Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 22]

[ingenieur]

Maybe we're thinking a bit further back than 80s / 90s for the Jap-bashing era. Maybe 70s to 80s instead. I remember in the 90s the Jap cars dominating the JD Power survey and Top Gear dedicated a whole program to it each year. Things like Vauxhall Astras were sitting in the bottom ten.

I know what they used to do though being interested in 80s and 90s Saabs. Having seen old press articles from the era where they beard scratch between a Renault 21 and a Saab 9000 and end up giving it to the Renault 21. You see the reality of how different those cars were 20 years down the line when some 9000s are still available and nearly all the Renaults are in the scrap yard.

[phil_cardiff]

Must have put hundreds of thousands of miles on 90s and early 00s Toyotas, never let me down and the only item that needed attention outside of wear and tear items was a weeping oil cooler pipe.

To this day I've had a soft spot for Toyota.

[KadettE]

I like the colour combo on this CLS500 that's up for just over thread max. Seats are a bit grubby but more worryingly it's clearly been run on a shoestring budget for the last 3 years judging from the MOT report (also no way this is a 1 owner car). On the plus side it comes with mudguards...
ETA: advert has disappeared https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504281816389



This XJ8 could be a more sensible choice https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504121...

Edited by KadettE on Wednesday 14th May 11:47

[phil_cardiff]

KadettE said:

I like the colour combo on this CLS500 that's up for just over thread max. Seats are a bit grubby but more worryingly it's clearly been run on a shoestring budget for the last 3 years judging from the MOT report (also no way this is a 1 owner car). On the plus side it comes with mudguards... https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504281...



This XJ8 could be a more sensible choice https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504121...

Merc gone already.

[KadettE]

Great timing on my part, it had been up for a few weeks I believe

[The Don of Croy]

Mr.Nobody said:

Do I buy the Toyota Camry from HP Autos. It’s old, grandad spec but well and truly reliable.

Son number 1 had one of these - a 2001 model in metallic burgundy.

A total barge. Close to barge godliness. The barge king.

And it had a rheostat governing the passenger sunvisor mirror brightness - who else does that? Slider control too...

Not one issue found in a year's ownership. Just a bit bigger than the Yaris he had before (!) but so much better than the 4.6HSE Range Rover that followed.

Get it bought.

[king arthur]

KadettE said:

This XJ8 could be a more sensible choice https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504121...

That Jag looks like it's been well looked after - when most old Jags come with budget Chinese tyres on them, this one has nearly new Continentals all round.

[GeniusOfLove]

king arthur said:

KadettE said:

This XJ8 could be a more sensible choice https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504121...

That Jag looks like it's been well looked after - when most old Jags come with budget Chinese tyres on them, this one has nearly new Continentals all round.

It looks good, that's as likely to be as reliable as any 20 year old barge can be and a very nice thing to smoke around.

[king arthur]

GeniusOfLove said:

It looks good, that's as likely to be as reliable as any 20 year old barge can be and a very nice thing to smoke around.

It's very near me but I wouldn't be able to go take a look until the end of the month, if it's still there I might since the TDVi is turning out to be not quite the right engine choice for the mileage I'm doing.

[Patrick Bateman]

He's already knocked £800 off the price in the space of a month as well. Potential bargain.

[macron]

Only a 280 but nice blue/ shroom colours on this 4.5k SL. Seller on here somewhere.

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/229029/1997-m...

[C12HLL]

After selling my CL was on the lookout for something with plenty of room. Don’t think they get much bigger and got it for just over thread budget.

Only 83k and an invoice from Mercedes for £5000 last year for a new DPF and oil cooler to be fitted.

[ingenieur]

GeniusOfLove said:

king arthur said:

KadettE said:

This XJ8 could be a more sensible choice https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504121...

That Jag looks like it's been well looked after - when most old Jags come with budget Chinese tyres on them, this one has nearly new Continentals all round.

It looks good, that's as likely to be as reliable as any 20 year old barge can be and a very nice thing to smoke around.

Suspect it'll have a little bit of aluminium corrosion here and there if it's the aluminium bodied car... but that's not as bad as the brown stuff, you can live with it.

[ingenieur]

C12HLL said:

After selling my CL was on the lookout for something with plenty of room. Don’t think they get much bigger and got it for just over thread budget.

Only 83k and an invoice from Mercedes for £5000 last year for a new DPF and oil cooler to be fitted.

They're all silver...

[GeniusOfLove]

C12HLL said:

Only 83k and an invoice from Mercedes for £5000 last year for a new DPF and oil cooler to be fitted.
]

Some fag packet maths here
S320d uses 8.4 l/100km
S500 uses 11.9 l/100km

At current fuel prices £4.55 per 100KM difference in running costs, so that one dirty diesel related repair bill wiped out the savings made in about 110,000KM of driving or 68k miles.

So basically someone said no to 50% more power and infinitely more refinement and over the life of the vehicle to date it's saved next to no money and now you can't drive it into towns all over the continent. Compare to the S350 and it's even more stark.

That whole diesel thing really was madness.

ETA - I saw some of the repair was an oil cooler so while it's failure was not directly related to the fuel being used it seems likely the cooler decided to die because it couldn't stand the noise and stench any longer

Edited by GeniusOfLove on Wednesday 14th May 16:34

[TVR Sagaris]

TVR Sagaris said:

I bought that cheap E350 that was on Ebay:

- The sunroof makes the right noise when I push the button certain ways but won't actually do anything. I've tried the resetting procedure that's online (push in each direction for five seconds) with no success. Any ideas?

Plenty of silicon spray and lots of moving around has got the sunroof going again, an early success.

C12HLL said:

After selling my CL was on the lookout for something with plenty of room. Don’t think they get much bigger and got it for just over thread budget.

Only 83k and an invoice from Mercedes for £5000 last year for a new DPF and oil cooler to be fitted.

I agree with GoL's general diesel sentiments but that looks like a great purchase. Sort of unbelievable that something as relatively modern and capable as that can be bought for around £5k, congrats.

[GeniusOfLove]

Yes didn't mean to piss on your new car, it's great to see such capable tin coming back into thread budget. Looks like a 2010 on facelifted car too?

[nobrakes]

3ltre petrol 2005 A8L

dark blue w grey leather

Claimed only 53k miles only 3 owners (I guess that could be 3 previous, but still)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412077...

A bit wheezy as a 3litre petrol, but it looks Ok.

4bags.

[ingenieur]

Says 'CVT' in the title. I guess with a transverse front wheel drive setup as well? Not very barge. Nice interior though.

[Mr.Nobody]

Someone bought the Camry. Nevermind. Including the Jag XF. Seems that dealers don’t have the decency to get back to you. I’ll keep looking.

Edited by Mr.Nobody on Wednesday 14th May 18:21