V8 on a budget

[funkyrobot]

Is it possible to get something nice with a V8 in for a few thousand pounds? Or are you heading for potential ruin at that price?

I guess you'd be looking at something like an old jeep or some sort of barge?

Really fancy a V8, but only have a budget of £2k max. Been looking at cheap cars like the Focus, but I'd be bored of something like that after a few weeks.

[colinrob]

E39 BMW

[OldGermanHeaps]

Lexus ls or an audi a8 with some accident damage would be my choice at that budget.

[Collectingbrass]

There's 13 cars on Autotrader that fit the bill (well, 12 & a Corsa) and they are all full fat Range Rovers or Merc S class.

The thing to remember with these is that they were expensive cars that are now end of life, any fettling needed will reflect that and most of that will be electrical or electronic. So yes you can get one, but can you afford to keep it?

I dont mean to be dismissive, I've got a "cheap" V8 BMW 6 series that I paid 10% of list for but tyres are still over £200 a corner.

[Mound Dawg]

One of my mates recently bought an ML 430 for £500.

Can't see that going wrong at all.

[darkyoung1000]

I ran an X308 Jaguar XJ for 6 months and sold it for what I paid for it (£800).
The only expenditure was changing the oil and filter £20), and getting the tyre valves replaced (£40) as the aluminium caps had corroded on.
It had 200,000 miles on it and was a little tatty, but overall solid enough.
I think I was lucky however, and I wouldn't dream of getting one if I couldn't do basic maintenance myself.
Did leave me with a better understanding of barges and a soft spot for XJs though!

Cheers,
Tom

[ZX10R NIN]

Get a (if you can find one) GS430 that will be reliable & have around 300bhp with 300lb/ft a play with the exhaust will release a bit of noise too.

CLK430 you have to watch for rust but the drivetrain is pretty much bulletproof

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-Mercedes-Benz-CLK-4...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-Mercedes-Benz-CLK-4...

BMW 540i

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-540i-4-4-V8-M-Sport-...EwAAOSwTkBZzT72

V8 535i Sport

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bmw-5-Series-535I-Sport-...

Audi A8 3.7 V8 you could go all Ronin with this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-A8-3-7-auto-2002MY-...

A cheeky bid will probably land you this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-A8-4-2-QUATTRO-LWB-...

Jaguar S Type

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-JAGUAR-S-TYPE-4-0-V...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-V-JAGUAR-S-TYPE-4-0...XIAAOSwNZtZw3xy

[VAGLover]

funkyrobot said:

Is it possible to get something nice with a V8 in for a few thousand pounds? Or are you heading for potential ruin at that price?

I guess you'd be looking at something like an old jeep or some sort of barge?

Really fancy a V8, but only have a budget of £2k max. Been looking at cheap cars like the Focus, but I'd be bored of something like that after a few weeks.

This is realy pushing bangernomics to its extreme
I guess, if you pay £2k and it lasts a year you have a luxuary V8 for less than £200 a month
Are you assuming to own it for longer?
Just go for something with a recent MOT

[funkyrobot]

Thanks all.

Some nice examples above. Guess it could potentially cost a bit to go for a V8 then. My budget would be £2k Inc maintenance. Maybe aiming too high. Could always stick to a six cylinder model

I will add that I won't need the car for work at the moment so fuel costs aren't an issue.

I'll take a look at the examples posted above. Thanks again.

[OldGermanHeaps]

£2k INCLUDING maintenance.
Of course sir. Would sir also require the moon on a stick to go along with that?
You can buy an e38 v8 for a grand or so, but unless you are monumentally lucky, or are very mechanically skilled and have time to hunt out difficult to find cheaply spares you have had it?

[P700DEE]

I bought a 4.2 S Type for £3K five years ago, ran it for three years sold it for £2K and spent about £1k on work and another on insurance/tax. It therefore cost about £1k a year inc depreciation. Your £2k budget doesn't have a timescale, you could easily buy a car for shed money but when would a big bill come in and sink you?

[ZX10R NIN]

2k Including running the car then you need one of these:

Lexus GS300

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...