Eurotrip Convertible for under £750

[Blessit]

Hi all,

Looking to do a road trip around Europe and want a cheap convertible for under £750.
Looking for a diesel so fuel efficiency important.
A soft top or electric roof for convinience.

I’ve seen Meganes and 307’s in that price range but Renault’s and Peugeot’s always concern me with reliability.

Also considering a left hand drive that I could sell at the end of the trip and just fly home in Spain. But not so important.

Any advice would be great.

👍

[soad]

Does it need to sit 2 or 4?

Volvo C70 (in a coupe guise) would be in budget. Probably a petrol though.

[matrignano]

Fiat Punto. Must be yellow though

[soad]

Saab 9-3?

[Blessit]

soad said:

Does it need to sit 2 or 4?

2 Seaters more than enough.

[Blessit]

matrignano said:

Fiat Punto. Must be yellow though

Lol

[Pericoloso]

There's an MOTed 307 cc about to finish on eBay for well under budget.

What could possibly go wrong ?

[Blessit]

matrignano said:

Fiat Punto. Must be yellow though

Lol

[SCEtoAUX]

You might get a very leggy and unloved MR2 Roadster with a bit of haggling.

[oldmanbm]

I bought a Mk2 Megane convertible for summer use about 10 years ago. It's a 2000 Megane 1.6 16v convertible and back then was less than £1000. They can be bought for peanuts now. It does over 40 mpg and for a french car has been the model of reliablity. I am told that they are better than the later tin topped version and parts if needed are very cheap. Look for a good one and they are a good buy as well as being a genuine four seater tourer.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Pericoloso said:

There's an MOTed 307 cc about to finish on eBay for well under budget.

What could possibly go wrong ?

depends on the engine, but my 2.0 16v 307cc has been the most reliable shed I have ever had, and its surprisingly nice to drive, it has a great chassis and the engine begs you to redline it every trip. check for water under the spare wheel that can cause all sorts of weird and wonderful electrical problems and the boot seals are ste. i would have another in a second, but i think I might be stuck with this one, in 2 and a half years its needed a set of brake pads and a £7 aux belt idler and thats it, sailed 2 mots.
oh and the cd player skips like fk.
I have been confident enough in it to go glasgow-bournemouth in it a couple of times and the only thing I would say is having the 5 gear cogs from a diesel 307 swapped in is essential, 5th on the standard cogs is way too short for motorway work, but they can be swapped without removing the box through the end cover. with that done you can get 37ish mpg on a long trip.

Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Sunday 24th February 09:43

[Deep Thought]

SCEtoAUX said:

You might get a very leggy and unloved MR2 Roadster with a bit of haggling.

Diesel?

And i cant think of a worse car for a Euro road trip for luggage space than an MR2 Roadster.

BUT, if we are ignoring / forgetting the diesel pre-req, i'd be looking for an equally leggy MX5 over an MR2.

[Deep Thought]

Blessit said:

Hi all,

Looking to do a road trip around Europe and want a cheap convertible for under £750.
Looking for a diesel so fuel efficiency important.
A soft top or electric roof for convinience.

I’ve seen Meganes and 307’s in that price range but Renault’s and Peugeot’s always concern me with reliability.

Also considering a left hand drive that I could sell at the end of the trip and just fly home in Spain. But not so important.

Any advice would be great.

??

Is there any absolute reason why your budget is £750 or is it just to ensure you get the sttest car possible?

[rog007]

Blessit said:

I’ve seen Meganes and 307’s in that price range but Renault’s and Peugeot’s always concern me with reliability

I’d definitely go French; more chance of getting it fixed easily if anything does happen.

[Jamescrs]

I think at your sub 1k budget you shouldn't get hung up on what make or model is best and simply stick your requirements into auto trader i.e 2 seat convertible and see what comes up and buy on condition alone.

I've seen MX-5's which are complete rust buckets with no MOT getting sold for 500 so don't set your hopes too high.

[flatso]

Pug 306 cabrio...beautiful cars!

[Scrump]

I wouldn’t get too hung up on diesel. A couple of thousand miles at 30mpg rather than 45 mpg would cost an extra £100. Much better to find the best car you can for your budget as £100 could easily pale into insignificance if you have a major breakdown on your trip.

[feef]

Megane Coupe Convertibles are more reliable than you think. My folks have had one from new, and now it lives in France in a barn and is only used when they go out there for a few months of the year. Other than keeping the battery topped up, there's been no problems with it at all. When it was new, there were an occasionally gremlin with the roof mechanism, but any cars around now will have had those dealt with by now I'm sure

[Blessit]

Thank you everyone and please keep the suggestions coming.
I can’t deny that the Saab 9-3 has topped my wish list. I have a couple months so plenty of time shop around and possibly rectify any faults before the trip.
Also forgot to mention I imagine the car putting on a lot miles over the months on the road hence the reliability concern.

Thanks to all again.