left after a messy split.
Storage is no problem, I have a parking spot in a closed-off underground car park with one neighbour - my sister. I'll get a thread up asking for tips about storage soon.
Soon I'll have to hand in my company car, so I shall be needing a new daily. I'll have some time off easily now, and after an initial browsing, two cars have stuck in my head, a 1998 Honda Civic Aerodeck Tourer 1.4i and a 1998 Mazda Xedos 2.0i V6. The Civic has particularly caught my eye, and I am going to view both cars on Thursday. Here's the links:
http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=24401382...
http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/mazda-xedos-6...
I'm trying to stay under 2k€ and here's the rundown of what the car should do:
- Safety: I have a 2 and a half year old son who is my life, so if he's gonna come along in the car, it's got to be safe!
- Reliability: Both are Japanese and have had nothing but good experience from Jap cars so far, both have relatively low mileage (Civ 140k km, Xed 115k km) and are really looked after
- Space: Civ's an estate, Xed's a huge saloon. Both are massive steps up from my current fleet.
- easy to work on: I do most of the work myself so servicing is only the cost of parts. The Xed being a 6 cyl I imagine its running costs to be vastly higher, though both cars look easily approachable
- MPG: another in favour of the Civ, though the Xed has the smoother engine
- Comfort: The Mazda must be more comfortable than the Honda, though both again a step up from the Lupo
- Petrol - it must be fueled with dinosaur remains. I am not a diesel fan nor would it make financial sense. Manual or auto doesn't matter.
Also, and this is the more important bit, it needs to be something a bit dull, as to make the Lupo shine even more once it gets back out. It must still have that extra bit of heart that touches me - which both the Aerodeck and the Xedos do!
I have of course also looked at other assorted GTI's, 6 cyl Bimmers, rare French/Italian quirkiness, but even if I were to stretch the budget a bit, not even my man-maths calculator can justify it - I am not looking for power or that wow-effect, but cheap, dull, stupid, simple reliability and space.
I must admit I am extremely biased towards the Civic as I had a 2009 FN2 Type R that was my pride and joy until it met my vengeful ex's apocalyptic fury, which is why it's even more important for me to check out the Xedos - to be able to make a comparison and go for the best car, not the one my nostalgia pushes me towards.
While browsing, I also discovered this:
http://www.luxauto.lu/fr/occasion/subaru-forester-...
Very left-field, fits the bill, though higher mileage and worse MPG... HELP!!!!
Anyone got experience with these cars and/or alternatives to consider?
I live in Luxembourg so am checking Lux, Germany and to a lesser extent France and Belgium, all within a reasonable radius.
Any help and suggestions and criticism is very appreciated, so thanks in advance
Marvin
EDITED TO ADD: the storage thread, many thanks for your advice:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by MarvGTI on Tuesday 1st April 15:44
kiethton said:
I'd look at ford mondeo's
Very simple, parts are cheap and easy to replace and they don't rust too badly. I'd look no further than a spanish 1.8/2.0 petrol of 2001-2006 vintage (if they're in budget over there)
Hi Kiethton,Very simple, parts are cheap and easy to replace and they don't rust too badly. I'd look no further than a spanish 1.8/2.0 petrol of 2001-2006 vintage (if they're in budget over there)
Thanks for the quick reply, I have since taken a look at Mondeos, the cheapest petrol cars from 2001-2006 are a gand over budget and with quite high mileage in Luxembourg, though you can find them substantially cheaper in Germany, but littered with heavy oil thirst and gearbox problems.
The only one I would consider is this one, as I could probably fit this into budget:
http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/ford-mondeo-2...
V6 which doesn't quite play into the MPG cards again though, but +- low mileage and looks okay specced.
What to look out for on these ?
Also, I did not mention this before, the car I am looking for must be standard, as I plan on keeping in that way and wasting money on the Lupo when the time comes XD
oh...
Shamer as over here even 2005's are sub £1,500 with 60k miles...
tried to use my GCSE German but how does this look?
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Ford-Mondeo-1-8-125-PS-TUV-...
worst case can you import a UK RHD car to Lux easily?
Shamer as over here even 2005's are sub £1,500 with 60k miles...
tried to use my GCSE German but how does this look?
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Ford-Mondeo-1-8-125-PS-TUV-...
worst case can you import a UK RHD car to Lux easily?
Just a thought really , after seeing a minter 900 over the weekend - an old Saab 99 or 900.
Not sure what they go for (or their rarity) on the continent but imagine they must be reasonable and built like battleships. I had a 900 in the dim and distant past and they are fairly stodgy (a Cavalier 1.6 seemed like a sports car in comparison) but worthy.
Not sure what they go for (or their rarity) on the continent but imagine they must be reasonable and built like battleships. I had a 900 in the dim and distant past and they are fairly stodgy (a Cavalier 1.6 seemed like a sports car in comparison) but worthy.
That Mondeo looks quite nice, I'll shoot the owner a message asking for more pics and asking how many owners.
When importing from Germany, it is important that I have the sales contract between at least the last two previous owners - in Germany it is not mandatory to sign a contract when selling a car privately, as such usually only money and keys exchange hand with no discernible proof of transaction.
Having the last two contracts assures the authorities that I am not buying a car that has been stolen. It's a right mess administratively.
So one or two owner cars should be easily traceable, but as soon as a car has had 3 or more owners, it's too easy to become lost in non-existing paperwork (did this my 3 owner mk1 MR2 a few years back, never ever again).
Importing a car from the UK would work out cheaply if it's a car that's also sold here on the mainland (Mondeo - check), I'd have to convert the speedo to KPH and the front light reflectors and get the car through its "Agréation" check to make sure it's safe for travel on Luxembourgish roads. This is more time consuming than money-wise so no problem, but I do think a RHD car is quite uncomfortable to live here on the mainland (where we drive on the right side of the road, unlike some).
Used to own a JDM import Starlet Glanza Turbo, and it was not a lot of fun driving it...
Also started looking at Volvo bricks and Saab 900s/9000s for some Scandinavian alternatives.
EDIT: @ LuS1fer completely agree with you, I've just started looking into these. A mate had a 2.0i 900 with 289000 km on the clock when it got killed by a Land Rover.
When importing from Germany, it is important that I have the sales contract between at least the last two previous owners - in Germany it is not mandatory to sign a contract when selling a car privately, as such usually only money and keys exchange hand with no discernible proof of transaction.
Having the last two contracts assures the authorities that I am not buying a car that has been stolen. It's a right mess administratively.
So one or two owner cars should be easily traceable, but as soon as a car has had 3 or more owners, it's too easy to become lost in non-existing paperwork (did this my 3 owner mk1 MR2 a few years back, never ever again).
Importing a car from the UK would work out cheaply if it's a car that's also sold here on the mainland (Mondeo - check), I'd have to convert the speedo to KPH and the front light reflectors and get the car through its "Agréation" check to make sure it's safe for travel on Luxembourgish roads. This is more time consuming than money-wise so no problem, but I do think a RHD car is quite uncomfortable to live here on the mainland (where we drive on the right side of the road, unlike some).
Used to own a JDM import Starlet Glanza Turbo, and it was not a lot of fun driving it...
Also started looking at Volvo bricks and Saab 900s/9000s for some Scandinavian alternatives.
EDIT: @ LuS1fer completely agree with you, I've just started looking into these. A mate had a 2.0i 900 with 289000 km on the clock when it got killed by a Land Rover.
Edited by MarvGTI on Tuesday 1st April 16:44
(work in Kirchberg, live in Junglinster) please drop me a PM if you need help with anything- car, employment, chat over a beer, whatever, OK?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff