General This will get some 'opinions' going . . .
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General This will get some 'opinions' going . . .
I have to disagree with the French cars, our Citroen has been nothing but trouble, quite a few people at Novell had Megan's and Laguna's - all of them plagued with electrical issues and the diesel engined models suffer from sticking EGR valves which don't show up until the turbo's blow!
I had a Bora VR5, excellent all round car - great drive, lots of gadgets etc, drank a bit as it was a 2.3 V5 - had to get rid of it as the gearbox packed up and VW wanted nearly 4k for a new one! To be fair it was the only gearbox on the VR5 that they had ever had issues with (sod's law eh?)......
I had a Bora VR5, excellent all round car - great drive, lots of gadgets etc, drank a bit as it was a 2.3 V5 - had to get rid of it as the gearbox packed up and VW wanted nearly 4k for a new one! To be fair it was the only gearbox on the VR5 that they had ever had issues with (sod's law eh?)......
I have to disagree with LRB!
I had a Golf that was nothing but trouble with engine management and electrical problems, but have had 3 sporty clios that were always reliable and fun to drive.
xs
I had a Golf that was nothing but trouble with engine management and electrical problems, but have had 3 sporty clios that were always reliable and fun to drive.
xs
Unclechuchu
New member
Celica??
Golf???
A4??????
Life's to short to drive a Golf..
Lancia Kappa Coupe
The Ultimate four door - Quattroporte.
GT, even availiable in diesel!
Golf???
A4??????
Life's to short to drive a Golf..
Lancia Kappa Coupe
The Ultimate four door - Quattroporte.
GT, even availiable in diesel!
gar074
Prominent member
What about a Seat Leon?
Golf/A3/Octavia running-gear in a sharper suit of clothes, and with great seats and standard kit. The fascia is from the Mk 1 Audi A3, and is classy and bullet-proof. It easily seats 5 & has a large boot, but it also has terrific steering and handling, and is great to drive (much more engaging than a Golf).
Our 2003 Leon 110 TDi has done 97k miles from new, and in that time nothing has gone wrong or fallen off, and routine servicing has been very reasonable. Even now it has no squeaks or rattles. It's always given 50+ mpg, and over the last few weeks (with diesel at £1.30 a gallon) I've been getting nearly 60mpg in my daily commute from Cambridge to Norwich, while still covering the 60-odd miles in just over an hour.
It's our second Leon - the first one was written off when it was 4 months old when my wife was rear-ended by a 32-ton Renault truck going full-speed on its limiter (she was at a standstill in traffic on the A14 at the time - the driver was done for driving without due care & attention). She survived to tell the tale, and the engineers who inspected the wreckage were amazed at how well the Leon had stood up to the impact. She bought another one without a moment's hesitation.
£8-9k will buy you a very nice lowish mileage Mk 1 FR or Cupra TDi which will go like the proverbial off a shovel (150 bhp), yet still give reasonable mpg. The petrol versions go up to 225 bhp. They look great in yellow:slayer:, but we reckon that platinum grey is more discreet and classy!
Golf/A3/Octavia running-gear in a sharper suit of clothes, and with great seats and standard kit. The fascia is from the Mk 1 Audi A3, and is classy and bullet-proof. It easily seats 5 & has a large boot, but it also has terrific steering and handling, and is great to drive (much more engaging than a Golf).
Our 2003 Leon 110 TDi has done 97k miles from new, and in that time nothing has gone wrong or fallen off, and routine servicing has been very reasonable. Even now it has no squeaks or rattles. It's always given 50+ mpg, and over the last few weeks (with diesel at £1.30 a gallon
) I've been getting nearly 60mpg in my daily commute from Cambridge to Norwich, while still covering the 60-odd miles in just over an hour. It's our second Leon - the first one was written off when it was 4 months old when my wife was rear-ended by a 32-ton Renault truck going full-speed on its limiter (she was at a standstill in traffic on the A14 at the time - the driver was done for driving without due care & attention
). She survived to tell the tale, and the engineers who inspected the wreckage were amazed at how well the Leon had stood up to the impact. She bought another one without a moment's hesitation.£8-9k will buy you a very nice lowish mileage Mk 1 FR or Cupra TDi which will go like the proverbial off a shovel (150 bhp), yet still give reasonable mpg. The petrol versions go up to 225 bhp. They look great in yellow:slayer:, but we reckon that platinum grey is more discreet and classy!
lanciaman
Established member
Unclechuchu I salute you for sticking a pic of the Lancia Kappa Coupe in there! Mine was a dark met green 20vt. Loved that car!!!
Whatever you do don't buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee! Mine is now at the Jeep dealer for an electrical fault. £85 an hour and they think it is a control module of some sort and want £1000 for it! So, the damn thing is coming back here to be broken for spares...... all down to the garage which knackered the front diff in January. I want a lawyer!!!! :yuck:
Whatever you do don't buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee! Mine is now at the Jeep dealer for an electrical fault. £85 an hour and they think it is a control module of some sort and want £1000 for it! So, the damn thing is coming back here to be broken for spares...... all down to the garage which knackered the front diff in January. I want a lawyer!!!! :yuck:
Unclechuchu
New member
One of my absolute favourites when it comes to 4-seaters! Especially the 20vt.. The sound! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... :devil: Stunningly beautiful.. A vulcan black Thesis wouldn't be too bad either..
Can't really understand how you can even consider a Golf/Bora/ect, TDMB.
OK, I have found a fun and reliable 4 seater for you............9k on Autotrader will buy you a 2002 Mitsubish Evo 7 RS2 - 2 owners with 60k on the clock, as long as you don't mind looking like a chav you don't get much of a better all rounder!!
lanciaman
Established member
Never mind the Jap crap......bring on the Thesis.....:worship:
* Seat Leon should hit the spot (its a VW with some guts)
* If you shortlisted Audi / VW Passat : go SKODA
--ok its a Passat with a Skoda badge, but for the money you get the whole sing and dance except bloodcurling acceleration.
* if some motorway cruiser takes your fancy: consider anything UP from a BMW 520i (a 535 WM if you can find one)
and talking about cruisers... if you want to drive a hearse: Chrysler PT Cruiser
* If you shortlisted Audi / VW Passat : go SKODA
--ok its a Passat with a Skoda badge, but for the money you get the whole sing and dance except bloodcurling acceleration.
* if some motorway cruiser takes your fancy: consider anything UP from a BMW 520i (a 535 WM if you can find one)
and talking about cruisers... if you want to drive a hearse: Chrysler PT Cruiser
SirTainlyBarkin
New member
Obviously I'm missing the point (as usual). Why no older than a 52 plate? It will still be depreciating in value, depending on emissions probably get clobbered for higher rate road-tax and be old enough to have little or no warranty and new/expensive enough that you will have to fix it if it goes bang.
I recommend a nice Volvo 240 estate, it will run forever there are still some very nice one-owner ones out there, everything you ever want/need to carry is likely to fit in it. An absolute peach will cost you far less than a quarter of your budget leaving lots of money spare to either fix it or fix the B. Get a GLT or Turbo and it's quick enough. They are also now old enough to be seen as "cool" if that worries you and you have to drive through Fulham/Islington.
I recommend a nice Volvo 240 estate, it will run forever there are still some very nice one-owner ones out there, everything you ever want/need to carry is likely to fit in it. An absolute peach will cost you far less than a quarter of your budget leaving lots of money spare to either fix it or fix the B. Get a GLT or Turbo and it's quick enough. They are also now old enough to be seen as "cool" if that worries you and you have to drive through Fulham/Islington.
Seems like a fun game......
Lee, my experience with Citroens has been the opposite, a mate of mine was running around in one with over 200000 miles on the clock, no problem. Boring to drive (ZX or Xsara), not that comfortable but never go wrong and cheap to insure.
Seat Leon is a good bet, especially if mpg is an issue. Very sensible but with a nod to fun.
A TDi Golf is OK too, but why pay more?
Otherwise, a Mini Cooper S?
Oh, is that the end of my turn? OK, next please......
Lee, my experience with Citroens has been the opposite, a mate of mine was running around in one with over 200000 miles on the clock, no problem. Boring to drive (ZX or Xsara), not that comfortable but never go wrong and cheap to insure.
Seat Leon is a good bet, especially if mpg is an issue. Very sensible but with a nod to fun.
A TDi Golf is OK too, but why pay more?
Otherwise, a Mini Cooper S?
Oh, is that the end of my turn? OK, next please......
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I would agree ROBOT but she already has the cool Italian motor, she also needs something that works when the sun is not shining!!
With the exception of a Mercedes 200T estate the ZX was by far the worst car I have ever owned........
Toyota Corolla it is then...
I'm sure newer Fiats and Alfas are as reliable as the competition, so I don't quite see the point in buying something as boring as something that is very boring
