Ideas for a cheaper car

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Just an idea I'm toying with, as I may wish to release some funds for a house purchase.

£5-6k, 4/5 Doors, needs to be relatively interesting and reasonably quick, reliable as an older car can be and reasonably cheap to insure.

The only thing that really catches my attention is something like an E46 330 Sport Saloon, but I'm open to suggestions, or perhaps a MK4 4Motion?
 
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If you wish to 'release some funds' (always sounds better than 'save some money' when you put it like that doesnt it?) then do it properly and get something cheap to run. Swapping depreciation for running costs is pointless.

If you really want cash for a house, get a cheap car.

If you are just finding running the Focus difficult but wish to save face by dressing it up as 'releasing funds in order to leverage synergies for property aquisition' then get a 330i :p
 
I'm quite happy with the running costs of the ST, its hardly bank breaking.

Again, I don't want something that is cheaper to run, I just want a car that is cheaper to buy, to, as I said, free some some funds for a deposit.

Apart from the purchase price, the ST meets all of the above criteria, insurance is cheap :)
 
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If you can easily afford the ST just keep it :) not as if you are goimg to 'release funds' that massively increase your deposit by the time you have found a replacement and brought it up to scratch.
 
I think you underestimate what my ST is worth.

If I can find something for £5k, there is £9k chipped in to the deposit.
 
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So this house purchase is a bit sudden then?

I would stick with it and get some value out of it first, get saving, there will still be plenty of houses to buy in a years time.
 
Being able to sell it for what I paid for it is enough value for me - in a years time, the depreciation will have cost me money.

That said, this is just an idea I'm toying with after seeing the potential right house come up, it may not happen, and it certainly won't if I cannot find a car I'm happy with that meets the requirements, as I'm not 100% on buying a 7-10 year old 3 series.
 
I meant value as in use / fun.

If depreciation is an over riding concern, you are going to find cars a heartache.
 
A 5 grand 330 Sport is going to need big money spending on it, it will be due a suspension refresh and is bang in the are where it will have had 6 less than careful owners each who fitted a different linglong to each corner, etc.

You spent 15k on a car only 3 months ago yet now its house time? Bit sudden.

Typical OcUK fabrication to save face going on here - it never works, just be honest. Nobody will think any less of you if you say the Focus over stretched you or something.

Why get out of a car you only had 3 months?
 
Just an idea I'm toying with, as I may wish to release some funds for a house purchase.

£5-6k, 4/5 Doors, needs to be relatively interesting and reasonably quick, reliable as an older car can be and reasonably cheap to insure.

The only thing that really catches my attention is something like an E46 330 Sport Saloon, but I'm open to suggestions, or perhaps a MK4 4Motion?

Reliable and quick for that money has to point to Wapanese cars.

Honda Integra Type R, Honda Civic Type R.
 
It isn't a huge concern, but the way I see it is that I can have a car I really really want once I have a house, at the moment I'm throwing money away on rent, and with a baby on the way, getting a deposit together by saving alone is going to take longer than I initially intended.

Fox, it is a sudden realisation that in the grand scheme of things, the sooner I make sacrifices now, the sooner I can have something that I really want further down the line.

Robbie, Neither of them are 5 door.
 
[TW]Fox;16180358 said:
A 5 grand 330 Sport is going to need big money spending on it, it will be due a suspension refresh and is bang in the are where it will have had 6 less than careful owners each who fitted a different linglong to each corner, etc.

You spent 15k on a car only 3 months ago yet now its house time? Bit sudden.

Typical OcUK fabrication to save face going on here - it never works, just be honest. Nobody will think any less of you if you say the Focus over stretched you or something.

Why get out of a car you only had 3 months?

This, mine had new front control arms this week and I'm doing the brakes today, all with free fitting of course and nothing I didn't expect when I bought the car.
 
A 5k 330i is going to be a dog.

I think you may need to consider taking a step down from the performance of the ST/330 and go for something a bit more sedate/smaller/cheaper for a while, then get the thing you really want.

However, if you don't want to do this, you can get a LCR for around 5-6k i think.
 
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