New car advice needed

Dyson

Dyson

Dyson

Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2007
Posts
6,285
Location
Dorset
I'm in the market for a sub £2000 saloon or estate. I've narrowed my choices down to either a Passat 2.0 SE, or maybe a late '90s vintage 5 series, namely the 523i so far (also seen a rather nice 530 estate too...). Also quite like the S80.

I know buying a car is always a gamble, especially at this end of the market, but what do people think. My head thinks the Passat would be the sensible choice for running costs, but I've seen a particular BMW that has got me interested, it's a '99 523i, with 90k miles, one owner, and full main dealer history, for £1300. Potential money pit?
 
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Dyson said:
I've seen a particular BMW that has got me interested, it's a '99 523i, with 90k miles, one owner, and full main dealer history, for £1300. Potential money pit?
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If it is what it says on the tin, it sounds worth a look, you may well have to throw a few £££ sorting the odd thing out, but if it is a 1 owner,FSH example, I would not expect it to need too much.

Its just about run in. ;)
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
If it is what it says on the tin, it sounds worth a look, you may well have to throw a few £££ sorting the odd thing out, but if it is a 1 owner,FSH example, I would not expect it to need too much.

Its just about run in. ;)
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And a slight dose of reality, it will need money spending on it. £1300 will certainly not be the end of it, neither will £1500, nor £1700, maybe £2300.
 
Just what I thought, thanks for the replies. 2 litre Passat the one to go for, or the 1.8T? Also, any thoughts on the S80? Looking at the 2.5, non-turbo mostly.
 
The 2 litre is ok, lacking in power but should suit the estate quite well and no turbo to go wrong, 1.8t is a better all rounder and feels quick enough so your call really.

The volvo is a nice big barge too, have a look at them. If all you want is reliability you could do worse than an old accord aerodeck, bomboroof but quite ancient now
 
Do not get an S80. Will drink like there's no tomorrow, and will cost you a fortune in repairs.
Unless you particularly want to spend lots in repairs, get a Mondeo or Passat.
 
Similar to the accord, mechanically bombproof though a bit of a minging interior. Good thing about all the plastics inside is they literally wipe clean if the kids /dogs get things covered in mud/sweets/whathaveyou
 
pepsilol said:
And a slight dose of reality, it will need money spending on it. £1300 will certainly not be the end of it, neither will £1500, nor £1700, maybe £2300.
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Maybe, maybe not. but I've spent no where near that buying & running my own 1 owner high mileage old example over the past 15months or so.

He may be "lucky" as you could percieve me to be, he may not.

At this price bracket, its a lottery, equally though, at this bracket you don't find many 1 owner FSH cars regardless of the make & model.

I'd certainly give it a look. :)
 
Well, I've ended up with something completely different to what I started out looking for, but felt it was too good to turn down. I bought a '99 Saab 95 estate, 2.3T SE, with a full history, 2 owners, new tyres, discs and pads all round, 8 months mot, 3 months tax, unmarked leather interior, 150k miles, £900.

At that money, if it goes wrong I can just bin it:D
 
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