Help my brother find the next car.

[stuno1]

My brother is looking for a change. His criteria is:

- Fun car
- luxury ish
- can be up to 10 years old if or a little older
- Edit - have been advised can be manual!
- lower miles the better
- needs 4 seats as he has 2 nippers
- up to 8k max

He has found mk4 r32's but they have high mileage.

Stu

Edited by stuno1 on Friday 3rd February 07:10

[stevie_a]

Two to kick things off

£6,975 Lexus IS 250 2.5 SE-L 4dr

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...


£7,995 Mercedes-Benz C Class 1.8 C180 Kompressor Elegance

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[carinaman]

Does he want to pay £500 a year road tax?

A3 Sportback 3.2 V6 DSG same engine as R32.

[bobbo89]

carinaman said:

Does he want to pay £500 a year road tax?

A3 Sportback 3.2 V6 DSG same engine as R32.

And there's the problem, was going to suggest a 335i but remembered the tax issue and most people in this price bracket don't want to pay £500 a year tax!

[stevie_a]

carinaman said:

Does he want to pay £500 a year road tax?

A3 Sportback 3.2 V6 DSG same engine as R32.

road tax for Lexus Annual £295
road tax for Mercedes-Benz Annual £185

Edited by stevie_a on Friday 3rd February 07:12

Edited by stevie_a on Friday 3rd February 07:14

[stuno1]

carinaman said:

Does he want to pay £500 a year road tax?

A3 Sportback 3.2 V6 DSG same engine as R32.

This is a good shout. Don't think tax is a killer.

[bobbo89]

stevie_a said:

road tax for Lexus Annual £295
road tax for Mercedes-Benz Annual

I wouldn't put either of those in the 'fun' bracket though. If he's looking at mk4 R32's a 150bhp Merc saloon might not be what he's after....

They make the Volvo C30 in an auto with the 230bhp T5 engine although that might be pushing the fun and luxury requirements somewhat

[Alexst]

Could be manual. Cheers bro. Found MkV R32's with 60/70k on the clock. Don't mind about tax being £500. Got a BMW 530d Touring I'm potentially going to sell. LCI 07 plate 110k really good condition. Would like saloon or hatch instead.

[stuno1]

My money would go on a Mazda 3 MPS aero mk1 or a mk2. He likes vag cars though.

[stevie_a]

It was the Luxury i picked up on most

[bobbo89]

stuno1 said:

My money would go on a Mazda 3 MPS aero mk1 or a mk2. He likes vag cars though.

He's spoilt for choice then, for that money i'd be chasing the best Mk5 Edition 30 I could find

[stuno1]

bobbo89 said:

He's spoilt for choice then, for that money i'd be chasing the best Mk5 Edition 30 I could find

Going for manual is a game changer at this price point.

[Yiliterate]

Jaguar S-Type R. This one is a slightly higher miler (though good for the miles as you see plenty of examples at over 100k still going strong), but gives a flavour of what could be had:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20170109113...

[NordicCrankShaft]

Mazda MX5.

[ZX10R NIN]

Not Luxury but that's not something I'd say about any hot hatch but I would say a Megane RS250 ticks a lot of boxes

RS250

2010 79k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

70k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

If your brother is leaning more towards the Luxury side of things then a CLK280 could work but only in Avantgarde form because it comes in at £295 road tax sport trim pushes it to £500.

CLK280 231bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

CLK500 on a 55 plate so £295

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[stuno1]

It had been narrowed down to a Mazda 3 MPS (possibly already tuned) or a higher mileage r32. The Megane is a good shout but he had higher end estate one a couple of years ago and it was poor inside at best.

[steve-5snwi]

What about a Focus ST3 ? Quickish, comfortable and with leather trim maybe he could imagine luxury ?

[stuno1]

steve-5snwi said:

What about a Focus ST3 ? Quickish, comfortable and with leather trim maybe he could imagine luxury ?

I think for us both the Mazda trumps the ford. They share some similar parts but the Mazda is more rare, has better kit (Bose as standard etc) and we prefer the styling. Same goes for the Astra vxr.

[ZX10R NIN]

The only weak point on the MPS is the engine they had a few issues (not all) so do a bit of homework, the 2.5 ST is a very different car it has the better chassis than the Mazda but you do have to change the intercooler on the ST because it's to small.

I choose the ST-3 when it came to the looking for a hot hatch & couldn't fault it.

[Alexst]

Had a couple of Evos a few years ago and loved the 4WD on our roads. Like lots of grip and swaying towards bigger NA engines. Deffo thinking I'd prefer a V6 after a bit of thought. Also want something I can whoop my brothers car in at the ring HaHa. (Fishing)

Think I want something that gets to 70 in style lol.