Motorway Cruising, what car to buy?
- Thread starter Didge3
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Motorway Cruising, what car to buy?
Yeah good shout, great cars...reliable, economical and quick too.
OP
OP
Doesn't seem achievable on my budget.
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If your able to get a car financed on your budget get a Punto evo 135 I got one to replace my 500
Cruise control and gets good fuel
Cruise control and gets good fuel
I see quite a few coming in at around 2-2.5k now. Slightly higher mileage but achievable to get one.
Also starting to see quote a few e46 330d's down at that price, might fall under the "boring" tag, but they are fabulous cars...when they work
I'm with Steve, these are great cars for motorways. The diesel can be tuned to improve speed and economy. Check out the MGZS as well or the Rover 45/420 in diesel or if you want speed the 2.5l. All old Rover diesels where good on economy and comfort and are pretty cheap at the moment. The Rover tourer (416) is economical, spacious and has many of the luxuries you require. head gaskets only happen to those that don't maintain there cars, I'm on my 4th Roverand never had that issue once. The Rover 800 series is nice too. But sod that buy a Saab diesel auto with leather interior. That's in your price range, fastish, economical, safe and comfortable with gadgets. Mitsibushi sigma, old car but something else in its time. Renault Xantia diesel, best suspension ever
OP
OP
Problem with Rover/MG is they look kinda like a.... Rover, not really my cup of tea if I'm honest...
Renault Xantia? Do you mean Citroen?
My Mum had one when I was younger, you're correct about the amazing ride, they're a bit thin on the ground now though and the interiors are dated.
Problem with Rover/MG is they look kinda like a.... Rover, not really my cup of tea if I'm honest...
Renault Xantia? Do you mean Citroen?
Wouldn't touch any old rover or mg with a broken bargepole, unreliable rusty nasty old rubbish, the fabia vrs is the best non Italian suggestion here so far and even high milers are fine as long as they have history which most do, my sister in law has a mk4 golf tdi with the same engine and thats done 170000 ish miles....sweet as a nut.
Stilo?
Dom
Dom
This..looks great, tons of history and it'll go well with the 130 engine.... some minor cosmetics to tidy up but still a great car.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vw-Golf-Mk4-Tdi-130-/121359795047?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c419b8367
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vw-Golf-Mk4-Tdi-130-/121359795047?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c419b8367
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Problem with Rover/MG is they look kinda like a.... Rover, not really my cup of tea if I'm honest...
Renault Xantia? Do you mean Citroen?
They are an acquired taste but don't discount them all the 220 tomcat may surprise you. Yes of course I meant citreon, I'm getting old and senile. I saw a top notch leather (rare) interior one in the v6 for sale recently. LPG jaguar?
Although I disagree with you on the first point as cars go rusty and unreliable only when not looked after. I can't fault the golf suggestion. They do a great diesel which is an excellent driver for motorways, not too big, has gadgets, economical, comfortable, doesn't look to bad. Mazda also have a couple of nice motors in this range. The Stilo is a good suggestion to, don't they have the same speedgear box as my punto but in the 2.5l guise. One point to make about unreliable, nasty old Rovers, mine cost £104 to insure as it's a classic and it's not expensive to run and nice up the motorway, but then so is the Punto and when you get stuck in traffic the punto wins hands down as the speedgear is excellent. It's also pretty fast for a 1.2 semi auto. Actually buy mine the wife wants a 7 seater anyway and I've fixed and maintained almost everything on it so it will only ever be sold to someone who likes fiats enough to love her.
Anything french and complicated (V6) will break there are no xantia's left for a good reason and you only have to look on ebay for the number of dead mg/rover's to rule them out.... V6 jag on lpg?...well its basically a mondeo underneath but with shonky electrics and a fragile engine... x type diesel might be worth a punt if your brave but like most things, they are cheap for a reason.
Mazda 6 is a nice drive but does suffer from rust and reliability problems.
Mazda 6 is a nice drive but does suffer from rust and reliability problems.
I've driven a 220 tomcat and a tomcat engined 200 and a vvt engined 200 BRM and they were nice back in the day but they were fragile and badly made, the engine in the tomcat was the same as the 800 vitesse turbo which was also a nice drive back in the day but also munched head gaskets and gearboxes.... these have all passed in to enthusiast land now
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Mk5 Astra SRI 1.9 120 or 150 - fiat engine dont forget
All the toys - comes with cruise control on some models but can retro fit cruise control on it in 2 mins if it doesnt come with it, pulls like a train, 6 speed for motorway cruising, youll acheive your required MPG, a sport button if you want to liven it up a bit, still think they look good especially the xp kitted ones, will fall into your budget - minimum expense, well mine has anyway
All the toys - comes with cruise control on some models but can retro fit cruise control on it in 2 mins if it doesnt come with it, pulls like a train, 6 speed for motorway cruising, youll acheive your required MPG, a sport button if you want to liven it up a bit, still think they look good especially the xp kitted ones, will fall into your budget - minimum expense, well mine has anyway
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I like that but not as an auto.
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its both auto and manual move stick to the left and it is tiptronic, but even in auto mode the box is very smooth you cant feel it change gear like on a lot of autos
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Until it goes boom
There are no xantias left because the hydraulics require maintenance and it's expensive to get done. I had a BX (ugly car don't buy it) and I'm not mechanical in any sense of the word and fixed my own, it's really not that hard it's just replacing bits. If it wasn't for the ugly interiors I'd own a Xantia now. There are still a large amount of Rovers fully functional and in perfect condition happily running about all over the world. True they went through a stage of poor manufacturing for a while due to cost and damn unions but then so did Jaguar, land rover and even rolls and Bentley at the time. It's testament to them that there are still so many up for sale in any form, the fact that people still buy them even broken might mean that if you do a bit a basic decent repair they are still a good car. Every car has it faults, recalls and issues it's what makes them cheaper as a second hand car option. I was also talking about a pre s or x series as I don't want a ford in a jag guise but then are the not all owned by the Indians, Chinese or Russians anyway lol
