just bought a 2nd car

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Geez man, a guy at work bought a 2005 Focus 2.0 Ghia for 3450 quid with 72k on the clock.. ugly saloon version but still a much better buy than this.
I wish you enjoy the car and good motoring but honestly think maybe the BMW badge played a part in this ill advised purchase. I've driven that car when it was newish on the market, i'm not a rapid performance oriented driver and rarely stray 5-10mph over the limit but i distinctly remember being utterly aghast at how terrible it was to drive as i had to push it hard to make any decent progression. It wasn't a matter of speed, just how piggish it was to drive, felt like a whale being towed by a scooter engine.
 
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Justintime said:
Geez man, a guy at work bought a 2005 Focus 2.0 Ghia for 3450 quid with 72k on the clock.. ugly saloon version but still a much better buy than this.
I wish you enjoy the car and good motoring but honestly think maybe the BMW badge played a part in this ill advised purchase. I've driven that car when it was newish on the market, i'm not a rapid performance oriented driver and rarely stray 5-10mph over the limit but i distinctly remember being utterly aghast at how terrible it was to drive as i had to push it hard to make any decent progression.
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Er, no.

An E46 is easily the better car over the 'built to a budget' el cheapo, even more dated looking Ford Focus.

But £3k for a pre-facelift 318i is too much.
 
MarkDavis said:
Er, no.

An E46 is easily the better car over the 'built to a budget' el cheapo, even more dated looking Ford Focus.

But £3k for a pre-facelift 318i is too much.
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Having owned a 52' Focus once, an N reg 316i in my younger days, an 05 525D SE and currently a 06 320D Se i can tell you that the Focus build quality is no worse and its handling and drive are not exactly rubbish. I've actually had more issues with my bmws than any other car i've owned (Ford, Nissan, VW, SAAB, SEAT). I'd take an 05 2.0 Focus over that car any day. I've recently driven a 1.6 Titanium 60 plate and it was quite nice to drive, i agree the looks are a bit dated though.
 
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Justintime said:
I'd take an 05 2.0 Focus over that car any day.
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I wouldn't, because £3.5k doesn't need to buy you a pre-facelift 318i. And a £3.5k old shape Focus isn't nice enough to swing you in the direction of the Ford. A current shaped Focus would, but clearly they're not available for £3.5k.

If you want E46 then spend £2k on one of these and the balance on bringing it up to condition.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...age/11/radius/1500/postcode/ng122pp?logcode=p

I'd know which one I'd rather than, and it doesn't have a blue oval on the bonnet.
 
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MarkDavis said:
I wouldn't, because £3.6k doesn't need to buy you a pre-facelift 318i.

Spend £2k on one of these and the balance on bringing it up to condition.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...age/11/radius/1500/postcode/ng122pp?logcode=p

I'd know which one I'd rather than, and it doesn't have a blue oval on the bonnet.
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Did i compare the Focus to a 325i? no i compared it to a 318i, of course between a 325i and a Focus i'd rather the 325. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with Fords in my book and i might own one again someday. For the money he got ripped off, i'd rather the Focus.
 
Justintime said:
Did i compare the Focus to a 325i? no i compared it to a 318i, of course between a 325i and a Focus i'd rather the 325. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with Fords in my book and i might own one again someday. For the money he got ripped off, i'd rather the Focus.
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Yes, but c'mon, you have to compare like for like. Just because he overpaid doesn't mean the same amount of money couldn't have bought you something better. Otherwise, it's like saying I naively paid £10,000 for a 20 year old Citroen AX 1.0 but then pointing out with how the same amount of money could have bought any number of better cars.
 
How much would a W reg E46 328i with the shnitzer (meh, can spell) pack thing be worth? It's in good condition with no faults that I can think of....

Climate control, good condition black leather, it is red. Has other things probably.

Parents are looking to sell so thought I'd ask:)
 
What 'Schnitzer pack'? It's probably just a load of stick on tat and won't add anything to the value of the car at that age. With all the replica AC Schnitzer gear around it would probably put me off I reckon. ;)
 
[TW]Fox;17778968 said:
Whilst we an in agreement that the OP has made a bad choice that car there is a proper nail and I wouldnt touch it with somebody elses bargepole :eek:
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You've no idea whether or not its a 'nail'. No idea at all. Go down there, give the car a mechanical inspection and price up the cost of whatever needs doing or is likely to need doing and away you go. You need to assess the car based on the actual car, not the law of probabilities and mystic meg guesswork.
 
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MarkDavis said:
You've no idea whether or not its a 'nail'. No idea at all. Go down there, give the car a mechanical inspection and price up the cost of whatever needs doing or is likely to need doing and away you go. You need to assess the car based on the actual car, not the law of probabilities and mystic meg guesswork.
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It's a two grand facelift 325i its hardly a nice one is it!
I would put money on it being shedy.
 
LOL. £2k is admittedly way too low, so the likelihood is that there's something odd with it. But it depends on what it is. If its because it has 200k on the clock but with FSH and everything's been done, it shouldn't be a deal breaker. If its a repo and the history's disappeared, then current condition is everything hence the need for a mechanical inspection. If its Cat C or D that's a different matter.

But this was a £25k car not so long ago, so you can assume in the first 3/4 years its been maintained properly, owner two in the next say 3 years should still have maintained it reasonably well given that he's still driving expensive metal, so its only really what's been happening in the last 3 years or so and the current condition that would need to be scrutinised carefully. My bet is that its had a crash at some point in its life. But you never know until to inspect it - I got offered £800 trade in on my car recently, which is taking the p*** because there's nothing (mechnically) wrong with it, though it is starting to look a bit sheddy with all the dings and scrapes on the bodywork.
 
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MarkDavis said:
If its Cat C or D that's a different matter.
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:confused:

And this is why I can't take anything you've just said seriously.

The car might be an absolute belter for the money, but let's be completely honest with ourselves here, it is almost certainly not.

An old, cheap BMW with so much mileage it isn't even mentioned being sold by a ***** dealer who can't take a half decent picture = Avoid.
 
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