Used 4 doors saloon, RWD, manual and affordable?

[Shifter1]

Smanks said:

Why does it have to be RWD?

Because I already have an AWD and I don't want FWD in such a large car. This is to replace my prior car which was a 2-door RWD manual.

[Shifter1]

Finlandia said:

Nothing wrong with FWD in a Volvo S/V70 or S80, plenty to be found and at really discount pricing.

If I was buying a hot hatch I would not mind FWD. Not for a large saloon.

[Shifter1]

Glasgowrob said:

Omega v6,


plenty manuals out there and can get them for pennies, and if someone else buys one its one less for me to buy


everything you need, RWD manual 200 horses (on the 3l and 3.2) and massive

I agree. But where are you seeing plenty of manual 3.0 Omegas?

[Shifter1]

Kawasicki said:

whether or not you have owned a fwd car with traction problems is completely irrelevant. Physics is all that matters.

I have learned not to try to argue with people who questions why somebody would want a RWD or a manual gearbox. If they ask is because they will never understand.

[Shifter1]

sleepera6 said:

Or a Kawasaki Ninja.

Have a ZX-10R actually.

[Shifter1]

Jimmy Recard said:

Yep! If I really, really didn't want a 5-Series then a Jaguar S-Type or Vauxhall Omega would do. I don't think there are many choices left!

I said several times I would be OK with an Omega V6 3.0 manual. But you can't find them.

The S-type is too ugly and retro for my tastes. If I had to go with an older Jag I would much prefer the X-type looks. But it's not RWD and it's about as big as an Astra inside, so too small.

[Shifter1]

s m said:

Not the Lotus but still fast enough

Won't depreciate

http://www.finecars.cc/en/detail/car/111029/index....

I'm fine with the Omega, meaning the Omega B in Europe but not the Carlton. The Carlton is too old at this point for a daily family car. Not enough safety. It's a collector's or weekend car at this point.

Besides I'm sure that car is above budget. He probably wants at least €15000 for it.

[Shifter1]

s m said:

Seems the obvious choice Jimmy

Quick 10 minute search of the various European car selling sites I found plenty of lhd V6 manuals

There'll be something not quite right with them

That was just the German ones on one popular site - sehr schnell

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...


http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...


http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...

4 cars out of possibly 2000 hits and you consider that plenty? And this from a nationwide search or possibly European-wide.

And from these 4 results, 1 is the right engine and gearbox but much older than MY2000 and in really bad condition plus not MOT, the other is not even a saloon, the third is again too old and also a 2.5, the fourth is ok apart from not being a 3.0. So actually none of them ticks all the boxes. So I would not call this plenty. I had seen them all by the way apart from the estate because I’m not looking for an estate.

You also have to consider distance. Some of those are basically 7 hours way. With a car without MOT or that is unregistered I would have to have it shipped, rent a trailer and find somebody who has the right driver’s licence to go pick it up or pay somebody to pick it up. All fine if the car is nice and ticks all boxes. Not for pieces of junk or cars that are not what I’m looking for.

Plenty for me means opening my local newspaper and seeing many cars for sale there or at least finding many within a couple of hours driving. Finding all of 4 cars within 10 hours drive is not plenty. It means they are difficult to find. Which is what I said.

Thanks for taking the time and searching. But please stop acting like there are plenty out there and I just don’t want to buy it. Like I said for about 10 times now already, I already looked for 3.0 V6 manual Omegas. They are very thin on the ground. I had seen all of the ones posted in this thread so far.

[Shifter1]

Jimmy Recard said:

Shifter1, we don't know where you live so it's hard to find cars near you anyway!

s m, this thread has got me keeping one eye open for a nice Omega MV6 manual. I really like the one you found in Berkshire. I always wanted one and I've sort of just realised how hard they are to find!

Well, to be honest I never asked anybody to look for cars for me.;)
It's nice people have taken the time to do it. But I asked for model suggestions so I could look myself, for the very same reason you mentioned above.

The thing is, of course they exist. But that is very different from there being plenty. If I would find a nice example I would maybe be willing to drive hours to look at it. But I'm definitely not looking for a project car.

Because they are so difficult to find is the reason I didn't even include them in my considerations in my original post. The other problem with them is that they will probably have been abused. Most who would buy a manual probably would abuse them or they would buy an auto. Now with cars where manuals are more common or the standard this is less of a problem.

[Shifter1]

s m said:

Merc E280s came up in numbers with a manual box, lhd - only 200ish bhp though

I remember a friend asking similar years back - found him a rare special order 4-litre Jag XJ ( manual ) - he didn't want a 6-pot XJR

Edited by s m on Saturday 10th December 16:25

But who wants an early 2000's Merc? They are rust buckets. Also does the E280 really puts out even 200bhp? Maybe I'm thinking of the earlier W124 260 E and 280 E, but I thought it was more like 160bhp.

[Shifter1]

Jimmy Recard said:

True! it's just hard to meet your criteria, so it seems that there will have to be a compromise of some kind, or you can wait forever for the right, rare car. It could be next week or five years!

The Jaguar X300 XJR would be excellent, but they didn't make them past 1997

I know it's hard. Hence why I came to a forum. Otherwise I would have done it without asking for suggestions.

About the X300, that's a proper barge! Doesn't it really handle like a boat?

But the main thing I don't want is the retro style.

But even if all the above and the age would be discounted, Jags are cheap in the UK. Here they are not. Because they are special here. Similar to how Audis and BMWs are a bigger deal in the UK.
So the saying, if you can't afford a new Jag you can't afford an old one, is even more true here. Give up on finding a local garage to work on it. You are probably tied to the authorized dealerships and that is expensive.

On top of that I can't see a XJR being cheap here. Also most XJRs were automatics. So we are again in the same situation as the Omega. Regular X300s are maybe easier to find with a manual. I haven't looked. But can't think they are cheap to buy or to run around here.

[Shifter1]

s m said:

Nah, the 2.8 18v V6 model - 200bhp so similar to the 3 litre Omega - as below

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...

OK. That's already the V6. I thought maybe the early W211 still used the straight 6.

But that year model of E Class are infamous for rust and problems.

[Shifter1]

Jimmy Recard said:

If it's not very rusty now, it's unlikely to become rusty soon and suddenly, I would say.

By the way, Audis and BMWs definitely aren't special cars or expensive to maintain in the UK
Using your example, a Jaguar is far more special and rare than an Audi or BMW here

But they are cheap to buy there and pretty much any old garage there can work on them. There are Jag mechanics everywhere. Here not. It's not that they are special like in people think they are great cars or high end cars. They don't. They look at them almost like they look at American cars. It's a foreign car.

I meant they are special in the sense that there are not many around so if you need repairs you are basically going to have to pay dealer prices. If you need parts you have to buy new. Not enough around to support a used parts market really. You're not going to find somebody who knows a Jag mechanic so you can get a break.

Basically when you buy a Jag here, you are trying to be different. So you will pay the price accordingly and people will look at you as such. Although the later I don't care. Jags don't have a bad reputation here. They basically have no reputation as there are not enough around. Only old time car fans still think they are bad, unreliable and expensive to maintain and repair.

[Shifter1]

white_goodman said:

So OP, have you admitted defeat and bought a 5-Series yet?

Nope. Never!

[Shifter1]

Debaser said:

Why don't you want a 5 series?

Ok. I've been avoiding this question so far because I don't mean to offend anybody. But I guess it won't stop coming till I answer.

It's a personal thing. I mean, do BMW and their drivers have a good reputation where you live? Here all of the a**hats seem to drive them. Of course it won't be every single person who drives one. But enough to give the cars a really bad reputation. The old ones are driven by punk a**hats and the new ones by snob a**hats.

For whatever reason BMWs really seem to attract that type of people. Passat drivers, Skoda drivers or even Mercedes drivers don't have that reputation. But then again they don't behave like BMW drivers.

Honestly I just don't want and don't need to be associated with this type of people in any shape or form.

Also, I never particularly liked the way the cars look anyway. Don't much car at all. I was just never attracted to them apart from the special ones such as the M1 and the like.

Edited by Shifter1 on Monday 12th December 23:23

[Shifter1]

Frankthered said:

Shifter, you've looked at all the options. The only other thing I can think of is the Panamera and I guess these aren't affordable enough yet; and probably a bit small and may not be many manuals - I have no idea!!

Looks like you'll have to compromise on something. If you would let go of either RWD, manual or no BMWs, you'd have a lot of choices. Either that, or wait for the one in a million car you seem to be looking for.

I sort of get why you don't like BMWs. Not sure the drivers are quite so bad here, but they have a certain reputation and I've driven a couple of 3 Sieries models in the past and wondered what the fuss was about.

You do seem to want something that doesn't exist.

I really don't want to let go from manual. Concerning the RWD, even if I would switch to AWD I think it would be just as difficult. Because then I would have to exclude Audi and VW, because I already have one.

But I will not go for FWD. Not a chance.

[Shifter1]

Debaser said:

Fair enough, I never pay attention to how others might perceive my choice of car, and I wouldn't avoid a car that suits my needs for fear someone might think I'm a snob (or punk asshat).

Where I live I think Audi drivers have a worse reputation than BMW drivers.

Yep. Here the Audi drivers are working hard to take the spot from the BMW drivers.

I guess the BMW drivers just had a very long head start.

[Shifter1]

OverSteery said:

The only thing I actively miss was the hand crafted interior of the hand-built M5 - it was stunning; clearly only the finest baby soft cows were allowed to give their lives for it.

[Shifter1]

exelero said:

Certainly and they still keep working on it

It's really hilarious in a sad way how the stereotype fits them.

Today I was driving down a residential road with a 30km/h speed limit. All of a sudden, without warning or without using his indicator, the car parked on the street just a few meters away from me comes out and blocks me and proceeds to do a 3-point turn as quick as he can, as if he was a cop in a hurry to catch a criminal or something. I had to brake to wait for him, which in his small brain I'm sure seemed like the right thing. Then he blasts pasts me like he just robbed a bank, probably already doing 50km/h, again in a narrow residential street with a 30km/h speed limit.

What was he driving? You guessed. Silver E39. The E39 seems to be the worst. I guess it's cheap enough now that anybody can get one and they just think they are hot sh8t because they drive an old big BMW.

Gladly there were no children on the street at the time.

Edited by Shifter1 on Thursday 15th December 12:49

[Shifter1]

SWoll said:

the OP's dislike is purely based on childish stereotypes...

It would be great if BMW drivers spent more time trying to prove the childish stereotypes wrong instead of reinforcing them.