Some of you will know I recently got a new job, got a new car and it was written off (within 15 hours of buying it) and now have another new car. Anyway, I just got my first paycheque in and I now have delusions of grandeur about buying a car at some point in the future (about 6 months). My current car (52 plate Peugeot 106 1.1 3d Independence with ~29k miles (no laughing you at the back! )) should sell for around about £2000 in 6 months time and I'm hoping to save at least 750 per month until then so I should have at least £6k in 6 months time. I've been putting some thought into what I'd like to get lately and I have a shortlist of a few.

Lancia Delta Integrale
Toyota Celica GT Four
Old (-ish) Porsche 928

I did a quick insurance quote check on an Integrale HF and it wasn't too bad (about £1300 a year with no no claims bonus for me only (22 year old male)). Servicing costs/maintenance costs would probably be the most paralysing thing though, rather than the insurance.

I've always been a hugely passionate car fan and have dreamt of the day when I could buy myself something I'd really enjoy driving and take pride in. I want it to be reliable enough to drive me to work every day without complaining (the Delta might not fit in with that), but great enough to keep me smiling on the way to and from work.

So, I guess the point of this topic is for an exchange of ideas and for you experienced guys to tell me how stupid I am for wanting to blow my cash on a stupid car when I should be saving

If your budgets 6k, then i think it would be abit of trouble finding a integrale for 6k, but im sure one could be found somewhere. The others 2 cars should be pretty easy to find for 6k or less in good enough. Have you thought about any other cars like some sports saloons or something? I think something like the old impreza, or maybe even a sierra sapphire cosworth would be a good practical car for you, and from experience (dad has a sierra cossy, and one of my brothers has an impreza) they are reliable cars, as long as dont be too rough with them.

Have a look at www.pistonheads.com for some great deals, they have some great cheap sports cars on there.

p.s, unless your in serious debt, then its good that your treating yourself on a sports car. You only live once mate, so dont be afraid to treat yourself

edit: i got you a link, i typed in a search, and it has cars priced from £6500 > £1000. Maybe you could have a look through here for some ideas? /me is drooling over the lotus sunbeam talbot :P

http://www.pistonheads.com/sal ... ax=6500&Submit=Search

From a quick search on Autotrader I saw 3 Deltas for quite a bit less than 6k and I'm sure with a little bit more searching I could find a good deal on one of them. I'm not much of a fan of Cosworths and I see too many Subarus out on the road these days, so they're not the cars for me. Good suggestions for other people though, they're probably pretty high on a lot of people's list...

edit: Just saw your PS there. Well, thanks to my parents being very supportive I don't have any student debts (that sounds like I was spoilt or we are rich, but that's far from the truth). I don't have any dependencies at the moment, so I'm free to blow my cash how I see fit. I've always been a big car fan so it only makes sense to splash out on something I want

TVR Chimaera

Quote from pb32000 :

TVR Chimaera

TVR Chimera + Scottish Winter weather == upside down in hedge. Good suggestion it's just not practical enough

Quote from amp88 :

Old (-ish) Porsche 928

Make sure you avoid one that's on its last legs, otherwise prepare for an enormous bill.

Mazda MX5?

What about an old-ish M3? They look and go (sound too) like the clappers. Would be brilliant fun, BMW too, reliable.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/248091.htm

Hmm, good point about the 928. I don't want to end up with a black hole to keep plugging money into. MX-5s are nice cars, but not for me. M3 is a good suggestion, it's definitely added to the shortlist

Quote from amp88 :

M3 is a good suggestion, it's definitely added to the shortlist

Also consider an E36, either an M3 or a smaller one, despite being less desirable than an E30 they still are still great to drive with lovely engines and are mechanically pretty tough, although they're not terribly luxurious. If you could find a high mileage example that has spent its life cruising down the motorway you could pick up a bargain driver's car that has never been driven hard, and you'll be more likely to find one of those if you look for non-coupe/sporting models.

For a porsche, what about a 944? Quite a good handling car and if you inspect the car before you buy it it should not be that expensive to keep either. Looks and sounds nice and doesn't drink too much gasoline either

I think if I was going for an M3 I'd try to get an E36 over the E30. I've always had more of a soft spot for the 36, although the 30 has more hardcore appeal I suppose.

I considered a 924/944 but dismissed it because I just don't feel that passionate about them. Ok, they're still Porsches, but they're Audi engined and I just don't think they live up to the Porsche I want. Hmmm, got me thinking about a 968 now

If I had 6K floating around me I'd seriously consider the E36 M3 but it does have its downers, one of them being part prices from the main dealer. Although its a solid and reliable car because it carries its infamous M badge its going to cost you a bomb when something goes wrong or needs fixing, my father is looking to order two new front shocks for his E34 M5 Touring and main dealer price is £840 + VAT a piece.

As for a Porsche well I've only ever been in one and it was an old 911 Targa and it was miserably dull and boring, I guess they've gotten quicker and improved over the years but I'm certain if you want something fun and pokey you'll need about 30K.

The Intergrale is a beautiful car too I find, I was close to buying one last summer but only the 1.6 HF Turbo. It was completely reconditioned and it had no rust but I was outbid on ebay And they're not known for reliability and I guess the 2.0 turbo's are getting rare.

One car Id recommend although It hurts to do so is the MX5, my mum has the 1.8 Eunos roadster and its such a wicked car to drive. Its no 320bhp powerhouse but it will out drive a lot of cars on the road *cough* Toybota Supra *cough*

I would aim for something not as old and exotic as some cars you have on your list because you can be 99% sure these cars ARE $$$ black holes. I speak out of experience ... I mean you get what you pay for. Surely you need to invest a lot of money in those cars if you want to keep them in good condition

If you are not a good mechanic i would stay away from them.

You can check some things with a test drive and listening to the engine (drive chain ... hydros etc) and look for oil in the cooling water and the other way round. You still wont find small cracks in the cylinder head or see how much oil and water it might eat with this if they just did a cooling flush and did wash the engine. How the engine looks inside and how long it will last ... You can do compression test if the owner is okay with it that will tell some things but still to be really sure you would have to take the whole engine apart.

To make a long story short ... old expensive car and engine goes bang or needs maintainance ... not good

For that kind of money you could get a nice Nissan 200SX (S14) from lets say 1997-1999 with just 70.000 km on the clock !!!

Well i would have bought one myself but the downside was here in germany the insurance for this car is insanely high and parts are also not cheap because its jap.

Again thats my view because i had some bad experiences you could of course be more lucky then me ...

i agree with ajs
those are all nice cars to own but if youre going to buy a 20 year old car especially a sporty one that has likely been driven hard make sure its not the only car you rely on

I think (as you seem to be leaning towards the Integrale) you've got to ask why people are asking upwards of £12K for theirs and what the difference is going to be to a £6K example of one.
A few have already covered the pitfalls - especially if it's relied on for your job then you could be asking for trouble, Lancia's were notorious for problems even when new.

Don't know if you've considered the Audi S3? Might not be as 'raw' as the Lancia but build quality and engine durability is massively better. With a good look round you may get one of the early ones inside your £6K.
I was very close to getting an S3 around 2 years back and decided to go with a Civic Type-R in the end - basically 2 year old Audi vs. brand new Civic and I went with the new car.

If you get a 928 in bad condition, as shotglass said... prepare for bills that will make you sell the car again. Same goes for the other transaxle models of porsche (924, 944, 968). They might be cheap, but the parts still come from porsche, and the price of them aswell...

The Lancia... amazingly beautiful car, but some of the worst when it comes to reliability. I'd stay far away from that.

Get the toyota, can't go wrong with japanese cars when it comes to reliability.

Quote from amp88 :

I considered a 924/944 but dismissed it because I just don't feel that passionate about them. Ok, they're still Porsches, but they're Audi engined and I just don't think they live up to the Porsche I want. Hmmm, got me thinking about a 968 now

It's not true. The first 924s were powered with an audi engine. The 924 S already had a porsche engine, and everything that came after that... 944 etc... had nothing to do anymore with audi. But many people still got this wrong.

And if you would have ever driven a 944 Turbo for example (i did own two of them), then you wouldn't say they don't "live up" to porsche. Those are great cars with a perfect weight balance and an awesome performance (turbos can be chipped to 300hp easily and stay reliable).

Thanks for the replies guys. Due to unforeseen circumstances I might soon be the owner of a reasonably decent car quicker (and more cheaply) than I'd first imagined. A friend of my brother is getting rid of his 1994 Volvo 850 T5. Ok, so it may not be an M3 or a Delta, but it should (emphasis on should) be reasonably reliable and provide me with some fun if I so desire. 225bhp, 0-60 in 7.5 and 150mph top speed with reasonable handling and comfort/equipment. The best part is that because it's coming from a family friend it'll be pretty cheap so if I can sell the 106 for roughly its market value (~£2000) I'll have some spare cash left over just incase something goes wrong. Insurance is only about £250 more per year than for the 106, despite the T5 being group 16.

So, anyone with experience or advice on T5s?

You won't regret that over an Integrale.

Well, you would until you came to pay for it's up keep. With a 'performance car' the purchase cost (the cheap bit) is buying it. It costs a LOT more to look after. It's a sad state of affairs, but a lot of people buy Italian cars (be they Ferraris, Lancias, Lamborghinis), use them for a couple of months, then have to sell at a huge loss because they can't afford to look after them (so the cars need a cambelt change, new tyres, engine service etc, and who would buy a car at 'market value' needing that work?).

Like I say, it's a shame, because an Integrale is one of the few non-boring 4WD Turbo cars around. Although the boy-racers are just about affording them now, and putting silly bodykits on them, and loud dumpvalves, all of which hurt Lancias image and Lancia prices.

Get the Volvo and enjoy it. It'll get you home come rain or shine.

Quote from amp88 :

Thanks for the replies guys. Due to unforeseen circumstances I might soon be the owner of a reasonably decent car quicker (and more cheaply) than I'd first imagined. A friend of my brother is getting rid of his 1994 Volvo 850 T5. Ok, so it may not be an M3 or a Delta, but it should (emphasis on should) be reasonably reliable and provide me with some fun if I so desire. 225bhp, 0-60 in 7.5 and 150mph top speed with reasonable handling and comfort/equipment. The best part is that because it's coming from a family friend it'll be pretty cheap so if I can sell the 106 for roughly its market value (~£2000) I'll have some spare cash left over just incase something goes wrong. Insurance is only about £250 more per year than for the 106, despite the T5 being group 16.

So, anyone with experience or advice on T5s?

Rapid, solid machines, make friends with your local tyre dealer

Quote from amp88 :

So, anyone with experience or advice on T5s?

I've sat in the back of one. But the nasty man with the pointy hat kept telling me i had been driving too fast and wanted money !. Does that count ?

Seriously though, only £250 more for a T5 insurance quote over a Pug106, for a 22yr old bloke !!. You got to give us the companies phone number dude.

As far as my Volvo history is concerned, i've had a 340 which was to be honest the worst car i've ever had, and ever driven !, but we managed to ditch it and got a V40 which, although it gauls me to say this, it was/has been the best car i've ever had. Very safe, very very reliable, and not too boxy either

Cool, thanks guys. The Volvo makes sense obviously but in my heart I'll still be thinking about something else. I'll hopefully get a test drive in it soon-ish so I'll see how it is then.

My current insurer is Admiral and the quote for the T5 is from them too. They have incredibly annoying adverts but I can't argue with their prices. Me as the policy holder (22 year old male, office worker, no no claims bonus, had license for 5 years, 1 crash that wasn't my fault and no driving convictions), my mum and dad as named drivers (50s, each held licenses for 15+ years, no convictions or claims in last 3 years). Annual mileage 10,000 miles, car kept on street with factory fitted security. 700 quid for 12 months fully comp cover including personal injury cover. 150 quid voluntary excess. Includes free courtesy car and unlimited windscreen cover.

edit: On the tyre front, I've read the stories about massive wheelspin (particularly in the wet) so I'll certainly keep my right foot in check on the test drive). It's the 4 speed automatic model, so I'd imagine wheelspin will be a bit less of a problem with the longer gears.

edit: Here's a video of a 0-220kph run, don't know if the car is standard but if it is I'm certainly in for some fun.

I don't know about you, but if i had the chance, I'd be thinking about a VW Corrado. http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/list.asp?s=177

I've always been a fan of Corrados since I read the Performance Car review of one back in the '90s but given this T5 opportunity has come up I think I should take it. In terms of value for money I don't think I'm going to find anything better and because the previous owner will be a family friend I know I'm not going to get left with a lemon.

Good to see you Taavi, I haven't been on DSR in ages. How's things going?