What car, 4-5k, no I'm not sorry :-)

[The101]

Evening all

I've been agonising over this car choice for a while which is never healthy, I need to just buy something.

But here lies my dilemma...

Currently have a boring car and niggly bits are going wrong all the time, the dash creaks and every time I sort it a new creak pops up, it's coming up to needing tyres and now sounds like a wheel bearing is on its way out, plus perhaps some bushes. I dislike spending any time in this car at this point, and I'm nearing the stage where I cannot put off either spending some money on it or getting something else. As you can tell at this point, I want something else so I don't want to spend money on it and have to keep it for longer. The problem is, what.

Now, I can't decide whether to get something fun like an mx5, or get something comfortable like a mercedes or jag, or even a big 4x4 (just cause, really. No reason to have one, the dog is small and doesn't mind the passenger footwell). The Inbetween cars like the 330 bmw's and the like will no doubt be better to drive and have a more well made interior than my current car, but just don't do much for me as every young lad who wants a bit of a flash car on a budget has one, and drives it badly, or so it would seem.

Who's made this choice for their daily driver and how has it worked out? Have you bought something fun that you enjoy ragging to work, or do you regret it after a long day as all you want is a nice comfy chair and nice cruise home? Did you buy for comfort and are now bored of driving it?

My other requirements are preferably petrol, no real requirement for good luggage space or rear seats but don't mind them all the same, and reasonably reliable and not extortionate to get fixed. I do like driving of course, so if it is the comfort option, some speed would be nice to keep things interesting. Nothing too old man ish though, lexus for example, certain jags.

Grateful for any thoughts on this you may have so I can finally crack on and take action! Ta

[The101]

dojo said:

Mazda 6 MPS

Interesting, they must be quite rare as I don't think I've ever actually seen one! There's a few for sale in budget so that's worth a look, good value by the looks of it unless they have some ruinous problems i should be aware of but being mazda I can't see that being the case

[The101]

Mr Tidy said:

BMW 130i - job done!

I wouldn't mind a rwd 6cyl hatch, it sounds fun but my budget won't get me one will it surely?

[The101]

Ghost91 said:

This may not help but I'd split the budget in two and buy an MX5/MR2, and a waftier car as well, Lexus LS would be a good shout but you've said no to lexus.. E class perhaps.. Plus you didn't say what MPG is acceptable. This way you won't be bored.... But then two lots of car bills isn't always practical.

MK5 Golf GTI perhaps - it's good at everything really, although I think it's terribly dull, others seem to disagree though

Edited by Ghost91 on Saturday 29th August 23:49

Two cars are out of the question for me really as my mrs has her own car and another one to tax and insure just doesn't make sense for us, although that sounds like an ideal solution to me! Mx5 and the other extreme of massive barge combo is a winner.

I'm sure the gti is great at being practical and fast and probably good at comfort and refinement too but it does absolutely nothing for me I'm afraid

[The101]

dojo said:

A few issues, road tax been one! Then people talk about the VVTI belt is potentially weak and the diff mounts on the rear if you're into hard launches (I think 6000rpm stuff)
As a daily with some extra power for a bit of fun when needed they're great. Full leather interior, good stereo, Cruise control, 4x4.
All good stuff. I wanted a 130 but budget wouldn't allow at the time and when the snow came 2 weeks later was glad of the 4wd!

I've been looking at some online and I have to say it looks like a contender. I know what you mean about the 4wd, it's nice for it to be good in all weathers. I think it may be a case of waiting for a good one to come up as there aren't too many out there

[The101]

pointedstarman said:

You don't say if auto is out but if you're happy with one try a Murano maybe. Nice car, 4x4 but a bit of fun.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Also good value and pre March 05 means decent road tax.

Another interesting choice, I'd never of thought of these really. They look quite nice, just as new looking as most cars out at the moment... Nice interior, looks comfy! Am I right in thinking these have the same engine as the 350z?

[The101]

Poopipe said:

You'd get a very decent classic STi at that money. If you can stomach the fuel costs and arent fussed about heated bk rests etc. They make a pretty sound case as the perfect vehicle.

I do quite like them, the thing is though I'd struggle to know what's a 'good' one really as every advert I see has a list of stuff that the owner has done to them. Standard is what I'd be looking for really and they seem like hens teeth

[The101]

garycat said:

Just make sure the VVT chain/actuator has been replaced. Otherwise good reliable car, tax high, insurance low.

There are so few for sale that id probably have to just try and budget for doing this myself...

They look great for the money but I reckon I'd struggle to find one

[The101]

Quite keen on the murano actually although I think I may get annoyed with the 20-25 mpg eventually because I doubt it'll be fun enough to justify... As I don't need the space. That being said, it looks like a great comfy cruiser and plenty of power so I might try and test drive one

[The101]

pointedstarman said:

If the Murano doesn't do it how about:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

The Breras really are beautiful machines! Worth a look too - I'm not sure how comfortable I would be buying one with those miles on but I'm sure there are more out there. I will add that to the list and have a look!

[The101]

ZX10R NIN said:

Some left field options:

Legacy 3.0R
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

WRX
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Saab 9-3 250bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Nissan 350 GT
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-SKYLINE-350-GT-35...

Mazda RX8
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Z4
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

CLK
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Thanks for taking time to post these for me. Some very nice cars here and some would have never entered my head really. The skyline is a very rare sight on the roads, Id love something different like that! I've always liked the rx8's too but seem to remember being told they have some engine problems, maybe I need to look in to that.

It's funny, when you're not looking for a car you can easily spend money you don't have and know exactly what to get but when it comes to actually buying one it can become very difficult. Especially when you have as few criteria as I do!

[The101]

Slow said:

Big comfy 4x4?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

I would absolutely love one of these, but do you think I'm right to be scared by potential Bork? Or will a good one happily eat up as many miles as I need to throw at it? Typically 200-400 per week, so not mega high miles but enough.

[The101]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'm biased (I have 3 of them) but I'd buy a CLK 500 comfortable fast decent handling V8 engine note (although you do need to do an exhaust mod to hear it) & reliable you'll average 23-25mpg.

The only real problem is if you hear a clicking from behind the dash then it'll need the flaps replacing a labour intensive job & of course the plug change when it comes round isn't cheap as there are 16 of them.

The advert below seems like a very nice example:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

I like these a lot, I think they've aged very well when comparing similar cars of that age, and what's nice is with a big v8 I'd be happy to buy something on 100,000 miles if it's been maintained so it keeps them well in budget.

Plan of action is, try to look at the shortlisted cars or get a test drive if being sold by a garage, and this will hopefully give me an idea of which will suit me best. Then I can go about finding a decent one

I reckon where the clk is concerned, if I was going to have one it might as well be the v8 as the consumption of the 320 is probably about the same. And it's a v8

[The101]

Slow said:

I put about 10000 miles on a td6 version in under 4 months. Was a 150k mile car bought for £3900.

It needed tyres when I bought it and a new battery. Other things I bought were a £25 droplink

The gearbox was dodgy on it only failing after those 10k miles, drove down to Norfolk with a trailer then back up to Inverness with a defender on the back so about 3.5ton all in for the 600 mile return journey at about 23mpg. But this isn't a problem on the petrol versions as it doesn't have the chocolate gearbox.

Heres the thread if you fancy a read of it.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Thanks I'll have a read

[The101]

jamesy12345 said:

One of the more affordable cars from the Sports Car International top ten listings maybe?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Car_Internati...

MR2
MX5
300ZX
Boxster
WRX as mentioned above is a good shout

Thank you for your reply. I am definitely still considering the mx5. And ZX who mentioned the CLK did get me looking at mercs, but sensibility kicked in and I started looking at the more economical ones.

This is really odd that it's between two very different cars, but fairly local to me there's both a nice mx5 mk2 with a new hood and fsh, and theres a mercedes E270 CDI with a fsh. On the one hand I get a great fun little soft top, on the other I get a cruise to work on the motorway in comfort and great economy, with a reasonable performance. Neither are particularly saying anything about me, one says hairdresser and the other says Cypriot taxi, but I like them both for different reasons.

The mx5 is cheaper and I do kind of fancy one but I don't know if I could stomach the road noise and lack of comfort on longer trips. But then when I do get a B road blast at least it would be great fun and keep me smiling, and the bonus of mazda reliability too. I'm a bit skeptical about a 100k miles diesel mercedes but theres not much else nearby and the right price that fits the comfort bracket.

Both cars are under budget by a good margin, the mazda in particular.

I've decided to rule out a big 4x4 on the grounds of it being unnecessary for me.

I've thought about some 'in between' cars, so fun and fairly comfortable - but then they do neither particularly well. For me it's all or nothing, but I just can't decide which is more important to me. Silly really. No pleasing some people!

Edited by The101 on Tuesday 1st September 17:58

[The101]

Farmer Geddon said:

If it were me, I'd go for the mx5. At least you won't hate it because it's boring and it will be excellent fun and likely reliable. Check for rust. Big Merc's are nice, but surely it's better to put up with the ride some of the time so you can have fun the rest. Better than having a comfy but dull ride everywhere you go.

You make a good point.

I've thought about compromises between the two, ST150 fiesta or Swift Sport, or some rwd old bmw that's probably been thrashed to an inch of its life already.... But it just doesn't do much for me. It's either a fun car for being fun, or a comfy car for being comfy.