The more I look the less I find...

[Eski1991]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Santana-PS10-4x4-9-...

It's probably the closest you could get to your criteria

[bearman68]

Diesel, but have a look at this. Very nice.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-LEXUS-IS-220D-SE-SA...

[noell35]

Eski1991 said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Santana-PS10-4x4-9-...

It's probably the closest you could get to your criteria

I can't wait to hear why he doesn't want this. It fits the criteria perfectly.

[danlightbulb]

Yeah a quick google search reveals its illegal to remove them. Bloody bureaucrats.

Anyway, some petrol options for £6k. Thoughts appreciated.

1. Honda CR-V, 2006, 62k miles, 2.0 litre iVTEC manual, 150bhp, 31mpg.


2. Hyundai Santa Fe, 2006, 60k miles, 2.7 l V6 Automatic, 186 bhp, 26 mpg BUT LPG'd!.


3. Toyota RAV4, 2006, 44k miles, 2.0 litre manual, 150bhp, 32mpg.


4. Nissan X trail, 2008, 68k miles, 2.5 litre auto, 166bhp, 30 mpg.


5. Volvo XC90, 2004, 95k miles, 2.9l auto, 272bhp, 21mpg BUT LPG'd.



I think LPG could be a serious contender. Not really considered it before now. An LPG'd xtrail or pathfinder. Oh yeah!

noell35 said:

Eski1991 said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Santana-PS10-4x4-9-...

It's probably the closest you could get to your criteria

I can't wait to hear why he doesn't want this. It fits the criteria perfectly.

Im sure you're gonna hate me. Its too extreme. Love it, if I lived in the jungle, but couldn't live with it daily. Thanks though!

Edited by danlightbulb on Wednesday 2nd September 21:47

Edited by danlightbulb on Wednesday 2nd September 21:53

Edited by danlightbulb on Wednesday 2nd September 21:55

[Bill]

Run from that Volvo, they're horrendously unreliable at that age and iirc the T6 was the worst.

[Willy Nilly]

danlightbulb said:

Willy Nilly said:

Then walk.

Would rather walk than drive that. (ok that might be an exaggeration). but i'd still feel like I was in a Transit.


I think I might forget the 7 seats thing altogether. The missus will have to deal with that problem when she comes to change her car. 99% of the time I'm in it on my own anyway.


Here is a very rubbish anecdote. Last year I was a member of an air rifle club. The parking was on a grass field next to the club. One Sunday, after a bit of rain, I drove on to this field in my Mondy. I could not get off again and had to be towed off. An almost flat grass field with a bit of mud on it and my Mondy could not cope.

4x4 would just be very useful thing to have, even if I don't need it 99% of the time. Its the same with the 7 seats thing. 99% of time do not need them, but when I do need it and don't have it? Stuck.

Buy what you like.

My dad used to have a herd of cows, he didn't have a 4 wheel drive truck, he had a Skoda Pickup. I have worked on farms all my life and run a 11 reg Jazz and a 12 reg CBR600F. My old MB2 Civic got me into a very wet grass field for a cross country race with me and 3 passengers in it with less drama than an X5 in front with 1 passenger in it, mainly because I know what I'm doing. You'll need to drive a pickup to full understand how bad they drive.

There are plenty on here that can go out and buy a new 5 series or any of the cars you are after without it causing much issue to them. That's how to buy them, when you have the money and it causes no worries to you. But at you price point and to a lessor extent mine, you have to go for tools for the job. Needs have to come first rather than wants.

The FRV I linked to would do you well. It is family bus, you have a family with issues around child seats, they would all fit in, it's a Honda and as long as it's been looked after in its previous live it will do you well. But that's not going to show how well you have done.

You are concerned with running costs and you are looking at middle aged 5 Series BMW's. Hmm. If you are serious about them, at least look at even the normal consumable parts prices and compare them to the Mondeo. The 525i is 200 hp weighs probably a tonne and three quarters, does 150mph, what sort of brakes and tyres do you think that needs and do you think it'll do 45mpg around town, try low 20's? Never mind the dizzying amount of electrics on one. That shagged out heap of an E60 my colleague can't afford to run eats batteries and some of the electrics still work on it, looks the part mind'. It also spent several weeks at work parked above a pool of its own coolant.

For the record. 12000 miles at 35mpg is about £1,770 for unleaded and at 40mpg is about £1,551.

[noell35]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KIA-SORENTO-2-5-XS-DIESE...

Proper chassis and low range for off-roading
35mpg average
Low mileage

[DoubleSix]

danlightbulb said:

Re the DPF. Older diesels don't have it right, and they pass the MOT. So is it not possible to remove it altogether from these modern cars. Piece it through in the exhaust and code it out in the ECU?

Possible sure, but immoral, don't do that.

Thanks.

[danlightbulb]

DoubleSix said:

Possible sure, but immoral, don't do that.

Thanks.

Looked it up, illegal. Morality is subjective.


Looking at petrols again now. Surprising how few of them are around.


Will maintenance costs be rough on a 2.5l BMW 5 series petrol engine?

Edited by danlightbulb on Wednesday 2nd September 23:42

[danlightbulb]

What about these 3rd party warranty companies? Would that provide the protection against expensive diesel engine failures at a reasonable cost (say £150 a year)?

Im also looking at warrenty direct's reliability scores for various cars. Almost everything half decent is coming out pretty bad on reliability. Almost all 4x4s score poorly. BMWs and Audis all score poorly. What is going on!

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 01:29

[Eski1991]

Well I really have no idea. You want something flash on a budget really?

Octavia scout or v70 d5 would be better than a full blown 4x4 for daily use but I doubt you'll find what you want in budget.

Save more or compromise.

[Ghost91]

danlightbulb said:

What about these 3rd party warranty companies? Would that provide the protection against expensive diesel engine failures at a reasonable cost (say £150 a year)?

Im also looking at warrenty direct's reliability scores for various cars. Almost everything half decent is coming out pretty bad on reliability. Almost all 4x4s score poorly. BMWs and Audis all score poorly. What is going on!

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 01:29

Cause it's a myth that German cars are supremely reliable. They're still very nice, and very well screwed together, but mechanically there's no beating the japs.

If you buy from a dealer they do quite good wareanty packages, Ive just bought an approved used suzuki and you can get a decent warranty from them, maybe that would be a good idea if you found something you want.

[Bill]

And IMO those soft roaders look gash and don't have the manly truck look you want, more home counties wannabe.

Have a look at Forester turbos. Easily in budget, shouldn't go wrong, soft roader in a good way looks and fairly quick. Your mpg will suffer though, but you are going to have to compromise somewhere.

[danlightbulb]

Bill said:

And IMO those soft roaders look gash and don't have the manly truck look you want, more home counties wannabe.

Have a look at Forester turbos. Easily in budget, shouldn't go wrong, soft roader in a good way looks and fairly quick. Your mpg will suffer though, but you are going to have to compromise somewhere.

I agree, the xtrail probably the best out the bunch looks wise. I could fit some AT tyres with the white writing on the sides, some side steps, and a bull bar at the front to enhances its mean-ness. 30mpg from its 166bhp engine and 68k miles puts it almost exactly the same as this 2.3l petrol mondeo which is up for £5500:

or


So a 30mpg xtrail or a 30mpg mondeo?

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 16:31

[Bill]

This is a better colour and has a better engine: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[danlightbulb]

Bill said:

This is a better colour and has a better engine: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

It is very nice, but:

• only 2 years newer than my current car (its a mk3 same as mine)
• 3 to 4 years older than I can get on AT for the same money in a lesser spec
• probably gonna cost me a bomb to insure it

I'm a bit concerned about going for a big petrol. Won't I be more likely to have expensive repair bills as per the diesel argument?


Edit - very surprisingly its only gonna be £550 a year insurance. My 2 litre diesel is £450. Thats shocked me.

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 17:02

[Eski1991]

danlightbulb said:

It is very nice, but:
I'm a bit concerned about going for a big petrol. Won't I be more likely to have expensive repair bills as per the diesel argument?

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 17:02

No the diesels have much more to go wrong, as people have already told you. (turbos, EGR/DPF), a N/A petrol V6 while juicy will not be prone to these issues(because it does not have the parts) The STs I believe still have rather rubbish clutches and seem to like dying around the 100k mark, had he same on my diesel Mondeo as have many others.

As for service parts, it's not difficult to plug the car reg into a motor factors like ECP or GSF and have a look yourself rather than relying on the experience of others and you can work out the cost of a set of tyres, brakes and pads all round, a full service. The information is all easy to find.

The ST220s will hit low 30s on a run, possibly higher if you drive like a saint.

You can get them for less than the one posted depending on how much of a gamble you want to take - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-3-0-ST-220-S...

[danlightbulb]

I was more thinking that powerful petrols will place more stress on components such as cam shafts, pistons, valves, crankshafts etc, rather than all the ancillary components fitted to diesels.

Its such a tough decision. I'm DEFINITELY going be having a one third fuel price hike on a weekly basis if I go for a petrol, and its a gamble that this would be offset by repair costs on a diesel. Going from 45mpg to 30mpg at 10000 a year will cost me £556 a year more.

Also, aren't front wheel drive performance engines supposed to be a bit rubbish?

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 18:05

Edited by danlightbulb on Thursday 3rd September 18:14

[danlightbulb]

Lol.Er...not sure what to say to that. Ive been saying I like 4x4s because of the rugged looks and I get a Chrysler chauffeur type car!

I don't want a statement car. I just like 4x4s. I want something that I will enjoy owning and looking at myself. I don't care whether other people enjoy looking at it or not.

The ST220 is a lovely car and I just watched a clarkson review of it on youtube and he really rates it. I looked at them years ago but at that time I couldn't stump for the insurance. I hadn't considered it could be in my price range now. It will look exactly the same as my Mondy diesel TDCi but will go like stink.

But for my money, I'm not getting anything much newer, you know? Does that matter, I can't figure it out. The extra running cost is doable, provided it does get close to 30mpg as claimed instead of close to 20.

[DanielSan]

Blobeye Impreza Wagon or if you want a touch more refinement then a V8 S4 Avant. Can get the Impreza for around 4k and the audi for 6k. Both hugely practical, quick, and not as terrible on fuel as you'd think.