£3500 Swift Sport MK2: Great daily or financial chaos,again?
Discussion
Last week I'm sitting in my house with absolutely no plans for this week, today I've taken the day off work and now I'm heading to Edinburgh from London to buy a new car.
Now how did I get here? Well, let me explain:
I got my license at 17 in 2019 (yes, I'm quite young to most of you..... For now)
Like every 17 year old, I started hunting for my first car. Also like every 17 year car enthusiast, I set my sights on some great hot hatches: Polo GTi, 208 GTi, Clio RS200, Volvo C30 T5........ Only to be struck down by the mighty sword of Young driver car insurance. Bother. I then set my sights on the MK2 Swift Sport. Insurance was about 2k, which was good. But what really drew me to it was the absolutely raving reviews everyone gave it. 1.6l revvy 4cyl, 6spd manual, Cruise Control, 1100kg kerb weight. I WANTED IT.
Then My parents also weren't much helpful either. They absolutely REFUSED to let me buy a cheap "Old" car (mind you, the oldest one was only 7 years old then), and forced me to get a new car on my mum's company car scheme (she doesn't drive). So at least with the option of a new car, I ended up in a nice Soul Red Mazda3. It was nice, but it didn't really feel like "my own car" (ah yes, truly the biggest first world problem).
Armed with the need to own a car of my own, in spring of 2021, I got myself a job delivering for Pizza Hut and in 2 months saved enough money (£1k) to buy myself my own car. Now I should've bought something simple like a Yaris T-Sport or a cheap Celica, but I immediately found myself travelling to buy a lovely Evolution Orange NB MX-5....... In Bradford. I wish someone stopped me. Sadly, no one did, and I soon ended up owning it. It had more rust than paint, had a dodgy MOT and sounded like it was being punched every time it started. Plus the A/C just spew dust every once in a while.
But it was MY car and I loved it. I spent all summer dumping every meager salary into it, fixing it, getting a garage to weld and swap the suspension for coilovers and did basic servicing. It took to me seeing friends, car meets, my first date (and first kiss in it). I loved every minute of it.
However in November 2021, just a few weeks after it's MOT, it was written off by someone who forgot how roundabouts worked. Hence ending my time with the car.
I then just decided to wait until I have a full-time job, and so finished uni, joined an initial contract job and then landed my dream job at JLR as an automotive engineer. To celebrate I thought "screw it, I have the money, let's try project car ownership properly". This is the very beginning of 2024.
This ended up with buying a MK3 MR2 Spyder for a whopping £1800 on FB marketplace.
(Clearly it's not the car on the right)
It definitely needed work, but I'll leave that for another thread which I plan to do shortly.
However fast forward to the end of 2024 and the Lease on the Mazda has ended and I was dailying the MR2. However on Christmas day with my Partner, it blew an engine (1zz bearing failure. Surprisingly common, and happened without warning) causing me to SORN that off the road.
This led me on the hunt for a comfy daily for about £4-5k, as I was driving nearly 300 miles a week on average between my home, my GF and my parents. My hunt went to a E90 325i or 330i. I found one in an old man spec burgundy red and tan interior, but the service history boiled down to 3 services...... In 18 years. I noped out and kept looking for other cars, only to find a 2006 S80 2.5T... in manual. It was weird, a top trim car (SE LUX) with all the luxury boxes ticked with the most basic engine option and manual. It was listed at £4995 and so I said "screw it", let's have a look.
Yeah so I fell on love with how comfortable the seats were and how torquey it was compared to the anemic Mazda and MR2. It has leather, which was new to me, and heated and ventilation seats, which is such a party piece to show off to friends. It also has Blind Spot assist which was crazy to have in 2006 (S80 was the 2nd car ever to have it after the XC90 if I recall correctly). It had 79k miles, and the dealer was reputable, so I said screw it, I love it.
Online forums also mentioned this engine and gearbox is quite reliable. And it's true, they were reliable. Problem was, everything else wasn't.
Shortly after buying it, the water pump went after just 2 weeks of ownership which the dealer kindly replaced free of charge (but still forced me to drive 150 miles each way to him, and then didn't reimburse on fuel like he promised), and then it developed a slight screeching sound on a cold start-up which I presumed was something belt-related so I ended up replacing every belt in the car myself as no garage could diagnose it and wouldn't accept a used car Warranty. I found out way later it was probably an exhaust squeal, and so I never bothered to try and fix it.
At least it didn't give me any problems after that. I took it on hikes with mates, helped my GF with film shoots for uni and almost took it to a trackday. After 3 months of relatively trohble-free ownership I bought some new wheels off eBay for it (rare Odysseus 18" wheels, only sold for the V70 in 2008). Funnily the seller was the songwriter for The Wanted and One direction! I then put some PS5s on it and it transformed the way it drove. It was expensive sure, but at least I could afford it and nothing went wrong...... Then the entire power steering system went wrong.
Basically P3 Volvos can have steering pump failure around 90k miles. Mine failed at 87k and because it happened on the middle of a hike, I limped it back home (200 miles), which caused even worse issues, resulting in multiple high pressure pipes, pump and steering rack to be replaced at a bill that was 2/3 the price of the car. It was BAD. I only kept it as I planned on keeping the car for a while. Other small issues kept popping up like a dead battery and Brake discs/pads, and the cost of fuel was just getting too high for me. Include the cost of moving into my own flat in October and the cost to 2zz an MR2, owning a relatively high maintenance 5cyl turbo that got 28mpg just wasn't worth it on a graduate engineers salary
come Jan this year, and I put an ad for the car. I wasn't too bothered if it sold or not, as my finances were getting better as the MR2 was back on the road and I could focus on saving, but when someone asked near asking price for it, I just figured "screw it (again), ya can have it!"
(Last drive with the Volvo through central London. Was quite melancholic)
And now I need a new daily. Hence why I'm on a train. Using some for the money from the Volvo sale towards getting my MR2 through it's MOT and for its first track day in march, I was left with £3500 for a new daily. This is where the swift Sport comes back in.
See prices of these were really strong upto recently, throughout all the car searches I did, I always kept looking for a MK2 Swift Sport. I almost did look at one before the Volvo but I wanted a nice "luxury" car that was spacious and I didn't really care much about economy. Plus £4-5k was still too low to get a good Sport. However in the last year, prices have fallen a lot more and now £4-5k will buy you a clean one.
And now, finally, enter the 2015 Black 3dr car with 92k miles and kinda twitchy MOT history and 3 owners.
It was advertised on the Owners group for £3750, and had a partial Service history as the second owner did all the work himself. I was given the contact of the 2nd owner who proced to me all the work he did was legit and provided pictures too. Has a bit of surface rust on the driver side rear arch but looks harmless. Nothing a bit of sanding can't fix. Plus it has Bilstien (B14?) shocks and springs which is great.
After deciding on a price of £3450, which we knocked to £3400 after a TPSM warning light came on, I'm currently on a train up to Edinburgh to see it for myself. I have a 6 hour car ride back to the midlands, so I'll have plenty of words on what it's like to drive. But only time will tell if I've bought a gem or a clunker...... Again. Wish me luck!
Now how did I get here? Well, let me explain:
I got my license at 17 in 2019 (yes, I'm quite young to most of you..... For now)
Like every 17 year old, I started hunting for my first car. Also like every 17 year car enthusiast, I set my sights on some great hot hatches: Polo GTi, 208 GTi, Clio RS200, Volvo C30 T5........ Only to be struck down by the mighty sword of Young driver car insurance. Bother. I then set my sights on the MK2 Swift Sport. Insurance was about 2k, which was good. But what really drew me to it was the absolutely raving reviews everyone gave it. 1.6l revvy 4cyl, 6spd manual, Cruise Control, 1100kg kerb weight. I WANTED IT.
Then My parents also weren't much helpful either. They absolutely REFUSED to let me buy a cheap "Old" car (mind you, the oldest one was only 7 years old then), and forced me to get a new car on my mum's company car scheme (she doesn't drive). So at least with the option of a new car, I ended up in a nice Soul Red Mazda3. It was nice, but it didn't really feel like "my own car" (ah yes, truly the biggest first world problem).
Armed with the need to own a car of my own, in spring of 2021, I got myself a job delivering for Pizza Hut and in 2 months saved enough money (£1k) to buy myself my own car. Now I should've bought something simple like a Yaris T-Sport or a cheap Celica, but I immediately found myself travelling to buy a lovely Evolution Orange NB MX-5....... In Bradford. I wish someone stopped me. Sadly, no one did, and I soon ended up owning it. It had more rust than paint, had a dodgy MOT and sounded like it was being punched every time it started. Plus the A/C just spew dust every once in a while.
But it was MY car and I loved it. I spent all summer dumping every meager salary into it, fixing it, getting a garage to weld and swap the suspension for coilovers and did basic servicing. It took to me seeing friends, car meets, my first date (and first kiss in it). I loved every minute of it.
However in November 2021, just a few weeks after it's MOT, it was written off by someone who forgot how roundabouts worked. Hence ending my time with the car.
I then just decided to wait until I have a full-time job, and so finished uni, joined an initial contract job and then landed my dream job at JLR as an automotive engineer. To celebrate I thought "screw it, I have the money, let's try project car ownership properly". This is the very beginning of 2024.
This ended up with buying a MK3 MR2 Spyder for a whopping £1800 on FB marketplace.
(Clearly it's not the car on the right)
It definitely needed work, but I'll leave that for another thread which I plan to do shortly.
However fast forward to the end of 2024 and the Lease on the Mazda has ended and I was dailying the MR2. However on Christmas day with my Partner, it blew an engine (1zz bearing failure. Surprisingly common, and happened without warning) causing me to SORN that off the road.
This led me on the hunt for a comfy daily for about £4-5k, as I was driving nearly 300 miles a week on average between my home, my GF and my parents. My hunt went to a E90 325i or 330i. I found one in an old man spec burgundy red and tan interior, but the service history boiled down to 3 services...... In 18 years. I noped out and kept looking for other cars, only to find a 2006 S80 2.5T... in manual. It was weird, a top trim car (SE LUX) with all the luxury boxes ticked with the most basic engine option and manual. It was listed at £4995 and so I said "screw it", let's have a look.
Yeah so I fell on love with how comfortable the seats were and how torquey it was compared to the anemic Mazda and MR2. It has leather, which was new to me, and heated and ventilation seats, which is such a party piece to show off to friends. It also has Blind Spot assist which was crazy to have in 2006 (S80 was the 2nd car ever to have it after the XC90 if I recall correctly). It had 79k miles, and the dealer was reputable, so I said screw it, I love it.
Online forums also mentioned this engine and gearbox is quite reliable. And it's true, they were reliable. Problem was, everything else wasn't.
Shortly after buying it, the water pump went after just 2 weeks of ownership which the dealer kindly replaced free of charge (but still forced me to drive 150 miles each way to him, and then didn't reimburse on fuel like he promised), and then it developed a slight screeching sound on a cold start-up which I presumed was something belt-related so I ended up replacing every belt in the car myself as no garage could diagnose it and wouldn't accept a used car Warranty. I found out way later it was probably an exhaust squeal, and so I never bothered to try and fix it.
At least it didn't give me any problems after that. I took it on hikes with mates, helped my GF with film shoots for uni and almost took it to a trackday. After 3 months of relatively trohble-free ownership I bought some new wheels off eBay for it (rare Odysseus 18" wheels, only sold for the V70 in 2008). Funnily the seller was the songwriter for The Wanted and One direction! I then put some PS5s on it and it transformed the way it drove. It was expensive sure, but at least I could afford it and nothing went wrong...... Then the entire power steering system went wrong.
Basically P3 Volvos can have steering pump failure around 90k miles. Mine failed at 87k and because it happened on the middle of a hike, I limped it back home (200 miles), which caused even worse issues, resulting in multiple high pressure pipes, pump and steering rack to be replaced at a bill that was 2/3 the price of the car. It was BAD. I only kept it as I planned on keeping the car for a while. Other small issues kept popping up like a dead battery and Brake discs/pads, and the cost of fuel was just getting too high for me. Include the cost of moving into my own flat in October and the cost to 2zz an MR2, owning a relatively high maintenance 5cyl turbo that got 28mpg just wasn't worth it on a graduate engineers salary
come Jan this year, and I put an ad for the car. I wasn't too bothered if it sold or not, as my finances were getting better as the MR2 was back on the road and I could focus on saving, but when someone asked near asking price for it, I just figured "screw it (again), ya can have it!"
(Last drive with the Volvo through central London. Was quite melancholic)
And now I need a new daily. Hence why I'm on a train. Using some for the money from the Volvo sale towards getting my MR2 through it's MOT and for its first track day in march, I was left with £3500 for a new daily. This is where the swift Sport comes back in.
See prices of these were really strong upto recently, throughout all the car searches I did, I always kept looking for a MK2 Swift Sport. I almost did look at one before the Volvo but I wanted a nice "luxury" car that was spacious and I didn't really care much about economy. Plus £4-5k was still too low to get a good Sport. However in the last year, prices have fallen a lot more and now £4-5k will buy you a clean one.
And now, finally, enter the 2015 Black 3dr car with 92k miles and kinda twitchy MOT history and 3 owners.
It was advertised on the Owners group for £3750, and had a partial Service history as the second owner did all the work himself. I was given the contact of the 2nd owner who proced to me all the work he did was legit and provided pictures too. Has a bit of surface rust on the driver side rear arch but looks harmless. Nothing a bit of sanding can't fix. Plus it has Bilstien (B14?) shocks and springs which is great.
After deciding on a price of £3450, which we knocked to £3400 after a TPSM warning light came on, I'm currently on a train up to Edinburgh to see it for myself. I have a 6 hour car ride back to the midlands, so I'll have plenty of words on what it's like to drive. But only time will tell if I've bought a gem or a clunker...... Again. Wish me luck!
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