What second sub £1,000 car?
Discussion
Evening all,
Posted a similar thread a few months back about getting a second car. Decided at that time I couldn't do it. Now though I'm in a better position to. Bit of background first... I'm at Uni in Brighton was doing Engineering, swapped to Product Design, and I work weekends back near home in Surrey. Currently drive an E46 330i Sport Saloon, which I can't bear to sell as I love it too much. However being a student and living in a rented student house I'm not enjoying having the BMW at uni, purely because of the parking battle scars it seems to be unable to avoid. I'd also like to get a bit handy with the spanners but don't want to mess about with what is a good solid car.
I've decided to look at getting second car, preferably with more space to pack all my stuff in (E46 boot is rubbish and seats don't fold), also something that is older and more shed like that I won't mind getting bumped and scratched. My weekend commute is 100miles and a mix of excellent country roads and dual-carriageway, so want something solid like the BMW, as long as I can match the 20mpg I get from the BMW then I'm happy. Being a second car insurance is an issue, so can't really go for anything too sporty, but being a second car ideally I'd like a totally different experience from it, ideally something much more comfortable than the BMW too. I mentioned earlier I'd like to get a bit handy with the spanners, start doing my own servicing and fixing things myself, so something relatively easy to work on would be good and something with a good availability of parts too.
So far my list is looking like this:
Volvo 850 T5 - love Volvos, love the T5 engine, comfy and has all the space I need and is fast, big soft spot for them.
BMW E34 Touring, probably a 525i - Love these too, lots of space, nice noise, but I think it'll be too similar an experience to the E46. But then I'd probably whack a LSD into it and go drifting.
Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign - Absolutely love these things, look to be lots of parts and spares about and if a 12 year old can work on it, surely I can. But big barge and waft factor is very very appealing, also very cheap, but too unreliable maybe?
Jaguar XJ6 X300 - As above, but not as big a fan of the looks but should prove more reliable.
Saab 9-5 Aero Estate - Another soft spot, lots of space, love Saabs and grew up with a non-Aero model as a kid. Bit dull though perhaps?
I'm swaying towards the Volvo and Jags, but not many manual 850s about, and possible big bill on the Jags scares me.
What do people think of the above suggestions? I want something a bit different and/or retro, something 80s would be perfect. Any others suggestions?
Posted a similar thread a few months back about getting a second car. Decided at that time I couldn't do it. Now though I'm in a better position to. Bit of background first... I'm at Uni in Brighton was doing Engineering, swapped to Product Design, and I work weekends back near home in Surrey. Currently drive an E46 330i Sport Saloon, which I can't bear to sell as I love it too much. However being a student and living in a rented student house I'm not enjoying having the BMW at uni, purely because of the parking battle scars it seems to be unable to avoid. I'd also like to get a bit handy with the spanners but don't want to mess about with what is a good solid car.
I've decided to look at getting second car, preferably with more space to pack all my stuff in (E46 boot is rubbish and seats don't fold), also something that is older and more shed like that I won't mind getting bumped and scratched. My weekend commute is 100miles and a mix of excellent country roads and dual-carriageway, so want something solid like the BMW, as long as I can match the 20mpg I get from the BMW then I'm happy. Being a second car insurance is an issue, so can't really go for anything too sporty, but being a second car ideally I'd like a totally different experience from it, ideally something much more comfortable than the BMW too. I mentioned earlier I'd like to get a bit handy with the spanners, start doing my own servicing and fixing things myself, so something relatively easy to work on would be good and something with a good availability of parts too.
So far my list is looking like this:
Volvo 850 T5 - love Volvos, love the T5 engine, comfy and has all the space I need and is fast, big soft spot for them.
BMW E34 Touring, probably a 525i - Love these too, lots of space, nice noise, but I think it'll be too similar an experience to the E46. But then I'd probably whack a LSD into it and go drifting.
Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign - Absolutely love these things, look to be lots of parts and spares about and if a 12 year old can work on it, surely I can. But big barge and waft factor is very very appealing, also very cheap, but too unreliable maybe?
Jaguar XJ6 X300 - As above, but not as big a fan of the looks but should prove more reliable.
Saab 9-5 Aero Estate - Another soft spot, lots of space, love Saabs and grew up with a non-Aero model as a kid. Bit dull though perhaps?
I'm swaying towards the Volvo and Jags, but not many manual 850s about, and possible big bill on the Jags scares me.
What do people think of the above suggestions? I want something a bit different and/or retro, something 80s would be perfect. Any others suggestions?
mad4amanda said:
How about a 540i touring e34 mot till july and taxed till jan , full kit including sport leather interior, cruise, working double sunroof ? it averages 20 mpg too. no rust to speak of either.
Gonna struggle to find one for budget, and it's too similar to what I have, same goes for the E36 328i above. Good cars, just a bit too similar, keen to move away from BMW I think.As for the Saab, I think the right one for under £1k would be fine. I've got the most experience with them anyway.
Anyone got experience with the Jags?
I'd be very tempted by this http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use... at half the price.
Stedman
gog440 said:
How about this?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/bmw/3...
I was going to ring this (silver one) last week for a bit of a fun car but other priorities changed though, always fancied one and that would be my perfect one.http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/bmw/3...
I have an XJ40 - a late 3.2 Sovereign. I have owned it for many years and it has been completely reliable - it never goes wrong.
The XJ40 is mechanically robust - they are in no way fragile cars. The twin cam six cylinder engines are amongst the strongest, most reliable and long lasting of any car and are capable of vast mileages with indifferent maintenance.
The automatic gearbox is either the ZF4HP22 (3.2/3.6) or the ZF4HP24 (4 litre) and is also very long lived – unlike its successor the ZF5HP series used in the XJ8 and some BMWs.
Suspension bushes can wear as with any big car and some cars develop a noisy diff - but failure seems to be very gradual, with the diff wining for years.
The XJ40 seems to have a reputation for electrical problems, but in my experience this only affects the early 2.9/3.6 litre digital dash cars. Some of them can be challenging…
Analogue dash cars use a different electrical system which is far more reliable, though the dash is less cool looking.
Late cars like mine (1993/1994 model years with the battery in the boot) have another electrical system again – which is excellent. These late XJ40s are almost an XJ40/X300 hybrid, though they look and feel similar to earlier XJ40s. My car has needed only one new relay in twenty years – its reliability has been that good. Late XJ40s are more reliable electricallly than most other cars.
Rust - rather than mechanical problems - is the XJ40’s nemesis. They can be bad and mine has rusted significantly. Most electrical problems on later cars seem to flow from corrosion – whether from components inside the cabin getting wet, or from corroded earths.
That said, the XJ40 is not a car which is sought after currently and as a consequence, prices are very low. A decent, respectable XJ40 should be readily obtainable within your £1000 budget.
Other running costs: fuel consumption is less frightening than many big cars, though naturally they are thirstier than smaller, lighter vehicles. My 3.2 averages 22-24 mpg in mixed driving, and maybe 28-ish on a run. Full city driving will see late teens though. The 4 litre uses very little more petrol but has better performance, so most prefer it.
The XJ40 is designed with maintenance in mind, so DIY work is straight forward. The Jaguar workshop manual is excellent and available from Jaguar on DVD for about £15. Spares are cheap and easy to get secondhand. They are also particularly cheap to insure. There is also good forum support from www.xj40.com and Jag-lovers website.
In short rust is the problem with them – find an XJ40 with a reasonable body and it should be fairly painless.
The spots to look for are:
The sill to floor join on both sides.
The front of the floor on driver’s and front passenger’s foot wells.
The sill ends – particularly on the passenger’s side.
On early cars: the boot lid and front of bonnet (does not affect later cars)
On late cars (and the X300) check the bulkhead centre seam and both corners of the bulkhead – this can be a serious problem on late cars.
The tops of the inner wings under the bonnet.
Round the rear screen
The front door pillars.
The sunroof can also rust – and robs headroom.
Look at the carpet in both footwells. If it is wet, suspect rust in the floor or bulkhead - though it might be the plenum is full of leaves and not draining, so check that too!
Hopefully the rust hasn’t scared you – I guess they’re no worse than any other 20 year old car! Most of these problems were present on my car – in this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I certainly think you should consider an Xj40 – I absolutely love mine.
The XJ40 is mechanically robust - they are in no way fragile cars. The twin cam six cylinder engines are amongst the strongest, most reliable and long lasting of any car and are capable of vast mileages with indifferent maintenance.
The automatic gearbox is either the ZF4HP22 (3.2/3.6) or the ZF4HP24 (4 litre) and is also very long lived – unlike its successor the ZF5HP series used in the XJ8 and some BMWs.
Suspension bushes can wear as with any big car and some cars develop a noisy diff - but failure seems to be very gradual, with the diff wining for years.
The XJ40 seems to have a reputation for electrical problems, but in my experience this only affects the early 2.9/3.6 litre digital dash cars. Some of them can be challenging…
Analogue dash cars use a different electrical system which is far more reliable, though the dash is less cool looking.
Late cars like mine (1993/1994 model years with the battery in the boot) have another electrical system again – which is excellent. These late XJ40s are almost an XJ40/X300 hybrid, though they look and feel similar to earlier XJ40s. My car has needed only one new relay in twenty years – its reliability has been that good. Late XJ40s are more reliable electricallly than most other cars.
Rust - rather than mechanical problems - is the XJ40’s nemesis. They can be bad and mine has rusted significantly. Most electrical problems on later cars seem to flow from corrosion – whether from components inside the cabin getting wet, or from corroded earths.
That said, the XJ40 is not a car which is sought after currently and as a consequence, prices are very low. A decent, respectable XJ40 should be readily obtainable within your £1000 budget.
Other running costs: fuel consumption is less frightening than many big cars, though naturally they are thirstier than smaller, lighter vehicles. My 3.2 averages 22-24 mpg in mixed driving, and maybe 28-ish on a run. Full city driving will see late teens though. The 4 litre uses very little more petrol but has better performance, so most prefer it.
The XJ40 is designed with maintenance in mind, so DIY work is straight forward. The Jaguar workshop manual is excellent and available from Jaguar on DVD for about £15. Spares are cheap and easy to get secondhand. They are also particularly cheap to insure. There is also good forum support from www.xj40.com and Jag-lovers website.
In short rust is the problem with them – find an XJ40 with a reasonable body and it should be fairly painless.
The spots to look for are:
The sill to floor join on both sides.
The front of the floor on driver’s and front passenger’s foot wells.
The sill ends – particularly on the passenger’s side.
On early cars: the boot lid and front of bonnet (does not affect later cars)
On late cars (and the X300) check the bulkhead centre seam and both corners of the bulkhead – this can be a serious problem on late cars.
The tops of the inner wings under the bonnet.
Round the rear screen
The front door pillars.
The sunroof can also rust – and robs headroom.
Look at the carpet in both footwells. If it is wet, suspect rust in the floor or bulkhead - though it might be the plenum is full of leaves and not draining, so check that too!
Hopefully the rust hasn’t scared you – I guess they’re no worse than any other 20 year old car! Most of these problems were present on my car – in this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I certainly think you should consider an Xj40 – I absolutely love mine.
dbdb said:
I have an XJ40 - a late 3.2 Sovereign. I have owned it for many years and it has been completely reliable - it never goes wrong.
The XJ40 is mechanically robust - they are in no way fragile cars. The twin cam six cylinder engines are amongst the strongest, most reliable and long lasting of any car and are capable of vast mileages with indifferent maintenance.
The automatic gearbox is either the ZF4HP22 (3.2/3.6) or the ZF4HP24 (4 litre) and is also very long lived – unlike its successor the ZF5HP series used in the XJ8 and some BMWs.
Suspension bushes can wear as with any big car and some cars develop a noisy diff - but failure seems to be very gradual, with the diff wining for years.
The XJ40 seems to have a reputation for electrical problems, but in my experience this only affects the early 2.9/3.6 litre digital dash cars. Some of them can be challenging…
Analogue dash cars use a different electrical system which is far more reliable, though the dash is less cool looking.
Late cars like mine (1993/1994 model years with the battery in the boot) have another electrical system again – which is excellent. These late XJ40s are almost an XJ40/X300 hybrid, though they look and feel similar to earlier XJ40s. My car has needed only one new relay in twenty years – its reliability has been that good. Late XJ40s are more reliable electricallly than most other cars.
Rust - rather than mechanical problems - is the XJ40’s nemesis. They can be bad and mine has rusted significantly. Most electrical problems on later cars seem to flow from corrosion – whether from components inside the cabin getting wet, or from corroded earths.
That said, the XJ40 is not a car which is sought after currently and as a consequence, prices are very low. A decent, respectable XJ40 should be readily obtainable within your £1000 budget.
Other running costs: fuel consumption is less frightening than many big cars, though naturally they are thirstier than smaller, lighter vehicles. My 3.2 averages 22-24 mpg in mixed driving, and maybe 28-ish on a run. Full city driving will see late teens though. The 4 litre uses very little more petrol but has better performance, so most prefer it.
The XJ40 is designed with maintenance in mind, so DIY work is straight forward. The Jaguar workshop manual is excellent and available from Jaguar on DVD for about £15. Spares are cheap and easy to get secondhand. They are also particularly cheap to insure. There is also good forum support from www.xj40.com and Jag-lovers website.
In short rust is the problem with them – find an XJ40 with a reasonable body and it should be fairly painless.
The spots to look for are:
The sill to floor join on both sides.
The front of the floor on driver’s and front passenger’s foot wells.
The sill ends – particularly on the passenger’s side.
On early cars: the boot lid and front of bonnet (does not affect later cars)
On late cars (and the X300) check the bulkhead centre seam and both corners of the bulkhead – this can be a serious problem on late cars.
The tops of the inner wings under the bonnet.
Round the rear screen
The front door pillars.
The sunroof can also rust – and robs headroom.
Look at the carpet in both footwells. If it is wet, suspect rust in the floor or bulkhead - though it might be the plenum is full of leaves and not draining, so check that too!
Hopefully the rust hasn’t scared you – I guess they’re no worse than any other 20 year old car! Most of these problems were present on my car – in this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I certainly think you should consider an Xj40 – I absolutely love mine.
Really appreciate that response, I did come across the two sites you mentioned and there was lots of info there, there are a few 4 litre later cars about for sale at the moment, test drove a 4.0 V8 X308 before getting the BMW and loved the drive, but much prefer the looks of the XJ40, hmmm only downside is the space in them, was hoping to get a mountain bike in the back of whatever I get, but then it is a Jag.The XJ40 is mechanically robust - they are in no way fragile cars. The twin cam six cylinder engines are amongst the strongest, most reliable and long lasting of any car and are capable of vast mileages with indifferent maintenance.
The automatic gearbox is either the ZF4HP22 (3.2/3.6) or the ZF4HP24 (4 litre) and is also very long lived – unlike its successor the ZF5HP series used in the XJ8 and some BMWs.
Suspension bushes can wear as with any big car and some cars develop a noisy diff - but failure seems to be very gradual, with the diff wining for years.
The XJ40 seems to have a reputation for electrical problems, but in my experience this only affects the early 2.9/3.6 litre digital dash cars. Some of them can be challenging…
Analogue dash cars use a different electrical system which is far more reliable, though the dash is less cool looking.
Late cars like mine (1993/1994 model years with the battery in the boot) have another electrical system again – which is excellent. These late XJ40s are almost an XJ40/X300 hybrid, though they look and feel similar to earlier XJ40s. My car has needed only one new relay in twenty years – its reliability has been that good. Late XJ40s are more reliable electricallly than most other cars.
Rust - rather than mechanical problems - is the XJ40’s nemesis. They can be bad and mine has rusted significantly. Most electrical problems on later cars seem to flow from corrosion – whether from components inside the cabin getting wet, or from corroded earths.
That said, the XJ40 is not a car which is sought after currently and as a consequence, prices are very low. A decent, respectable XJ40 should be readily obtainable within your £1000 budget.
Other running costs: fuel consumption is less frightening than many big cars, though naturally they are thirstier than smaller, lighter vehicles. My 3.2 averages 22-24 mpg in mixed driving, and maybe 28-ish on a run. Full city driving will see late teens though. The 4 litre uses very little more petrol but has better performance, so most prefer it.
The XJ40 is designed with maintenance in mind, so DIY work is straight forward. The Jaguar workshop manual is excellent and available from Jaguar on DVD for about £15. Spares are cheap and easy to get secondhand. They are also particularly cheap to insure. There is also good forum support from www.xj40.com and Jag-lovers website.
In short rust is the problem with them – find an XJ40 with a reasonable body and it should be fairly painless.
The spots to look for are:
The sill to floor join on both sides.
The front of the floor on driver’s and front passenger’s foot wells.
The sill ends – particularly on the passenger’s side.
On early cars: the boot lid and front of bonnet (does not affect later cars)
On late cars (and the X300) check the bulkhead centre seam and both corners of the bulkhead – this can be a serious problem on late cars.
The tops of the inner wings under the bonnet.
Round the rear screen
The front door pillars.
The sunroof can also rust – and robs headroom.
Look at the carpet in both footwells. If it is wet, suspect rust in the floor or bulkhead - though it might be the plenum is full of leaves and not draining, so check that too!
Hopefully the rust hasn’t scared you – I guess they’re no worse than any other 20 year old car! Most of these problems were present on my car – in this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I certainly think you should consider an Xj40 – I absolutely love mine.
petrolveins said:
mad4amanda said:
How about a 540i touring e34 mot till july and taxed till jan , full kit including sport leather interior, cruise, working double sunroof ? it averages 20 mpg too. no rust to speak of either.
Gonna struggle to find one for budget, and it's too similar to what I have, same goes for the E36 328i above. Good cars, just a bit too similar, keen to move away from BMW I think.As for the Saab, I think the right one for under £1k would be fine. I've got the most experience with them anyway.
Anyone got experience with the Jags?
I thought this thread sounded familiar
This thread is just treading the same ground as the previous one.
This thread is just treading the same ground as the previous one.
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