£2k - £3k fun, not a cash sink + other caveats

[RobbieKB]

I haven't created one of these threads in a decade, but here goes.

I've been very sensible for years now, but the most sensible car I've ever owned is becoming an irritant. Notes:


Budget: £2k - £3k (I'd rather it closer to £2k so I have some flex for any issues, but I'm not above splurging on the right suggestion)

Interesting suggestions very welcome.

Fun, but not a hatchback.

Reliable enough that I'm not spending hundreds every other month fixing things.

~100 miles per week.


I've been looking at obligatory MX5, Audi TT, Z3, Celica, and a great many others. I've also been trawling this sub-forum for ideas.

I'm very open-minded so fire away.

[SaggyOstrich]

Very open minded yet have ruled out hatchbacks straight away

[RobbieKB]

SaggyOstrich said:

Very open minded yet have ruled out hatchbacks straight away

Open-minded doesn't equate to zero restrictions. I've owned a lot of hatchbacks and I'd like to move away from them.

[kieranblenk]

A few off the top of my head;

BMW 3 Series
Honda Prelude
MG ZT
MG ZS saloon

[MissChief]

MG ZS V6? Very well regarded, Tiff loved it on top gear from what I remember and there was a SOTW a while back with loads of replies. Saloon too.

[RobbieKB]

3 Series you can't seem to get a lot for the money any more.

The MG ZS is an interesting choice and I've heard good things but when I look at them, I just see my Grandad's Rover and I can't quite get on board. I am going through the SOTW archive though. Saab keeps cropping up.

[ct84]

Gotta say, the first one which came to mind was the celica.

[SCEtoAUX]

MR2 Roadster (which is what I always say, but they are great). £2k for an early facelift model with 70-80k miles, £3k gets a 50k mile car with a 55/56 Reg.

[StuTheGrouch]

RobbieKB said:

3 Series you can't seem to get a lot for the money any more.

Eh? There are bloody loads of them on Autotrader for less than £3k. Just narrowing it down to £2.5k and minimum engine size of 3 litre still brings up 40+ adverts. Even more if you lower the engine size (but still straight 6 territory).

This one looks good- https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[RobbieKB]

SCEtoAUX said:

MR2 Roadster (which is what I always say, but they are great). £2k for an early facelift model with 70-80k miles, £3k gets a 50k mile car with a 55/56 Reg.

MR2 is on the podium at the moment, it ticks a lot of boxes.

StuTheGrouch said:

Eh? There are bloody loads of them on Autotrader for less than £3k. Just narrowing it down to £2.5k and minimum engine size of 3 litre still brings up 40+ adverts. Even more if you lower the engine size (but still straight 6 territory).

This one looks good- https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

You're right, I was a little off base on the 3 series. I'm not their biggest fan and I don't want 6 digit miles, but there are a few that tick some boxes.

[SCEtoAUX]

RobbieKB said:

SCEtoAUX said:

MR2 Roadster (which is what I always say, but they are great). £2k for an early facelift model with 70-80k miles, £3k gets a 50k mile car with a 55/56 Reg.

MR2 is on the podium at the moment, it ticks a lot of boxes.

This one on Autotrader looks nice:

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

and so does this one:

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

[RobbieKB]

SCEtoAUX said:

RobbieKB said:

SCEtoAUX said:

MR2 Roadster (which is what I always say, but they are great). £2k for an early facelift model with 70-80k miles, £3k gets a 50k mile car with a 55/56 Reg.

MR2 is on the podium at the moment, it ticks a lot of boxes.

This one on Autotrader looks nice:

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

and so does this one:

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

There's a few on Facebook Marketplace as well that are very tidy. £2-2.5k seems to get me around 70k miles, full leather interior and clean bodywork. I'm struggling to find anything as interesting in that price range that doesn't worry me. Celicas appear to have become some chav right of passage, Audi TTs are invariably high mileage and expensive to fix, 3 series aren't quite igniting my pleasure centres. MG ZS have some great examples but they're very rare if I want a lot. MX5 requires a lot of wading through boring examples. I've always loved Mitsubishi FTOs for some reason, so they're an avenue I'm sticking my head in.

Just splurging thoughts really. I'm looking forward to enjoying driving once again.

[Frimley111R]

Loved our MR2 roadster. It's light so every little trip feels fun. It costs nothing to run and its a Toyota and so reliable. I had more fun in that car by miles than the Boxster we had at the same time. Different cars yes, but just the car I'd always pick first to go anywhere in.

[RobbieKB]

Frimley111R said:

Loved our MR2 roadster. It's light so every little trip feels fun. It costs nothing to run and its a Toyota and so reliable. I had more fun in that car by miles than the Boxster we had at the same time. Different cars yes, but just the car I'd always pick first to go anywhere in.

It's really extending its lead with comments like this. I found another thread which was in essence and ode to the MR2 too.

What did you think when compared to your MX-5? (I'm not sure which model you had, but I'm hoping 1-2.5)

[Frimley111R]

RobbieKB said:

Frimley111R said:

Loved our MR2 roadster. It's light so every little trip feels fun. It costs nothing to run and its a Toyota and so reliable. I had more fun in that car by miles than the Boxster we had at the same time. Different cars yes, but just the car I'd always pick first to go anywhere in.

It's really extending its lead with comments like this. I found another thread which was in essence and ode to the MR2 too.

What did you think when compared to your MX-5? (I'm not sure which model you had, but I'm hoping 1-2.5)

Honestly, it was a great car and one which I'd buy again. We had the Mk2 MX5 which never felt as amazing as people made out, it was nice but I didn't love it like the MR2. One very important issue with it which always seems over looked is that the MX5 is very light at the back and in the wet this led to a few quite scary moments as the rear tyres lost grip. We sold it after it happened twice to my OH and she totally lost confidence in it in the wet.

A pic of the one we had. As you can see, it only was sold because my wife had the Boxster and I had the Elise and we needed one practical car.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/J7lmyHNO[/url]

[RobbieKB]

Frimley111R said:

RobbieKB said:

Frimley111R said:

Loved our MR2 roadster. It's light so every little trip feels fun. It costs nothing to run and its a Toyota and so reliable. I had more fun in that car by miles than the Boxster we had at the same time. Different cars yes, but just the car I'd always pick first to go anywhere in.

It's really extending its lead with comments like this. I found another thread which was in essence and ode to the MR2 too.

What did you think when compared to your MX-5? (I'm not sure which model you had, but I'm hoping 1-2.5)

Honestly, it was a great car and one which I'd buy again. We had the Mk2 MX5 which never felt as amazing as people made out, it was nice but I didn't love it like the MR2. One very important issue with it which always seems over looked is that the MX5 is very light at the back and in the wet this led to a few quite scary moments as the rear tyres lost grip. We sold it after it happened twice to my OH and she totally lost confidence in it in the wet.

A pic of the one we had. As you can see, it only was sold because my wife had the Boxster and I had the Elise and we needed one practical car.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/J7lmyHNO[/url]

You're quite the fun car collector!

Interesting — I had heard in passing that the MX-5 can be a little wriggly in the wet, but never that it could be a problem. Worth considering.

Any advice with the MR2s? I've fired off some emails to sellers; just trying to find that right balance of miles, condition, interior and colour. Strangely, there aren't as many modded and thrashed examples as I'd expected.

[stevekoz]

I'll take a different tack not 2 seaters

Mondeo st220 -

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

Accord type r - you can get leggy ones in the 3k range -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Accord-Type-R/183...

Impreza 2000 Turbo - GC8 (UK Car) - older car but alot of fun and about as cheap as they'll ever get really.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Impreza-Classic-...

I'd also second the MG ZS - cracking chassis and highly under rated and as its MG (Rover) you can pay peanuts.

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

[RobbieKB]

stevekoz said:

I'll take a different tack not 2 seaters

Mondeo st220 -

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

Accord type r - you can get leggy ones in the 3k range -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Accord-Type-R/183...

Impreza 2000 Turbo - GC8 (UK Car) - older car but alot of fun and about as cheap as they'll ever get really.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Impreza-Classic-...

I'd also second the MG ZS - cracking chassis and highly under rated and as its MG (Rover) you can pay peanuts.

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

The Mondeo ST220 is a very good call. I can see them creeping their way back up in price in the next decade or so and they sound incredible. That said, real world urban MPG is around 19.9 — am I reading that correctly?! I know it's a 3L V6 but that's pretty juicy.

The Accord I wouldn't want to blow my whole budget on a car with aircraft miles and I'd have to, otherwise I'd definitely consider.

Same as the Accord really. To get a clean, unmolested version, it's either very expensive or aircraft miles.

The MG ZS is growing on me, but I seem to only like the look of precious few of them and I'm not sure what edition it is that's dictating it. I think it's the facelift (if they had one) or perhaps an optional trim package.

I would love a car with a nice sound to it, but I'm starting to demand too much for too little I think (fun, sounds good, reasonable MPG, <100k, <£3k, tidy example etc.)

[Frimley111R]

RobbieKB said:

You're quite the fun car collector!

Interesting — I had heard in passing that the MX-5 can be a little wriggly in the wet, but never that it could be a problem. Worth considering.

Any advice with the MR2s? I've fired off some emails to sellers; just trying to find that right balance of miles, condition, interior and colour. Strangely, there aren't as many modded and thrashed examples as I'd expected.

Indeed! Always makes me smile that pic!

Tyres may be better now but it'll always be very light at the back.

No advice on the MR2's. You see stuff about old cats breaking up and going into the engine but how likely that is I am not sure. I think it's mostly an internet thing. I just bought a std car. Basically you're buying a Toyota, hard to go wrong!

[Tim_D]

Okay so the colour may not appeal but this BMW E46 330i Manual estate looks like a fun way to spend £2k to me:

BMW 330i