Fun/slightly practical car £2-3k

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

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Basically i am weighing up some options, i either sell my current car bmw 530d, and get something around that price range (8kish) or sell it and get a cheaper car whilst paying off the part loan i took to save some money.

So if i went the latter option what could i get? A golf or something? Needs rear seats and a decent boot space (for a pram as and when) but also want it to be a bit of fun. I enjoy my 530d but its more of a commuter/business style vehicle that i dont really benefit from on my short trips to and from work (thus the reason for selling up)
 
older fiesta st? mazda 3 sport? CTR?

you'll probably end up in a warm hatch at best nothing much for 2-3k that I can think of really.
 
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Yea its not the best price point but im wondering if it may be better for me to pay this loan off as im not really benefitting from a more plush car on my journey tbh

Maybe a 4motion v6 golf? Not sure if they are any good
 
How good are the old Audi S3s (the pre-2004 ones)? Theres a few seemingly good examples around for under 4k. I'm told they are pretty solidly built.

Might be worth a look
 
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Octavia VRS

Performs broadly in line with a Mk4 GTi, but with a bit of extra boot space, and costs a little less.

Had the 1.8T GTI for a few years, including with a baby. There's very little boot left once you put a pram/pushchair in one
 
Mazda 6mps?

256bhp
Awd
Plenty room

Should pick one up for 3k, you've just missed a cracking one at 2.8. Leav s you a chunk to pay off that loan.

A 3mps can be had for 4-5.

I get about 22mpg driving like I stole it pretty much all the time. The 3s seem to get a bit better mpg with some reporting 30-35.

Tax on the mk1 3s is about 512 a year same with the 6s.

However if you get an early 2006 model then the tax is halved, this it's pre March 06.

I've had 3 of these now with my white whale being a low tax band one in red.

Had to fly to Exeter for it but managed low tax red, 2 previous owners and about 65k miles at the time.

If you wanted to spend the whole whack you'd probably get into a mk2 3 if the 6 was too old for you. The mk2 also has the lower tax :)
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Mazda 6mps?

256bhp
Awd
Plenty room

Should pick one up for 3k, you've just missed a cracking one at 2.8. Leav s you a chunk to pay off that loan.

A 3mps can be had for 4-5.

I get about 22mpg driving like I stole it pretty much all the time. The 3s seem to get a bit better mpg with some reporting 30-35.

Tax on the mk1 3s is about 512 a year same with the 6s.

However if you get an early 2006 model then the tax is halved, this it's pre March 06.

I've had 3 of these now with my white whale being a low tax band one in red.

Had to fly to Exeter for it but managed low tax red, 2 previous owners and about 65k miles at the time.

If you wanted to spend the whole whack you'd probably get into a mk2 3 if the 6 was too old for you. The mk2 also has the lower tax :)
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doubt you'd get 30-35 on 3mps in real world!

I get 22-25 on a 2.0 sport lol.
 
That's a completely different engine. I was close to buying one when I was having difficulty finding a 6.
Has high running costs when you compare it to the mps bearing in mind the performance.

There's a few chaps on here with 3mps and I'm sure there's a few mk2 on here as well. Maybe they'll post their day to day, happy to be proven wrong
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
That's a completely different engine. I was close to buying one when I was having difficulty finding a 6.
Has high running costs when you compare it to the mps bearing in mind the performance.

There's a few chaps on here with 3mps and I'm sure there's a few mk2 on here as well. Maybe they'll post their day to day, happy to be proven wrong
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oh I know, it'd be weird that a 2.3 turbo lump is more economic compared to 2.0 na
 
I just think your mpg looks low, I was expecting the sport to return a bit more than that tbh. The 6s run pretty rich from the factory, I don't know much about the stock tunes on the sport mind. They're good engines to tune too and with more mods can push nice power. I'd love to have a few k kicking about to spend on mine but alas it's not to be haha. And externally and I totally look pretty damn similar to the mps anyway.

I do like both the blue and the dark grey the sports come in .

St220 above is a good shout too
 
kinger8938 said:
Yea its not the best price point but im wondering if it may be better for me to pay this loan off as im not really benefitting from a more plush car on my journey tbh

Maybe a 4motion v6 golf? Not sure if they are any good
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They are ok. You pay at the pump for the noise. If you get one, that's almost all they have going for them, so better get a fruity exhaust on it to enjoy it.

I had one for a short time, but even with 200 BHP they don't feel fast. They are deceptively smooth though. But not fast. And there is not much tuning you can do to extract more out of them.

Nasher said:
How good are the old Audi S3s (the pre-2004 ones)? Theres a few seemingly good examples around for under 4k. I'm told they are pretty solidly built.

Might be worth a look
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Rust is a major issue on these. Finding one now without rust will be a battle. But the engines are pretty decent, and a simple remap should see around 260 BHP, combined with the 4wd, and they are pretty decent.

grudas said:
but mk4 gti is pretty rubbish... I'd rather 4motion with it's tuning potential
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A 4motions tuning potential? Ha ha ha. I've heard it all on here now. One of the big reasons I sold mine was because after the exhaust, there is not really anywhere else to go other than forced induction, and that costs ££££, so better off starting with an R32 if going that route.

The Mk4 1.8T on the other hand, has reasonable scope. My stage 2 k03s AGU 1.8T had mountains of torque (280 lbft, for the 1.8T is pretty good) and 240 BHP before I sold it for more traction (the 4motion). It would have absolutely annihilated the 4mo pretty much everywhere unless it was snowing, or wet. There is a lot more potential in a 1.8T than in the 2.8 V6.

With that said, if I was going to get another 1.8T mk4, I would make sure it had the AUM engine (post-2001, easier to remap, and already has k03s turbo) only remap it. Should see a little over 200 BHP. Beyond that, I had to do intakes (air and turbo), injectors, turbo back exhaust, N75 valve, DV, intercooler, clutch etc... for the extra 35 or so BHP, albeit an extra 70 or so lbft too. That cost me thousands, so I wouldn't do that again.

I did sell the 4motion and get my S4 (4.2 V8), and that was absolutely worth the fuel economy, both in terms of pace and noise, where the 4motion only had noise. But that'll be out of your lower budget for now.
 
xs2man said:
They are ok. You pay at the pump for the noise. If you get one, that's almost all they have going for them, so better get a fruity exhaust on it to enjoy it.

I had one for a short time, but even with 200 BHP they don't feel fast. They are deceptively smooth though. But not fast. And there is not much tuning you can do to extract more out of them.



Rust is a major issue on these. Finding one now without rust will be a battle. But the engines are pretty decent, and a simple remap should see around 260 BHP, combined with the 4wd, and they are pretty decent.



A 4motions tuning potential? Ha ha ha. I've heard it all on here now. One of the big reasons I sold mine was because after the exhaust, there is not really anywhere else to go other than forced induction, and that costs ££££, so better off starting with an R32 if going that route.

The Mk4 1.8T on the other hand, has reasonable scope. My stage 2 k03s AGU 1.8T had mountains of torque (280 lbft, for the 1.8T is pretty good) and 240 BHP before I sold it for more traction (the 4motion). It would have absolutely annihilated the 4mo pretty much everywhere unless it was snowing, or wet. There is a lot more potential in a 1.8T than in the 2.8 V6.

With that said, if I was going to get another 1.8T mk4, I would make sure it had the AUM engine (post-2001, easier to remap, and already has k03s turbo) only remap it. Should see a little over 200 BHP. Beyond that, I had to do intakes (air and turbo), injectors, turbo back exhaust, N75 valve, DV, intercooler, clutch etc... for the extra 35 or so BHP, albeit an extra 70 or so lbft too. That cost me thousands, so I wouldn't do that again.

I did sell the 4motion and get my S4 (4.2 V8), and that was absolutely worth the fuel economy, both in terms of pace and noise, where the 4motion only had noise. But that'll be out of your lower budget for now.
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Forum member had one here, pops and bangs and very fast too, can't remember his username now but his was 380bph? Sothey're very much tunable, like any car if you have money.
 
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