Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 5,060
- Location
- The remittance desk
Right, have narrowed the search down to something nice and powerful with more toys than Woolworths. I've been looking at the BMW 540i and the Lexus LS400.
The LS400 is the one I have driven before and I liked the couple of outings I had in one. I also know that they are rather expensive to repair, though it doesn't happen very often. They are also not as desirable to me as they are all Auto boxes ans I like a manual. Other than that, they tick all the boxes in that there is loads of power, nice for cruising, shedloads of space, plenty of dead cow etc. It's also more expensive to insure at £900 f/c.
Now, the 540i caught my eye because they are rediculously cheap for what you get. A massive V8 that is an absolute beast. Again, lots of dead cow and toys with pushy buttons and flicky switches. It also comes in the manual and the steptronic (though I hav no idea how good the latter is). The down sides are the nikasil issue, in which the big V8 dies from a cheap-petrol induced suicide for which the only remidy is a new engine. Its a BMW and servicing is going to be eye wateringly nasty, especially as I live 20 miles from the nearst BMW garage. But, at only £800 for the insurance (parked on my drive) it's not too bad on that part of the wallet
The Jag (XJ Sport?) is a wildcard really - prone to rust and stop working at randonm intervals coupled with an autobox and repair costs that involve pagan altars and first born male child make this the outsider. They are nice though and do look the part and later models are better than those made from rust and faulty relays.
Opinions please!
The LS400 is the one I have driven before and I liked the couple of outings I had in one. I also know that they are rather expensive to repair, though it doesn't happen very often. They are also not as desirable to me as they are all Auto boxes ans I like a manual. Other than that, they tick all the boxes in that there is loads of power, nice for cruising, shedloads of space, plenty of dead cow etc. It's also more expensive to insure at £900 f/c.
Now, the 540i caught my eye because they are rediculously cheap for what you get. A massive V8 that is an absolute beast. Again, lots of dead cow and toys with pushy buttons and flicky switches. It also comes in the manual and the steptronic (though I hav no idea how good the latter is). The down sides are the nikasil issue, in which the big V8 dies from a cheap-petrol induced suicide for which the only remidy is a new engine. Its a BMW and servicing is going to be eye wateringly nasty, especially as I live 20 miles from the nearst BMW garage. But, at only £800 for the insurance (parked on my drive) it's not too bad on that part of the wallet
The Jag (XJ Sport?) is a wildcard really - prone to rust and stop working at randonm intervals coupled with an autobox and repair costs that involve pagan altars and first born male child make this the outsider. They are nice though and do look the part and later models are better than those made from rust and faulty relays.
Opinions please!