Poll: Which car?
Total Members Polled: 65
Discussion
Hi all,
There may be an upcoming opportunity for me to purchase a very reasonably priced car and I'm a little unsure whether to sell the one I own now or not.
I was hoping to tap into the wealth of knowledge on here and find out what people think.
Anyway, I currently own:
A 1996 MK3 Golf GTI 16v with 3 doors and in flame red.
155k on the clock.
Full VW Service history, well looked after for last few years, feels tight as a nut, but probably been ragged a bit in it's life. Cloth interior and a dent in the passenger rear 1/4 panel. Dent is about £300 to fix and respray (big crack in paint) 12 months MOT. Could do with a new front wing as rust bubbling down by foot sill. CAT 1 alarm system. CD Player, multi changer and iPod connection.
Or
1993 BMW 5 series (E34) 520i in black.
130k on the clock
Been well looked after and driven sensibly for last 50,000 miles (In the family). Drives very well, limited squeaks and rattles. Needs a new glove box cover (lock broken and then subsequent dodgy repair kinda FUBAR'd it) Could do with a reprayed boot and driver front wing (less than perfect paint repair). No rust to speak of, cloth interior. Central locking went on the blink about a year ago but miraculously fixed itself. BMW tape player and radio.
So, which would you choose?
ETA: BMW is 1993, not 1996 - typing error
There may be an upcoming opportunity for me to purchase a very reasonably priced car and I'm a little unsure whether to sell the one I own now or not.
I was hoping to tap into the wealth of knowledge on here and find out what people think.
Anyway, I currently own:
A 1996 MK3 Golf GTI 16v with 3 doors and in flame red.
155k on the clock.
Full VW Service history, well looked after for last few years, feels tight as a nut, but probably been ragged a bit in it's life. Cloth interior and a dent in the passenger rear 1/4 panel. Dent is about £300 to fix and respray (big crack in paint) 12 months MOT. Could do with a new front wing as rust bubbling down by foot sill. CAT 1 alarm system. CD Player, multi changer and iPod connection.
Or
1993 BMW 5 series (E34) 520i in black.
130k on the clock
Been well looked after and driven sensibly for last 50,000 miles (In the family). Drives very well, limited squeaks and rattles. Needs a new glove box cover (lock broken and then subsequent dodgy repair kinda FUBAR'd it) Could do with a reprayed boot and driver front wing (less than perfect paint repair). No rust to speak of, cloth interior. Central locking went on the blink about a year ago but miraculously fixed itself. BMW tape player and radio.
So, which would you choose?
ETA: BMW is 1993, not 1996 - typing error
Edited by randomman on Friday 30th March 16:08
varsas said:
I'd keep the car you know anyway but even so Golf would get my vote. More fun and cheaper to run.
It would appear he knows both cars very well TBH.Had a Mk3 GTi 16v for a while about 10 years ago and can confirm that there is not a lot of fun to be had.
The 2.0 i6 in the 520i is a lovely engine and IMO the car itself is much cooler and actually likely to be more 'fun' to drive anyway.
I ran a '96 16v for six years. It's got great seats, and the gearchange was quite feelsome, but that's all I'll miss about it. Quickish but not exciting. So despite the pants engine in the 520, the BMW would be the car I'd want to run. Fives do barge better than Mk3s do hot hatch, IMO.
You'll get low thirties out of the BMW, provided you drive it carefully.
You won't mind though, as what that engine lacks in shove it makes up for in character. It's not the boat anchor people perceive it to be, it's just not very powerful.
Since it's a manual you'll get better economy out of it than an auto. It's also something less to worry about.
I'd buy the BMW if I were you.
You won't mind though, as what that engine lacks in shove it makes up for in character. It's not the boat anchor people perceive it to be, it's just not very powerful.
Since it's a manual you'll get better economy out of it than an auto. It's also something less to worry about.
I'd buy the BMW if I were you.
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