Car Advice Please!

Hamish

Hamish

Hamish

Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2003
Posts
4,950
Location
Deepest Yorkshire
Hi Guys,
I'm looking for a new car and since I'm pretty clueless I thought I'd venture into the motors forum and see if anyone has any advice.

Since I won't be doing many miles I'm looking for something a bit sporty. I'll just be doing the odd few trips around during the week, trips out on the weekend and the odd 600 mile round trip home.
Budget is around £8k

So far I've looked mainly at BMW 330Ci Sports around 2001/2002 but I'm running out of cars in my area (don't have a car so can't look too far away).

The cars I'm thinking at looking at are these two:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1040706.htm - this ones got a perfect spec but the fact its had a new engine worries me, will this affect insurance or anything like that?

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...icleYearOfManufacture=2001&vehicleRegLetter=Y This one looks good but not sure if its a Sport model and not sure what convertibles are like as I've never owned one...

I'm pretty open to other cars but the 330 seems to have the right balance between speed, practicality and insurance cost (approx £880 - 23, 2YNCB, London postcode). I've had a look at other things like the Honda S2000 but the insurance is a lot ~£1200.

Just wondering what people thought of the cars posted and if I should be looking at anything else?

Cheers
Hamish
 
Theres quite a lot you could be looking at for 8k, really depends on what else you want from it. Anything you like/dont like, any features you want it to have?
 
If you're considering a 330Ci do you have the funds to run one (at that age and mileage some people here quote figures of about £1000 per year after insurance and fuel to keep that engine running)?
 
iaind said:
Theres quite a lot you could be looking at for 8k, really depends on what else you want from it. Anything you like/dont like, any features you want it to have?
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I'm pretty open really. Insurance is the main issue, whenever I look at 2 seaters the insurance jumps right up. Apart from that as fast as possible please, preferably with 4 seats, but 2 wouldn't really be a problem. Gadgets aren't really a must, but it must be reliable. I don't really have a great knowledge of fixing things and don't fancy spending a lot of money on repairs.
 
Peerzy said:
If you're considering a 330Ci do you have the funds to run one (at that age and mileage some people here quote figures of about £1000 per year after insurance and fuel to keep that engine running)?
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Really? I'm suprised by this, I was under the impression that BMWs were reliable cars, even at an oldish age. I would probably expect to be spending £500 a year on services, MOTs and possibly the odd repair. Do many things go wrong with them?
 
If reliability is a must, the Alfa isnt the best bet!

Its a gorgeous car and I'd probably give a testicle to own one but reliable it aint...

Pistonheads is being a PITA tonight but 8k would buy a nice Audi S4 which ticks all those boxes. Not quite as quick but 8k would buy a really nice Mondeo ST220 too
 
They are not unreliable but neither are they cheap to run. The odd thing will break, and it's usually not particularly cheap when it does. A set of good tyres is over £500, a Service between £150 and £400, etc etc.
 
iaind said:
Think you're confused Fox :confused:

Anyway, I dont see why a 2001 330 would be a consideration and an S4 thats a year older wouldnt be...
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Because in 2001 the 330 was at the beginning of its life whereas in 2000 the S4 was discontinued. It is a generation behind.
 
As true as that is, a lot of people wont be bothered about details like that

At the end of the day its still a very fast car of good quality, which I reckon is worthy of consideration given what the OP asked for. Sorry its not a BMW..
 
A better allrounder, although the OP did ask for speed as the main priority.

Was just the first thing that came to mind for a fast 4 door for 8k
 
I agree that the S4 is a nice car, however i thought that as it's the 'M3' of Audi you would get bitten on the insurance.

The ST220 is a great car for the money, and from what i've heard cheap to run and nice to drive but I still can't see past the repmobile look (although this is exactly what the 3 series is also) and when you look at things like the interior it looks a bit bland.

What is the general opinion of the MG ZT? You can pick them up very cheap, but I imagine they would be difficult/expensive to repair as the parts are not made any more. I owned a ZR for 2 years and while I agree that the build quality is below par i still quite liked it. Isn't the ZT basically a BMW anyway?
 
while i would seriously consider one if i was in the market for a new car, they really are getting on a bit now, so fox does have a point although they are very capable cars

Hamish said:
I agree that the S4 is a nice car, however i thought that as it's the 'M3' of Audi you would get bitten on the insurance.
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no, the M3 equivalent would be the RS4. insurance on the S4 isn't all that bad if you have a nice post code

Hamish said:
What is the general opinion of the MG ZT? You can pick them up very cheap, but I imagine they would be difficult/expensive to repair as the parts are not made any more. I owned a ZR for 2 years and while I agree that the build quality is below par i still quite liked it. Isn't the ZT basically a BMW anyway?
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the ZT is probably the best car MG made, but no, it's not a BMW at all ;)
a good car by all means, and you get a lot for the money
 
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Hamish said:
Looking at this 330: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1040706.htm
Would anyone be put off getting a car that's had a new engine?
Also what's the steptronic gearboxes like in these cars?
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I've no idea on the gearbox and as long as he had all the right paperwork to show the engine had been done somewhere good I wouldn't be too bothered.

However just to backup my original point from earlier in the thread, he's owned the car for 3 years and claims it's cost him more than £6k to keep it running.

Can you afford those running costs?
 
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