Sleeper/Under the radar cars

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

Soldato
Joined
24 Feb 2004
Posts
14,399
Location
St.Andrews
Hey,

Given the multitude of problems with my horrible wretched Mondeo TDCI and it's general unfunness to drive I'm looking out for a replacement vehicle of similar size with the following in mind:

  • Mondeo sized
  • Petrol
  • sub £3k
  • decent spec

The obvious candidate is of course another (petrol) mondeo but I can't see anything locally that seems reasonable (mostly pre-facelift) so I've been looking at other cars. Not averse to an estate either as some of my longer drives involve camping or taking computers to a LAN.

Ideally I'm also looking for something that is less likely to sell due to having either never being heard of or perhaps having too big an engine. My mileage is 6 - 8,000 so mpg is of little concern really.

Cars I've looked at include: Volvo V70's, SAAB 9-3 & 9-5's (not sure on when they changed?) and recently the Mitsubishi Galant which looks very tasty indeed.

Any other good ideas or suggestions of cars which may not be all that popular?

Cheers! :)
 
mondeo st220, 3k is a decent price for one, heavy on juice and so not too popular but with your millage a non important issue, full leather etc so kitted too.

i was looking at them and found one with full ford S/H,110k for 2.4k, good body for age and clean. obvious choice and id imagine great fun to drive but im set on a E46 3 series, the octavia vrs can be had form 2k, just about mondeo size with half leather and good boot space.
 
The IS is a lovely car but it's got no real go whatsoever which doesn't sound like what the OP wants.

If you've already looked at the VR4's go and drive one, quite an acquired taste of a car but certainly a bit of a sleeper. Stagea's are horrid looking things but again go like the clappers.

If you can't find any ST's to try within a reasonable distance and wan't something a bit different but that can still handle a load of stuff chucked in the back how about something like a forester turbo or legacy GTB (if they're in price). Again it's an older car so you'll need to be prepared to maintain it but both are lots of fun
 
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I am not sure the op has quite used the right term to explain what he wants.

Ideally I'm also looking for something that is less likely to sell due to having either never being heard of or perhaps having too big an engine
Click to expand...

Everyone here seems to think he wants something really fast because thats what most people think a sleeper is. I think he actually wants something quite normal but that doesnt stand out as being flash and blends in.

Therefore all this talk of VR4's etc is perhaps a bit overkill.
 
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Toyota Aristo? Its a great sleeper, basically a Lexus GS300 with the same engine as a Supra so ~330bhp standard and will hit 400 for peanuts, pretty unbreakable, fully loaded, great build quality, and looks like a normal mid sized executive saloon.


[TW]Fox;21332981 said:
Therefore all this talk of VR4's etc is perhaps a bit overkill.
Click to expand...

The OP mentioned Galants in his opening post, and as he's after a sleeper he's hardly going to be interested in the NA now is he :P
 
If you like the Galant, the 2.5 V6 n/a isn't a bad shout. It's still a very capable car, and sounds better on full chat due to the induction noise than the VR4 in my opinion!

However... the VR4 is of course much quicker off the line, and although thirstier, if you are only doing 6-8k per year, that's nothing really!

Anything you want to know about them, just ask - have owned 2 n/a V6's and now own a VR4 :)
 
This is a sleeper...

DSC_0173.jpg










NOT!

:p
 
If it is indeed just a normalish car the OP is after but one that's not so popular then he could do worse than look at the vauxhall signum, they're actually pretty decent cars and worth not a lot.
 
Psymonkee said:
Hey,

Given the multitude of problems with my horrible wretched Mondeo TDCI and it's general unfunness to drive I'm looking out for a replacement vehicle of similar size with the following in mind:

  • Mondeo sized
  • Petrol
  • sub £3k
  • decent spec

The obvious candidate is of course another (petrol) mondeo but I can't see anything locally that seems reasonable (mostly pre-facelift) so I've been looking at other cars. Not averse to an estate either as some of my longer drives involve camping or taking computers to a LAN.

Ideally I'm also looking for something that is less likely to sell due to having either never being heard of or perhaps having too big an engine. My mileage is 6 - 8,000 so mpg is of little concern really.

Cars I've looked at include: Volvo V70's, SAAB 9-3 & 9-5's (not sure on when they changed?) and recently the Mitsubishi Galant which looks very tasty indeed.

Any other good ideas or suggestions of cars which may not be all that popular?

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

The Saab 9-3 and 9-5 are completely different cars. I would ignore the 9-3 and look at 9-5s.

You 3K budget will easily get you an Aero estate with the 2.3T. Your budget should stretch to a post facelift ('02) car with the 250bhp engine.
 
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