If you were buying a car now to use for the next 20 years...

[buzzer]

What would you buy?

It must be fairly practical so no MX5's or two seaters. It could be older, or even new, but it needs to be able to be maintained at home and free of the really sophisticated technology we are now seeing.

Reading things on here about DPF's missing now failing the MoT, duel mass flywheels failing, replacing injectors that are coded to the car...

So it needs to be....

Relatively free of technology
Practical, 4 seats
Not prone to terminal corrosion
No inherent faults that are time consuming or expensive to fix...

[danp]

Mk2 Golf

[powerstroke]

1990s Japanese or German made in Japan or germany
Accord , civic, corrola ,golf , passat ,C class E class 124

[StuntmanMike]

When I bought my current car this is what I intended, however people change so it would have to be a mk 1 Capri with modern brakes and 24v V6, it would also be an RS3100 rep.
If your talking daily then a standerd imola red M3, E46.

[Triumph Man]

That's why I bought my E34. It has its faults, but I can fix (or have them fixed if beyond my remit) them, and end up with a decent car that is relatively simple, reliable, and practical, whilst still being modern enough to be usable and relaxing to drive when needs be. Might even find itself with a 2.5 litre engine at some point!


One good thing about being an over excited pillock and buying a car with the majority of the common faults is that they can be fixed and I will know they have been done!! At least on the cooling system it's just the thermostat that needs replacing... Touch wood...

I'm struggling to think of a modern car that would achieve the simplicity criterion. I don't fancy 20 years tooling around in a Tata Nano!


ETA: Missed the inherent fault fixing bit.

[torqueofthedevil]

E39 5 series - my old man has had his 16 years and had absolutely no plans to sell it. 240,000 miles in it and still like brand new.

My e46 330d is now approaching 200,000 and I have owned for 6 years.
I would keep for 20 years, the more I drive other cars the more I realise how great it is.

[torqueofthedevil]

E39 5 series - my old man has had his 16 years and had absolutely no plans to sell it. 240,000 miles in it and still like brand new.

My e46 330d is now approaching 200,000 and I have owned for 6 years.
I would keep for 20 years, the more I drive other cars the more I realise how great it is.

[DonkeyApple]

I would look to pre '73 and find something that had all the tax breaks and likely to appreciate. I would then put the seats and running gear in storage and fit modern equivalents.

I think that something like an E9 CSi with a modern straight 6 and seats would be a rather good car.

Likewise an old Range Rover. Galvanise the chassis and frame and strip out all the later electrics.

[alpha channel]

A wedged Rover 200, Cab or Coupe (the first two preferably with a Honda 1.6 or the, slightly under powered, 1.4), simple mechanics, reliable (in my personal experience anyway), and what has/does go wrong has been or is capable of being fixed at home, comfortable, no silly farting around with coded batteries, insane sensors (i.e. lights, windscreen washer bottles, the list goes on), etc... they can handle really quite well and I like them.

[V88Dicky]

I'll stick with my Monaro, thanks.

[trickywoo]

powerstroke said:

1990s Japanese or German made in Japan or germany
Accord , civic, corrola ,golf , passat ,C class E class 124

The Benz is likely to be a rust bucket now never mind in another 20 years. I don't think the offerings from Honda are a lot better on that front.

[Meltham Terrier]

Mid 90's Audi A6 Avant for me

[Meltham Terrier]

Mid 90's Audi A6 Avant for me

[Lordglenmorangie]

Land rover !

[sparks_E39]

E39 530i Sport.

[sawman]

one of the traditional morgan 4 wheel cars would fit that bill. It doesnt matter what age you have as pretty much all the bits are replaceable.

[The_Burg]

Peugeot 504. Every poor country is full of them, fix with a hammer and some gaffer tape if it does break.
Renault 4, as above.

[buzzer]

sparks_E39 said:

E39 530i Sport.

I really fancy this option!

[sparks_E39]

buzzer said:

sparks_E39 said:

E39 530i Sport.

I really fancy this option!

Then get one! There isn't a lot out there that's better than a good E39. Not cheap to run, but not really expensive. Cooling system needs replacing every 5 years or 100kish at £500 all in and the auto box may need a rebuild at some point, but that's only £1500 now, a few years ago it was a lot more.

Edited by sparks_E39 on Sunday 15th December 09:50

[ConorE]

An E30 m3 would serve me very nicely thanks.