Finally time to replace my car!

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

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Joined
24 Feb 2004
Posts
14,399
Location
St.Andrews
Yeah, it's me with the crappy Mondeo back again but this time I'm in a position to replace it financially! I'm very bored of it after 3.5 years with a long troubled history and want a change - at 5,000 miles a year I don't need a diseasal either!

Only problem is I'm still not sure exactly what I want which doesn't help with searching :/

I'm fairly open to pretty much anything as long as it hits a few simple criteria:

  • Petrol
  • Reasonably quick - at least equal to my old Golf GT Sport (TSI 170)
  • Sub £LOL road fund (225g/km CO2?)
  • Cruise Control
  • Focus/Civic size or bigger
  • Able to comfortably take a Quickie GPV/Ti (fixed frame wheelchairs)

Not a particularly helpful way to narrow things down but never mind! So far looking at Autotrader/Pistonheads I like the look of:

Accord Type-S
Civic Type R (CC not available unless I go for an FN2)
Mondeo ST220
SAAB 9-5 (Seen one locally but at £3500 for a 55 plate seems steep!)
3 Series - don't know enough about these but minimum of 325 for a decent engine?

Any other good ideas or cars I should look at?

Having recently escaped overwhelming debt I'm not looking to return there unless the car is particularly worthy. I can reasonably summon £4k interest free for a year so would look to spend around that which would rule out the FN2 unless I was willing to forgo the cruise control requirement....

Any good ideas/advice welcome! :)
 
This is the budget I'm looking at for my next car, and a not too dissimilar list of cars.

Not sure how big the wheelchair is, but "fixed frame", does that mean it can't be folded down? That would rule out the Type R and any saloon?

ST220 would be my pick from that lot, you do so few miles that it shouldn't worry you about the pitiful MPG it get's in relation to it's BHP figure.
 
Wheels come off, back folks down. Fairly certain it'll fit in a saloon with some creativity. Shall grab some measurements later actually!
 
Slightly Biased, as I own an Accord and I really really want a E46 330ci.

For your budget you'll most likely be looking at a pre facelift E46 330

I have a 2L Honda Accord Sport Triptronic, and I love it, its comfy, easy to drive, quick for a Saloon, and looks great.

The Type S with the 2.4L would be my absolute choice if you're looking at Accords, the Type S body kit transform the looks of the car imo, and 190bhp...Only problem I've found is trying to find one that's done under 100k miles.

I personally don't like Saabs, and though to me, Mondeos are very common, they do look nice and I bet the V6 has some grunt to it.


But, due to the wheelchair...surely it rules out most of the above cars, unless you go Estate or Hatch...
 
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I currently own an Accord 2.4 Exec (same engine as the Accord Type-S, more comfortable suspension, more toys) and that should fit firmly in your budget.

The ST220 was the other car on my radar but I couldn't find any decent ones in my local area when I was buying.

The running costs on the BMW put me right off, especially for consumables like tyres.
 
Ooo forgot about the MPS!

Sadly the only cars in the area appear to be utter rubbish (Accord Type S with Type R badges stuck to it worries me!) or out of budget!

Shall keep an eye out though and perhaps widen my search!
 
Well been out having a look today and both the Accord Type S and the FN2 CTR are out for now as I simply can't get comfortable in them! Just getting my head into an FN2 was an interesting trick. Shame :(

Other dealers weren't very interested in even coming to speak to me at all so no real idea on other models thus far. Did like the look of the Octavia VRS though - shall be looking at that again next time I'm out :)
 
ST220 or even better a nice 330i/325i.

IMO, nothing really comes close to having the full package as these two do at £4000.
 
Had a good look at a Mk4 Mondeo today and I really like it, love the built in sat nav as it transforms the look inside! Only 2 things I didn't like about it - the colour and the lack of a DAB radio!

Found an Octavia VRS but it was in the wrong direction for today's drive around. Think it's likely between these two however! Leaning towards the Mondeo as I like bigger cars in general anyway :)
 
wait, i just woke up but im sure you said £4k budget? That mondeo is £10k?

You could get a lot better TXS 2.5turbo for £7k if you look. 2.0 petrol will be painfully slow, i would actually prefer a 2.0 diesel on such a car.
 
Rybo89 said:
wait, i just woke up but im sure you said £4k budget? That mondeo is £10k?

You could get a lot better TXS 2.5turbo for £7k if you look. 2.0 petrol will be painfully slow, i would actually prefer a 2.0 diesel on such a car.
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Oh yeah - forgot about that! All the stuff I've looked at for 4k is tatty (at least locally) so I've given up on the low budget option and will likely settle for a loan instead.

The ecoboost 2.0 is turbo'd and 203bhp - not terrible :p
 
Psymonkee said:
The ecoboost 2.0 is turbo'd and 203bhp - not terrible :p
Click to expand...

Didn't realise it was the EcoBoost version since there is no say of EcoBoost anywhere in the ad :p

Very nice car though. Wouldn't get into debt over one though. £4k is plenty for a decent car.
 
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