Hi,
It's my first time in here so be gentle!
I've got to give my company car back at the end of the month and I need to buy a run-around. I get the train to work most days so won't be covering many miles in it.
I used to have a Diesel Rover 75 which I loved but I'm not sure I can afford another now - my budget is £2.5 to £3K.
Any suggestions are welcome, I want something that isn't too crappy looking though I'm realisitic about what I can expect for the budget I have.
Thanks a lot everyone.
Matt
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you've hit the nail straight on the head!!!
rover 75 diesel
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Not sure I can get one for that price though mate.
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It would be a higher mileage on about a w - 02 plate for that price. But there are some listed on autotrader
Failing that spend 1500 on a nissan maxima.
Whats your requirements? Big car? comfort? age of car?
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or splash on something different for sunday jounts and rides to the seaside,i hear 80"s motors are making a renaissance so what about a mint xr3i or a sierra xr4i
very retro and also very reliable cars in their day just like a rover in its day ;-)
these are the views of an idiot and are not the views of this site ;-)
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 07/10/2007 at 17:53
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Nissan Primera would be a good bet - bulletproof engines, and not bad looking. Comfortable enough too.
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I know it's ultra obvious but if it's just a basic tool you're after then reliability is top of your list which means Nissan, Toyota and lots of people here will swear by Skoda reliability.
10 minutes playing around on the Autotrader website putting in those makes into the search boxes with your budget will give you a good picture of what you're into and what's available in your area.
Once you've got a couple of models to think about post again I'm sure you'll get lots of input on your shortlist.
I wouldn't spend my hard earned on a Rover 75 that's more than 5 years old, the one we had was showing its age after three years.
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I wouldn't mind a fairly big car. I'm not going to use it that much as I will be getting the train to work so it would be just for weekends/days off.
I liked the size and look of the Rover but I think my budget means that within my price range it would be inadvisable to buy one.
Thanks for all the replies so far!
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Nissan QX or the Mazda Xedos-6. Both well within your budget. Comfortable, unusual and well built.
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I think you're spending too much. £2,500 will buy no more reliability than will £1,000. And the latter will leave you with more to spend on fixing problems. And AA relay membership.
I think what you want is a premium big saloon/estate car with lots of toys. Once they get a bit old they are remarkably unpopular, so very cheap. You don't end up with a shed; far from it. 4x4, Aircon, leather etc. etc.
The Nissan QX (3 litres of barge) is a popular recommendation here.
A W123 or W124 Mercedes
An Audi A6
Or have a look at the thread currently running on low cost performance cars.
If you fancy something a little newer up at your budget, I don't think anybody would consider a 5 year-old Vectra/Mondeo to be a shed.
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I know it's not a big car but a Mazda MX5 has caught my eye - these seem to get a pretty good write up on the main site.
Also, does anybody have a link to the low cost performance cars thread as I couldn't find it?
Thanks!
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...and I need to buy a run-around. I get the train to work most days so won't be covering many miles in it.
Why all this talk about 10+ year old luxo-barges et al? While engines & gearboxes of big old beasts may well last well, but at anything over 5-7 years steering/suspennsion/exhaust/cat. & ancilliary components may well need replacement or fixing - bang goes a big lump cash.
For modest mileage/useage & that price range, surely a boring (but cheap to maintain & insure) Mondeo/Vectra /Escort/Almera petrol (c.1999-2002) is favourite - & buy on condition & history.
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As woodbine says what is the point in buying something like a QX or a Xedos? ok when they are going well but expensive if anything does go wrong. Plus a replacement mirror for a mondeo/astra/escort will be a tenner from a scrappie - how much for a replacement Xedos one if you could find one?
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OK, I'm quite taken by a Toyota Celica now (a total swerve from what I'd previously been looking at!)
Is this a reasonable choice in terms of reliability as the prices seem pretty good and I've heard that higher mileage on one of these isn't necessarily the end of the world.
Maybe I should start a new thread as I've gone well off track now - sorry folks!
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mattyarmy: I'm quite taken by a Toyota Celica
IMHO that's entirely the wrong car for the job. There's nothing wrong with a Celica, except its a car you'll be fond of!
I spent three years driving five miles a day to the station, leaving the car in a manned station car park with CCTV and security lighting. In that time it was crashed into from behind and had the paintwork on the boot scratched up. Although my car escaped, there wasn't a week passed but a car either had the locks forced or a window broken so the local tea leaves could rifle through it for anything worth stealing. And this was in a fairly quiet commuter town, not "Fort Apache, the Bronx"!
The moral is that a station car should be the cheapest, simplest, car you can find. It has to be reliable, to get you to work each day, but if I was buying again I'd go for a car I didn't care less what happened to it, and was as cheap as possible to fix. A life of short runs to the station means batteries will wear from not charging up enough, exhausts will rust from condensation, tyres will be damaged by kerbing when you have to squeeze into odd parking spaces or drive over someone else's careless dumped glass bottle. Some clown rushing for the train *will* clip your mirror, others *will* ding the doors or bump baggage trolleys into it.
As wisely suggested, buy on condition, rather than looking for one make and model to the exclusion of all others.
If you still fancy a Celica, by all means have one as a weekend car, but cut your budget by £500 and put that towards the station car.
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Agree with Gromit, Celica is a lovely car and very well made have a crawl underneath and see what other makers should do, and much too nice for everyday use unless you can guarantee secure parking, if you can leave it safely then a very pretty and reliable vehicle and if you fancy it have one..not many individual cars like these left.
I wonder if the amazing magnetism nice cars like this have to vandals and clumsy/useless drivers is just envy.
In the time we had the Volvo 940td estate Georgeous would park/abandon it anywhere..not a mark on it...bought her the Merc coupe and within 24hrs someone had hammered a door onto it causing an upright dent sbout 6'' long ...such is life
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>>Why all this talk about luxobarges?
Why not? OP tells us: "I wouldn't mind a fairly big car " which to me suggets something bigger than a Polo.
He wants something "not too crappy looking" which suggests he is style conscious, but doesn't think he can afford to be. Rover 75 is definitely a car chosen by somebody who wants his car to look right; imvho one of the most handsome cars on the market. He can. At a far lower cost than he is suggesting his budget. Would £2000 worth of 2000/1 Vectra give more image than £750 worth of 1997 QX? Or a W123 or 4? I think not.
He doesn't need it for commuting, so ultimate reliability is less of an issue than it could be. He seems to want something with a bit of style and fun but not too much expense.
It's a weekend/holiday car, so it's got to be comfortable enough to take to Scotland.
He may be parking it in the station carpark, so there's not much point having something too shiny, as dints will ensue. Or he may be walking to the station; we don't know.
And he is buying at a difficult budget. 2.5k doesn't really buy you something "better" than 1k.
So, to my mind, he is the perfect luxobarge candidate.
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Seat Toledo? V5 or diesel?
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In such circumstances a Volvo 850 or even later model saloon might fit the bill. I was rescued from a similar position by a 940 estate for well under 3 grand and it did stirling service.
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Sorry, I didn't make it clear in my original post - I live near the train station so I would walk there and leave the car at home on work days where I would imagine it would be safe.
On the flipside, I do live in Liverpool so the views on the Celica probably fit the stereotype of the area so I would have to be careful where it was left although in general it would be used to go for a day out on days off or to go to the supermarket, shops, etc.
It just seemed like a smart looking car within the price range and if I keep the cost low, I've got leftover cash in my budget to use in case something does happen.
Keep the suggestions coming everyone, it's great to look them all up in Autotrader to build my shortlist of what I'd like to plump for.
Thanks!
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You're using your car for pleasure - so you don't need a workhorse. So (depending on how many people you need to carry, and what driving style you favour) either a Celica to have fun with (good idea - though maybe not too many around) or a big luxo-barge to waft around in. Maxima or Xedos sound tempting although a big old Ford or Vauxhall would be easier to get parts for. A Vauxhall Omega could well be the best bet.
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I bought a Maxima a few months ago matt. 95n plate with just over 100k on it for a grand. Its by no means as much a "looker" as a celica but i bet it shifts as well!
All the toys inc leather and cruise.. cant recommend the nissan enough, but you do have to consider its a 3ltr v6 auto and as such there VERY thirsty.
Good luck with whatever you buy
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I don't know if this will help at all, but my advice concerns where to find a car, not which one to choose. HJ would probably advise you to go to an auction, once or twice as a dry run (without cash) then third time, go with every intention of buying something bangernomical. Anything cheap and reliable (Japanese, Korean or leading Euro brands from the last 8 - 10 years). My choice would be for anonymity, blandness and unstealability: Remove rear parcel shelf to reveal empty boot, take radio panel off, fit a Krooklok and go for minimum 3rd party-only insurance.
Apologies in advance if this sounds morbid, cynical or in downright bad taste, but this has a logic hard to beat. A probate lawyer often has to deal with a car as part of an estate. A car is something that the family will want to get shot of as quickly as possible and a word on the grapevine can often turn up a well looked-after car at an affordable price - often advertised in the local paper as "genuine reason for sale". Overcome any guilty conscience by paying above the asking price - it's simple economics, akin to buying a reposessed house or clearance stock from a bankruptcy or even a trip to the local Oxfam shop.
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A probate lawyer often has to deal with a car as part of an estate.........
You might even find an pair of shoes in the boot which belonged to the deceased owner - quids in, there!
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Maybe even a nice old pair of their travel socks to go with 'em..! eeuuurggh...
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A Krooklock adds ten seconds to the time it takes a thief to steal your car. And £25 to the total of what you have lost.
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My point about the Krooklok is that, as the car is going to spend its days in a station carpark, some kind of visible deterrent, plus a visibly empty boot, lack of radio and a generally anonymous and unremarkable car, means a passing gang of car thieves will *probably* move on to steal something else. (If all cars in the station car park have a Krooklok, we're obviously back to square one!) Of course, some crooks take joy in nicking a bland Eurobox just for the practice!
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Scroll up, car isn't going to be left in station car park.
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...would add an old dried up half-eaten sandwich in its plastic triangle & styrene cup with dregs of coffee & couple of fag butts in - displayed prominently wedged between fascia & windscreen...every little helps. These can be bought in kits at any good fast-food outlet.
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If you loved your Rover 75 why not get a petrol one? Pleny for £2-3k.
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