Well
My VW Transporter was sold last week, and my Defender will follow shortly..ideal as a 2nd vehicle, but not very practical as a sole vehicle, especially for long weekends away using the motorway. Anyway, I had always wanted one to run short term, so now it is out of my system!
My priorities are reliability and minimising depreciation, budget £8k (ish).
On my recommendation, a friend bought a MY03 2.0 Lexus Sport Cross which she thinks is fantastic. I am equally impressed with the build quality, but less so with the rear end styling and practicality.
Over 10 years I have owned 3 Legacy estates..my last R reg GLS bought from a friend for £3500 and sold 4 years later (with difficulty) for £1900. The Legacy lacked overtaking performance...useful given the mimsers in my part of rural North Yorkshire, the new 2.0 Re Sport Tourer rectifies this but dealer prices are well outside my budget.
I shall be buying at auction, or using the services of an auction buyer.
Looking back at recent HJ auction reports, I can see no mention of these two marques, so am at a loss as to what prices they are fetching...although the part ex values on Vauxhalls website are very useful.
Two 'wildcards' are the Golf V5 estate..very practical, poorish mpg, maybe reliability problems and a leggy new model Mondeo ST 2.2 TDCI 155 hatch/estate, very practical, excellent mpg, but probably over budget.
Any advice gratefully received...though my head tells me to go for the Lexus sport Cross and put up with the mpg, lack of rear load space and having to rev the engine to get the best overtaking performance.
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Its hard to advise, so I will just say what not to do, and that is - leave the Lexus. They are over priced and over-rated, and do indeed need a lot of welly to get any performance, thus destroying the MPG. Lexus arent even as bomb-proof as people would lead you to believe and service costs are high.
I'm no lover of Japanese cars, but I will give a bow to Subaru for the ultimate in fault-free motoring. The turbo Subaru's certainly have no overtaking issues, but do tend also to be thirsty, but at least you are getting some performance for the thirst.
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I wouldn't have the lexus you mention, it's underpowered, likewise the Subaru, also both are thirsty.
What I'd do is consider some other 'wildcards'- namely a PD130 Gof IV estate and a TDCI 130 Mondeo. You should be able to find very high spec versions of both under budget and then get them remapped for better performance.
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On the economy issue - do remember that even though the reliable car may have slightly higher fuel bills, just remember that even a moderate repair bill for the less reliable car will wipe out the saving on fuel and you have no idea how many of them you might have, so when all is said and done, any reliable option could be cheaper overall.
Forester Turbo no good?
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For rural North Yorks a Subaru is going to be hard to beat.
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I was going to suggest a Forester Turbo. Certainly plenty around for £8,000 I would have thought. Bomb proof mechanicals, small enough to be great on the twisties and larger enough to be good on the open road and in a jam.
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Forester turbo or Impreza sporthatch.
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Thanks for your replies.
I had not considered a Forester turbo. I shall look into the 2.0XT model...any ideas on real world mpg? hopefully the quality of engineering means that the turbo should give no problems for several years.
I also have briefly considered A4/A6 Avant options, 320D Touring and V50 (with 2.4 engine)..and discounted nothing yet!
How does the Mondeo TDCI 130 go, and any thoughts on its reliability?
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The Forester is a great car even though it's down on power compared to a turbo Impreza. In mixed driving I'd expect mid to low 20's and better on longer runs. In town mpg will be low.
I think the top end marques you mention are going to be high mileage tired examples or expensive to run.
No vested interest in the Mondeo but the tdci 130 pulls well and has good overtaking grunt . My brother owns one which he runs with a second generation digital tuning box and it feels significantly faster than it did when standard. I can't comment on reliability of the diesel having only had a petrol but my Mondeo was faultless.
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As a footnote, I was discussing this Lexus vs Subaru debate with fellow grumps in the pub last night. One of them has a 3 year old non turbo Forester which he is delighted with...apart from lack of performance.I would have to go for the turbo version, and hope that the high reliability issue outweighed the low mpg.
Another friend mentioned the Focus...a car I had never considered. The 2.0 TDCI estate, with plenty of overtaking grunt on the B roads around here, decent mpg and cheap parts make me want to investigate further.On the other hand, the Subaru probably wont need any spare parts (fingers xxxxx).
Can anyone comment on this 2.0 TDCI engine as fitted on the Focus...HJ's CBCB speaks very favourably of it...48.5mpg wow!
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Legacylad, you know in your heart of hearts that you want another Subaru, preferably a turbo. So just give in to it. You know it makes sense. A diesel Ford??? Give me strength! :-)
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Legacylad you know in your heart of hearts that you want another Subaru preferably a turbo. So just give in to it. You know it makes sense. A diesel Ford??? Give me strength! :-)
Focus isnt so much a choice as a sacrifice in this case, good though the Focus is, hardly on a level playing field with a Forester Turbo. Its sort of a choice between the country set's hold grail of motoring and the photocopier engineer's weekday hack.
I clean many Foresters and boy are they tough cars - my customers are the kind that drive them through hedges rather than stop for anyone.
I have two customers whos houses alone are worth more than 10 million each and what do they drive? Foresters. This is where the old money goes and nobody spends more wisely than people who know how to hang onto it.
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Its a fair cop.
Deep down it has to be another Sub...its just the mpg issue (archetypal tight Yorkshireman). I won't see 50 again, except on the brain cell count, so would like heated leather seats and a panoramic sunroof...aircon I can live without as I've always been a fresh air fiend. but it seems compulsory.
Looks like a 3+ year old 2.0 XT manual then, unless I buy a non turbo and get it chipped, which is something I have never done. The cost of this course of action, and presumably increased insurance costs, would/may negate any saving. And I would like a deep metallic blue or black....having read with interest the post on black being the new silver.
Finding one at auction is another matter..........
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Nothing much you can do to improve the non-turbo engine performance wise. Go for the Turbo.
As you say, finding one at auction will be a challenge - better to look for a private sale?
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Does the more recent non-turbo Forester have the 160bhp 4-cam engine fitted to the later non-turbo Impreza? This could be a solution. I have test driven (and ordered) an Impreza with this engine and it is pretty rapid and extremely smooth, with apparently good mpg (for a Subaru). It is probably one of the smoothest four cylinder engines I have ever driven. It has some kind of electronic valve timing and is redlined at 7300rpm! I could have afforded a turbo Impreza but I didn't fancy the higher fuel cost, high insurance and Band G road tax! The 160bhp is rapid enough to be interesting but without the very high running costs of the turbo model.
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Spot on qxman. Unfortunately my budget , £8k ish as stated earlier and not changed (despite temptation) rules out this new 158ps engine. Otherwise it sounds like it would be a perfect perfect/mpg compromise.
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Just to update.
I had a long drive in the ex Mrs Legacylads IS 2.0SportCross...very smooth, great audio, but has to be revved hard to get decent performance and realistically too small for my load carrying requirements.
Then took out a friends '04 Forester 2.0x (which he is selling soon). The reason he is selling is because he considers it underpowered for 'press on' motoring when fully laden, which it is without the turbo. This convinced me that I have to look for a 2.0xt...with the heated leather seats (fond memories of my old Saab 9000S 2.3T with fabulous Bridge of Weir leather seats, walnut dash and horrendous thirst).
So, off for a test drive soon in a 2.0xt, but then have to find one within my budget of £8k if I decide its the car for me.If I cannot find one within budget, Plan B is to buy a high spec Mondeo TDCi130 or Accord Tourer diesel at auction...although the latter with the high cost of a replacement diesel pump could be the fly in the ointment.
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Have a look at www.subaru.co.uk and use the used car finder. There are a couple of xts on there which would be in budget with a little negociation and several 2.0s models. You may have to travel though. Although screen prices at main dealers are high, I've found it's possible to get decent reductions.
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Whilst you may struggle to find a 2.0XT for £8,000, especially with leather and winter pack (for heated seats), you will certainly find the Mk1 Forester Turbo S (I think) for that money and a lot less.
Don't worry about mechanicals! I got into my old Forester XT auto today (my Outback was broken into and the glass smashed - boo) and I thought I would be disappointed by rattles etc, but it felt just as solid as the Outback at two years older and a smaller, more stressed engine. Go for it, you won't regret it and we can have a Back Room Subaru convention on the M62!
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