What car for a European waft
Discussion
Living in the Far East I come home to the UK to see the family and bring the missus over every year or so. I get to return occasionally with work so it's more of introducing the OH to the UK and Europa on the whole.
Normally I rent a car for the 2 week trip, winter is a snot box Corsa and the like, the last summer I came over it was a VW Eos.
The next spring or summer we come over (unlikely to be this year) we were thinking of doing a European road trip, over to Germany, through Switzerland, down the coast of Italy and France, wherever the mood takes us. Stay away from the toll roads and just enjoy the experience and stop off wherever we choose.
Having looked at one of the MX5 threads and the PH tour around Europe got me started on this, so I figured that surely it must work out cheaper for me to buy a car for about 2-3K instead of renting. I can obviously pass it on to the family for them to sell when it comes for me to leave, insure it through my brother (I have been away for 5 years so ncb = 0) with me as a named driver and then cancel the insurance policy upon our return.
Initial thoughts were to be an invigorating little RWD open top sporty number that would be fun - MX5 at first, then I figured I could get a Z3 for similar money and potentially have greater access to spares should the worse happenn Then thoughts of barges and waftiness came to mind. I'm all for buzzing about but I guess 2-3 weeks of it would get a little tedious. Having taken a look in the classifieds a 2004 T5 C70 convertible can be had for about 3k. This seems like a great GT car for the money, still relatively low miles and unlikely to have been thrashed given the nature of the car.
As I will have the OH with me I'm thinking she would prefer comfort over thrills, any other cars come to mind? 3 series perhaps but a little too old for the money.
Normally I rent a car for the 2 week trip, winter is a snot box Corsa and the like, the last summer I came over it was a VW Eos.
The next spring or summer we come over (unlikely to be this year) we were thinking of doing a European road trip, over to Germany, through Switzerland, down the coast of Italy and France, wherever the mood takes us. Stay away from the toll roads and just enjoy the experience and stop off wherever we choose.
Having looked at one of the MX5 threads and the PH tour around Europe got me started on this, so I figured that surely it must work out cheaper for me to buy a car for about 2-3K instead of renting. I can obviously pass it on to the family for them to sell when it comes for me to leave, insure it through my brother (I have been away for 5 years so ncb = 0) with me as a named driver and then cancel the insurance policy upon our return.
Initial thoughts were to be an invigorating little RWD open top sporty number that would be fun - MX5 at first, then I figured I could get a Z3 for similar money and potentially have greater access to spares should the worse happenn Then thoughts of barges and waftiness came to mind. I'm all for buzzing about but I guess 2-3 weeks of it would get a little tedious. Having taken a look in the classifieds a 2004 T5 C70 convertible can be had for about 3k. This seems like a great GT car for the money, still relatively low miles and unlikely to have been thrashed given the nature of the car.
As I will have the OH with me I'm thinking she would prefer comfort over thrills, any other cars come to mind? 3 series perhaps but a little too old for the money.
Not sure how much wafting one can do in an Astra, but these should be reliable and easily mendable should anything go wrong.
Saab 93 Convertible should be comfy, and I think these shape ones should just about be in budget;
You could also have a look for an A208 CLK, but it's from Merc's "dark years" when quality nosedived, so rust may be an issue. Should be okay mechanically though.
TBH though, the C70 sounds ideal for such a trip.
Saab 93 Convertible should be comfy, and I think these shape ones should just about be in budget;
You could also have a look for an A208 CLK, but it's from Merc's "dark years" when quality nosedived, so rust may be an issue. Should be okay mechanically though.
TBH though, the C70 sounds ideal for such a trip.
I have a 2005 C70 T5 GT convertible. Manual box as autos can have issues according to the forums and with close on 250BHP its no slouch. Lovely car to cover distance in and returns well over 30mpg at motorway speeds. It does suffer from scuttle shake though, even after fitting a volvo strut brace. Same as any purchase buy the best you can afford, preferably with the GT pack and Dolby sound system.
The CLK and the 93 are serious contenders. The Astra not so much. I've been reading up that the scuttle shake is an issue in the C70, however with the WM likely to be in the car with me all the time I doubt I'll be pressing on with enough severity to make it an issue.
I'll have to jump in each of them for a test drive over the forthcoming Xmas trip if I can find them on the market. See which ones give me the impression of not leaving me tired at the end of a days drive. I also like what I've been reading on the Volvo's sound system.
Cheers for the comments...
I'll have to jump in each of them for a test drive over the forthcoming Xmas trip if I can find them on the market. See which ones give me the impression of not leaving me tired at the end of a days drive. I also like what I've been reading on the Volvo's sound system.
Cheers for the comments...
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