Powerful yet cheap cars?

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Powerful yet cheap cars?

Zhu

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In the early 2000's I ago I owned a variety of 90's cars with V6 engines (like a Ford Probe 2.5 V6) which I bought cheaply through ebay. Nowadays those cars are becoming rare & consequently expensive. What might their modern day equivalents be? Does anyone know of some noughties' cars that aren't currently in demand and so good value for money?
 
Based on the word cheap I'm guessing under £1,000 so...

Ford Cougar V6 basically a three door Mondeo ST

BMW E46's are dirt cheap at the moment. A good 328i or 325Ci can be £600-1,000

MG ZS190 2.5 KV6 surprisingly quick, just make sure the water pump has been changed regularly.

I would love to say something by Fiat or even Alfa but for under a grand you're looking at 147 2.0ts not the quickest thing out there. 156jts has a paperweight of an engine. Brera 2.2 could be a prospect but for budget expect it to be rubbish. Same for the earlier Alfa GT expensive or expansive.

Quick Fiat for under a grand? Good luck with that one. You might get a Grande Punto 120 but it will have the GM warning lights of death and you may as well save up and get a MiTo 155 (like mine). ;)

Focus ST170 is a nice point to point car but won't set the world on fire. 206gti 180 will be a wreck. Clio 172 or 182 under budget will be thrashed or trashed. 207 1.6 turbo could be good. I have never driven one so can't say.

RX8 if you don't mind two stroke or 12-18mpg from the six port 231. I managed 28mpg from my four port 192 (I prefer the 192 to the 231 but that's a different conversation).

Slim pickings from the 00's. :devil:
 
Because of the changes to car tax and being linked to CO2 some cars especially from around circa 2006 I think can be so expensive to tax if they have a high CO2 output that they are basically worthless, £500 (or there about) annual tax means many older powerful cars just get scrapped at the first sign of trouble.

I drove a lot of v6 cars like the Laguna, 406 and other French barges in the early 2000s non of which would be worth owning now.

Anything with a bit of prestige and therefore retains its value are still about, but getting less so now, as no one wants a 15-20 year old BMW that does 20mpg and costs £500 a year to tax unless it has a proper M badge on it.
 
Have a look on Car and Classic website. I'm into the late model Citroen BX and CX Nice ones appear in the £5K to £10K range. Not cheap but they wont depreciate either.

There's a Mk1 Sport carb fed 125bhp for under £5K and a 16V (160bhp) for £8K.

The Citroen C6 is often overlooked. It's only available with 200bhp V6 diesel and it's an exec cruiser rather than sports car. But very unusual and you get a heck of a lot of car for the money.
 
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Saab 9-5 Aero HOT. Around 280bhp for later models. Utterly mental cars.

Parts are no problem at all. Saab may no longer be around, but they're very well supported.

If you want to be less risk averse, you can look at 9-3s, but they're too Vauxhall-ish for me. Lots of electrical issues. (We had a 9-3 Aero Cabrio. Very nearly as quick as my Boxster S, but we constantly seemed to be chasing electrical failures)

Alfa 156 V6 are very cheap these days, too.
 
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