Suggestions for a fun cheap car, if that exists

[james6546]

Once the buyer has finally picked up my F31 330D I need to find myself a run around.

I can't justify it sitting around and not getting used, and the *sigh* L200 is a more useful vehicle to keep

Firstly I can't believe how few fun cars there are under the £5k budget, last time I looked there were loads of Imprezas, Celicas, Legacy GTB's, Civic Type R's etc.. Is it just covid, or are there just not as many interesting cheap cars as there used to be? Everything seems to be 1.6 diesel...

My criteria are:

- Not too slow
- Able to do reasonable motorway miles if needed to (though at the moment it looks less likely). MPG isn't a massive issue as long as it's under 45p per mile!
- Not boring to drive (I'm looking at you F31)
- Bigger than a fiesta

I don't mind if it needs stuff fixing, I've rebuilt a couple of cars.

The plan is to run it for a couple of years then get a Giulia QF when the prices have dropped a bit more.

I keep changing my mind, I've looked at Saab 9-3's, Focuses, Mondeos, Sciroccos (there are a couple), even MR2's and RX-8's.

What do people recommend?

[PH User]

There are loads of hot hatches available for under £5k

[james6546]

PH User said:

There are loads of hot hatches available for under £5k

Yes there are, but:

-Focus ST- still a bit ropey in my price range
-RS Megane- electrical issues- my wife had one
-CTR- Too stiff suspension for long commutes
-Golf GTI- not a bad option, although not many good ones around. For some reason the wife hates them

Have I missed any?

[PH User]

james6546 said:

PH User said:

There are loads of hot hatches available for under £5k

Yes there are, but:

-Focus ST- still a bit ropey in my price range
-RS Megane- electrical issues- my wife had one
-CTR- Too stiff suspension for long commutes
-Golf GTI- not a bad option, although not many good ones around. For some reason the wife hates them

Have I missed any?

Up your budget or lower your expectations then.

[james6546]

PH User said:

Up your budget or lower your expectations then.

Thanks. This is why I never post on PH.

I don't have any more as the money from my car is going to pay off most of the finance on the L200, so the cheaper the better

Edited by james6546 on Monday 15th March 13:57

[lewisf182]

BMW 130i sounds ideal but at your budget it'll be high mileage. The car takes miles well though, especially so the engine. Mine was ultra reliable as most 1 series of that age are.

[Pebbles167]

james6546 said:

PH User said:

Up your budget or lower your expectations then.

Thanks. This is why I never post on PH.

I don't have any more as the money from my car is going to pay off most of the finance on the L200, so the cheaper the better

He's got a point though.

I guess you could grab a Mondeo ST220? Dirt cheap, and you won't be keeping it that long anyway. Others might be a Subaru Legacy, Mazda 6 MPS, BMW 330d/i. All have good examples available for under £5k.

[james6546]

Pebbles167 said:

He's got a point though.

I guess you could grab a Mondeo ST220? Dirt cheap, and you won't be keeping it that long anyway. Others might be a Subaru Legacy, Mazda 6 MPS, BMW 330d/i. All have good examples available for under £5k.

Yeah, I like the Mondeo, might go look at one. I don't think I'll get a legacy past the other half

I had a Mazda 6 and loved it, just a shame they didn't do the newer ones in MPS form. I like the MPS 6's in the red actually

[james6546]

lewisf182 said:

BMW 130i sounds ideal but at your budget it'll be high mileage. The car takes miles well though, especially so the engine. Mine was ultra reliable as most 1 series of that age are.

I'm keeping my eye out for a good 130i, I'm not too bothered about mileage as long as it's not trashed

[fflump]

If you feel like rolling the dice how about a Fiat Coupe ;-)

[Ratae]

I looked at some of these options. I ended up in an R53 Mini Cooper S, found the best one condition wise I could find for around £2k mark which gave me plenty of change for freshening it up.

I've replaced all the brakes (got front R56 brake upgrade waiting to go on), Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, OEM drop links & top mounts. Plus added a thicker whiteline rear anti-roll bar and some Michelin PS4 tyres and its massive fun and owes me about £4k! Honestly such a great car for a quick blast, around my favourite local roads I don't think its any slower than some of the cars I've had with twice (or more) the power.

Only downside is they are not cheap to run though for cheap purchase price and lack of straight line performance. Its noticeably worse on fuel than my Leon Cupra 300 DSG was, and is twice as much to tax and about the same to insure with all mods declared.

Edited by Ratae on Monday 15th March 14:21

[james6546]

Ratae said:

I looked at some of these options. I ended up in an R53 Mini Cooper S, found the best one condition wise I could find for around £2k mark which gave me plenty of change for freshening it up.

I've replaced all the brakes (got front R56 brake upgrade waiting to go on), Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, OEM drop links & top mounts. Plus added a thicker whiteline rear anti-roll bar and some Michelin PS4 tyres and its massive fun and owes me about £4k!

I'm very tempted with an R53 actually. What are they like compared to an R56? I used to have one but never really fell in love with it, partly because of the commutes I was doing in it, and partly because of the crap stereo!

I was looking at this one

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-COOPER-S-R53-SUPER...

Edited by james6546 on Monday 15th March 14:24

[james6546]

fflump said:

If you feel like rolling the dice how about a Fiat Coupe ;-)

I can't get the buy in from SWMBO for a Fiat Coupe, otherwise I quite like them!

She also won't let me get any Alfa in this price bracket because I had a 147 Q2 that left her stranded twice in a few weeks, once with the clutch and then with a failed turbo!

[Ratae]

james6546 said:

I'm very tempted with an R53 actually. What are they like compared to an R56?

They are much rawer than the R56 I drove, and I prefer the engine personally as the USP for the R53 was the supercharged engine. Mine is a basic model without sunroof, electric seats, nav etc. and the stereo is ste tbh but I rarely have it on. Mine has an aftermarket manifold with no pre-cat and the JCW exhaust and it sounds brilliant for a little 4 pot so the stereo is turned off most of the time.

[Pebbles167]

Good lord!

I don't envy those who have to get the partner to agree on a car

As far as my girlfriend is concerned, a Nissan Qashqai is all the car I should ever want and doesn't understand why I would want anything else. Luckily she has her own car and I buy what I want.

Anyway, I thought of a few more motors for you to consider.

- Volvo S60/V70 R. Or possibly the standard T5 if not. Reliability might not be spot on, but you listed a Legacy GTB as something you were interested in, so it cant mean that much to you!

- Honda accord Type S. Not sought after, so still cheap and relatively unabused. 2.4 engine with Vtec, around 170bhp. Not super quick, but a nice driver.

- Audi A3 3.2 V6. A cheap R32 pretty much.

- Vauxhall Astra or Vectra VXR. Several about in budget.

[ChrisH72]

I think the pandemic has caused a lack of supply in good quality used cars which is why prices are also high. I guess a lot of people are holding on to them or maybe ditching expensive lease and PCP deals and buying used because their mileage has dropped.

Until I saw your last comment I was going to suggest a Giulietta 1.4 which doesn't seem too bad on reliability. Otherwise maybe look at warm rather than hot versions of standard hatches. Focus zetec s 1.6 turbo. Astra gtc Sri 1.6. those kind of cars which run around 180bhp so enough to have fun but also being a bit under the radar.

I'd show your wife the Giulietta though. £5k will get a good one. And you are saving for an Alfa anyway!

[PH User]

james6546 said:

PH User said:

Up your budget or lower your expectations then.

Thanks. This is why I never post on PH.

I don't have any more as the money from my car is going to pay off most of the finance on the L200, so the cheaper the better

Edited by james6546 on Monday 15th March 13:57

I know it's not what you want to hear, but that's the way it is. You need a car and something somewhere has to give.

[james6546]

Ratae said:

They are much rawer than the R56 I drove, and I prefer the engine personally as the USP for the R53 was the supercharged engine. Mine is a basic model without sunroof, electric seats, nav etc. and the stereo is ste tbh but I rarely have it on. Mine has an aftermarket manifold with no pre-cat and the JCW exhaust and it sounds brilliant for a little 4 pot so the stereo is turned off most of the time.

I'll have to have a drive in one I think, I defo like the idea of the supercharger and think they look better than the R56

[fflump]

Pebbles167 said:

Good lord!

I don't envy those who have to get the partner to agree on a car

Nor me-my wife lives in blissful ignorance and disinterest of anything to do with cars.
I am equally blissful of her ignorance and disinterest of anything to do with cars.

[PH User]

I guess it's ok if the car is equally shared.