Smiles and practicality for £4-£5k?

Gamefreak501

Gamefreak501

Gamefreak501

Soldato
Joined
7 Aug 2003
Posts
8,030
Location
Bedfordshire
Hi All,

I'm in a bit of a predicament, I am wanting to change my 07' 206 1.4 75hp as it's got to 91k and frankly, I'm a little disappointed with it's power and it's enjoyment, but my parents sold it to me very cheap as it had 64k on the clock, and had been well looked after, so I had to snap it up!

I was originally looking at cars up to 7-8k, Nissan 350z and was disappointed at the 9 or so I viewed, each had bad repairs, or bad alloys, or were written off so I got a bit disappointed plus my circumstances have now changed with a requirement for 4-5 seat car with 4 doors and I've subsequently had to reduce my budget as well.

I've only found RX8s for this sort of money - but I've read all the scare stories about the engines on them - and costing roughly £1250-£2000 to put right.

There are plenty around; low mileage examples (under 50k) with full service history and I can choose between a 275/year or 500/year tax example on my budget.

But what else could I consider? All help greatly appreciated!
 
Could get a late e46 BMW 330i, or a mondeo ST220 for abit cheaper. The 5 door hot hatches are a little bit awkward because you're either at the most expensive end of one generation or very bottom end of the next gen
 
Gamefreak501 said:
I've only found RX8s for this sort of money - but I've read all the scare stories about the engines on them - and costing roughly £1250-£2000 to put right.
Click to expand...

Staying away from the RX8 is generally a good decision. If you really, really, wanted a Rotary engine, you'd know.
 
airwave99 said:
Staying away from the RX8 is generally a good decision. If you really, really, wanted a Rotary engine, you'd know.
Click to expand...

Good advice.

I guess, with the RX8, you should look at it on a worst case scenario basis. If the engine lunches itself (which isn't unheard of) is that a cost/inconvenience you are willing and able to absorb?

If you are, crack on and get one, if not, perhaps you need to look at other options.
 
Ev0 said:
A3 3.2, also biased ;) Less raw than a Megane but still fun and nicer place to be.
Click to expand...

be very careful with the a3 3.2s - some years suffer with a cam chain stretching issue which can cause misfiring etc, changing the chain is an engine out job so can cost a couple of £k easy :(
 
Many thanks for all your replies,

It does look like my budget is rather restrictive, but there are low mileage examples out there of most of the cars that have been suggested. I definitely need to take more than a quick glance at the used car web sites though. It's a shame I can't get over the looks of the Megane 225 as it would probably be a very capable car!

A friend of mine suggested the Saab 9-3 as he loves them but the newer lower-mileage ones seem to be over my budget.

In reference to the RX-8, I think it will come down to the test drive - which I need to do on a number of cars (even some of the ones suggested actually). I only do something like 1500 work miles a year, most of my mileage is private mileage as I enjoy driving - but I'm also budgeting a higher amount on maintenance each month for my next car, because I know that with higher performance cars, comes higher maintenance costs, especially where turbos, clutches, tires and engines are concerned.

I'm planning to look at several cars on Saturday and Sunday this week. I'll keep everyone posted with my findings!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom