Fun daily driver for under £7000?

[Hardgraf]

Hi all. I drive a 65 mile per day commute and have been doing so in a bit dull albeit reliable old Seat Toledo V5. Just had a pre-MOT inspection & quoted £700 to get through the MOT so I think it's time has come.

I have a maximum budget of £7000 and want an interesting car which is reliable and reasonable on the motorway for my daily slog up & down the M5. I am thinking about Focus St (2005-2007), Mondeo St220, or maybe even a BMW Z4 3.0 but not sure how suited this will be to motorway driving.

Any other ideas?

[anonymous-user]

What % of your commute is motorway? Do you do a lot of driving outside of your commute?

I only ask as a ST whilst able to go up and down the motorway will not be the most refined, well my VXR wasn't.

If you are not bothered about MPG then a Z4 or Z4 coupe would be a good choice, i had the 3 series coupe with the same engine a a friend had the Z4 3.0 and it was a nice little car although quite a bit of wind noise whilst travelling @ 60mph+, just take off the run flats it improves the ride / noise no end. I got over 35mpg on a run from N Wales to London so its quite a good engine on cruise.

A 7 series of some description would be a good wafter, 730i or 745i?

Skoda(s),VRs of some description, i think 350z's are in that price bracket now or a S2000 (just check tax rates and buy pre Mar'06, i am sure thats when it changed up to £500 odd)

[Hardgraf]

Cheers, I'd say I do 75% motorway driving, just over 300 miles per week.

No kids yet a Z4 would be great whilst I still can.

My dad has advised me to get a boring generic diesel but I'm having difficulty coming to terms with that idea...

[aka_kerrly]

Hardgraf said:

Cheers, I'd say I do 75% motorway driving, just over 300 miles per week.

No kids yet a Z4 would be great whilst I still can.

My dad has advised me to get a boring generic diesel but I'm having difficulty coming to terms with that idea...

Exactly, now is the time to get something only just practical but ultimately fun, I quite fancy the Z4 Coupes and the 3.0SI appears a great combination of MPG & SPG (SmilesPerGallon)

Is it fair to presume your dad doesn't have much of an interest in cars?

[p1tse]

really depends how much you value MPG

yes it's appealing to have a fun car, but if majority will be just hacking up and down the M5 getting lower MPG will soon eat at you.
I would say its a blend of mpg and performance.

focus ST, no idea what the real mpg is on motorway when pushing on with normal rush hour speed, lets say 30-35mpg?
a modern tdi will see ypu double at 60+mpg which could equate to some savings each month if £ or/& mpg is a factor

i say this as i only do 10 miles a day, had a S4 4.2v8, but on average at 15mpg it was just hurting me the thouhgt of it, whilst the other trusty daily hack ka does 40+mpg.

[Hardgraf]

He is, he drove an Xj6 around when we were kids & he was skint!

He compares cars of old to todays technology, i.e. in the 1960's 0-60 in 10s & 118 mph we're pretty impressive performance figures.

If I buy a Z4 both him & my gf will go spare!

But it's my money at the end of the day

[p1tse]

z4 3.0 cruising on motorway will still return 30+mpg i imagine

do you know the type of mpg you get now and is that from a petrol or diesel?

i guess if you get something fun and better mpg, it's a win win

[akirk]

look also at the z3 - older but still very good & very cheap - 3.0l will set you back from £3-4k
that and the z4 are both great fun - my z3 3.0l will give c. 30mpg on the motorway the z4 is a bit better...

Alasdair

[danp]

Not sure you'll quite get a Z4 coupe on budget yet, more like 8k unless monster miles.

My Z4 3.0i was very economical, mid 30's mpg easy, you could prob get 40mpg on a run with the trick engine that went in the facelift 3.0Si.

[RobM77]

My Z4 Coupé was averaging low 30s on longer runs and if you really took it easy would just about cross 40mpg. It had a lower ratio rear axle than the roadster, so I'd hope the roadster would be similar if not a bit better.

[Sway]

I bought a GTM Libra for my 90 mile a day commute.

40+ mpg, absolute buttons on insurance, easy to learn mechanics on, comfy, roomy and plenty of luggage space (for a 2 seater).

Many think I'm insane for doing it although I can't say that I've ever felt it inappropriate...

[billzeebub]

Z4 6 cylinder Roadster
Porsche Boxster 986
Honda S2000

[Captainbeaky]

If you can find a nice one - look up a Saab 9-3 Viggen,

2.3 turbo, and wicked torque steer - but an attainable 40 mpg on a long run.
Do know what you are looking for though - they weren't just a Saab 9-3 with a bigger engine - all the suspension and brakes were different to the normal 9-3's.

Saab only imported something like 500 of these maniac cars - and it was (IMO) one of the last of the real "turbo nutter" cars that had way too much power for the chassis. Everything since just feels so sensible and dull.

I loved mine - it had 310bhp Abbott racing tune - it was like living with Kato - never knew when the bugger would strike.
Hilarious in a straight-jacket kind of way.

You have to be a very calm driver though - drive it angry, and you go nowhere, while creating a lot of tyre smoke.
(I don't think they came with traction control - mine didn't.)

[Riknos]

Don't bother with boring saabs and diesels and stuff - get something decent while you still can:

billzeebub said:

Z4 6 cylinder Roadster
Porsche Boxster 986
Honda S2000

Buy the one you like the best out of the above - perfectly capable for m-way slogs to work and back and able to have a riot on the back roads on the weekends

[RobM77]

Riknos said:

Don't bother with boring saabs and diesels and stuff - get something decent while you still can:

billzeebub said:

Z4 6 cylinder Roadster
Porsche Boxster 986
Honda S2000

Buy the one you like the best out of the above - perfectly capable for m-way slogs to work and back and able to have a riot on the back roads on the weekends

I think these three are unarguably the pick of the bunch for £7k. I'd choose the Porsche I think, but you're not going to be disappointed with any of them.

[ReaperCushions]

Depends on your definition of fun... but this would be economical, and keep your dad happy.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

[vanordinaire]

For £7k you should get 7 half decent MX5s , one for every day of the week.

[JonRB]

I'm currently doing 500 miles a week in a Suzuki Swift Sport Mk1. Entirely unsuited to motorway mile munching (but quite tolerable), but a hoot to drive otherwise.