Fun, luxury/ish family car under 10k.
Discussion
Hi all,
Gone a year with my C-class ('03 C180K picked up cheap as chips as a stop gap for over winter until I bought another motorbike as my brother died and I couldn't face going back and forth between cities to see family through winter on a bike). Now, unexpected baby imminently due means I've got to stick with cars instead of getting another bike.
I've quite enjoyed the Merc but prefer much manual and need more power for the fun factor.
Car will be used for short city journeys, commuting (will be changing job soon so could be 3 miles or 30 miles commute) a 120 mile motorway trip a few times a year to see family and once or twice a year trips abroad.
My criteria are below
10k or less.
At least a bit fun.
Not wildly unreliable.
'07 or newer.
Under 80k miles.
Nice/semi-luxury interior with leather seats.
4 or 5 doors.
Not insanely low MPG.
Petrol.
I was pretty dead set on a 330i (E90) but finding a clean 4 door manual with low miles is proving difficult. There is one up North at a used car place but it's now got a fuelling issue so is with the BMW specialist getting fixed and the baby is due any day now meaning I wouldn't be able to go get it. I'm a fussy little b
d and generally don't like the look of ANY hatchbacks other than Audi.
Ruled out Legacy 3.0 as too heavy/low MPG.
Ruled out Impreza as I don't like the look of them.
Ruled out Mazda 6 MPS due to reliability concerns.
Ruled out Focus ST as I don't like the look of them.
Ruled out 130i/135i as I don't like the look of them and too small.
Considered a newer Mercedes but all the bigger engine ones are autos.
Considered a Lexus (amazing value) but I fear the IS250 wouldn't have the fun value.
Wondering if I should really consider an S3 or A4 3.2. Will the 330i be considerably more fun to drive than either of these Audi's? Unfortunately not really in a position where I can shlep about test driving different cars.
Sorry for total rambling, just wondering if there is anything obvious that I have missed.
TLDR: E90 330i , S3, A4 3.2 or something else.
Gone a year with my C-class ('03 C180K picked up cheap as chips as a stop gap for over winter until I bought another motorbike as my brother died and I couldn't face going back and forth between cities to see family through winter on a bike). Now, unexpected baby imminently due means I've got to stick with cars instead of getting another bike.
I've quite enjoyed the Merc but prefer much manual and need more power for the fun factor.
Car will be used for short city journeys, commuting (will be changing job soon so could be 3 miles or 30 miles commute) a 120 mile motorway trip a few times a year to see family and once or twice a year trips abroad.
My criteria are below
10k or less.
At least a bit fun.
Not wildly unreliable.
'07 or newer.
Under 80k miles.
Nice/semi-luxury interior with leather seats.
4 or 5 doors.
Not insanely low MPG.
Petrol.
I was pretty dead set on a 330i (E90) but finding a clean 4 door manual with low miles is proving difficult. There is one up North at a used car place but it's now got a fuelling issue so is with the BMW specialist getting fixed and the baby is due any day now meaning I wouldn't be able to go get it. I'm a fussy little b
d and generally don't like the look of ANY hatchbacks other than Audi. Ruled out Legacy 3.0 as too heavy/low MPG.
Ruled out Impreza as I don't like the look of them.
Ruled out Mazda 6 MPS due to reliability concerns.
Ruled out Focus ST as I don't like the look of them.
Ruled out 130i/135i as I don't like the look of them and too small.
Considered a newer Mercedes but all the bigger engine ones are autos.
Considered a Lexus (amazing value) but I fear the IS250 wouldn't have the fun value.
Wondering if I should really consider an S3 or A4 3.2. Will the 330i be considerably more fun to drive than either of these Audi's? Unfortunately not really in a position where I can shlep about test driving different cars.
Sorry for total rambling, just wondering if there is anything obvious that I have missed.
TLDR: E90 330i , S3, A4 3.2 or something else.
Yes I've driven & supplied a fair few they're good when you want to press on too, you do need to make sure the Haldex services have been carried out or budget to get it done.
They also benefit from a map because in standard form they're lacking a bit of midrange (Vauxhall took it away to make it feel more N/A) I'd say try one if you can find one locally.
They also benefit from a map because in standard form they're lacking a bit of midrange (Vauxhall took it away to make it feel more N/A) I'd say try one if you can find one locally.
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