A very broad 'what car'...

[Fordo]

I've finally landed a job where I neither need my car for work, nor for commuting- which means the possibility of finally getting something a bit more fun.

My long term plan is to go for an E39 M5. I test drove one a year ago, and it fitted me like a glove. Just loved it. Great all rounder. But i havent quite saved enough - So im looking at next summer perhaps for that- I want to save enough to buy it and have enough left in kitty for any big bills.

Not prepared to keep running my current car. I just don't like rattling around in a derv, especially now I don't need to be concerned about mpg so much.

So i need an interim car:

- Max budget 2k. could stretch to 3 if theres something mouth wateringly good that I havent thought of

- must be fun to drive. - fun can either mean fast or handle well. preferably both, but I know you cant have everything at my budget

- no modded cars. I want to keep it simple, and keep it stock. Dont want something i will have to fiddle with every weekend.

- cheap to maintain would be good. I don't want a money pit. (want to keep saving for my M5 next year...)

- not too worried about needing a big boot. Until M5 time, i'll be happy borrowing other half's car if I need boot space

- high insurance isn't too much of a concern - i'm lucky enough to have decent amount of ncb (touch wood), and unlucky enough to be not be young anymore

- majority of my driving will be spent on B roads visiting the other half in the evenings, with the occasional jaunt on the motorway at the weekends.

other than that, im open to all suggestions - can be 2 seater, hatch, saloon, fwd, rwd

And yes, i know an MX5 would suit the bill - but which one? mk1 mk2, 1.6, 1.8?

All suggestions welcome, thanks in advance for replies

[EDLT]

An MX5 or an MR2 would fit the bill, you could get a 200sx in theory but good luck finding an unmodified one. The same goes for most performance cars in this price range

[Shaw Tarse]

I'd be looking on retrorides.

[robsco]

Alfa GTV?

[Fordo]

robsco said:

Alfa GTV?

interesting suggestion, hadn't thought of that - cheers, will do some research

[chrisispringles]

A bit left-field, but how about a Volvo 850 T5/T5-R/R. They've got a fantastic engine with 225 bhp and all 850s have a cracking chassis, they're far more fun to drive than their boxy looks would make you think. They're very reliable, well built and comfortable and £2k will get you a really good T5. Getting a T5-R/R for ~£2k is quite difficult though.

Manual T5 estate.

Automatic T5-R estate.

Automatic R Estate. (ignore the title in the ad, it's an R, T5-Rs didn't come on those alloys or in that colour, only Rs did).

If not then what about one of these:

E39 BMW 535i

E39 BMW 540i

E36 BMW 328Ci

E46 BMW 330i

Ford Mondeo ST24

Ford Mondeo ST200

Nissan Stagea

Subaru Legacy Turbo

[RB26DETT]

Ford Cougar

Nissan 200SX

Nissan Skyline

Nissan 300ZX

Mitsubishi GTO/3000GT

Mitsubishi FTO

Ford Capri

[mizx]

A GTV sounds like a good proposition, I hadn't thought of that. The Corrado passed my mind too.

EDLT said:

An MX5 or an MR2 would fit the bill, you could get a 200sx in theory but good luck finding an unmodified one.

Always worth considering for something "good" and sporty at that budget,) as for a 200SX, they do pop up sometimes. I've also seen a few high mileage Integra Type-Rs at slightly over budget.

Edited by mizx on Saturday 16th October 15:06

[Jesus TF Christ]

2.2 Prelude?

[Fordo]

robsco said:

Alfa GTV?

thanks again for the GTV suggestion- found a very nicely specced one not too far from where i live. should hopefully be able to give it an eyeball this weekend

[Japveesix]

I reckon these would all be fairly sensible/practical but also fun weekend B road blasters (most already mentioned above):

FTO GPX manual (possibly a tad biased)

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2158777.htm

Octavia Vrs

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2163978.htm

MR2 Turbo

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2145279.htm

Saxo VTS - if you handle the image

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2159544.htm

Vtec Yo!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2146850.htm

200sx - modified fairly tastefully

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2151751.htm

944?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2145225.htm