Another spec me thread - 2K Budget

Craterloads

Craterloads

Craterloads

Soldato
Joined
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Hi guys,

After having my heart set on a Type R FN2, for February, the sensible side of me has prevailed and i think I’d be better off saving my money especially in the current financial climate.

Currently driving a Fiesta 1.4 CDTi Zetec 2003, which quite frankly has been awesome. Looking to sell up as do quite a lot of motorway driving and just don’t feel safe in the little thing, not a lot of crumple zone!!

Insurance runs out February so looking to replace by then. Got a £2k strict budget (essentially what fiesta sells for)

Needs to be reliable, don’t want to be breaking down on a motorway god knows where, cheap to maintain, cheap insurance and good MPG.

I’m currently paying £1200 insurance on the Fiesta, thats with 4yr NCB!! So no older BMWs etc.
I’ve narrowed it down to: -

• Vectra 1.9 CDTI (not sure how reliable these are, my mate had one with constant problems)
• Bora/Passat/Golf TDI (Not sure if in budget, plus loads on eBay with blown turbos?)
• Rover 75? BMW engine?
• Mondeo (again not sure I can get one in budget)

That’s all that’s coming to mind, anything I’ve missed? Ideas?

Thanks
 
No diesels at this money please. They will all be early commonrail engines ready to give you ridiculous bills for injectors, dual mass flywheels, turbochargers, etc etc. Avoid, avoid, avoid then avoid again and just to make sure, keep avoiding.

Go for something with a simple, unstressed 2 litre petrol engine. There are numerous Mk3 Mondeo 2.0 Petrols around for £2k for example.
 
[TW]Fox;21049699 said:
No diesels at this money please. They will all be early commonrail engines ready to give you ridiculous bills for injectors, dual mass flywheels, turbochargers, etc etc.
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dual mass flywheels, dont know what they are but have kept reading about them going on the Vectra's so cant be good.

My Fiesta Deisel was only £600, 130K and hasnt skipped a beat, done 10k miles in 10months as well.

What would you suggest apart from the mondeo?
 
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Just as another angle, saving money "in this economic climate" is a crap idea.

Interest rates are garbage, you get very little return (I'm watching my savings increase by an absolutely pathetic amount each quarter), and you'd be best off spending rather than saving (assuming you have the money and financial security to do so).
 
paradigm said:
Just as another angle, saving money "in this economic climate" is a crap idea.

Interest rates are garbage, you get very little return (I'm watching my savings increase by an absolutely pathetic amount each quarter), and you'd be best off spending rather than saving (assuming you have the money and financial security to do so).
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Ive got the money to comfortably buy the Type R (11k, champ white) but its not going to get me anywhere. Ive got 25k saved and after talking with familiy they advised saving deposit for a house to rent out.
 
If you can find a mk4 golf or bora 130 tdi pd in good nick for the money that would be a good car, they don't really have the issues newer gen engines do and give a good old slam in the back for a thousand revs whilst doing silly mpg. Lots and lots of sheds around though so may be a difficult search.

Could go older maybe, you'd get a very nice rev 3/4 mk2 mr2 for 1500 and they aren't bad on insurance either (even the turbo is a decent price to insure but you don't want a 1.5k turbo).

I know you said no older BMW's but my e36 328i coupe was dirt cheap to insure and still ran unbelievably sweetly. 25mpg though but they are so cheap it just doesn't matter, again look around for a good one.

If you just want something to get you around buy either a corolla or an ep4 civic both will keep going relatively trouble and excitement free. Nothing g wrong with a mondeo either but don't touch a diesel one, the td di is very old and you'll know it whilst the tdci has too many associated problems
 
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paradigm said:
Just as another angle, saving money "in this economic climate" is a crap idea.
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Only if you view the only purpose behind saving as obtaining interest. Don't forget that by saving money even without interest despite a reduction in the real terms value of said money you do end up with a big lump sum at the end you'd otherwise not have had. You can then use this to buy stuff. Savings are not purely about investment income. Infact for many investment income is simply a bonus and they are not actually about that at all...
 
True, and particularly relevant now that there has been a mention of where the money is earmarked for (as is the same with my savings), however had the aim simply been to make the lump sum grow through nothing more than interest alone (something which could have been easily true from the OP alone), then it would have been pretty fruitless.
 
I'm not one to recommend low budget diesels, but I have read and heard great things about the reliability of the Rover 75 diesels. They won't set the world on fire, but they're a pretty good bargain now, especially a fully specced one and worth a look if you do your research on them.

Otherwise, 2.0 petrol Mondeo.
 
TBH im not interested in interest, if i could i would have an interest free account. Any interest that i do get paid will just go to charity anyway.

Im in a position, whilst still living at home, to save the majority of my income. I could just spend the cash on a nice car, but as discused with family, where will that leave me in 2-3 years time? As within a couple of years i could quite easily have £50K saved, and with looking at houses around the £80k mark i would be well placed. Plus the rest of the money would be coming from my brothers so we could buy a house cash, no mortgage, and rent the place out for £500-£600 a month.

Anyhow back to topic, so either a Golf 130 TDI PD (preferbly one thats had turbo changed recently), Mondeo 2.0 Petrol.

How about a vectra petrol? Any issues with these..
 
[TW]Fox;21052154 said:
A 2k 130 PD Golf will be a shed.
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Can pick them up for less than £2k now - spending that and being picky should get a decent car. Easier with a bora or leon though.

Thinking about it would the ibiza 130 tdi be of interest?
 
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rodenal said:
Can pick them up for less than £2k now - spending that and being picky should get a decent car. Easier with a bora or leon though.

Thinking about it would the ibiza 130 tdi be of interest?
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Ibiza a bit small, no point changing from the fiesta?

Want something bigger and safer for motorways.
 
Im sure ill get flamed for mentioning this *duck* but have you thought about checking out the LPG sections on eBay/Autotrader? because for some reason LPG conversions don't seem to add anything to a cars resale value you can find some bargains. I picked up a LPG Lexus LS400 for a grand in November, Its in very good condition, everything works, known for bulletproof reliability, can carry a group of adults in comfort, eats up the miles, has a 260bhp V8, oh and does better MP£ than a petrol Mondeo ^^

Im guessing a car of that size may not be to your liking but the are plenty of other bargains out there.
 
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