Circumstances have changed slightly (in that the fabled Coupe Cambelt change is closer, and likely to be more expensive than I thought) meaning I may need to change car sooner than I thought (within the next 6 months possibly). In turn, this means that I can't afford to buy any of the cars I had my eye on (Alfa 156 GTA, Volvo S60R, Volvo S40T5) as I don't really want to get any finance, and they're all £10k+
So, with the following criteria, what possible cars are there for me?
Price: £5-7k
4 or 5 door
Reasonably pacey. I'm not too into speed, but I reckon if it was a lot slower than the Coupe I'd find it irritating.
Stylish
A bit different
The only thing I've come up with so far on my own is the S60 again, but the T5. The reviews make out though that it wheelspins if you even glance at the accelerator, is this true?
So, any views of the S60T5, or any suggestions for other cars please.
Thanks on advance for any input.
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I bought a 2002 S60 T5 back in June and love it to pieces. Due to having 250bhp and being front wheel drive, it can be a bit if an animal and can suffer from serious torque steer in 1st and 2nd. The DTSC (Dynamic / traction / stability and wheel spin assist) is fairly good, but not really that helpful.
I had a VR6 before the T5 and thought it was an excellent car, but the T5 really does wipe the floor when it come down to it.
The S60 is a beautiful looking car IMO and is to a very high spec inside with full leather, dolby prologic 11 speaker stereo, electric heated seats etc etc.
I am very happy with it and will certainly be considering a newer Volvo when I come to replace it in a few years time. Mine cost £9k for a 2002 52 plate from Volvo with 56k on the clock. It was £30k new!
Certainly wirth considering, go for a test drive to check it out.
BTW, have I seen your name on redcafe forum?
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Thanks very much for the reply.
BTW, have I seen your name on redcafe forum?
Err... maybe. But anything bad was almost definitely written by someone else stealing my identity. Honest.
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Alfa 166 3.0 or if your lucky enough to find one the facelift 3.2? The 3.0 - you should easily find an immaculate one for under 6K. Would stick with the manual version - not as unreliable as some people would have you believe.
I think the 3.0 or 3.2 is the one to have - not the 2.5.
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Good shout. Can't believe I didn't think of that myself.
Might be a little large, and I prefer the facelift front which is probably out of my price-range, but definitely one to think about.
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Yes, a few good ones can appear on ebay too. I had a look around, but due to escalating fuel prices, ended up not buying - plus I don't have a garage to park one in, and out road can be tight with cars on both sides of the road.
Some good Alfa forums, with good advice / info on the car (and dealers / independents).
I was going to suggest a 530i - but you did state something different. May be worth alook though.
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You're going to spend 7k on a new car instead of what? 300? 400? on a cam belt?
In the nicest possible way, are you bonkers?
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You're going to spend 7k on a new car instead of what? 300? 400? on a cam belt? In the nicest possible way, are you bonkers?
Depends on who you talk to, but try £1200 for the cambelt change. On top of that (and this is partly what caused the panic) speaking to my mechanic this morning he said that, in his experience, when doing the cambelt change they usually end up having to replace other things which, being old, have taken offence at being detached from the engine. Like the exhaust manifold (£400-ish), oil cooler pipes (no idea how much) and clutch (sounds expensive to me).
Is it starting to make more sense?
Of course there are specialists who can do it for less, but as a worst case scenario we're still talking about spending more than half the value of the car on a service.
Luckily, in other news, I've found that I've got totally mixed up about when a cambelt change is due, and I probably have about 3 years yet, so this thread is a little redundant.
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Right. I understand that.
So (in the nicest possible way) your bonkers moment was 2? 3? years ago, buying a car for which an essential part of servicing was going to be expensive enough to write the car off. What on earth is the car? A Ferrari?
I'd suggest that it's not worth bothering with main dealer servicing on a car that's worth - 3k?
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What about the MG ZT 2.5 V6.
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Right. I understand that. So (in the nicest possible way) your bonkers moment was 2? 3? years ago, buying a car for which an essential part of servicing was going to be expensive enough to write the car off. What on earth is the car? A Ferrari? I'd suggest that it's not worth bothering with main dealer servicing on a car that's worth - 3k?
Pffft.
Money isn't everything you know, and the world would be a terrible place if we all drove around in dull econoboxes purely in order to save a few pounds.
2 years ago I bought a car which is absolutely unrivalled in terms of performance, style and sheer feel good factor for the money. I can continue to own it for another two years without having to worry about it. And regardless of whatever else happens I can look back on owning a car which was a damn lot of fun.
But hey, I could have bought a Focus instead. That would have been interesting.
(sorry Adam)
The servicing will not write the car off, because anyone enthusiastic about the car (and there are plenty who are) will swallow the cost. The only reason why I personally won't is that I'm going to be needing a 5-door car soonish, so it's not a car I can keep.
The car is a Fiat Coupe 20VT, and I do not and have not used main dealer servicing.
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An umolested Cosworth Sierra ..... buy carefully ;-)
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If you've got a bit more time than you thought, why not (unless you want a change) look out for another Fiat Coupe with a recent cambelt change?
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If you've got a bit more time than you thought, why not (unless you want a change) look out for another Fiat Coupe with a recent cambelt change?
Because, for reasons that I won't go into (because of the mortal dread they raise within me), I'll apparently need a 5-door car within the next couple of years.
If that wasn't the case, then I'd just keep the current Coupe and deal with the cost of the cambelt. It's harder to stomach that knowing it'd have to be got rid of shortly afterwards though.
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ive read that a good man can change the belts on these in situ so no big deal really.............
plus you get a nice hole in your chassis leg for a starting handle if ever needed ;-)
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You can probably afford one of the finest Sports Saloons money can be - a BMW 528i Sport with manual gearbox.
Take the time to find a good one and you'll be rewarded with a simply stunning all rounder that knocks spots off anything mentioned so far.
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knocks spots off anything mentioned so far.
Hmm. That might be your opinion, can't say I'd agree with it.
Besides which, it's possibly a modicum too slow, it's certainly not different, and I'm not totally convinced it's stylish.
I can and do accept that BWM make a good car, I dofn't buy into the myth of their aryan superiority though, and that myth results in them being hopelessly overpriced when 2nd hand.
On top of that, while I have mellowed in my old age and accepted the idea of owning a BMW, when I mentioned this fact to my wife, she practically screamed "NO!" at me, so I think it's out of the window.
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If you get a BMW, prepare not to be let out of sideroads for the rest of the cars life!!
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a Mitsubishi Galant VR4.
Yeah, I've thought about one of those, but then the issue becomes trying to find a very rare UK Ralliart version (which is therefore more expensive - I think I'd be struggling to find one in this price range) or accepting my insurance being double what it should be because the car is an import.
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I have an S60 T5 - bought it back in Feb for £5.5k - X reg 65k miles with all extras except sat nav. I've been very happy with it, performance is great, fuel economy reasonable on motorway runs. I think its one of the best looking saloons around, the stereo is amazing and the seats are ludicrously comfortable. Not an enourmous amount of legroom in the back. I'd reccomend one!
Joe
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Jaguar X Type 3.0 sport, manual
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Surprised no one has mentioned the Alfa 156 yet. A nice 2.5 V6 should be in range in that budget. Or even the bigger 166 with the glorious 3.0 V6. Hmmmmmmmmmmm
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No contest - Honda Accord Type R.
I thank you.
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No contest?
Did you see the points about being stylish and different?
Not a bad suggestion otherwise, I'd never have one though. The newer Accord is a bit more interesting, but I don't think a type-R version of that even exists yet.
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can I ask you what you paid and what year it is?
Did you buy it new?
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I concede the point about stylish, although leather / recaro seats and that large rear wing improve the look over the standard Honda.
different - i'd say yes - it's not german, and the Type R is not all that common.
EVO magazine rates it as the best front wheel drive car ever made. HJ loves the pedal box. It's fast and reliable.
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Toyota Aristo Twin Turbo
Bags of room, Supra engine, discreet and Jap reliability. Oh, and you can scare the Boxter drivers round your area...lol
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I thought EVO rated the Coupe I have as the best FWD car? Then again, at another time it was the Lotus Elan. ;)
Anyway, I still wouldn't call it different. The type R might be rare, but it hardly looks much different to the standard car, and that's common as muck.
Not saying it isn't a fair suggestion though, just doesn't appeal to me.
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can I ask you what you paid and what year it is? Did you buy it new?
Looking at threaded view, this seems to be referring to my original post, but I didn't say anything in that about having bought a car, so I'm a bit confused.
If you are asking me a question, could you be a bit more specific, so I know what to tell you?
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