Advice on next car purchase

[lumencreative]

Hi all,

Currently driving round in a late 1999 BMW 520i 2.0L Petrol. My insurance is due for renewal shortly so if I'm going to change my car, it makes sense to do it to coincide with my insurance renewal so I don't have to pay to change the policy over.

At present, I am getting approx 23MPG out of the 520i (probably 50/50 motorway/rural) and have recently spent £400 on repairs to the car.

My question is, with a £2000 budget, am I likely to get anything better for the money? Or should I stick with the 520i and make it a really nice car? I'm not overly fussed on make or model as long as it's reliable and better fuel consumption.

[IanCress]

You could easily improve the MPG by going for something smaller and newer. However, for £2000 you won't get anything that will be guaranteed fault free, and at that price I tend to think it's a case of better the devil you know. Unless you think there's any huge bills coming up then perhaps it's best to stick with what you've got.

[luminate]

IanCress said:

You could easily improve the MPG by going for something smaller and newer. However, for £2000 you won't get anything that will be guaranteed fault free, and at that price I tend to think it's a case of better the devil you know. Unless you think there's any huge bills coming up then perhaps it's best to stick with what you've got.

Thanks for your input. I could possibly up my budget to £3000 but depends what I get for the BMW I guess. Looking round online, there's a few 2003 BMW 3 series for around £2000 or a couple of 2007 Vauxhall Vectra 1.9 Diesels for around £2000 but I don't really know cars well enough to go and say 'that's a good car' if you get what I mean.

[luminate]

Any other opinions?

[Vaud]

Any other requirements? Boot space, insurance group, etc?

[luminate]

Vaud said:

Any other requirements? Boot space, insurance group, etc?

Not particularly. As long as I can fit a few bags of shopping in the boot, the mrs will be happy. My current car is insurance group 29 so not the lowest as it is.

[V8forweekends]

If you want something more economical and reliable try a boring jap car?

[luminate]

V8forweekends said:

If you want something more economical and reliable try a boring jap car?

Who said I want boring?? Haha

From what I've read, BMW's are generally reliable (if you buy the right model) and the newer BMW's are slightly better MPG, but I'm asking for advice.

As I said, I'm not great with cars. I tend to always go to the garage when I have problems but I would like to start learning (sick of being ripped off with expensive labour charges).

When I bought my current car, I was going to change the front lights for angel eyes and the rear lights for clear/red versions (instead of the amber and red), and I was going to upgrade the steering wheel and change the interior to black leather, but I've got as far as changing the rear lights and that's it. I kinda thought, what's the point, it's an old banger.

So maybe time to get something a few years newer that doesn't need all of the above doing to it in the first place.

[Vaud]

V8forweekends said:

If you want something more economical and reliable try a boring jap car?

I'd look at a Honda Accord personally or Toyota Corolla.

[andye30m3]

If you like the 520 what about going for a 4pot 3 series, I was surprised at how economical my 318ti is and it's pretty good fun to drive

[M6L11]

luminate said:

Who said I want boring?? Haha

You've been looking at Vectra 1.9 diesels! Better the devil you know imho, though for that economy I'd be wanting a V6/V8 personally.

[Nuttah]

23mpg from a 520i wow you could improve them from a car with a bigger engine for a start.