Talk me out of buying a 2000 318i SE instead of a Focus.

MK4 Golf has looks?!

I'd say go for the Mondeo. Ive owned a Focus as a first car for the last two and a half years, and it's been great, trouble free motoring, but a Mondeo would simply be better value for money.
 
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He's 20. No 20yr old wants to be seen driving around in an ageing repmobile/minicab like a Mondeo even if it is the more sensible option. You may as well tell him to get a Volvo 940, though at least with the 940 you can argue that it's rear wheel drive (like a drift car) and it won the Top Gear test as best car for a teenager.

How about a Mazda 3, not sure if they're available in your price range though. Might even be able to get a non-turbo Subaru Impreza for that sort of money too, not sure on the insurance though.
 
Hey, I would have loved a decent Mondeo when I was 20.

Speaking of Mondeo's and Volvo's, I seem remember your Volvo nearly falling over in the car park at the Hungry Horse when you were leaving the last RR :D ...my Mondeo didn't, I'm sure it has body control, power and looks that a Volvo 940 can only dream of, despite it's fwd setup.
 
My £200 Volvo was previously owned by the "West Midlands Social Club" and has been abused and beaten to death long before I bought it. I bought it for the price of it's scrap value plus the remaining tax, and solely to drive into the ground for 6 months until I got my Cefiro so it never got any maintenance at all, at least not until the chavs took the Cefiro off the road and I had to actually put the thing through an MOT.

I've since swapped out the engine for one I got for cheap out of an H reg Volvo 740 and it's running really really nicely now. The new engine despite being 19 years old is really smooth, I didn't even have to replace any of the shims to fix the camshaft clearances, they were still all at .4mm after 100,000 miles of use. The guy who swapped the engine for me has a 940 Turbo with over a million miles on the clock.

FWIW I've driven several Mondeos over the years (not the current generation, admittedly, and not the ST170 version) and I'd rather drive my Volvo than any of them.
 
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Lum said:
He's 20. No 20yr old wants to be seen driving around in an ageing repmobile/minicab like a Mondeo even if it is the more sensible option.
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When I was 20 I drove a Mondeo. It was 4 years old, had a cool bodykit, a noisy exhuast and looked great. It was eleventybillion times better than any of the cars my mates owned and it cost less than 3 grand to buy.

My Dad also had a 92 Volvo 940 SE for 18 months which he bought from auction to put 1k miles a week on. I'm sure in 1992 it was a great car but it was a wallowy barge with the handling credentials of a matress mounted on a beachball. You are obviously deluded :p
 
ST220, the ST170 is the old sporty Focus. I shall only be driving it until tomorrow afternoon anyway, sort of sad to see it go I suppose, even though I've only had it 3 months and 2 days. Still, what is to come is much ...well I wont say better exactly but higher end, more upmarket.
 
What about a Lexus IS200? Surely they are ~£4k or so now? Not the most exciting cars in the world, but they sound fantastic and miles better than a 318SE or a Focus.
 
jamief said:
What about a Lexus IS200? Surely they are ~£4k or so now? Not the most exciting cars in the world, but they sound fantastic and miles better than a 318SE or a Focus.
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Incredibly thirsty, not particularly quick, interior is not to some peoples taste and repairs can cost a fortune. It will however last forever.
 
Janesy B said:
Incredibly thirsty, not particularly quick, interior is not to some peoples taste and repairs can cost a fortune. It will however last forever.
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Definitely not "incredibly thirsty" - I owned one for 12 months. Got about 29mpg average (which is similar to a lot of other 2 litre cars, plus it has 6 cylinders (inline) so is pretty smooth engine).

The interior is nice, far nicer than a 318 or Focus, they are very reliable and taking to an indy won't cost much if it does need fixing. I know the guy who bought mine (4 years ago) and he hasn't had a problem since.
 
InvaderGIR said:
What engine does the IS200 have? That's the same MPG as I got/get in my 2.8 straight six. :/
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1G-FE Inline 6 (2.0Litre)

The performance wasn't fantastic, but no slouch once you get moving. Its probably designed to be smooth rather than offering outright pace. I've seen similar economy from a lot of similar sized engines, and considering the engine has been around since 1988 I don't think it does too badly! For comparison, the 2.0T-FSI that Audi use (in 211bhp form) gets about 28mpg on average (with quattro).
 
mrk said:
They get no MPG :p
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:p

I don't look at engines under 2.5l in BMWs...so don't know what sizes there are in 6pot and 4 pot variations...after all, you're not a real man if you have a BMW with less than 2.5l and less than 6 cylinders. :p

EDIT: I thought you mean there are no 6pot 2.0l engines...but there are, but I can't be bothered to look at the figures they get. :p
 
Huh you mean the 320i? BMW changed that to a 4cylinder on new models didn't they? whilst the E46 320i is in fact not 2 litre!
 
Ah ok you had me confused there for a sec, the E46 320i is 2.2litre!
 
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