tell me what car i want to buy.

Saytan · 9 Jul 2010 at 10:57

i think i need to take a close look at the X-Type 3.0 Sport. It's a very good suggestion and not something i'd considered before. it's getting closer and closer to a straight fight between that and a 330i

iaind · 9 Jul 2010 at 11:06

The problem is you're near the bottom of the barrel for a 330i, but you could get a nice X type.

Whereabouts in the country are you? My neighbour has had a for sale sign in his for ages

Saytan · 9 Jul 2010 at 11:27

i'm in bristol.

the link i posted was for a nice 03 facelift 330i at just shy of 6

iaind · 9 Jul 2010 at 11:40

Didnt spot that one, looks quite cheap for what it is!

I'll have a look at my neighbours one then, not sure what engine it is but it's quite a nice looking car

Joshy · 9 Jul 2010 at 17:53

iaind said:
I LOLd too. What a stupid argument though. The OP doesn't like 90s jap interiors, not many people do. So joshy suggests a 90s jap car, but it doesn't have a 90s jap interior because it's different....huh?

You probably wouldn't be so confused if you read the thread properly.

The OP mentioned nothing about 90s interiors in his Original post. One would have thought that if he was going to impose such a massive restriction as "No cars from the 90s at all" he would have mentioned it in the original post, but hey ho.

To be honest, I'm not fussed. I like my Soarer, I think they represent fantastic value for money and like I said previously, if you're the type of person who doesn't really care about the letter/number on the registration plate they are one of the very best second hand cars you can buy for sub £5,000. Fast, "practical", comfortable and decent handling. One ticks every single one of the OP's original requirements, with the added bonus of a "good" one costing less than half of his specified budget. You quite simply will not find a significantly better car for the money, and that is why I drive one.

It is obviously not the car for him, but it was by no means a stupid suggestion.

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:01

Joshy said:
You probably wouldn't be so confused if you read the thread properly.

The irony....

The OP mentioned nothing about 90s interiors in his Original post. One would have thought that if he was going to impose such a massive restriction as "No cars from the 90s at all" he would have mentioned it in the original post, but hey ho.

He hadn't considered it - he explained what he didnt like and you then continued to go on and on and on arguing a point nobody else really understood because you simply refused to acknowledge what he considered to be 90'sness.

To be honest, I'm not fussed. I like my Soarer, I think they represent fantastic value for money and like I said previously, if you're the type of person who doesn't really care about the letter/number on the registration plate

I think by the time we get to cars that are almost 20 years old not wanting one is a tad more than simply being a registration plate snob. You can level that criticism at somebody who must have a new Golf not a 6 month old one but come on, a 15-20 year old car simply feels very old in many, many ways.

they are one of the very best second hand cars you can buy for sub £5,000.

You mean £1,500?

Joshy · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:23

[TW]Fox;16912957 said:
You mean £1,500?

No, I mean £5,000.

You drop snidey comments like that, but neither you or anyone in this thread have been able to suggest anything significantly better given the OP's requirements and budget. Right now the best thing that has been mentioned is a bottom of the barrel 330i. Awesome.

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:27

I would suspect even a bottom of the barrel 330i would be a slightly nicer thing to own than a 17 year old Toyota.

But you are right, I've not been suggesting anything as I've been too carried away with your amusing posts, so I'll put that right.

Mondeo ST220.

Joshy · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:31

[TW]Fox;16913118 said:
I would suspect even a bottom of the barrel 330i would be a slightly nicer thing to own than a 17 year old Toyota.

I think "Slightly" is the key word there...

Janesy B · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:32

I think I'll stand by my comment that £5000/6000 gives you scope for a better car than an aged import Toyota.

What I would suggest has already mentioned.

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:33

A Soarer to me strikes me as the sort of car thats an interesting and different way of having a bit of a laugh for a grand or so. For any sort of sensible budget why would you want a J reg Toyota?

We must have course remember we are arguing with the same person who recommended a G reg Peugeot 205 Automatic for £1600 once, though.

Janesy B · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:35

That was when of course he owned a couple of 205s..

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:39

I can see a trend here.

Joshy · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:47

[TW]Fox;16913159 said:
A Soarer to me strikes me as the sort of car thats an interesting and different way of having a bit of a laugh for a grand or so. For any sort of sensible budget why would you want a J reg Toyota?

Because as I've said, you will not buy a significantly better car for the money. His budget is quite not enough to buy a car that'll blow a 19 year old Toyota into the weeds in pretty much any of this requirements. That (to me at least) is pretty sad state of affairs.

At the end of the day It suited his original requirements perfectly and had the added bonus of being able to pick up a good example with less than half of his budget. If he had an open mind to older cars (which the "Don't care about image" bit seemed to imply), surely you'd agree that one would represent somewhat of a bargain?

He doesn't like nor want one, I get it. But it wasn't a bad suggestion.

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:50

Joshy said:
Because as I've said, you will not buy a significantly better car for the money. His budget is quite not enough to buy a car that'll blow a 19 year old Toyota into the weeds in pretty much any of this requirements. That (to me at least) is pretty sad state of affairs.

I could not disagree more. Depending on your requirements, I'd say that there are a great deal of cars which are significantly better than a J reg Toyota Soarer unless you judge a car purely by it's 0-60 time.

At the end of the day It suited his original requirements perfectly

Only in the same way that on paper a 1989 Mercedes 300TE suits the requirements of somebody who fancies a well built, decent quality car to do reasonable mileage in. Back in the real world such a person would buy a 2006 Mercedes E320 instead.

iaind · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:50

An st220 or x type is significantly better, and is more suited to his criteria. He doesn't want a 90s jap car, stop pushing the soarer because you've got one. You like it, good for you, but it has no place in this thread

Joshy · 9 Jul 2010 at 18:54

[TW]Fox;16913254 said:
I could not disagree more. Depending on your requirements, I'd say that there are a great deal of cars which are significantly better than a J reg Toyota Soarer unless you judge a car purely by it's 0-60 time.

Then put your money where your mouth is...

I'm sure the OP would absoultely love to hear of all of these cars that are significantly better than a Soarer for his budget. So far the showing has been pretty poor....

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2010 at 19:05

Here is a list of cars which broadly fit the OP's criteria and are significantly better than a Toyota Soarer. Note this are not neccesarily recommendations as many of them have considerable downsides and some of them are not even that good, but then some of that applies to the Soarer...

E46 330i Sport
E46 325i Sport
E46 328Ci
E36 328i
E39 530i Sport
E39 540i Sport
E38 740i Sport
Audi A6 4.2 Quattro
Audi A6 2.8
Audi A4 3.0 Quattro
Mercedes C320 Avantgarde (00- shape)
Mercedes E320 Avantgarde W210
Ford Mondeo ST220
Ford Mondeo 3.0 Ghia X
Ford Mondeo 3.0 Titanium X
Ford Mondeo 2.5 Zetec-S
Skoda Octavia vRS
Seat Toledo 1.8 20VT Sport
Jaguar X-Type 3.0 Sport
Jaguar X-Type 2.5 Sport
Lexus IS300
Lexus GS300
Mercedes S430/S500 W220
Subaru Legacy

I'm bored now - you get the idea. There are some proper money pits in there (lol at the S Class unless you have deep pockets), but they are all significantly better cars. And a Soarer isn't exactly a Ford Fiesta to run, is it?

iaind · 9 Jul 2010 at 19:11

Why do I expect he'll still have a comeback?

Joshy · 9 Jul 2010 at 19:22

[TW]Fox;16913328 said:
E46 330i Sport - Money Pit for his budget
E46 325i Sport - As Above
E46 328Ci - As Above
E36 328i - Is not better in anyway, shape or form, baring perhaps "Handling".
E39 530i Sport - Better, but not "significantly".
E39 540i Sport - As above
E38 740i Sport - Money Pit.
Audi A6 4.2 Quattro - Can't comment
Audi A6 2.8 - As above
Audi A4 3.0 Quattro - Can't comment
Mercedes C320 Avantgarde (00- shape) - As above
Mercedes E320 Avantgarde W210 - As above
Ford Mondeo ST220 - As above. Sincerely doubt it's "significantly" better.
Ford Mondeo 3.0 Ghia X - As above
Ford Mondeo 3.0 Titanium X - As above
Ford Mondeo 2.5 Zetec-S - As Above
Skoda Octavia vRS - As above
Seat Toledo 1.8 20VT Sport - Just no...
Jaguar X-Type 3.0 Sport - Can't comment
Jaguar X-Type 2.5 Sport - Can't comment
Lexus IS300 - Doesn't Exist in this country.
Lexus GS300 -Broadly a very similar car to the Soarer.
Mercedes S430/S500 W220 - Stop trying to bankrupt the poor man!
Subaru Legacy - Just no...