Any good ideas for a car?

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Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Stew »

Hi chaps.
It's general chit-chat here, so forgive me for this, but I need a fresh car, and what do I have to lose by asking the forumites for advice?
I currently have a Mk5 Golf GT TDI, 04 reg, 114,000 miles, (I've put 80,000 on it and Dad had it from new, then sold it to me) and it's well past it's best now. I'd probably get about ยฃ500 in trade-in. (no way am I messing about with a private sale with a load of tyre kickers). The bodywork is becoming very shabby, very fast. It needs a cam belt, probably a clutch shortly, and it's on it's original exhaust!
So I'd have to spend waaay more than it's worth just getting it through another year.

I have a budget of between ยฃ5 and 6K for a replacement car. It would have to be a bank loan/tick as I've just shelled out 6 grand cash on a lovely little low mileage Skoda Fabia for my partner. (she loves it).

I have a 60 mile round-trip commute 5 days a week for work, (Busy A roads and dual carriageway) and odd little journeys on a weekend. The occasional trip to Old Warden, Barkston, Ponty and so on. It's normally only me in the car (and some models lol) but I'm (imagine her voice here) 'Not allowed a 2 seater as I sometimes have to pick up/drop off the kids'... so re-visiting my twenties and the brilliant little MX5 I had in the 90's when Blair had dark hair and life was one long party is sadly, a no go.

Soooo. I'm thinking Petrol. Hatchback. Focus, Civic, Auris, etc. That sort of thing. Boringly practical, and sound, sensible motoring, early middle age chariot, But.... I feel I'm going to be literally bored to death. You know what I mean?
I'd love a useable classic, something that would be interesting, and put some smiles in my driving, even a really old thing like an Austin 7, Morris 8 etc, but it would not be as reliable as I need, not safe, and 300 miles a week in every type of UK weather would most certainly kill it (and me) in short order.

Any ideas? reccomendations? I swear to god I'd rather spend 6K on just about anything other than a bloody car, but this has to be done.

Sigh.

Stew.
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Shaun
Posts: 1049
Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 21:49
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Shaun »

Hi Stew,

A mate of mine has had a couple of Kia Sportage's

Great value good modelling car and you could get a reasonably low milage 2010 / 2011 model for well under 6k.

Cheers,

Shaun.
Pchristy
Posts: 413
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 13:57
Location: South Devon, UK

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Pchristy »

If you fancy a future classic, consider a SAAB 9000!

I bought my SAAB 9000 Aero 7 years ago now. It had around 160,000 miles on it when I bought it, and its now got 217,000 miles on it! Its a big, roomy and very comfortable hatch-back. It is fast enough to blow off smaller Porsches and any BMW short of an M-series, and yet - driven carefully - will return over 40 mpg!

It took four of us to Austria for the heli World Champs a couple of years back, loaded to the gunwhales, self-imposed limit of 100mph on the autobahns, and still averaged 35mpg!

The last time I brought it up to Ponty, it averaged 46mpg - and I was doing the speed limit whenever possible! Around hilly Devon (where I rarely get beyond 3rd gear) it averages around 33mpg. It is NOT boring and always puts a big smile on my face when I drive it! It doesn't burn any oil between services, everything still works as it should, and it drives like a new car.

I can get the Schluter HueyCobra in the back without de-rigging it, though there isn't much space left for anything else!

The best part? It cost me ยฃ1250!

Downsides: There are very few good ones left, and prices for good ones are rising. Many are rusty heaps! Don't go for a stock (non-turbo) car as they are thirstier and slower! The LPT (low pressure turbo) ones are good. The Aero is the top-of-the-line model, with a full-pressure turbo, fully loaded, and VERY quick!

And NO! I have no intention of selling mine! :D

--
Pete
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Shaun
Posts: 1049
Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 21:49
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Shaun »

Ey up Pete, I don't know which Porsche's you've been racing down south but from memory other than most pre 1970 models (356, 914, 911,912 which their owners rarely take out because like many classic car fans don't want the tyres to get dirty) and some early 924 & 944 models, all the others will spank your Turbo and see you in their rear view mirror. ๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿ˜†

Shaun
Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Stew »

I've had Saab's in the past and loved them, 99GL, 900 Turbo (Hooligan in sheeps clothing) and would certainly have a 9000, if I could get a 'good un'
Kia Sportages, I've plenty of experience of the older ones, but not the newer ones. I worked at a dealer that had a Kia franchise in the 90's and I got sent down to their HQ in Tonbridge Wells just as they were ironing out the 'coming into the UK' issues with the Sportage. The only car Kia had in the UK at that time was a re-badged Mazda. The custmers seemed to love the Sportage, but that was a long time ago. I'll certainly look at a newer one.
I remember driving a 911 once and oddly it just felt like a giant had sat on a quicker, smoother version of my old 1600GT Beetle. (And with the same amount of rot too lol). Ooops, sorry, it Porsche, it's not 'rot', it's corrosion dahling! :D
Oooo I can feel the used vehicle minefield opening up in front of me. :roll:
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Shaun
Posts: 1049
Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 21:49
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Shaun »

The rusty 911 must have been and old nail Stew. Since 1975 they hot dip galvanized the shells.

Corrosion, they laugh at it after then. ๐Ÿ˜œ

No Porsche or Drone racism on here please . ๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿ˜†

Shaun.
Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Stew »

Oh it was a nail Shaun. My boss bought it, it was LHD, as he was into rallying and his new rally car was going to be LHD. So he bought an old 911 to get used to sitting on the other side in something with a bit of oomph.
We all borrowed it and hooned the living s**t out of it. Poor thing. It's probably still out there somewhere covered in tyre shine and full of Isopon. (like my beetle) :D
Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Stew »

I would dearly love a Porsche but I got flat 6's out of my system in the years following my PPL, (and most of my money). :roll: So any Porsche dreams died. I ended up in the Mazda MX5 from a few posts ago, and it was great fun. Although even they are rot boxes now if you don't buy carefully.
We have a dedicated drone team at work now (Fire Brigade) and since I'm equipment maintenance Foreman, my guess is that once the 'full house' maintenance service comes to an end, yours truly will be fixing them, so I'd better keep up with the drone technology for work purposes, even though I'll probably never fly one.

Stew.
GeeW
Posts: 91
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 19:45

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by GeeW »

Skoda Fabia, petrol 1.2. Cracking little car. On a run, fuel consumption is in the mid 50s/gal. Throw the kids out, knock the rear seats down and a decent amount of space for a fair collection of models.

Gordon
Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Re: Any good ideas for a car?

Post by Stew »

Re the Skoda, my parents have just bought one, Fabia (1.2 I think), brand new, they're chuffed to bits with it.
My partner's 16 reg 3 cyl Fabia 1.0 is a bit lacking in oomph, obviously, but a lovely little car. I like driving it. It replaces an 04 Fabia 3 cyl diesel that did 150,000 faultless miles in it's stride.
They feel a little small after the Golf, but I would get used to it. It's certainly one to consider.

Stew.
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