right come on lads, boring what car next

I know you guys are obsessed with all things M but having sold my E30 M3 I need a four door car with decent boot, non M running costs, it is more like a stop gap for a year or so until I know what my finances are like (then I will return to the M fold), approx £8k to spend...

They might hang me for it, but... Subaru Impreza WRX estate. Spend 5/6K and save the rest for your forthcoming Sport Evo or E60 M5!

chippy wrote: I know you guys are obsessed with all things M but having sold my E30 M3 I need a four door car with decent boot, non M running costs, it is more like a stop gap for a year or so until I know what my finances are like (then I will return to the M fold), approx £8k to spend...

chippy
sorry to hear of your loss, was thinking of what cars I might look at if I were in your position and here goes;

2001 BMW 525 SE 46K £9000
2000 BMW 528 SE 52K £8500
2002 BMW 530 SE 69K £9000
1999 VW Sharan VR6 42K £8000
2002 VW Passat 1.8T 20V 34K £8000
2001 Mitsubishi Galant 2.5V6 sport 26K £7000
2000 Saab 9-5 Aero Hot 2.3 56K £8000
1999 Volvo V70 T5 Est. 77K £8000
2000 Audi A4 1.8T 47K £8000

good luck with your search, let's hope you return soon



stevie

a vauxhall omega 3.0 v6 elite (in fact any omega) is very underrated, very cheap and hence a lot of car for the money

even better loaded than the mondeo ghia x

rwd, bmw comparable build quality at bargain basement prices, both to buy and to service... i had a 2.0 gls miggy, and no car ive had up to now can beat it for space and comfort (ford fiesta / ford orion / honda concerto / ford mondeo / vauxhall omega / bmw e36 / bmw e46)

5-series rival, i tend to favour smaller cars, and everyone thinks you're the police, but if its good enough to schlep up and down the roads by traffic cops then its good enough for joe public imo

Edited by stephenperry

interesting choice although fuel consumption will be murder (i've had a honda and it was a gutsy bleeder, and it was only a 1.6 with twin-carbs!), parts expensive, and servicing might be the same with the R badge as it is with any other sports variant - licence to print (extra) money

Edited by stephenperry

Cheers guys some very good suggestions there, some of which I have thought about and some I never thought about. I think my shortlist is these two:

Subaru Impreza Wagon late original UK car, good reliability, perfect size, not too big, image I don't care about, they do chew fuel but they are fast without really trying.

Accord Type R (thanks Eamo but you had insider knowledge!) well built, cheap to run, But I have a feeling (have not driven one yet) that it would become a bit tiresome after a while due to VTEC.

These are the two I had narrowed it down to but you guys have thrown in some curve balls:

528/530: very tempting, although I believe in order to get decent money when I sell they have to be autos, not a big auto fan.

Omega, yes I looked at a couple of these and correct they are very underrated but they are almost too big as I will still be using it a bit round London.

Galant: now this car I had forgotten about, mmm warrants a bit of research, good car, v reliable and fast.

Golf: my wife already has one and they are good but I do not want two. In fact I find VWs great cars but a bit dull, ie I looked at a Passat 1.8T Sport the other day, great car, lovely interior, fastish, just made me want to got to sleep!

And yes I am already thinking ahead and planning to buy that E34/E39 M5 in a year or two!!!! Fingers crossed.

Imprezza's are costly beasts to run thou', and a bit fragile

Cant see you saving much(any) cost against an "M" car on that one

 

lancelotII wrote: One word. Japanese. Forget BMW if you want something to drive around in that isn't going to self destruct while you drive it. Pesronally, every one of their cars in the last 6 years has had some issue with it, that you end up having to deal with. The well engineered thing is a myth, they over engineer plenty, but key items are usually under engineered. Get something Japanese.

I am with you there, it has to be Japanese.

brybusa wrote: Oh, and even a new, un modified Imprezza is a chav chariot IMHO!

LOL. Chavs can't afford imprezzas. If they can't even afford a genuine burbury baseball cap, how on earth are they going to afford a Scooby?

 

i've heard the uk imprezas are very reliable. It's the special editions and the imports which are the problem as they are not mapped to run on UK fuel. My mates P1 melted a piston because subaru used a jap ECU which thought it was running 100 octane fuel, bit disapointing to think a manufacturer would over look this.