What car, Sirs

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Hopefully get a suggestion or two I haven't thought of myself.

Quick background info:

26 years old, driving since 17
15 mile commute every day each way mix of town and A roads
Not bothered about mpg (no real life commitments yet!)

Lastly I've ran a Renault sport clio 200 for last 2 years out 20k on it, spent a fair bit on upkeep, treated her well. She's a great car, but
I'm after MORE power now, refinement negotiable smile

not much will be harder than this! Cup packed.

Thinking S3 06/09
330d / 330i W90
Budget up to £8k
What else chaos?

Edited by EC123 on Wednesday 28th June 19:24

Shore

412 posts

88 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Volvo v70 D5 is worth considering or perhaps a Rover 75

DoubleD

22,154 posts

108 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Ha ha hes 26 not 62!

5,735 posts

162 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

BMW e39 540 M Sport

EC123

Original Poster

173 posts

124 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Rover? Really, lol.

Yeah saw one today well e39 M5, sounded meaty as you like and looked mint but that's quite a big big kit for me and maybe a tad old.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

190 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

No mpg constraints, short commute and no need for practicality.

C4 Corvette
XK8
Boxster
Chimaera
Mustang
Caterfield

ericmcn

1,999 posts

97 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Throw in a Subaru WRX for the LOLs

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

If you are not worried about mpg, i say go for it. life too short and all that.

I would like the idea of a 330i but i can never ever trust the BMWs for reliability unfortunately.

as for a Rover 75, lol

DoubleD

22,154 posts

108 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

ericmcn said:

You are worried about the reliability of a 330i but you are suggesting a 2.5 Subaru?

5,735 posts

162 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

I just parted with an e46 330 after owning it for over 5 years (2003 plate on almost 150k miles). It was extremely reliable and needed minimal maintenance.

Probably the best all-rounder I've owned, but you need a manual to really get the most enjoyment out of them. I've just picked up a BMW 645, which is a big step up in terms of power but quite different to the 330- if the 540 is too big then the 645 certainly is.

I'm quite a fan of BMWs and rate them highly on build quality. If it wasn't for the need to get the 6 series itch out of the way I would have been after an e39 5 series (probably the 540 as I suggested earlier).

5,735 posts

162 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Shore said:

Volvo v70 D5 is worth considering or perhaps a Rover 75

What?

5,735 posts

162 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

300bhp/ton said:

No mpg constraints, short commute and no need for practicality.

C4 Corvette
XK8
Boxster
Chimaera
Mustang
Caterfield

As good as this list is, I can't see an £8k budget getting anything that doesn't need more money spending on it. The Chimaera would be my pick of the bunch.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

190 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

StuTheGrouch said:

As good as this list is, I can't see an £8k budget getting anything that doesn't need more money spending on it. The Chimaera would be my pick of the bunch.

Not wanting to sound rude. But I think you aren't living in reality. 100's or more likely 1000's of people successfully manage to buy and run cars like these on this kind of budget or lower every year.

CivBrum

125 posts

83 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

350z (as long as you don't need to drag race any focuses)

ericmcn

1,999 posts

97 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

DoubleD said:

You are worried about the reliability of a 330i but you are suggesting a 2.5 Subaru?

Dont see why you should have concerns about a Subaru, I assume you are referring to this?

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/legal-motoring-a...

I never actually owned a WRX Sti but my own 2008 SpecB is faultless, aside from annnual oil changes, I am not convinced i could buy a 2008 330i BMW and have the same peace of mind.

5,735 posts

162 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017

300bhp/ton said:

StuTheGrouch said:

As good as this list is, I can't see an £8k budget getting anything that doesn't need more money spending on it. The Chimaera would be my pick of the bunch.

Let's look at it in more detail then:

C4 Corvette- a choice of 2 at or below £8k on both PH and AT
XK8- going rate for these seems to be £9-10k for one of the older models. There are a few below £8k, but there are reasons for that.
Boxster- agreed, there are quite a few in budget. But as soon as you want face-lifted models at reasonable mileage the costs climb quite rapidly.
Chimaera- out of the 80 for sale on PH, NONE are within the £8k budget. Even on AT the cheapest is £11k.
Mustang- very few for less than £8k, and even fewer worth looking at
Caterfield- not even going to touch this one due to the wide variances in spec, engines etc. Most zetec, red-top versions will be well above £8k. Older pinto and crossflow engines would be within budget.

Based on the total numbers of these cars within budget, I very much doubt 1000s of them sell each year for under £8k.

I rest my case. As I said, the cars listed are great and I wouldn't say no to any of them.

ZX10R NIN

27,604 posts

125 months