Convertible on a budget?

Scania

Scania

Scania

Caporegime
Joined
25 Nov 2004
Posts
26,188
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On the road....
My Girlfriend wants a convertible, and I guess now is probably as good a time as any to buy one - With our current weather,I'd guess there's little demand and sellers will probably be happy for any interest!
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...icleYearOfManufacture=1996&vehicleRegLetter=P

I've found this one for her, local to us and from a dealer (so a degree of comeback) and more to the point I don't think it has a power hood which I believe can be troublesome. I can't help thinking its a lot of money for a 1996 Ford Escort though....

That said, my initial thought was something like a BMW 316 / 318i Convertible - she likes my e36 328i - but they seem to be going for silly money, the cheapest I found on Autotrader was £3500.

Her budget is circa £1k plus whatever she gets for her current 2.o Mondeo Ghia Which iirc is a '98 S reg with circa 110k on the clock - I'd imagine offering £1k in cash plus the Mondeo (which is tidy) would probably make a deal for the one I linked.

Thoughts?
 
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I think an early MX-5 is the car you are looking for. Will be the same age as the Escort, but a significantly better car to drive, and girls seem to like them.
 
Agreed with BigT. I cant help but imagine that the Escort will be an absolutely dire car as well although admittedly i know nothing about them.

MX5's still look good, im not sure the escort ever did and i certainly dont think it does now. Looks dated at best.
 
All I can add to this is the fact that Escort MK6 electrics are terrible. Infact, they are pretty dire in general. I'd rather have an Astra MK3 convertible.

Please buy a Mazda.
 
That Escort is seriously nasty. So dated and wrong in just about every way. Might as well get a Rover cabriolet!

The smart money has to be with the MGF or MX5.
 
You must be up on the BMWs so that would be a sensible avenue to look. My 1995 import 1.8 MX5 was £1500 with "OK" bodywork (no rust) and there are nice ones to be had for that money. That money is usually 1.6 territory but the very early ones aren't that far off 1.8 power anyway.

The MGF seem pretty cheap these days if you want something newer (although not necessarily better). The seating position is high in those unlike the MX5 so they don't feel as sporty to drive but they tick the convertible box if that's all she's after.

Escort... LOL, worst 90s+ car ever made and then they cut the roof off. I wouldn't touch with a barge pole unless you really hate you other half!

There is the Mk3/Mk4 Golf too, but I don't know about those.
 
Dogbreath said:
Yuck, I'd take the MX5, MR2 or MG-TF any day of the week; cars designed to be convertibles rather than a coupe with the roof chopped off.
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He's a fan of the E36 BMW. They are easy to work on, reliable, parts are uber cheap etc. I'd defy anybody other than a very keen driver to even tell the difference between a coupe and a convertible. Remember that we are comparing these cars with an ESCORT :p
 
I'd go for the mx5 too, or maybe even a mgf as i liked the one my mum had, if shes used to mk2 mondeo running costs then an E36 will be more at this age, coming from the E36 to the mondeo i've found its a good bit less to run.
 
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