£3k Practical but not boring!

[Gandoolie]

Good evening all!

I’ve potentially got £3k to spend on something that is basically going to be used to ferry my daughter to and from nursery and be a general second car, I’m open to any and all suggestions!

Thank you

[Evanivitch]

Amphibious?

[Osinjak]

Nothing like a decent set of parameters to work with.

[HughG]

There aren’t very many questions posed on here where the answer can genuinely be MX5, but as this one can be, it for once seems worth a mention!

[Osinjak]

HughG said:

There aren’t very many questions posed on here where the answer can genuinely be MX5, but as this one can be, it for once seems worth a mention!

Not a bad shout as it goes.

[Miserablegit]

[Gandoolie]

Miserablegit said:

Could I get away with a child seat on that?

[Greg the Fish]

Gandoolie said:

Could I get away with a child seat on that?

The child will be in the pod. It's not a set of stabilisers!

[duncs]

Suzuki Swift Sport - cheap, great fun, and practical-ish

[d_a_n1979]

Gandoolie said:

Good evening all!

I’ve potentially got £3k to spend on something that is basically going to be used to ferry my daughter to and from nursery and be a general second car, I’m open to any and all suggestions!

Thank you

Give us a few more ideas...

Soft top
4 door saloon
2 door coupe
2 door sports car
Estate / touring
Petrol or diesel
Any brands you do / don't like etc

[Gandoolie]

duncs said:

Suzuki Swift Sport - cheap, great fun, and practical-ish

I test drove one a few years ago and couldn’t get on with it at all

[Gandoolie]

d_a_n1979 said:

Give us a few more ideas...

Soft top
4 door saloon
2 door coupe
2 door sports car
Estate / touring
Petrol or diesel
Any brands you do / don't like etc

4 door, always had a soft spot for estates,

[ZX10R NIN]

C320 C Coupe very practical & a little bit of fun

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010295...

C350 55 plate so sensible road tax

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101218...

On a more practical note the 2.0T Insignia is a bit of a sleeper

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101278...

9-3 Vector Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101027...

[Gandoolie]

ZX10R NIN said:

C320 C Coupe very practical & a little bit of fun

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010295...

C350 55 plate so sensible road tax

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101218...

On a more practical note the 2.0T Insignia is a bit of a sleeper

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101278...

9-3 Vector Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101027...

Some left field choices there! I like it!

[stevekoz]

Skoda VRS -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008122...

Won't set your world on fire but the VW Passat is a good estate. The 140bhp S is a punchy unit. Had a few of these and never really had any major issues.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101278...

Can't really go wrong with a Mondeo Titanium X - Nice steer, comfy, plenty of space. Good value for money at £3k

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101087...

Slightly older 6 cylinder 330i -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012036...

Smaller than most estates but a nice engine and much more reliable than the later models with smaller engines. Avoid the 06 onwards 2.0 engines at all costs at that budget.

Mazda 6. The 2.0 litre does use a bit of oil but its generally reliable and punchy. Its also quite nice to drive and i think they look good really. Bit different from the usual things you see -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008212...

Few others maybe to ponder.

[pti]

Volvo 940 with the boost turned up:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-Volvo-940-LPT-Esta...

[d_a_n1979]

Gandoolie said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Give us a few more ideas...

Soft top
4 door saloon
2 door coupe
2 door sports car
Estate / touring
Petrol or diesel
Any brands you do / don't like etc

4 door, always had a soft spot for estates,

My recommendation would be for something like an E46 or E39 330i / 530i or possibly the likes of a Mondeo ST220 estate, if you can find one within budget

Issue is, at £3k IMO, they're going to be high miler boxes, rust boxes or need a bit of work to sort them

Can you stretch the budget at all?

The E46 330i SE mentioned above looks well:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012036...

[Gandoolie]

I’m currently piloting a Jazz 1.4 auto which was my Grandad’s and has done 33000 miles in 12 years! So anything with a bit of poke would also help!

[culpz]

Accord 2.4? Can get in either saloon or estate 'guise.

IS200/IS300?

[d_a_n1979]

Gandoolie said:

I’m currently piloting a Jazz 1.4 auto which was my Grandad’s and has done 33000 miles in 12 years! So anything with a bit of poke would also help!

Haha, we have an 08 version of that; my wife's Nana's car that she gave us when she needed to stop driving (5 years too late)

Have to lean forward to get up hills; more so with me in it; but it's a solid car and great load space when it's needed (fire wood run, tip runs etc). I'm not getting my touring dirty doing that Only done 24k miles too, so it's staying as it won't do 3k this year at all...

The E46 is a great car; a great way into BMW ownership IMO but also a good and practical car too. The SE has a softer ride than the Sport; but a shock change (Sachs Sport spec ideally) with Eibach pro kit springs will have it sitting well (not stupidly low) and handling much better

Not sure if you can stretch your budget; but with some TLC this would be a great car IMO:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-BMW-3-Series-3-0-3...

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Thursday 28th January 15:53