Spec me a £5k car to replace my 182

boYce

boYce

boYce

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Location
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I've always loved my Clio 182, but I've had 2 in row and its now time to try something new.

£5k budget
Petrol
its only me + passenger that uses it, so 2 or 4 seats
I only do 3k miles a year so MPG is not important
manual
Fun to drive with decent performance, but a tad more comfortable than the clio on longer drives
no more than 10 years old
oh... gotta look good in non-black. last 2 cars have been black

Currently top of the list is an e46 - 330ci, but also considering an old shape TT.

spec away!
 
Tute said:
ST220?
LCR?
Dunno if the Focus ST has gotten down this far yet?
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The Mondeo is a good option, but not really my thing.
The cupra is a good shout and would make it onto the maybe list, as would the ST.

chad116 said:
Mercedes cl 500 ?
Mitsubishi evo ?
nissan 350z ?
Mazda rx8 ?

Just a few ideas....
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I'm not really an evo type of guy.
I'd be happy with a 350z but think I'd need to spend a bit more to get a good example.
RX8, I know it shouldn't put me off but a friend bought one 6 months ago and has endless problems from day one.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think out of all of those I'd still take a E46 330. Is that a bad thing?
 
Nope, they are great cars and plenty to choose from.
If you shop around and wait a bit you can even get a decent facelift within your budget.
 
S2000? Finding mine pretty comfy, obviously not the same as a 330 but no worse than the Clio I had (seats are better).
 
This thread applies to me also, but my budget could be increased slightly as I would like a facelift 330ci. Im toying with the idea of a 160k miles, 2005 example... I do hardly any miles these days so Im not sure whether to get low miles or high miles.

It isn't my first choice, however its interesting as the price is lower, with that sort of mileage and 2 previous owners would almost guarantee motorway miles surely?
 
XK8
Decent speced A3
Honda Civic Type R (i prefer the second gen one)
Honda Integra (looks great in white)
Supra over 10 years old but i think it might be worth considering? Also Mitsubishi GTO along similar lines
 
Ant84 said:
The mk1 TT is not fun to drive. I went from a 172 Cup to a TT 225 and regretted it.
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I wouldn't say it's not fun, cause I'm having great fun in mine. I would say it's not comparable to a proper hot hatch, as it's on the heavy side and doesn't have a firm enough suspension setup.

Plus you can't do yobbish donuts or drifting :(
 
[TW]Fox;22943244 said:
Yes its crap - it's nothing like the SMG2 in the E46 M3.
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Is it a case of a weak part which if replaced is fine, or is it just total crap? Ive seen one which advertised that it has had the slave cylinder replaced and claims to reliability?
 
Fantom said:
This thread applies to me also, but my budget could be increased slightly as I would like a facelift 330ci. Im toying with the idea of a 160k miles, 2005 example... I do hardly any miles these days so Im not sure whether to get low miles or high miles.

It isn't my first choice, however its interesting as the price is lower, with that sort of mileage and 2 previous owners would almost guarantee motorway miles surely?
Click to expand...

You'd think so, 160k is roughly 22k p/a....

That mileage - so long as the car has a decent history & is in nice nick - would not worry me at all.

I'm sat in a 10 plate truck typing this, its done a mere 261k , roughly 104k p/a! - I'd love to say that was town driving... Clearly, its motorway :D - as I'm sure that 330's is.
 
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