Yet another what car thread(Daily driver) sorry.

[duncancallum]

New daily driver time for me. I want something around 1-2k. I was running a MG ZRtd but I got fed up of putting gearboxes in every 30k (its had 3 in 100k) the PG1 box is right on its torque limit and the big 17s that rover fitted do nothing for the diff.

Must be bomb proof as I do a lot of fast b road mileage.
Must be reasonably fuel efficient 35mpg+
And to suite SWMBO it must be able to get the camping gear in.

I would like RWD but as long as its not to dull I am easy. I wanted to go and buy a 8-9k S2000 but have talked my self out of doing 20k a year in it wouldn’t of helped its residuals. So I want something that’s done its deprecating

I am too tight to pay for servicing or repairs and as such do all my own work, ex mechanic and still work in the trade. I would like something not to modern (no duel mass, ESP, abs) was thinking of an E30 318is or even just a 318 touring but again she doesn’t like BMWS.

So any suggestions?

[Uhura_Fighter]

French derv engined crate or Jap petrol car such as a civic? "Bomb proof"

e30 had abs on later models *I think*

Volvo will be full of toys but numb drive (IMHO)

Focus derv?

[duncancallum]

was looking at TDci Foci. Good motor to be honest. Just would like one with ouyt mental mileage, was thinking about looking for a esate variant as an "older" person may have had it and been less abused.

Im such an indecisive bugger though.

[shalmaneser]

306 turbo diesel is a good steer and cheap to fix should it go wrong (most don't though), and look nice in the 3 door variant. Plenty of room for camping gear too.

If you can get a well looked after HDi Dturbo they're good fun, frugal and fastish.

[AW8]

I'd go for an BMW E36 318is over your E30 318is choice albeit havent owned either. E36 has more choice & less rot - though still check rear arches. E36 328i are appearing in radar occasionaly at this money but beware crap examples
at this price. An E39 528i would be my sensible choice at that money.

If keen to avoid BMW and cars with ABS maybe your £2k budget would source a decent 924S as it has the 944 engine & you tend to buy a tidier car for money than when 944 shopping.

A nice Mk1 MR2 without rust will turn rusty if you use it as a daily driver in winter......... I suspect others may advise you to buy a Mk 2 MR2.

An older £2k nimble car likely to need a few hundered spending on it to sort suspension bushes & other niggles.

I used to look fondly at "what car" threads but like others I have grown frustrated when folk don't acknowledge suggestions &/or fail to update their own thread(s)...........Doh ! - I shouldn't even be posting here.

Edited by AW8 on Sunday 11th April 20:08

[wiliferus]

For that money you could get quite a tidy Audi A4 (B5) Avant with a V6 lump in, the 2.4 has the punch but lower mpg, the 2.6 gives more mpg and is a little more refined..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-AUDI-A4-2-4-SE-GREEN_W0...


hugely overpriced this one, but a nice clean car, i'm sure you could bang him down a few hundred quid?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audi-A4-2-4-SE-Estate-avant_...






Or even an A6?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-AUDI-A6-2-4-SE-GREY_W0Q...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A6-AVANT-2001-2-4-SE-AU...

[lescombes]

if you go the 306 route...... oil burner that is..... you can use veg oil @ 83p litre on a veeg/derv mix of 40-50%...

[kambites]

At the idea that an old V6 petrol Audi will average 35mpg.

[wiliferus]

Sorry...I'm a Pistonhead, not an EcoHead

[HellDiver]

shalmaneser said:

306 turbo diesel
If you can get a well looked after HDi Dturbo they're cheap, nasty and slow.

Fixed that for you.

[pbirkett]

Cant believe nobody has suggested an mx5 yet surely it would make sense if you were considering an s2k and it would seem to fulfill most of your criteria.

[Uhura_Fighter]

pbirkett said:

Cant believe nobody has suggested an mx5 yet surely it would make sense if you were considering an s2k and it would seem to fulfill most of your criteria.

People didn't suggest an mx5 as he mentions SWMBO, camping and looking at estates.....

[duncancallum]

quote=tonker]from what you've written, my impression is that far from it being the car that's eating gearboxes, it's how it's been driven. However, ignoring that an assuming your fast b-road drives involve more mechanical sympathy than my cynicism suspects, just go buy a 1.5 or 1.6 Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. Petrol, unbreakable and will do 35mpg unless you want to redline every single gearchange. No0 image outside of Blackburnistan or Bognor Regis, but they last and last and last.

A Focus TDCI is a much better car, but less reliable than a TDDI..... a TDCI is early common rail and doesn't have the same longevity, by all accounts.
[/quote]

To be fair I do admit that I do exaserbate the problems with the PG1 box as I do a fair bit of left foot braking, But as a package, solid discs and a weak box (its the same as a maestro diesel) its not a entirely my fault though a good deal is.

At the moment I am running free 106 1.4na Derv and its horrendously slow but doing an outstanding 65mpg.

I’m just getting a bit bored of the slowness at the moment and the fact its needing a bit of work due to normal wear and tear is giving me the itch to get something else. But I am going to have a shock going from 65mpg to 30-40mpg.