RE: Sub-£10k super-saloons
Discussion
Well I bought a 1998 Mercedes E430 V8 Estate with FMBSH and 12 months MOT for £3800. It cost just over £50 to fill on normal unleaded and gave me 340 miles on a tank. Compare that with £56 to fill my TT with Superunleaded and a return of 320 miles and the Merc looks reasonable to run.
I have put 12 months tax on it, given it a hoover, put a new star on the bonnet (£12 from eBay) and just sold it yesterday for £5000.
I'm now buying a 1998 BMW 540i V8 Touring originally built fot the Sultan of Oman (read all the toys) for £5200 and will put a For Sale on it for more. If it sells it sells, if it doesn't I'll keep it and sell my S2 Avant.
There are some good cars to be had out there.
Cheers
Rich
I have put 12 months tax on it, given it a hoover, put a new star on the bonnet (£12 from eBay) and just sold it yesterday for £5000.
I'm now buying a 1998 BMW 540i V8 Touring originally built fot the Sultan of Oman (read all the toys) for £5200 and will put a For Sale on it for more. If it sells it sells, if it doesn't I'll keep it and sell my S2 Avant.
There are some good cars to be had out there.
Cheers
Rich
Some great cars mentioned on here. All dribble inducing 
I will be looking shortly for a car of this ilk when moving back to the UK from France. The S8, M5 E34 Touring and AMG E55 estate all feature, as do Legacy turbo estates, 4 door Skylines and possibly a 928. A mix I know, but who knows.
The only thing about the article I do not quite agree with is the LPG 'dual fuel' thing. yes, economy etc. can be had BUT what you are not told are the downsides (especially if you travel in and out of the UK or use underground carparks).
In France, you are banned from parking in underground carparks (shopping, apartment carparks etc.). You are NOT allowed (unless legislation has changed in the past month or so) on the 'chunnel' train, on ferries or hovercraft crossings. You are not allowed on the auto-train either. So you are quite limited as to where you can go. Also, bear in mind that the coverage of LPG is still quite limited (more in France than UK currently).
Finally, check your insurance. Some companies will not touch an LPG equipped vehicle (although many well if you have all the authorised installation details with certification etc.)
Now to look at PH for some V8 muscle or Jap super saloons
I will be looking shortly for a car of this ilk when moving back to the UK from France. The S8, M5 E34 Touring and AMG E55 estate all feature, as do Legacy turbo estates, 4 door Skylines and possibly a 928. A mix I know, but who knows. The only thing about the article I do not quite agree with is the LPG 'dual fuel' thing. yes, economy etc. can be had BUT what you are not told are the downsides (especially if you travel in and out of the UK or use underground carparks).
In France, you are banned from parking in underground carparks (shopping, apartment carparks etc.). You are NOT allowed (unless legislation has changed in the past month or so) on the 'chunnel' train, on ferries or hovercraft crossings. You are not allowed on the auto-train either. So you are quite limited as to where you can go. Also, bear in mind that the coverage of LPG is still quite limited (more in France than UK currently).
Finally, check your insurance. Some companies will not touch an LPG equipped vehicle (although many well if you have all the authorised installation details with certification etc.)
Now to look at PH for some V8 muscle or Jap super saloons
Well what can I say?
Having owned my XJR for 18 months and covered 25K, I have only had wear and tear costs such as tyres and servicing (tyres are not expensive but find a Jag specialist and servicing is ok) For 9 grand it is the most underrated Q car around and for the money has to be the performance bargain of the decade, talk 0-60 in 5.3 secs and top whack of over 170mph when de restricted. Not only that but as rightly said, most have been looked after by 'fat cat' execs and have always been well maintained. Hugely underrated vehicles, thank god. As an aside MpG is okay on a run but pretty ropey round town
Having owned my XJR for 18 months and covered 25K, I have only had wear and tear costs such as tyres and servicing (tyres are not expensive but find a Jag specialist and servicing is ok) For 9 grand it is the most underrated Q car around and for the money has to be the performance bargain of the decade, talk 0-60 in 5.3 secs and top whack of over 170mph when de restricted. Not only that but as rightly said, most have been looked after by 'fat cat' execs and have always been well maintained. Hugely underrated vehicles, thank god. As an aside MpG is okay on a run but pretty ropey round town
Carsnapper! Thats an awesome story! 
My first memory of a Lotus Carlton was as a young kid, in the back of my dads car, my dad was doing very high speeds on the motorway, I remember him swaring as he saw the Carlton in the rear mirrors (police car) he thought he was going to get pulled, The carlton shot past at CRAZY speeds, it was his lucky day.
My first memory of a Lotus Carlton was as a young kid, in the back of my dads car, my dad was doing very high speeds on the motorway, I remember him swaring as he saw the Carlton in the rear mirrors (police car) he thought he was going to get pulled, The carlton shot past at CRAZY speeds, it was his lucky day
. The thing is, its supposed to be about "Super-saloons", and it got me to thinking, that different people have different expectations about what, exactly, makes a super saloon.
To ME, its all about performance. And when I look at a lot of cars today, they all weigh about as much as a tank, so getting decent performance out of them is difficult at best. 0-60 in around 5 seconds surely must be there or there abouts. MPG is also an issue, especially as these older cars may not have the latest technology.
But for all that, I love the idea of an older car. I run a Lexus LS430 with the premium pack, sunroof, excellent sat nav, heated and cooled front seats, and reclining massage seats in the rear. The car cost me 13k, and it is the best saloon I’ve ever owned. I also run a Subaru 22B, and without doubt, this thing is blistering.
When you consider the depreciation of a new car, there’s no way in hell I’d want to buy new. Just why you'd bother with an econobox is beyond me. I figure that the amount of money I save on not paying depreciation more than makes up for the running costs. Added to that, and I only really do maybe 6,000 miles a year between two cars, and I reckon I’m laughing.
To ME, its all about performance. And when I look at a lot of cars today, they all weigh about as much as a tank, so getting decent performance out of them is difficult at best. 0-60 in around 5 seconds surely must be there or there abouts. MPG is also an issue, especially as these older cars may not have the latest technology.
But for all that, I love the idea of an older car. I run a Lexus LS430 with the premium pack, sunroof, excellent sat nav, heated and cooled front seats, and reclining massage seats in the rear. The car cost me 13k, and it is the best saloon I’ve ever owned. I also run a Subaru 22B, and without doubt, this thing is blistering.
When you consider the depreciation of a new car, there’s no way in hell I’d want to buy new. Just why you'd bother with an econobox is beyond me. I figure that the amount of money I save on not paying depreciation more than makes up for the running costs. Added to that, and I only really do maybe 6,000 miles a year between two cars, and I reckon I’m laughing.
I agree, LPG IS A FOSSIL FUEL! Stands for liquid petroleum gas, found naturally occuring above oil deposits and sometimes on its own. It can be made from decomposing material (or cows bottoms) or indeed synthetically, as can Petrol. Back to school for Johnny!
groomi said:
Has any research been carried out for this article at all?...
[b]Jaguar XJR -- Brute in a suit
Let’s start with the gloriously undervalued Jaguar XJR. I’m talking about the ‘X308’ model...[/b](So why show a picture of the X300?)
It was the first Jag to stuff a V8 beneath the bubble bonnet...(No it wasn't, that was the XK8)...a revised dashboard...(A completely new interior and what about all the suspension changes?)
I owned several 1990 4.0-litre Jag XJ40s and loved them, but their Achilles' heel was always the Ford/Jag parts bin electronic dashboards...(XJ40 was designed before Ford took control, and the dodgy electronic dashboard was fixed and changed under their tenure)
Sifting through the Internet found me this nine-year-old XJR that’s perfectly useable on a daily basis. For under £3,000...(You are having a laugh - try double that for an early high-miler)...Most clean examples tend to linger between the £3,500 and £5,000 mark....(No, they're the rough ones, though where you find them for under £5k, or even £6k I have no idea)...and, if you fancy a supercharged straight-six version, go for a mid-90s ‘X300’ XJR which can be netted for even less...(Not for less than £3k!)
I do love these news articles, but on a site such as this surely a bit of research or prior knowledge would be worthwhile?
Regards,
Frustrated of Orpington
[b]Jaguar XJR -- Brute in a suit
Let’s start with the gloriously undervalued Jaguar XJR. I’m talking about the ‘X308’ model...[/b](So why show a picture of the X300?)
It was the first Jag to stuff a V8 beneath the bubble bonnet...(No it wasn't, that was the XK8)...a revised dashboard...(A completely new interior and what about all the suspension changes?)
I owned several 1990 4.0-litre Jag XJ40s and loved them, but their Achilles' heel was always the Ford/Jag parts bin electronic dashboards...(XJ40 was designed before Ford took control, and the dodgy electronic dashboard was fixed and changed under their tenure)
Sifting through the Internet found me this nine-year-old XJR that’s perfectly useable on a daily basis. For under £3,000...(You are having a laugh - try double that for an early high-miler)...Most clean examples tend to linger between the £3,500 and £5,000 mark....(No, they're the rough ones, though where you find them for under £5k, or even £6k I have no idea)...and, if you fancy a supercharged straight-six version, go for a mid-90s ‘X300’ XJR which can be netted for even less...(Not for less than £3k!)
I do love these news articles, but on a site such as this surely a bit of research or prior knowledge would be worthwhile?
Regards,
Frustrated of Orpington
Edited by groomi on Sunday 21st January 11:06
Well I'll keep it going, am after an X300 Jag . Have seen a decentish XJR6 with history for £2700.
It's got a few scratches and droopy headlining but otherwise seems quite good. Do I really need a supercharger though? I really just want the waft/leather factor so performance isn't really an issue.
Ideally a clean 4.0 sport would be just the job, I prefer them without chrome.
Have had a V12 Jag before so know how much they can hurt the wallet but hope that mid 90's 6pot will be cheaper to run than a 1985 V12.
It's got a few scratches and droopy headlining but otherwise seems quite good. Do I really need a supercharger though? I really just want the waft/leather factor so performance isn't really an issue.
Ideally a clean 4.0 sport would be just the job, I prefer them without chrome.
Have had a V12 Jag before so know how much they can hurt the wallet but hope that mid 90's 6pot will be cheaper to run than a 1985 V12.
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