Another What Car thread.

[elliot89]

Hi,

So i have just graduated and am starting a job, i need a car to commute to and from work every day. Will be doing about 1000-1500 miles a month and have about £3000-£3500

got a few cars on my mind for different reasons, not sure if i want a cheap runner due to the miles, or a more fun car, but open to suggestions,

VW GOLf gt tdi 130
Toyota MR2
Toyota celica

Cheers

[V8Triumph]

MGB / GT
Jaguar XJ-S (AJ6 powered one)
Porsche 944

[Lanxx]

Clio 172
Mazda MX5
Honda Accord type R

[elliot89]

V8Triumph said:

MGB / GT
Jaguar XJ-S (AJ6 powered one)
Porsche 944

Whats the reliability like on these? Also on the clio 172??

[Pat H]

V8Triumph said:

Jaguar XJ-S

Hmm,

Freshly graduated, first job, needs reliably to cover 1500 miles a month....

Ah yes, a twenty year old XJS.... What could possibly go wrong?

[elliot89]

diesel cars, never had one but have heard there not as fun as petrols, as in acceleration wise. How true is this? been looking at the golf gt tdi 130s, and now bmw 320d. am attracted by the high MPG.

[willp1987]

I have a Fabia VRS (Same engine as the 130 golf), these should be around in your budget. I am in a similar position to you, recently graduated and do about 1400 miles a month. It certinaly isn't the last word in drivers cars, but I do do find it quite fun to drive and plenty of torque for overtaking. Feels well put together, interior is quite a nice place to be, I've done nearly 40,000 miles in mine and have had very few problems. The best bit...driving from Surrey to East Yorkshire the other day saw a 64.6mpg average, driving at normal motorway speed.

[V8Triumph]

elliot89 said:

V8Triumph said:

MGB / GT
Jaguar XJ-S (AJ6 powered one)
Porsche 944

Whats the reliability like on these? Also on the clio 172??

I've owned and travelled extensive mileage (about 1500-2000 miles per month) in both B GT's and 944's as my only car. I have not owned an XJ-S however.

B GT's are very reliable and maintenance is very cheap (parts prices are very cheap and they are easy to fix, not to mention you can buy anything and everything for a B - so very easy to 'personalise')

944's are in my experience reliable. However, parts prices are not cheap and unless you get a very early one, they have things like PAS to go wrong (and go wrong it does - I converted one of mine to a manual rack, though.)

[thebigmacmoomin]

Is insurance on top of that cost & what driving experience do you have as it would depend on what car to go for.

If you had 0 NCB, then forget insurance on anything quickish but if you have say 3 years NCB, then you probally could get a decent insurance quote.

[elliot89]

V8Triumph said:

elliot89 said:

V8Triumph said:

MGB / GT
Jaguar XJ-S (AJ6 powered one)
Porsche 944

Whats the reliability like on these? Also on the clio 172??

I've owned and travelled extensive mileage (about 1500-2000 miles per month) in both B GT's and 944's as my only car. I have not owned an XJ-S however.

B GT's are very reliable and maintenance is very cheap (parts prices are very cheap and they are easy to fix, not to mention you can buy anything and everything for a B - so very easy to 'personalise')

944's are in my experience reliable. However, parts prices are not cheap and unless you get a very early one, they have things like PAS to go wrong (and go wrong it does - I converted one of mine to a manual rack, though.)

hmm ok, thanks mate, give me something else to think about.. Do like the mg Bs..

thebigmacmoomin said:

Is insurance on top of that cost & what driving experience do you have as it would depend on what car to go for.

If you had 0 NCB, then forget insurance on anything quickish but if you have say 3 years NCB, then you probally could get a decent insurance quote.

i have looked at insurance quotes for the three cars i listed, each around 600-700 quid, which is around the price id like to stay.. not even sure if this is a good price?

[elliot89]

what would people say...bmw 320d or golf gt tdi 130?

[aka_kerrly]

elliot89 said:

Hi,

So i have just graduated and am starting a job, i need a car to commute to and from work every day. Will be doing about 1000-1500 miles a month and have about £3000-£3500

got a few cars on my mind for different reasons, not sure if i want a cheap runner due to the miles, or a more fun car, but open to suggestions,

VW GOLf gt tdi 130
Toyota MR2
Toyota celica

Cheers

elliot89 said:

what would people say...bmw 320d or golf gt tdi 130?

All sound and dependable choices but plenty of people will say those two are hardly interesting.

Do you have a preference for newer or older cars and are you the sort who doesn't mind doing the odd bit of preventative or emergency maintenance yourself or will you have to rely on a garage?

Of your original choices you have a hatch, a coupe and a two seater which suggests you are fairly flexible.

£3k can get you very good examples of 80s/90s cars but lower end of the market 2000s era cars particularly the 320d as you will be looking at the very bottom end of the market!

If you fancy something a bit older £3k would buy a good examples of:
Porsche 944
VW corrado
BMW E30

[elliot89]

I absolutely love old cars, however with the wage im on i wont be able to afford maintenance costs, or if something goes wrong, the cost to repair. How reliable are these cars? And would they be able to handle 1000+ miles a month in all weathers?

aka_kerrly said:

If you fancy something a bit older £3k would buy a good examples of:
Porsche 944
VW corrado
BMW E30

The reason i mentioned the diesels was for their known reliability and high MPG but im looking for a mix of fun and reliable... not ruling out old cars..

[greggy50]

Under budget but how about a MG ZS TD easily boosted up to about 140 - 150bhp for a few hundred quid and then have a pretty fast economical and good to drive runabout for around £2,500
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-04-MG-ZS-2-0TD-/180...

If not maybe a MK5 Fiesta Zetec S tdci can just about get these in budget now and again fun to drive and cheap to run with ability to remap and give nearly ST pace

Or a last of the line 156 jtd this one is a bit rich for the millage but a nice place to spend some motorway miles and these again have ability to be chipped to big power if needed
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

[V8Triumph]

elliot89 said:

I absolutely love old cars, however with the wage im on i wont be able to afford maintenance costs, or if something goes wrong, the cost to repair. How reliable are these cars? And would they be able to handle 1000+ miles a month in all weathers?

You will if you buy something like an MGB They cost pennies to insure and fix, you'll get a tax free GT for your budget so that's £200 saved straight away. Insurance will be about £200 per year so that's another probably £300 saved over the newer options. Parts are cheap and B's are reliable .... don't know what you're dilly dallying about at

[Pat H]

I paid a grand for this a few months ago.

It had done about 65000 miles.

Needed the big cambelt/tensioner/waterpump/variator service, but that aside it was a decent car.

Reasonably frugal, well built for an Alfa.

Mine was a 1.6TS which was a bit low geared for the motorway, but had cruise control and lots of toys.

Watch out for the absurdly short 36 month cambelt interval, which must not be ignored and make sure the gear linkage is not horribly sloppy, as it can be an exhaust off job to fettle it properly. They are expensive to tax.

Good fun, sounded nice and with a bit of character.

A lot of car for the money.

[aka_kerrly]

elliot89 said:

I absolutely love old cars, however with the wage im on i wont be able to afford maintenance costs, or if something goes wrong, the cost to repair. How reliable are these cars? And would they be able to handle 1000+ miles a month in all weathers?

aka_kerrly said:

If you fancy something a bit older £3k would buy a good examples of:
Porsche 944
VW corrado
BMW E30

The reason i mentioned the diesels was for their known reliability and high MPG but im looking for a mix of fun and reliable... not ruling out old cars..

You should perhaps read up on some of the costs associated with EGR system, fuel pump, injector and DPF filter failures on modern diesels and then consider if that is something you can handle!

In 23 years and 88k my corrado has only needed a alternator, a centre exhaust section, a battery, a starter switch - I'd class that as pretty dam reliable as none of these items cost more than £100. My previous E30 BMW was on 130k when I bought it, I ran it 2 years to 160k and I replaced two fuel pumps and a battery. There are a couple of chaps on PH who own 944s and have very detailed threads about the ownership experience and there is nothing overly nasty at all. Essentially the 944 uses a similar KJET system to a mk2 golf GTI and i've done 50-70k in these over the years and again mostly reliable.

The main thing with those 3 cars I have suggested is Euro Car Parts, German/Sweedish to name a couple of companies can provide parts for not a lot of money.

[jay140285]

I had a BMW E46 320se, lovely car but cost me a forture.

Developed a slight hesitation at times, un nerving when pulling out of junctions, turned out it needed a fuel pump. £1500 later and it was still never 100% right.

Had various cars over the time, I currently do 2000miles a month commuting for work, if your paying for the fuel then think about MPG, modern diesels need to do decent miles to stop DPF clogging and EGR's.

I have a Saab 93 Sport Saloon 150bhp then remaped.

It will do mid 60's all day long on my motorway commute and I don't sit at 80mph all day long in the middle lane.

Mid range acceleration is excellent, and its comfy and quiet.

Example here

http://beta.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

[300bhp/ton]

elliot89 said:

Hi,

So i have just graduated and am starting a job, i need a car to commute to and from work every day. Will be doing about 1000-1500 miles a month and have about £3000-£3500

got a few cars on my mind for different reasons, not sure if i want a cheap runner due to the miles, or a more fun car, but open to suggestions,

VW GOLf gt tdi 130
Toyota MR2
Toyota celica

Cheers

MR2 is you can live with 2 seats, Celica if you can't and the diesel if you're not interested in cars

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 14th June 13:27

[underphil]

try the diesel, see if you think you could live with the awful noise and lack of revs and then make a decision from there..