Next car - what to buy for £3k

[ChasR]

Apr 10, 2019 15:23:57 GMT Jez said:

Mondeo with 2.5T Volvo engine? Bit new maybe. Or an older ST220?



W124 Mercedes - Again not sporty but very practical and reliable. I had a 300TE which made a perfect family wagon.

BMW E46 - Which is actually what I had last time and currently. Seems to do everything. Fast, great handling, reliable, not the most spacious but just enough, and that noise!

I now will be taking over a Mondeo 2.5T if I don't change my mind. They are a very cult car. Not quite a modern classic, but certainly rare for a 'run of the mill' car ; When I last checked, there were less than a 1000 left. I doubt many more were built from Ford. This has been reflected in the values.

In 2012 my dad bought a 58 plate 111k 1 owner Ghia Saloon for £3.5k. It's now on 180k ; IMHO the dealer struggled to sell it; it was up for more but it dropped and dropped in value over time. 2 years later when my fabled Mk3 3.0 V6 Estate got written off (now owned by the old man), the replacement was a 08 plate Titanium Estate on 125k ; I think that had been for sale for a few weeks as well. It wasn't as nice and still isn't as nice as the Saloon in terms of condition but it is a good car. That was £3.25k. That's the car I'm having and it's now on 173k. Both have been very good. The black car's taken a cambelt, a caliper, 2 wheel bearings, an A/C pipe and a set of brakes all round, while the silver car has taken a set of discs all round, a coolant pipe (the garage damaged it), and a Clutch and Flywheel.

Last year a mate went to buy a 2.5T Estate. I told him to go with £4k absolute tops. The cars just weren't turning up! We saw a 57 plate 60k Titanium X with every extra but a patchy history and Chinese tyres all round for £5.5k ; IMHO that was overpriced; Maybe my valuations are off (if so, please say) but to me, that was a £3.5-4k car ; it's a 10 year old Mondeo after all, albeit with a cool engine. But it sold within the week at the asking price! 2 weeks later a Titanium estate with 130k popped up for £4.5k. Yup, that sold as well.

I've not seen many come up for sale since, and neither has he. I'll be honest. For the price I am paying for the old man's car, short of something else taking my fancy and being cheap, I'll probably stick with it. It's a great car that does many things very very well.

The E61 535d my dad's now got is a lovely car and initially had me going away from the Mondy 2.5T but I'm slowly going back to it. The 535d has a magic feel about it, but the Mondeo has a whiff of that, but a feeling of dependancy and a nicer chassis in the bends .

[joem83]

My s60 d5... Oh, you said fun lol

E39 530i M sport would be my choice.

[ettorebugatti]

Would getting another 4 door saloon/ BMW not be too similar to your daily car?

Just throwing more horsepower in it will not automatically increase B-road fun.

Having said that, A w209 CLK with a v8 (500 and 55AMG) does ok on the sound bit and are not too bad on reliability.
But they are automatic and in the corners it wouldn't know where your typical hot hatch went.
It is not that the handling is bad, but it is al lot of weight to hussle around.

[b3nson]

Apr 10, 2019 20:24:28 GMT ettorebugatti said:

Would getting another 4 door saloon/ BMW not be too similar to your daily car?

Just throwing more horsepower in it will not automatically increase B-road fun.

Having said that, A w209 CLK with a v8 (500 and 55AMG) does ok on the sound bit and are not too bad on reliability.
But they are automatic and in the corners it wouldn't know where your typical hot hatch went.
It is not that the handling is bad, but it is al lot of weight to hussle around.

Potentially, but the daily is diesel so any petrol car will fill a very different need IMO. 

Thanks for the offer Midland Performance & Retro, that's very kind. It's definitely a car that interests me and I'll be in touch when I'm  in a position to look more seriously, I'm am however fearful of ABC related bankruptcy and can certainly see one at my end of the market being more likely to suffer.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions so far, definitely plenty of variety out there for around £3000. Also thought of the original Audi S3 being a potential winner with a set of nice wheels and a reliable remap.

[Geordie]

My super rare 1989 Mazda 626 GT Coupe is currently for sale, and I need the space as my latest addition arrives in two weeks. Open to offers, and I'd love it to go to a fellow Retro Rider...



forum.retro-rides.org/thread/208715/1989-mazda-coupe-teesside-offers

[Deleted]

Thing is cars of this era - 1990 - 2000 & onwards all look the same to me - for example take a looked after mid 1990's BMW with shiny paint and stick it in a car park full of every day modern cars and it looks - well it looks nothing special - it just blends in with the rest of the cars in the car park - I appreciate it maybe have slightly different handling capabilities - the newer versions might have mission control fitted to the dash board and you may well be able to advance order your happy meal whilst stood stationary at the traffic lights by twitching your nose but they are just not that much difference is styling or looks (my opinion and I fully appreciate that yours could be radically different)

You want fun - cars don't have to have all the latest gadgets or look like they fallen out of a very similar jelly mould has the previous model in order to be fun. Consider climbing out of your comfort zone and purchasing something that is different - in style, shape & performance - you will be amazed how much fun you can have in something with chrome bumpers, slow acceleration & sprung seats - there is a whole different world of retro & classic motoring out there - Family summer picnic out the back of a Morris Minor 'Perfect' - Cruse to the coast in a Rover P6 'Fabulous' - Trip over the moors in a Austin Cambridge 'Smiles for miles' - They all look very different in a car park full of moderns too

[b3nson]

Apr 12, 2019 7:44:57 GMT @grumpynorthener said:

Thing is cars of this era - 1990 - 2000 & onwards all look the same to me - for example take a looked after mid 1990's BMW with shiny paint and stick it in a car park full of every day modern cars and it looks - well it looks nothing special - it just blends in with the rest of the cars in the car park - I appreciate it maybe have slightly different handling capabilities - the newer versions might have mission control fitted to the dash board and you may well be able to advance order your happy meal whilst stood stationary at the traffic lights by twitching your nose but they are just not that much difference is styling or looks (my opinion and I fully appreciate that yours could be radically different)

You want fun - cars don't have to have all the latest gadgets or look like they fallen out of a very similar jelly mould has the previous model in order to be fun. Consider climbing out of your comfort zone and purchasing something that is different - in style, shape & performance - you will be amazed how much fun you can have in something with chrome bumpers, slow acceleration & sprung seats - there is a whole different world of retro & classic motoring out there - Family summer picnic out the back of a Morris Minor 'Perfect' - Cruse to the coast in a Rover P6 'Fabulous' - Trip over the moors in a Austin Cambridge 'Smiles for miles' - They all look very different in a car park full of moderns too

I did try that in my Dolly Sprint, it certainly has charm and definitely looked cool, but I didn’t enjoy driving it.
I think your thoughts could be levelled at alot of eras, they only stand out now because there are less of them. Put similar vehicles together from any decade and they can all look quite similar IMO.

But aside from that, I have a VW Beach Buggy waiting to be put back on the road for wind in the hair, stand out from the crowd days!

[slamdunkdub]

Seat Leon Cupra R, 4 doors, 5 seats decent boot and a properly under rated weaopn.

[discostew38]

I think the best era for cars was the 90s not necessarily the most interesting in style but the technology was good enough to get good reliability build quality and performance
Every car I've bought after 2000 I've not kept longer than 6 months
A w140 merc would make a nice cruiser but the one to have would be the V12 or at least the 500 V8 and a good one is probably out of your budget
On the same size BMW E32 again v12 is the one to have (I've had two) quite hard to find now and prices vary but they do come up within your budget but you would have to be patient or E38 V12 same story as with the e32
E39 BMW great car probably the last good car BMW made 3.0 petrol sport is the best alrounder but not exciting the 540 is likely to hold its money better the alpina's are going up in price fast now but the 4.6 will be out of budget but you could possibly get the 3.2 b10 that needs a little work so you can add value
I've had loads of E36s a couple of E46s and an E91 and the only one I've liked (and kept) is the E36 my wife had a 330i E46 but she didn't like it and she's now on her 3rd e36
The m3 and alpina's are out of budget and the only one's to buy are the 2.8 manual sport either coupe convertible or touring
You have sort of missed the boat on these but they do come up if your patient I'm always keeping an eye on e36s so I've seen them

There are plenty of cars within your budget from the luxurious through the hot hatches to the town hoppers
I could go on but I've gone with what I've said based on what you mentioned
2cv
Bedford rascal
Tatty classic mini

[ettorebugatti]

Not so retro, but how about the Megane R26?

[Woofwoof]

Apr 12, 2019 15:40:53 GMT discostew38 said:

I think the best era for cars was the 90s not necessarily the most interesting in style but the technology was good enough to get good reliability build quality and performance

+1 to that.  

[MkX]

Some compromises on this one; Not manual. Not 90's, (just). Need to leverage price down or raise budget slightly.
Mercedes-Benz CL500 Coupé


Enough leg-room for the princess?

[keyring]

I’ll echo on what ChasR said.... a 306 gti-6
Should still find a decent one for around 3k but they are rising in value... a rare find, but if you can get an Astor grey one, it’ll always hold a value, and it’s a stunning colour!
May even find a rallye requiring some bits and bobs within budget which are only rising in value... but it’ll be cloth seats and no mod cons, but an investment if that’s your thing

[ChasR]

Apr 12, 2019 13:24:25 GMT b3nson said:

Apr 12, 2019 7:44:57 GMT @grumpynorthener said:

Thing is cars of this era - 1990 - 2000 & onwards all look the same to me - for example take a looked after mid 1990's BMW with shiny paint and stick it in a car park full of every day modern cars and it looks - well it looks nothing special - it just blends in with the rest of the cars in the car park - I appreciate it maybe have slightly different handling capabilities - the newer versions might have mission control fitted to the dash board and you may well be able to advance order your happy meal whilst stood stationary at the traffic lights by twitching your nose but they are just not that much difference is styling or looks (my opinion and I fully appreciate that yours could be radically different)

You want fun - cars don't have to have all the latest gadgets or look like they fallen out of a very similar jelly mould has the previous model in order to be fun. Consider climbing out of your comfort zone and purchasing something that is different - in style, shape & performance - you will be amazed how much fun you can have in something with chrome bumpers, slow acceleration & sprung seats - there is a whole different world of retro & classic motoring out there - Family summer picnic out the back of a Morris Minor 'Perfect' - Cruse to the coast in a Rover P6 'Fabulous' - Trip over the moors in a Austin Cambridge 'Smiles for miles' - They all look very different in a car park full of moderns too

I did try that in my Dolly Sprint, it certainly has charm and definitely looked cool, but I didn’t enjoy driving it.
I think your thoughts could be levelled at alot of eras, they only stand out now because there are less of them. Put similar vehicles together from any decade and they can all look quite similar IMO.

But aside from that, I have a VW Beach Buggy waiting to be put back on the road for wind in the hair, stand out from the crowd days!

Snap about the Dolly Sprint and styling. Without being funny, the front of a Dolly Sprint does look similar to a 70s Vauxhall, or a 70s Hillman, and well, you get the point .

I liked my Dolly Sprint, but it just didn't give me the buzz. A Mini, or even an MGB (bar it being a little slower) was more satisfying. The fact that you had to work the Sprint for the little performance it had for what was basically a soft saloon probably didn't help.

Oddly enough, driving the M3 and then driving the Audi A3 2.0 TDI 140 made quite a few things clear and why 'retroness' is a hard thing to coin. All I will say is that the M3 and even the Mundaneo 2.5T have character, have a soul ; The M3 is a little rusty, the engine doesn't like running first thing as much as it could and it really gives an embracing feeling while driving it ; you also have that raw soundtrack; The Mondeo handles well and well, has that soundtrack with speed; it looks like nothing special at all, and it sort of isn't. Christ, even that E61 535d has a soul with its creamy smooth, yet gruff sounding power, with some of that pleasant feeling from the handling still present ; I prefer that to the M135i surprisingly! It's what makes you enjoy driving it! The A3? For me, it was nada, diddly squat. Yes, it's built well, yes, the styling is lovely inside and yes, it grips well. But it just doesn't excite me; It didn't even excite a mate's GF (not like that!!!), which is why I'll get rid otherwise.

I've driven a few moderns over the years, but I've rarely felt like I did with the Audi ; i.e would I grab the keys to it just to go for a drive?

It was a worthy exercise mind you and certainly one for perspective. It's also probably why most of us here spend more than we should on cars :lol:.

[andyborris]

Apr 12, 2019 7:44:57 GMT @grumpynorthener said:

Thing is cars of this era - 1990 - 2000 & onwards all look the same to me - for example take a looked after mid 1990's BMW with shiny paint and stick it in a car park full of every day modern cars and it looks - well it looks nothing special - it just blends in with the rest of the cars in the car park -

While I agree with you, I also remember my Dad saying something very similar about new cars in the 60's! I guess it's all comes down to what influenced you at that formative age.


Sorry for the pointless post b3nson because I've no idea what any of the cars you're interested in are like, my formative years were the 60's!

[Budgetbatmob]

Not v leftfield this but through running one myself a Celica t sport is a more practical less hard-core and cheaper alternative to an integra and has many virtues

[b3nson]

Well the good news is this is now an actual problem, the sad news is I miss my Integra already!

[ChasR]

How about a DC5?

[rblote]

I don't know your market much but can you get this for 3K?

[mondeogrd]

Apr 10, 2019 18:23:42 GMT joem83 said:

My s60 d5... Oh, you said fun lol

E39 530i M sport would be my choice.

Ok, i only had a lucky break on a hire car and ended up with an S60 D5 for a long weekend, but i loved it, especially when it got me out of a few sticky situations i put it into. I take it ownership is significantly different?

I'm with the Mondeo turbo as i would like one myself, but the lack of numbers might put me off. Did that engine go into the S-Max as well?
All the very best,
Geoff.