Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Wed 13 Mar 2019 20:26
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
Any ideas on a dead cheap car ,less than £2500 which is somewhat reliable.
The reason why I ask is because I use the car only for a few months every year and it tends to sit in the garage for the remainder of the time.
I had a Lexus LS430 which was prohibitively expensive to repair and with the last fault as a result had to get rid of it.

Don’t mind large engines and in fact prefer large petrol engines and insurance costs are not a problem however a reasonable reliability would be an advantage (this tends to leave out Audi and BMW)

So it looks like there are only a few Hondas and Toyotas left.

Any thoughts on older BMW’s or Vauxhall’s?

Or any other suggestions ? Volvo perhaps
Thanks for any suggestions,however outlandish they may seem.
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Wed 13 Mar 2019 20:31
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - gordonbennet

Subaru Legacy saloon/estate or jacked up Outback estate, with the bomb proof chain cam flat 6 engine.

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Wed 13 Mar 2019 21:38
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - badbusdriver

Jag X Type 3.0 (231bhp), Jag S Type 4.2 (300bhp), currently one on Autotrader with 116k miles for £1695.

Saab 9-5 Aero HOT (250bhp)

Honda Accord 2.4 (188bhp), not as fast granted, but very reliable!.

Vauxhall Vectra 2.8 turbo (247bhp), difficult to find at this budget but one on Autotrader with 107k miles for £1500,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20180110262...1

Ford Mondeo ST220?, maybe not as much a Q car though. Did find a couple of 4th gen Mondeo 2.5's (which, i believe, have the Volvo 5 cyl turbo making 217bhp), including this, which seems a bit of a bargain,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20181003112...1

I believe BMW's are fine reliability wise as a 6cyl petrol, so 330 or 530 (circa 230bhp), though i did spot this older 540 (286bhp) with 140k miles,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190220512...2

As well as GB's Legacy/Outback, there is also the Forester 2.5XT (227bhp), spotted this one with 127k miles for a smidge over £2k,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190227534...1

Trouble is, that kind of useage is not going to do any favours for any car, they need using to keep them healthy!.

Edited by badbusdriver on 13/03/2019 at 21:39

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 11:24
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
Good list of choices badbusdriver looks like the Mondeo is also a good choice in addition to the Subaru.
Fords have a love it or hate it image depending on who you speak to .
Some people absolutely love Ford and others would not touch it with a bargepole due to perceived reliability issues
For some reason even though the Subaru is Japanese, I had never associated them with high reliability but the Forrester and the Legacy/Outback seems a good choice with powerful engines and keen prices.

Wondering whether that BMW belongs to the golden era of reliability with BMW ,as in common with Mercedes-Benz standards started to go down later.

Drove a new A class recently and it was truly awful with a noisy clattery engine and lousy ride.




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Thu 14 Mar 2019 11:15
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
That had not crossed my mind as I was not sure about the reliability of the Subarus as my impression was that the most reliable Japanese bands are the Hondas and Toyotas and I wasn’t sure about the others.

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 11:32
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - gordonbennet
That had not crossed my mind as I was not sure about the reliability of the Subarus as my impression was that the most reliable Japanese bands are the Hondas and Toyotas and I wasn’t sure about the others.

Best bet is the 3 litre 6 pot in Subarus for what you are wanting, the 4 pot engines have cambelts and it isn't a 5 minute change, plus they can suffer rare CHG issues which the 3 litre is almost unheard of, the autobox used on all Subarus of this age range is a simple TC version which gives little trouble, suits the engine, and is simplicity itself to swap a sumpful of oil (standard dexron, nothing £fancy) the same time as you change the engine oil.

As mentioned though if regd after March 2006 ( the23rd i believe) it will fall into £550 VED bandings, which is ok if you buy cheap enough in the first place so the extra cost over the likely ownership period balances out.

There is no more stable or safe car on wet roads that i've driven, brakes are simple and effective, drum inside disc parking brake which gives no trouble at all, corrosion wise the place to really check is the rear subframe, Scottish cars in particular these can rust badly but i avoid all cars that have lived in Scotland anyway due to the excess of salt used.

Edited by gordonbennet on 14/03/2019 at 11:33

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Wed 13 Mar 2019 21:54
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - SLO76
Mind that 2006 on cars that chuck out more than 225g/km are over £500 a year to tax which effectively makes them worthless.

Here’s a few that’ll be entertaining to drive.

Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190124426...8


Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190221515...6


Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190214492...8


Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190301543...6




Edited by SLO76 on 13/03/2019 at 22:02

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Wed 13 Mar 2019 22:21
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - elekie&a/c doctor

I favour the mk 3 Mondeo .Quick ,cheap and reliable. No turbo, silky smooth chain cam v6 . As above, get a pre 2006 reg ,and the road tax is reasonable. How about this;www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Mondeo-2-5-Ghia-X-SUPER-RA...1

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 11:34
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
I’ve never looked up cars on eBay simply because I had always compared it to buying from auction with very limited buyer protection.

Agree it’s good for the seller who wants to get rid of a lemon but for the buyer I am not sure if eBay would be a first preferred choice.

Has anyone here purchased cars on EBay?
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Thu 14 Mar 2019 11:52
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - gordonbennet
Has anyone here purchased cars on EBay?

Several times, and successful purchases too, both our Subarus came from ebay ads, as did either my present or previous Landcruiser, our first Outback H6 i bought blind by ebay auction and travelled 150 odd miles by train to collect, a real bargain that one was, and came with a set of brand new winter wheels and tyres in the boot worth a good half the £1070 i paid for the car, those winter wheels are now doing good service on SWMBO Forester XT, she doesn't want any other make.

its good for sellers because its good value and there's room for lots of pics and a proper write up...the latter is useful because some of the waxing lyrical types betray themselves with overegging of puddings, whilst other who say nothing you wonder why not.

I also find ebay easier to use than Autotrader, but that may well be me.

I had a disappointing non sale via ebay of an old Merc, a messer who never showed up.

Edited by gordonbennet on 14/03/2019 at 11:55

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 21:30
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
From your post above gordonbennet it does look like being a buyer on eBay is more for those who have more than just a superficial knowledge about cars as it looks like one would need to be able to sniff out a lemon car.
In relation to buying from a motor trader (as opposed to a private seller) I guess it does not make any significant difference as you can then have some sort of recourse if the traders’ claims what the car was like was totally incorrect.
But as I understand it,if one is purchasing a car from a private seller whether it be on Autotrader or eBay one has no significant right after the sale has gone through.
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Thu 14 Mar 2019 11:30
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
SLO76 Agree with restricting my choices to a pre-2006 model as the road tax afterwards makes it prohibitively expensive.
My old Lexus had a road tax of around £300 but if it was a few years newer,would have probably ended up being close to double that amount.
The Mazda 6 is an interesting choice and one which is not very favoured in the United Kingdom, possibly due to “image” issues in the UK.
However if one went to the USA or Australia, it would be difficult to buy a Honda or a Mazda as they are much more in demand there
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Thu 14 Mar 2019 12:39
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - Gibbo_Wirral

Ebay isn't just an auction site, their motors section allows sellers to list a car at a fixed price.

Its usually cheaper to list than autotrader too, hence its popularity.

But, dealer or private sale, your rights are the same

Edited by Gibbo_Wirral on 14/03/2019 at 12:40

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 21:19
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
Correct me if I’m wrong but if you buy a vehicle from a dealer whether it’s on eBay or on Autotrader don’t you have much more rights than if you were to purchase the same car from a private seller?

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 12:42
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - Ian_SW

If you are only using the car for a few months of the year, and it's in the garage the rest of the time, why not SORN it and get the rest of the year's tax back? That would turn £600pa into less than £200, which is more palatable.

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 13:16
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
I would have actually gone down the route of SORN but the only downside with this is that there would be a break in the insurance.
I am happy to pay the insurance throughout the period that it’s SORN but it will have a consequence on my no claim discount years which I hope to keep maintanimg and increasing.

If I SORN the car and kept paying the Insurance( which I am happy to do) wonder whether this should be ok?
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Thu 14 Mar 2019 17:08
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - barney100

Japanese would be most people's first choice but a petrol Volvo large saloon might be worth a look.

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 17:15
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - John F

I am surprised you 'leave out' Audi. The chances of reliability increase substantially If you pick the right model. If your garage is big enough I would be looking for an old non corroding aluminium A8 with a large petrol engine and a ZF tiptronic gearbox. E.g. the 2.8 V6 plus 5HP19 - a reliable powertrain which you can also find in old A6s. For Q car status you'll need one of their bigger petrol engines, but they'll cost more than £2500.

I wouldn't touch an old BMW - at this age and price range it stands for 'big money worries'.

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Thu 14 Mar 2019 21:35
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
John F -That is an interesting comment.
I had not looked at the aluminium A8 purely because I heard it has got quite complicated electricals+ gizmos which can tend to go wrong after a certain age
Will have a look at the aluminium A8’s-would you recommend any particular years?
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Fri 15 Mar 2019 10:15
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - John F
John F -That is an interesting comment. I had not looked at the aluminium A8 purely because I heard it has got quite complicated electricals+ gizmos which can tend to go wrong after a certain age Will have a look at the aluminium A8’s-would you recommend any particular years?

D2s (pre 2002) are cheapest, but I would go for the new shape D3 if your budget would stretch - 2003 onwards. I think they had more or less sorted the electrics after a couple of years; I've had no problem with mine (2005)....so far! Pre-March 2006 has the advantage of a lower standard £315 VED, especially valuable for big petrol engines. (Also, if you removed the small W12 badges you would have a quintessential Q car - just as anonymous and far more powerful than most of the time-expired Frankel selection of also-rans here.....)....

www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/used-car-buying-guides/...7

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Fri 15 Mar 2019 19:15
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
Good points,agree with the quality of these cars.I used to have a 2005 A6 TDI and it was reliable faith no hassles.


Like a relationship on the rocks though,when things start going wrong,it would be bound to be quite costly.

The W12 is the jewel in the crown however the running costs are probably not for the faint hearted.
Do you have the tooth rattling S line spec?
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Sat 16 Mar 2019 08:57
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - John F
The W12 is the jewel in the crown however the running costs are probably not for the faint hearted. Do you have the tooth rattling S line spec?

Sport spec indeed firmer than plutocrat LWB 6.0l limo (and lower geared final drive makes it quicker) but smooth enough when in 'comfort' mode. You'll be lucky to find one -they made only a few hundred and sold about 70 here - now only about 40 still on the road in the UK.

www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/audi_a8_quattro_swb_...x

It was a v expensive stopgap between the D2 S8 and the D3 S8 which used the Lambo V10 (same power, less torque). AFAIK it was never reviewed here but I found this in a ?Polish mag if you are interested - complete with title misprint; it's not an 'L' WB....

www.avtomobilizem.com/arhiv-2002-2006/audi-a8-w12-.../

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Sat 16 Mar 2019 13:45
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - badbusdriver
The W12 is the jewel in the crown however the running costs are probably not for the faint hearted. Do you have the tooth rattling S line spec?

Sport spec indeed firmer than plutocrat LWB 6.0l limo (and lower geared final drive makes it quicker) but smooth enough when in 'comfort' mode. You'll be lucky to find one -they made only a few hundred and sold about 70 here - now only about 40 still on the road in the UK.

www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/audi_a8_quattro_swb_...x

It was a v expensive stopgap between the D2 S8 and the D3 S8 which used the Lambo V10 (same power, less torque). AFAIK it was never reviewed here but I found this in a ?Polish mag if you are interested - complete with title misprint; it's not an 'L' WB....

www.avtomobilizem.com/arhiv-2002-2006/audi-a8-w12-.../

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20181018161...1

A bit out of the OP's budget, but within the budget of the '£6k hero's' recent feature on Top Gear, and an extra 50 or so bhp over the Merc S600 Chris Harris chose!.

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Sun 17 Mar 2019 20:05
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
John F -good link,with very few cars actually left on Uk roads.

Still tempted even though it’s out of my budget.
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Thu 14 Mar 2019 22:52
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - tight git

I used to SORN my Porsche for 4 months every winter and keep the insurance for the full year - the insurance has no relevance to if the car is being used on the road.

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Fri 15 Mar 2019 01:35
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - SteveLee

Mazda 6 MPS.

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Fri 15 Mar 2019 07:54
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - kiss (keep it simple)

That Mazda is an interesting choice. I have only seen 1 or 2 I think. Only problem might be rust. When I sold my 6 it had advisories for rust underneath, quite a feature of the mk1 I gather. Mechanically it was fine even after 160k miles.

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Fri 15 Mar 2019 09:46
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - SLO76
If you can stretch the budget to around £3,500 the 2008 on Mondeo with the tough 5cyl Volvo 2.5 motor is a brilliant Q car. It’s very quick, much stronger than the older 2.5 6cyl, it slips under the top tax band, it’ll do 250,000 miles, it handles great, it’s comfortable and yet it just looks like a high spec Mondeo, nothing sporty. Sounds good too.
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Fri 15 Mar 2019 19:21
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
That’s one I hadn’t thought about before.

Is this 2.5 engine in the Volvos in the V70?
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Fri 15 Mar 2019 21:05
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - SLO76
That’s one I hadn’t thought about before. Is this 2.5 engine in the Volvos in the V70?

It is and shared with the Focus ST also. A gutsy car but comfortable and discrete too. A tad greedy for everyday use but then so is everything else you’re looking at. Try a good one and I’ll be surprised if you don’t buy it.

Edited by SLO76 on 15/03/2019 at 21:05

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Sun 17 Mar 2019 20:20
Which boringly Cheap and Older Q car can one get? - JohnX
That’s one I hadn’t thought about before. Is this 2.5 engine in the Volvos in the V70?

It is and shared with the Focus ST also. A gutsy car but comfortable and discrete too. A tad greedy for everyday use but then so is everything else you’re looking at. Try a good one and I’ll be surprised if you don’t buy it.
Went to a local one where the car was boxed in by other cars so didn’t drive it,but agree with the sound, an elegant understated burble

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