Which model out of this list would you have?
Discussion
Which one out of these would you take?
Goal is, a temporary ride. Probably till spring. Hope to lose as little money as possible at time of resale.
Merc 190E
Merc CLK 2.3 1st gen
Omega
Vectra C Hatchback
Ford Puma 1.7
Hyundai Tiburon 1st gen
Mazda 3 saloon or hatchback mk1
All of them with a manual transmission.
Points to consider: Fun, reliability, affordable to run. In no particular order. More of a best balance between the 3 points.
Which one? Or even your top 3 choices.
Goal is, a temporary ride. Probably till spring. Hope to lose as little money as possible at time of resale.
Merc 190E
Merc CLK 2.3 1st gen
Omega
Vectra C Hatchback
Ford Puma 1.7
Hyundai Tiburon 1st gen
Mazda 3 saloon or hatchback mk1
All of them with a manual transmission.
Points to consider: Fun, reliability, affordable to run. In no particular order. More of a best balance between the 3 points.
Which one? Or even your top 3 choices.
Edited by DRVR on Friday 4th September 14:42
Edited by DRVR on Friday 4th September 14:43
Nickp82 said:
Puma
I was thinking that too.In case anybody is wondering what is the link among those very different propositions. Basically budget. I need a temporary car. I looked online what I could get within budget and based on my personal preferences and this is what I came up with.
The 190E has the RWD plus a classic appeal.
Omega has the RWD
CLK has the RWD plus the coupe styling
Puma is light weight, cheap price and fun reputation
Vectra is basically the newest one which can be gotten with the budget. So might be attractive for that. Probably the lowest mileage within budget too.
Tiburon is quite fun for the hand dozen peanuts it costs. And it has a distinct coupe style.
The puma is a blast to drive.
Mine was one of the latest 2002 models. I bought it in 2011 and kept it t for a year. By that time the rear arches were rusting. That was 8 years ago.
My best mate has had his 2000 W puma for 16 years and absolutely loves it. But even he recognises that it has to go in favour of something newer.
For a temporary car then maybe it would work as a car to buy very cheap and just enjoy for a few months. But the majority of them are now completely rotten I'm afraid.
Mine was one of the latest 2002 models. I bought it in 2011 and kept it t for a year. By that time the rear arches were rusting. That was 8 years ago.
My best mate has had his 2000 W puma for 16 years and absolutely loves it. But even he recognises that it has to go in favour of something newer.
For a temporary car then maybe it would work as a car to buy very cheap and just enjoy for a few months. But the majority of them are now completely rotten I'm afraid.
I had a CLK230 years ago, really nice, comfortable cruiser, engine is brisk, pretty good on petrol too, I’d have another as a cheap car now, probably would get a cab myself though as they’re not much more expensive, main thing to look out for is rust, mine was starting to show some when it was 5 years old!.
Well, it seems the Puma is winning by a large margin. Most likely because the fun factor is being considered above all others. I do agree the Puma seems to be a lot of fun. Never drove one. But the reviews were always stellar for fun and handling, which always surprised me, as it is basically a Fiesta in drag as far as I know?
Anyway, this is the score so far:
Puma 5
190e 3
Vectra 2
CLK 1
Omega 1
Mazda 1
Tiburon 0
Poor Tiburon. I actually think it looks better than the Puma somehow. The Puma looks nice but it's pretty stubby. The Tiburon has better proportions. I never drove the Puma but the Tiburon was surprisingly fun. But I'm sure the Puma is a better drive, given the reviews.
I must say though I'm more partial to the CLK. Because of the nice coupe styling and the RWD. What scares me is the rust. But then again the Puma has the same bad rep for rust. The CLK is a nice drive too. Hard to beat RWD.
I'm just still not sure I'm ready to let go from that rear getting lose sensation after a curve the RWD gives you at basically any speed. Our main car is RWD. I just love it.
The only reason FWD cars are being considered is because of the budget and the Puma. Always heard the Puma was fun, so given they are well within budget I thought I would include it. And if I'm including one FWD car, might as well include others. So I included the Vectra, which seems to be one of the best values within budget and a hatchback to balance it out. But the Mazda 3 doesn't do a lot for me. Maybe it will be the cheapest to insure as it has the small engine and is not as old as the Puma. But that's it. Otherwise the list would be just CLK, 190e and Omega.
So if I would make a score card based on my opinion, it would look like this:
MODEL FUN RELIABLE CHEAP TO RUN TOTAL
CLK 7 6 6 19
190e 6 7 5 18
Vectra 3 7 5 15
Omega 5 7 5 17
Puma 7 6 7 20
Mazda 3 7 7 17
Tiburon 4 ? 7 ?
This based on had never owned any and going by reports online and based on having never driven a Puma, Mazda 3 or Vectra. But I have owned an Astra and it was very reliable and I think the Vectra and Omega would probably be similar and Vectra wouldn't drive too different. It's a FWD Vauxall. I have owned several other Mazdas and they have always been reliable.
Anyway, this is the score so far:
Puma 5
190e 3
Vectra 2
CLK 1
Omega 1
Mazda 1
Tiburon 0
Poor Tiburon. I actually think it looks better than the Puma somehow. The Puma looks nice but it's pretty stubby. The Tiburon has better proportions. I never drove the Puma but the Tiburon was surprisingly fun. But I'm sure the Puma is a better drive, given the reviews.
I must say though I'm more partial to the CLK. Because of the nice coupe styling and the RWD. What scares me is the rust. But then again the Puma has the same bad rep for rust. The CLK is a nice drive too. Hard to beat RWD.
I'm just still not sure I'm ready to let go from that rear getting lose sensation after a curve the RWD gives you at basically any speed. Our main car is RWD. I just love it.
The only reason FWD cars are being considered is because of the budget and the Puma. Always heard the Puma was fun, so given they are well within budget I thought I would include it. And if I'm including one FWD car, might as well include others. So I included the Vectra, which seems to be one of the best values within budget and a hatchback to balance it out. But the Mazda 3 doesn't do a lot for me. Maybe it will be the cheapest to insure as it has the small engine and is not as old as the Puma. But that's it. Otherwise the list would be just CLK, 190e and Omega.
So if I would make a score card based on my opinion, it would look like this:
MODEL FUN RELIABLE CHEAP TO RUN TOTAL
CLK 7 6 6 19
190e 6 7 5 18
Vectra 3 7 5 15
Omega 5 7 5 17
Puma 7 6 7 20
Mazda 3 7 7 17
Tiburon 4 ? 7 ?
This based on had never owned any and going by reports online and based on having never driven a Puma, Mazda 3 or Vectra. But I have owned an Astra and it was very reliable and I think the Vectra and Omega would probably be similar and Vectra wouldn't drive too different. It's a FWD Vauxall. I have owned several other Mazdas and they have always been reliable.
Our Puma would average 45 on a run and mid 30’s around town. We owned it from new, in that time time had 4 tyres, 10 services and 1 cambelt. Nothing else was needed, it was still on the original battery although the rear box was ready for a change. It was comfortable, reasonably quick but you could just throw it about. The brakes went the best though.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff