Roll up, roll up. Another spec me £10k thread.

RoboCod

RoboCod

RoboCod

Soldato
Joined
19 Jun 2004
Posts
19,437
Location
On the Amiga500
Usage:
Daily A-road commute of 40miles round trip.
12k-14k miles a year.
Occasional weekend journeys of 200mile round trip.
Needs 4 seats and boot space.

Driver:
32yrs
6'3 (lanky) so not so keen on a "hot hatch"

Desire:
Something that can overtake.
Comfortable with lots of gadgets (heated leather seats, satnav, cc, ac, etc) not so fussed about parking sensors (male :p ).

Budget:
£10k (to include tax/mot/decent tyres)

Anything I have missed? I was entertaining the thought of a 335i/335d but at sub 10k I think I'm looking at 2006/7. Danger zone right? I'm not set on the better marque, if a Mondeo, Passat or 9-3 means I get much more for my money then so be it.

Hope I haven't created yet another LIST CARS thread.
 
Tbh I would just have a look through the similar threads and go for a look/drive of whatever you like the sound of. The fact you're not dead set on a saloon / coupe / hatch / estate helps too.

I'm not sure that 10k buys you a nice 335 but I'm assuming you mean the saloon which might help a bit.
 
Mondeo Titanium X 2.5T

If you can stomach the fuel bill. Should be able to get one with the gadgets you want and more with change to spare! Could pay for the fuel :p
 
rossk26 said:
Mondeo Titanium X 2.5T

If you can stomach the fuel bill. Should be able to get one with the gadgets you want and more with change to spare! Could pay for the fuel :p
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Interesting suggestion. Do you know how the ride is? I have found standard mondeos to be a little soft/sloppy.

86JR said:
I would suggest an A3 Sportback but Audi's have a bad rep on this forum.
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A3 is too small and what's more I hate their image.
 
Captain Planet said:
Interesting suggestion. Do you know how the ride is? I have found standard mondeos to be a little soft/sloppy.
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I've only driven the Titanium X in 2.0 diesel form. It was very nice, I didn't find the ride soft or sloppy and the handling was pleasantly surprising.

Take on for a spin yourself, the value for money is unlikely to be beaten in this class. The Mazda 6 MPS maybe worth a look too, they share a similar chassis. Probably slightly more expensive to run I would think.
 
rossk26 said:
The Mazda 6 MPS maybe worth a look too, they share a similar chassis. Probably slightly more expensive to run I would think.
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the mazda6 mps is getting a little long in the tooth now, shame they didn't do an mps version of the newer models really.

Passat CC maybe, bit more interesting than the stock passat at least. Considered a Skoda Octavia VRs, everyone seems to love them :)
 
rossk26 said:
Mondeo Titanium X 2.5T

If you can stomach the fuel bill. Should be able to get one with the gadgets you want and more with change to spare! Could pay for the fuel :p
Click to expand...


This, and the Volvo S80 version too.

D5 or the T5/2.5T versions. The Volvo gets the newer revised engine with better power/mpgz (averaged 33mpg)

Good kit, comfy etc etc. Sat Nav is pants, but they can come with radar cruise, heated seats, blind spot warning etc etc
 
The Mondeo Titanium X 2.5T is looking very likely at the moment. Despite it's fat looks it reads up as an excellent car for the price. Lots of choices about so I can be fussy.

I currently drive a Volvo, and the later installments don't look like they have progressed much (despite the engines being revised). Those seats look the same as I have, and they hurt my neck and back (fixed place headrests, what is that all about?).

I keep tracking back to the likes of this though.

335i here.

Also is THIS just daft? I suspect most people would scoff at the convertible/handling?
 
86JR said:
You say an a3 5 door is too small but you are looking at a convertible 3 series?
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A3 = Shorter wheelbase, shorter length, less cabin space, plus in my eyes it is the next step for a teenager from his Corsa :confused: What's the confusion?









(plus I think BMW's can actually swim ;) )
 
To be honest there's about the same overall space in a 3 as there is in an A3, maybe a bit less but I get what you mean about image perception. 86JR seems to be sponsored by VAG but then again half the forum loves BMW so it brings a bit of (biased) balance I guess

The main thing that would concern me about the likes of the convertible isn't the handling as it'll be decent enough (3 series convertibles tend to have next to no scuttle shake) more the fact it's already got 110k+, yet is still perceived as a £10k car. Keep it for 3 years and you're trying to flog a 150k mile car that nobody will touch because of the relatively complex engine.

If the saloon was decent, you'd just have tripped into a similar mileage territory as the convertible you've linked to where people will still consider it, though it's undoubtedly harder to move on a car with 100k+ too. I'd be really surprised if 335's at that money were the type you'd really want to be picking up, if they are i'd imagine you'd have to move quickly.

The mondeo has a nice engine and could be picked up a good bit under budget but you need to get the right trim combo or it looks like fisher price gone wrong in there. Dark inserts make a big difference.

I quite like the looks of the Exeo tsi in Avant form too but the last time I looked there was one petrol car in the country.
 
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rodenal said:
To be honest there's about the same overall space in a 3 as there is in an A3, maybe a bit less but I get what you mean about image perception. 86JR seems to be sponsored by VAG but then again half the forum loves BMW so it brings a bit of (biased) balance I guess

The main thing that would concern me about the likes of the convertible isn't the handling as it'll be decent enough (3 series convertibles tend to have next to no scuttle shake) more the fact it's already got 110k+, yet is still perceived as a £10k car. Keep it for 3 years and you're trying to flog a 150k mile car that nobody will touch because of the relatively complex engine.

If the saloon was decent, you'd just have tripped into a similar mileage territory as the convertible you've linked to where people will still consider it, though it's undoubtedly harder to move on a car with 100k+ too. I'd be really surprised if 335's at that money were the type you'd really want to be picking up, if they are i'd imagine you'd have to move quickly.

The mondeo has a nice engine but you need to get the right trim combo or it looks like fisher price gone wrong in there. Dark inserts make a big difference
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Thanks, makes a lot of sense, and it makes me wonder whether to wait and up my budget to get something I really want. What I need to do is test drive the 2.5T in the meantime. There are some well depreciated low mileage contenders I see.

I'd consider an A4 estate or A6 but the A3 I just really dislike.
 
Definitely go and see a few cars, I always find interiors in particular to look significantly different (for better or worse) in person.

I think with the A4 you'd still be looking at B7's if you wanted a decent engine, where I'd personally just go for the Seat to get a newer car for the money (if one of the 2 available are suitable!). A6 might be possible but I don't know how the 2.0t(f? same bloody thing)si copes with the big old barge, certainly won't be particularly quick - nice all rounders though
 
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I own a Mondeo 2.5T Titanium X although the non-sport version so from the outside, mine looks 'normal', maybe even boring!

Despite having owned a variety of cars in the past, some flashier than others, this is the best car I've owned, but I have no idea why. It feels solid, certainly more so than the Accord it replaced, fast and lovely to drive but I've had other cars I could say that about.

Ok, I'm not trying to kid anyone. It is only a Mondeo, and the fuel bill is more suited to a car twice it's size, but I find myself thinking for the first time ever that I'll run this into the ground, and being genuinely sad that I won't be able to replace it with another one.

Mine is an 08 so one of the very early ones. I've just rolled over 50k miles and apart from service items, I've had to replace.....erm.....nothing.

Anyway, that's my hugely biased take on it.

Try one.

Adam
 
Quite like white and also like sea grey. I can't have black. I'll try get a test drive soon.

Funny I end up being recommended a Mondeo and also agreeing. How predictable :D
 
Left field choice, but you could see if there are any BMW 130i's around. When I was hunting a few months ago they have a lovely engine and quite well spec'd for roughly your budget but they do seem to be quite rare.

Depends if you need more boot space, don't mind an average straight 6 fuel consumption and get on with the way it looks!
 
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