Estate, 20k, ULEZ, not depressing

[braddo]

MDMA . said:

Will just be an IVA test if less than 10 years old. Little bit dearer than a standard MOT/registration fees.
Nice car though.
Seymour Pope seem to bring over some nice JDM spec A6’s. V6 Supercharged ones.

https://www.seymourpope.com/vehicle-details/used-a...

Good to know

[braddo]

ingenieur said:

I thought that was a smart looking car from the outside. But my second thought was if I were going to the trouble of importing a car I'd want one which was special somehow. A v8 with high spec. Obvious advantage of importing from AUS is going to be the lack of rust and the prevalence of V8s (though I'm not sure if that is still the way they do things?)

Here is a readers' cars thread of one in Oz - V8 luxury spec so more interesting than the one I posted

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[ingenieur]

yeah, that looks like the sort of car a lot of PH'ers would love to get their hands on if they were available here.

[bodhi]

Not sure how fixed you are on an estate, but a 435i Gran Coupé might fit the bill? OK it's a turbo petrol but one of the better ones out there, as much room in the back as a 3 Series Touring and still plenty practical with the hatch.

Last time I looked even the odd 440i GC were dipping under 20k, likely to be a bit leggier though.

[otolith]

bodhi said:

Not sure how fixed you are on an estate, but a 435i Gran Coupé might fit the bill?

Added to the list to view on Saturday to assess for space, thank you.

[lornemalvo]

otolith said:

ingenieur said:

Bad garage, I've fixed air suspension faults before, they're easy. It's a pump and airbags with some hoses and wiring, it's not at all
mysterious.

They've replaced the damaged section of pipe that was leaking, but they've found that didn't fix it. I'll speak to them when they've sorted it and can explain, but it looks as if constantly trying to pump the sagging suspension back up may have damaged the pump. I think they thought it was going to be an easy job, because they previously fixed it on a car they sold and that was simple.

I should have taken it to my usual Mercedes specialist (who replaced the torque converter, and replaced the motor in the inlet manifold, and the auxiliary battery) but the local garage are walking distance and did a good job of replacing the alternator after the car was recovered to it.

You've had some bad luck with your Merc. What age and mileage is it?

[otolith]

lornemalvo said:

You've had some bad luck with your Merc. What age and mileage is it?

2010 / 120k, bought at 106k - yes, it's been an absolute lemon. The one before had a few issues, but nothing like this.

[Brett748]

C63.

[otolith]

Brett748 said:

C63.

Kind of age and mileage I want are high 20's

[braddo]

Looks like £20k just gets you into petrol Jag XF estates, 2018/19 vintage. Turbo 4 but would tick every other box?

Except, can’t comment on the lemon factor of a Jag…

[MDMA .]

I know it’s got a Vauxhall badge, but I like the Insignia VXR estate. 2.8 V6 Turbo, easily tuned, sounds good too.

[otolith]

Update so far.

3 series gran coupe has folding seats and enough luggage space, but no rear headroom

6 series gran coupe seats don’t fold

3 series GT practical enough and less frumpy than any of the estates, so probably going that way.

5 series GT bigger than we need.

Waiting to test drive a 3 GT in 35d form.

[stevemcs]

What about a 4gc ? I'm 6'4" and have no problem in the back

[otolith]

stevemcs said:

What about a 4gc ? I'm 6'4" and have no problem in the back

Sorry, I meant the 4 Gran Coupe, still not used to a 3 series coupe being a 4 - I really wanted it to work, but I’m 5’6 and my head was touching the roof in the back. I do have short legs / long torso, but still.

[otolith]

Fairly settled now on a 335d GT. 335i GT not ruled out, pretty sure I would like the engine better even if the running costs are higher and maybe a safer bet on future ULEZ zones, but they're relatively scarce while there are enough 35d's on the market to be picky.