Spec me a car - £4000

Dunks · 12 Jun 2017 at 15:35

Skillmister said:
If you'd mentioned "driving to summer countryside weekends away" then it might not have made such a wild suggestion but the opening post made it sound like London driving was the only use for the car!

Yeah sorry, didn't really cross my mind! London will be 90% of the driving, weekends away are definitely the exception!

p1RATE · 12 Jun 2017 at 16:19

Polo to Yolo

tiffanys · 12 Jun 2017 at 17:06

could get a yaris 1.4 semi auto for a shade under your budget. quite spacious inside and a small boot

Nasher · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:19

Pfft, life is to short for boring eco boxes

Splash out, not like there is much point in saving any more.

wedrum · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:21

Nasher said:
Pfft, life is to short for boring eco boxes

Splash out, not like there is much point in saving any more.

lol there's the spirit

grudas · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:23

I'm just waiting for fox to come in and drop a bucket of sensible juice on us.

Dunks · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:27

What would be your average years worth of running costs? ~£300 tax, how much for a service?

wedrum · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:31

Dunks said:
What would be your average years worth of running costs? ~£300 tax, how much for a service?

tbh its got full service history so check that out and see what's its had.
the service is just like any other car its a early 2004 bmw not a pagani, heck if your any good with a basic tool kit a service can be done yourself and a great way to learn.

i have the 2.5 and my computer says 26.8 mpg and that is mostly around town and a bit of motorway at the weekends.
how correct that is i dont know.
i only do around 9k miles a year.

grudas · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:32

Dunks said:
What would be your average years worth of running costs? ~£300 tax, how much for a service?

They're at an age where an indy is your service center. £170 was for my last service on my coupe, oil and filters. Insp 1/2 cost more

After a service you'll get 15k miles till next one.. or so obc says haha

Nasher · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:33

Plus your unlikely to loose money when you sell it now, as long as it's keep in good condition.

If your only doing a few miles a day even a v8 won't cost a lot.

wedrum · 12 Jun 2017 at 18:42

the thing is if you do buy one at least a 2.5l and then post it on show us your motors everyone will compliment on your purchase so you know its the right thing to do

Psycho Sonny · 12 Jun 2017 at 20:32

Dunks said:
What would be your average years worth of running costs? ~£300 tax, how much for a service?

i've already stated them above. it will do 25 mpg. so double your weekly fuel bill. £300 road tax plus probably another £300 on insurance because it's a convertible with a 2.5 litre engine in it.

service is £300 for a normal one. lasts 15K miles until the next. big ones are around £600. you can halve these prices by going to a normal garage (indie).

keep £2K in savings just in case anything breaks

Tee Hee Johnson · 12 Jun 2017 at 23:05

Should get a mk7 Fiesta for about that, about a 2010 I would imagine

Uther · 13 Jun 2017 at 05:31

Heart says Z4
Head says Fiesta

[TW]Fox · 13 Jun 2017 at 06:43

Psycho Sonny said:
the auto gearbox on the Z4 is bulletproof

What? No it's not! It's the most likely source of trouble on an older BMW.

This seems like a silly suggestion for a 4k car for someone who is after a small supermini. Old BMWs are a labour of love for enthusiasts.

grudas · 13 Jun 2017 at 06:51

[TW]Fox said:
What? No it's not! It's the most likely source of trouble on an older BMW.

This seems like a silly suggestion for a 4k car for someone who is after a small supermini. Old BMWs are a labour of love for enthusiasts.

Haven't heard anyone on the z4 forums complaining about the auto box.
He hasn't asked for a super mini either, simply told us that they own one now.

Skillmister · 13 Jun 2017 at 07:27

grudas said:
He hasn't asked for a super mini either, simply told us that they own one now.

Everything about the OP screamed that's exactly what they were asking for though. Replacing a Polo with something no bigger than a Polo, for motorway and traffic driving and the only consideration so far had been a Mini...

[TW]Fox · 13 Jun 2017 at 07:31

grudas said:
Haven't heard anyone on the z4 forums complaining about the auto box.

It's the same box that's in the rest of that era of BMW. It's not made of chocolate but they are 10-15 years old and nothing lasts for ever.

grudas · 13 Jun 2017 at 08:33

[TW]Fox said:
It's the same box that's in the rest of that era of BMW. It's not made of chocolate but they are 10-15 years old and nothing lasts for ever.

Well true, but what I'm saying is that I haven't seen any horror stories from members of z4 forums. Yes everything can fail but will it fail doing 5k a year on a 100k car? I doubt it. It's not something I'd consider an issue or a thing that would put me off buying the car.

Armageus · 13 Jun 2017 at 08:39

Psycho Sonny said:
keep £2K in savings just in case anything breaks

A Fiesta (or anything "normal") doesn't require you to have £2K sitting around "just in case".