We had a Rover 75 CDTi as a pool car a few years ago, and from what driving I did in it, it felt fine, yeah, it does feel very "olde worlde", but thats part of the charm for me, especially with the "trinkets" of the MG bits, sort of a strange combination of "pipe and slippers" and "just ramraided a halfords shopfront and all the bits stuck to it" which I find quite appealling!!!.

Yes, the Mazda 6 is another option I've been looking at, unfortunately, everyone within a reasonable distance has mega miles on it.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

4 grand for a mk1 mx-5? Have you gone mad lol

Everything's more expensive over here :/ A NB MX-5 is around NZD10k-15k LOL

sharky i love youre avatar

Out of interest, which one are you going to look at?

The Mazda 6, Ford Mondeo and the Rover 75 / MG ZT seem the best options. I don't know about you, but I've always liked the Subaru Impreza. Not too sure about the insurance though .

2003 SUBARU IMPREZA 2.0 GX SPORT AWD 5DR

2001 SUBARU IMPREZA 2.0 WRX 4WD 5dr Sportwagon

If ur spending that sort of money then you can choose almost any car, U dont want to get a Rover or Rover in drag...

There are going to be lots of armchair heros suggesting what to buy/what not to buy which is basically useless, unless they suggest something you've not thought of.

What you really need is useable info about the cars you like from someone who has one. Running costs, problems, insurance that kind of thing.

Posting a Subaru is nice but I know for a fact they are not cheap to run and don't get great MPG.

Quote from danowat :

Sorry fellas, I know, ANOTHER what car thread.

Long story short, my 307 is fecked, gonna cost £600-£800 to get running properly again, showing "Anti pollution fault" error on the MFD and is seriously lacking in power, struggles to get over 30mph, apparently its due to a "FAP" filter, and some sort of cerium (?) fluid refill (£30 a litre!!!).

I have £4000, and could do with buying a car this weekend, ideally I want a 4 door saloon/hatch, something a bit "different" and reliable.

I have found, within budget, a 2002 Lexus IS200 with 85'000 miles, or a 2004 Alfa Romeo 156 1.9JTD with 90'000 miles on it.

So the choice is between those two, or anything else than can be suggested, I'd prefer not to get a BMW or Audi .

I have a 156 JTS and well.... it's an Alfa. Door buttons get stuck and fly open and all the stuff you'd expect from Alfas. Some days it works happy and then he next it it's whiny and squeaky. If you want reliability don't get an Alfa. Alfas are for people who love cars and can deal with the 'temperament', which you may be. Long journeys can be nerve racking

I do chuckle at Toyota doing all these recalls when Alfas are 10x worse

To Dan - If you just went to Harlow and bought the grey ZT there I will literally come up to Norfolk and kick your head in.

Well, I went and test drove a grey ZT, it was perfect, and I would have bit his hand off if it weren't for one thing..........it was an Auto

Quote from danowat :

Well, I went and test drove a grey ZT, it was perfect, and I would have bit his hand off if it weren't for one thing..........it was an Auto

Thank **** for that.

I had my eye on the Harlow one, paid for an inspection for tomorrow - I call at 2PM to check its still there - yep. The deadline to cancel the £180 inspection is at 3PM and I get a call at 5PM telling me the cars sold.

So thats £180 down the drain and no nice car for me. Great.

Nightmare, did that one have 114'000 miles on it?

Indeed, t'was this one (or how it actually looked)

*SHAMELESS PLUG*

Renault Lagunas ever taken a shine to you Dan? My Brother is selling his at the moment. He bought it with a blown Intercooler and a few other niggly bits. He has replaced anything it needed, and it really is a lovely car. Don't let the Mileage put you off either, it drives like new. My whole family, including him and myself are in the Motor Trade, so you can take my word that this is a good example. The only down points are two clips on the interior are broken, which stop the huge panel that covers the radio from coming down, and the bottom ashtray wont shut. He unfortunately cannot find any replacements though.

Apart from that! A really tidy example! PM if you are interested and have anymore questions.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1516484.htm

Did look at Laguna's, but the seemingly very common mechnical problems put me off.

Quote from danowat :

Did look at Laguna's, but the seemingly very common mechnical problems put me off.

It wasn't the driveshaft problem you were talking about was it?

My mate had that happen twice, once in the middle of newmarket high street, then about 3 months later the other side went, luckily this time it was outside my house.

Both times it was all for the sake of a 50 pence part, a circlip, clip breaks that holds the CV to the shaft and the shaft spins at the gearbox end but not at the wheel end, and because diffs give drive to the wheel with the least resistance (which seems retarded to me but there must be a good reason for it) you cannot move!

Brought a car this afternoon.

2006 Mazda 6 TS2 diesel, it has the 147bhp engine which swung it, 6 speed box, climate, TC, cruise, 6 disc changer all the normal trinkets, quite high mileage at 80K, but it has one owner, all the service history, reciepts etc, so its been well looked after.

Paid a bit more than I wanted to at £5350, but it was a good deal

weve just bought a vauxhall vectra c for £4700 for one with the 1.9 16v diesel in it but you could get one for around £4000 and they will happily do well in excess of 100,000 miles the 1.9 cdti is great there are 2 versions 120 bhp 8v and 150 bhp 16v the 150 we have is nice and quick and good on fuel and both can be remapped pr have a tuning box attached bringing the 120 to about 150 and the 150 to 200+ and you also get a third more torque.


edit: lol my typing is a bit slow, started before the last post lol

Congrats on buying your car Dan! Mazda 6's are very nice cars. I've not driven a diesel model yet though, only a 1.8 Petrol and the 2.3 MPS Turbo (Bloomin fast car for such a subtle looking thing!). I hope the car serves you well.

why are brits so against auto trannies? a manual transmission doesn't make a boring mazda sedan any cooler or better performing. i get the impression you're all against smoothness and feel like "real drivers" when you're jerking around from gear to gear.

It's just preference.

The same way that pretty much all red blooded Americans like huge V8 muscle cars, where as us Europeans prefer cars that are more economical, yet can destroy muscle cars not only in the corners, but in a straight line too.

yeah mazdas, civics and 1.9l alfas will obliterate camaros and mustangs every time...lol

Because it does make a "boring sedan" perform better, costs less to run, costs less to buy, returns better economy, weigh less and gives you more control.

My gear changes are very sooth, and I appreciate the extra control I get - by being able to chose what gear to be in I can make my driving smoother than a lumbering auto box.





Plus I just enjoy changing gear.

i guess i just dont see the benefit. I get pissed after a while when driving a low powered manual tranny car in a parking garage or in heavy traffic. I like being able to drive 1 mph without the weird 'surging' feeling of a manual.

You only get a "surging" if you cant drive smoothly or the car is shagged...

Manuals are less effort to drive in traffic at constant 60mph too where you just ease off slightly when things get slow instead of having to brake at every change of situation i.e. on my 30 mile journey to work id maybe have to touch my brakes 10 times from house to work, An auto would be on the brakes all the time at every change in hill angle or slightly slower traffic, Almost giving the car behind an epileptic fit with th amount of brake light flashing going on.... Also with a manual you "drive" the car properly instead of just opening the throttle n holding on to some glorified 4 wheel scooter.....