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 .

did you lol at the filter name "FAP" my auntie has a lexus is200 personally im not a freat fan there meant to be good how come you dont want a bmw i know audi's do decent mpg

Call me a car snob, but I just don't like the whole BMW / AUDI "aura"

Come to think of it, I may have made a freudian slip, I think its a PAF filter!!!!

i think a audi a4 2.7tdi or a6 2.7-3.2tdi would be great a6 is nearly always leather too and possibility of a dsg box

You have a bike, and use your 307 as a runaround to get to work, no?

If so - then the Alfas reliability (or at least it's constant demand for attention) might not be too good unless you have a car you can borrow. But saying that an IS200 base model gets 29 MPG so not such a good option either.

For £4k you could get an MG ZT CDTI with 65k miles here (Sudbury). Detuned BMW M47 engine, good for 200k miles, 50 MPG, 131 HP (more like 150 if your insurers would let you remap) and a lot of toys if you can excuse the odd image. Just don't go after the one in Harlow...

£4k could also get you a 72k mile Rover 75 CDTi with suspension set up for a more... relaxed drive. Same engine as the ZT tho, and a very very refined car if relaxed driving > sportiness. Linky (in Leicester, tho...)

EDIT - The above are both Diesels as you seem to love them - if you want something a little faster the high-end petrol models (75 2.5 V6 or the ZT 160 / 190) go for nothing as they drink fuel (25-30 MPG) but I doubt thats ideal for a commuter car.

Quote from danowat :

I'd prefer not to get a BMW or Audi .

Sorry for offtopic, but ... /me hugs danowat

Quote from danowat :

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'd not get either, in your situation; hate the Lexus and the Alfa isn't going to be reliable enough for your needs I don't think. Not familiar enough with your location car-wise, so I can't suggest anything else, though.

Quote from danowat :

Call me a car snob, but I just don't like the whole BMW / AUDI "aura"

Come to think of it, I may have made a freudian slip, I think its a PAF filter!!!!

FAP sounds right, it's pasted on the side of the 908, after all. Makes me giggle every time.

Quote from hazaky :

Sorry for offtopic, but ... /me hugs danowat

after skype last night comeon thats it its over between us you said i was the only one

Quote from brt900 :

after skype last night comeon thats it its over between us you said i was the only one

:sadbanana

We're goin a bit offtopic tho.

Yes, the Alfa's reliablity is a worry, and yes, the IS is a bit thirsty.

Just not sure I could go for an MG, What car don't give them a glowing writeup

Quote from danowat :

Just not sure I could go for an MG, What car don't give them a glowing writeup

Not quite sure what you mean?

Their criticsms are:

Boot is too small - it's really not. It's not overly wide (the ZT is narrower than a Focus) but it's is verrrry long.

Spring issues - in the cold the springs can snap, and go into the tyre causing a blow out - Rover knew it was an issue, designed a fix (part is £5!), put all the mounting holes on the car and then... ignored it. Very rare, tho, and only effects the car when pulling away.

1.8 - Head gasket failure if you dont keep an eye on coolant. This is true - but the 1.8 ZT is a bit meh and the diesel is a better bet. The better 160 / 190 dont really suffer this.

Clutch is expensive to fix on a lot of cars.

Suspension problems were when a batch went out with mis-aligned suspension - a recall went out to fix it.

You certainly do get a lot of car for your money, but they certainly don't appeal to most.

Would of made much, MUCH more sense to make the range RWD tho, but BMW didn't want any new competition...




What sort of traits are you looking for in the new car?

EDIT - What about a (warm) diesel Toledo...? Cheap, and reliable...

I'd always prefer a french or japanese car to any british or german brand. This might not fit your "bit different" style, but how about a 406 or something like that?
Wait...
One very special car is parked next to our 207 (hdi fag :-)) , it's a citroen c5! brilliantly shaped, very comfy, more reliable than any odd beemer.

greetz

der butz

Thats the K series petrol engined ones i would say that would get the bad reviews, the what car writeup was quite probably written to the background sound of 1000 head gaskets popping.

Quote :

Just don't go after the one in Harlow...

Oi! What's wrong with this nice corner of Essex?

Quote from TiJay :

Oi! What's wrong with this nice corner of Essex?

Nothing is wrong with it at all, thats the point... it will soon be mine (hopefully)

Accord Type-r?

Quote from danowat :

Just not sure I could go for an MG, What car don't give them a glowing writeup

Whilst we're on the MG note...

Definitely different (just under 1000 made). Maybe not best in terms of fuel and insurance though

Get the Alfa!
(from a man with an Alfa, loved it for 6 years and about to buy another Alfa)
The cars are great, it's just the dealerships caused most of the bad impressions for people. If you find a good dealership / independant garage then you're laughing.

Quote from JO53PHS :

Whilst we're on the MG note...

Definitely different (just under 1000 made). Maybe not best in terms of fuel and insurance though

Lovely car, but even ex-MG workers pan it as being fairly rushed. Doesn't really compete with any of the German super-saloons

maybe go for something completely buy a toyota and enjoy owning a car that will struggle to get below 30?

seriously though you already know you want that alfa

This.

4k to spend on something that's reliable, cheap to insure, cheap to run, will start first time even if it's been left out in the cold, rain and snow for weeks on end ?.
If it were my cash, i would start my search with a Ford Focus or a Honda Civic, if i wanted something a bit 'different' for 4k, a SAAB would be my first choice, then a Volvo S/V40.

Commodore unna.

just gotta be careful dere cuz coz dat head gasket go BANG, that cost like 10 cartons of VB unna!

Ok, I am going to look at one of either of those tomorrow, both in completely different directions, so its one or t'other.

Alfa

MG

Heart says Alfa, always wanted one, sensible head says MG....

Edit : according to Parkers, the MG is about £1000 overpriced?