Spec me a Car

Vita

Vita

Vita

Soldato
Joined
26 Mar 2006
Posts
11,658
Location
United Kingdom
Right as some of you know the ATR gave me grief and I'm wanting to let it go. Had my fun with it and want to get into something else.

I have a Budget of £3k for the car. I'd prefer petrol but diesel can also be an option I'd consider.

I'm not sure what I want. I've been looking at cars and for some reason old sheds attract me the most. I don't know why. :(

I do long commutes at every end of the month circa 400miles. I want something which is reliable and has great build quality. The two I have shortlisted seem to hit that requirement pretty well. I'll have £1k extra for maintenance should the car need it.

So here is the current shortlist, in no particular order;

1. Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon Bugeye shape - I enjoyed my Blobeye GX, I still have that now as my temp car. I want more power though circa 210bhp. I like the space and practicality of this vehicle, but it's not a necessary for everyday living. Seems like I could pick up a decent example for my budget and there is tuning potential should I wish to have more power. One thing I cannot stand is the loud exhausts which most seem to have. I have it on my GX as the previous owner had put it on and and it's become tiresome.

2. BMW E36 328i Coupe - I've always liked the look of these, but they're getting on a bit now. I understand some had issues with the blocks after '98? What are these like? They look great with the M-TECH kit but I'm unsure whether I really want one. I've never been that fond of 2 door cars but this one does look great.

Are there any other good cars out there?

I'm not interested in the Ford Mondeo.
 
are the wrx wagons not seriously heavy on fuel?
a friends parents had one of them and I think they said it did about 20mpg (only know that because they were trying to sell it and I was thinking of buying it!)


with you on the mondeos tho :)
 
ci_newman said:
I'll copy what I said in the Type-R thread, Accord Type-S / Exec :p Circa 190bhp, available in a tourer, in budget, comfortable :p

Octavia VRS?
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Funnily enough the guy I got the ATR off went and bought a Accord Tourer but diesel variant. :p I looked into them before I bought the Subaru but couldn't find a good example and I was put off by the rear end. The boot space though is a great aspect of them.

Octavia again I looked at but couldn't get past that it's a Skoda. I'll look into them again.

I am a strange one but I've just caught the looks of the E46 coupe? 318's look good as well as the 325ci.
 
If you're thinking of an Impreza wagon, have a look at the Subaru Legacy, Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 too - both are a bit more grown up than the Impreza - and more practical.

Not great on fuel either, though - on a run you'd get about 25mpg.
 
Confused said:
If you're thinking of an Impreza wagon, have a look at the Subaru Legacy, Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 too - both are a bit more grown up than the Impreza - and more practical.

Not great on fuel either, though - on a run you'd get about 25mpg.
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I've had a look at both. They don't really appeal to me. I think if I should purchase something more newer it'll be better for me and the forum. As I will hopefully not complain in every post I make.
 
Do not spend £3k on an e36 328i sport. £2k or very, very slightly more maybe for an exceptional example but I don't think it's what you're after tbh. They're old and will/do break all the time, usually not in an expensive way at all but if your desire is for a car you don't need to tinker with most months it's not ideal.

I had a look at some blobeye WRX wagons a few months ago for a little more than your budget but you should be able to get a bug or blob for your money too. I struggled to find a good one relatively locally for sensible money but there were loads middle / souther England for about £3-4k that looked promising.

The standard exhaust is quiet and I found whatever exhaust comes on the prodrive ones fine too. Infact the only ones that bugged me were the really obvious large bore efforts that shook you at idle.

Still don't know that it's the kind of car you're really after though if you want a comfortable cruiser that just happens to have a bit of poke. I could live with one on a long journey but if I was doing it all the time I'd maybe wish i'd bought something else. They're also not particularly fast as standard - but that kind of depends what your expectations are. Remapped cars are much better.

I actually think you should look for something like a 325 / 330i saloon. Maybe spend slightly more than the budget but they don't really carry the same premium as the coupes (and tourings to a point) do so you should be able to find a reasonable example. As comfy and nice for cruising as the e36 but a bit more modern and not quite as prone to niggling faults. Still not blisteringly fast but feels a bit peppier than the (std) WRX on the move.
 
rodenal said:
Do not spend £3k on an e36 328i sport. £2k or very, very slightly more maybe for an exceptional example but I don't think it's what you're after tbh. They're old and will/do break all the time, usually not in an expensive way at all but if your desire is for a car you don't need to tinker with most months it's not ideal. .
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3k is on the money tbh for a nice example. There are a few on e36coupe etc for around this money which have been properly babied and are mint. The issue is being able to sell given the influx of ratty sheds around for <£500.
This is a problem I've run into, want to change to a Silvia but this e36 now owes me far more than its value and having crashed it really isn't helping the situation.
 
Its more the fact that even at 3k you're buying a car which is going to need a good bit of love.I don't honestly believe that 3k buys you a more reliable example than 2, theyre really getting on now. It might buy you a very low owner /individual but it doesn't sound like the op is enough of an enthusiast to warrant that. Especially not when that's so close to reasonable e46 money

I actually wish I'd never sold my e36. It was a fantastic car and i sold it for relative peanuts after spending a lot of my own time on it
 
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Thanks for the replies guys and Rodenal. I think you're on the money with the 330i/325i Saloon. Are running costs different on either of these or similar?

I would like a great cruiser as I tend to sit at 65mph anyway on the motorway. The ATR would get the odd hoon to maximum velocity, enough to create a small black hole, but I think I'm past that now. The noise on the motorway got tiresome as it's hardly soundproofed so I would like something that's a little more quiet.

I wouldn't mind a little more poke 330i seems to have that covered too.
 
Clarkey said:
Problem is, a 3k 330i will be a lemon, what did you learn about buying lemons?
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I learnt a lot. :( I'll investigate further if not I'll up the budget. May as well view a few examples in the price ranges to see how they compare with each other.
 
rodenal said:
Its more the fact that even at 3k you're buying a car which is going to need a good bit of love.I don't honestly believe that 3k buys you a more reliable example than 2, theyre really getting on now. It might buy you a very low owner /individual but it doesn't sound like the op is enough of an enthusiast to warrant that. Especially not when that's so close to reasonable e46 money

I actually wish I'd never sold my e36. It was a fantastic car and i sold it for relative peanuts after spending a lot of my own time on it
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I dont think thats the case.

Basically youd have to be mental to buy a £3k 328 that was not absolutely mint and i dont me the usual "hoovered and tyre shine" that people find it so hard to see past, for £3k id want a 328 that had had all the hardware underneath overhauled, new engine managemnt sensors, no rust and some performance mods.

you will then have a stonking car and lets face it, anything it better than an impreza
 
I got mine at a bargain price of £2900 with FFSH, 4 new tyres, 76k miles. Just need to do a good search.
 
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