Second hand 4 seater droptops

[Action_panzer]

Hello chaps,

First post so go gentle!

Wife has a Saab 93 convertible which she adores, but as it's the 2.0t aero and she drives 20,000 miles a year is costing rather a lot. It's also not been brilliantly reliable in the year we have had it...

So looking to change. She wants a 4 seater convertible ideally with some poke, and reasonable mpg. Currently getting 25 mpg which we are happy to maintain. I just can't stand the thought of a diesel so preferably petrol, although if you can convince me otherwise go for it.

Would like something that feels as premium as the Saab (lolz?) And has to be reliable. Already spent about £1k on this car in 12 months fixing electricals.

Budget of about £5k-£7k.

Any thoughts or experiences to share?

Kev

[Joratk]

330Ci?

[Lefty]

A4?

[kambites]

I'd have thought the obvious choice coming from a Saab about be a Volvo C70.

[blongs]

The same car with a diesel engine? They do a 150bhp diesel model, or the C70 as mentioned comes in 2.0d or D5 flavours.

[Action_panzer]

Cheers for advice! Hear slightly worrying things about BMW reliability, but the 330 would be my choice. A4s seem ludicrously cheap to buy at the moment - anything there i should know about?!

[kambites]

Re. the A4 - TSIs use oil; a bit of oil consumption isn't a problem but some of them use a LOT of oil which can be an indication of serious engine problems. V6s are relatively thirsty (although probably no worse than the Saab).

For the 3-series, I guess you'd be looking at late E46s for that money, possibly very early/high mileage E92s. I think petrol BMWs of that era are generally as reliable as anything else.

[anonymous-user]

My Volvo C70 D5 has been good. It's comfortable, seems well built, has great seats, superb Dynaudio stereo and I cover about 25 - 30k a year at an average of 43mpg.

The 2.0d is a pretty horrible four pot Ford diesel and is best avoided, the later D3 and D4 cars have a 2 litre 5 pot and are more efficient and more refined than my D5. They also come with a better 6 speed automatic than the 5 speeder in the D5.

It even sounds OK (for a diesel) when you're giving it what for. My friend has a T5 manual and averages about 30mpg ish without trying too hard. He does 40k a year and it's mostly motorway. It was 230bhp standard but even Volvo offer a Polestar remap to 250bhp and 3rd parties take it to 280bhp. His has an MTE remap and has been problem free over 80,000 miles so far. It sounds nice, and is a far more enjoyable engine than the Vauxhall ecotec four cylinder in the Saab too.

Edited by dme123 on Monday 3rd April 16:27

[anonymous-user]

VW Eos might also be one worth adding to the list

[ZX10R NIN]

CLK 200/280/350

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

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

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

Avantgarde

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

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

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

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

[Action_panzer]

I actually really like the CLK and it's my wife's favourite but I've heard awful things about Mercedes build quality from that era? And with their parts pricing...Has me concerned!

[Jag_NE]

Action_panzer said:

Hello chaps,

First post so go gentle!

Wife has a Saab 93 convertible which she adores, but as it's the 2.0t aero and she drives 20,000 miles a year is costing rather a lot. It's also not been brilliantly reliable in the year we have had it...

So looking to change. She wants a 4 seater convertible ideally with some poke, and reasonable mpg. Currently getting 25 mpg which we are happy to maintain. I just can't stand the thought of a diesel so preferably petrol, although if you can convince me otherwise go for it.

Would like something that feels as premium as the Saab (lolz?) And has to be reliable. Already spent about £1k on this car in 12 months fixing electricals.

Budget of about £5k-£7k.

Any thoughts or experiences to share?

Kev

don't change the car.

buying a prestige drop top at that budget there is a possibility that you will inherit someone elses problems and there is a chance that you have dealt with the saabs major problems by now.

if she is doing 20k miles a year it will cost money to keep any car roadworthy, certainly at your end of the market. 1k in 12 months isn't bad.

as you have already said that you are OK with 25mpg obviously this isn't a factor either.

[spookly]

Anyone suggesting a diesel convertible needs their head checking :-)
Saw a Merc E Class convertible the other day. Then he started it, and all I heard was a diesel engine that sounded like a load of spanners in a tumble dryer.

As someone mentioned, Audi TSI engines can have issues. The V8 S4 can have chain guide/tensioner issues, requiring engine removal. The Audi auto gearboxes can also be a weak point in some models.

If it was me, I'd suggest the 330ci, or an E92 if you can find one in your price range.

CLKs are nice, I've looked at the V8s in the past. Merc build quality is ok from about 2005 onwards, before that there was a lot of rust.

[ZX10R NIN]

W209's don't suffer with rust so you're fine with any from 2003 onwards.

[munkynutz]

A4 3.0 V6 TDI - pokey and pretty economical too (40+ mpg on the motorway).

Just so happens I have one surplus to requirements haha (because it only has 4 seats!)