£7000 and one car to rule them all - what to buy?

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Comments

  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,808
    drlodge wrote:
    In my case, the car in front might be a Toyota, but the car behind him is a Lexus :-)
    It's always good to have a bit of what the Germans call 'Überholt prestige'.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,808
    Rolf F wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    trek_dan wrote:
    Buy a cheap car for commuting and get a future classic like a 205 GTI or Escort RST for fun.

    I say this for 2 reasons;
    1. All modern cars are boring
    2. You'll have an appreciating asset rather than a depreciating one
    1 - There are quite a few interesting ones I reckon. Maybe not ones that the OP can afford though.
    2 - Some have already appreciated. Take your 205 GTI example:
    https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/87/205+gti/

    205 Gti (and any classic Ford for that matter) is a bad example. A very obvious (and predictable) choice; everyone wants them. But look at the prices for Peugeot 309 GTi's. Rated as better cars (particularly in the handling department) by the Peugeot crowd they cost a fraction of the money of the 205.

    Those generally all in budget (though a lot rarer than 205s) - and many similar less known cars. You just have to avoid the stuff that everybody else wants because they read about them in an issue of Top Gear magazine in the dentists.
    Have a look here:
    https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk

    Probably should have hung into my 205GTI - cracking little car.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • mr_goo
    mr_goo Posts: 3,770
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Mr Goo wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    As long as you can afford it, always go with the heart.
    Life is too short.
    Nope!
    Couple of years ago did that and went for an Alfa Giulietta. Lovely car but a more trouble than it was worth.
    Get a Volvo estate.
    I wonder how many people on their deathbed have had the thought, "I'm glad I bought that nice sensible Volvo"? About the same number as have thought "Alfas are reliable". :lol:
    My Alfa was more reliable than the Audi I had in spite of having done over double the mileage. Audi was dull as ditchwater, uncomfortable and not particularly reliable. I hated that car. The fast ones may be fun but the standard ones have nothing to recommend them.
    Reliability is a matter of luck, both cars had Bosch engine management so the same could have happened to either.
    Now got a Ford Smax in turbo petrol form, goes better than it looks and is comfortable but hardly exciting. If you want a fun car don't buy a diesel. If you don't do a lot of miles don't buy a diesel.
    Rolf makes a good point about not buying the obvious cars.

    A very important factor that. If you're just doing local town driving and pottering about then steer well clear of diesel. I was told by a mechanic that modern diesels require quite a bit of juice to get them started. So constant short journeys depletes the battery as it doesn't get enough of a run to recharge. Plus the problematical DPF that has to be cleared out if car doesn't do long journeys.

    Petrol/Hybrid/Electric +1
    Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    We have 2 cars, a long distance load lugger - diesel - and a petrol thing. Once tech produces a good EAV we'll get rid of the fossil burners pronto. I'll miss driving like I'd miss banging my head on a wall.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    Surely stuff like a 205GTi is more suited to a time when we were all young enough and there were fewer speed cameras that we wanted to drive like idiots?

    A Volvo estate - comfy seats, enough space to carry whatever, enough power to go as fast as you are allowed - is just the thing. Who wants to drive something that screams mid life crisis ?
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,120
    Do what I did. Second hand one year old Kia Cee'd. 6 years left on the warranty. Dull but okay. Now 8 years old and only just had first big bill.
    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,120
    trek_dan wrote:
    Buy a cheap car for commuting and get a future classic like a 205 GTI

    The 205 GTI already is a classic. But I couldn't find a decent one when I wanted one back in the mid 90s, so good luck now! Instead I bought a mark 2 Golt GTI. Absolutely bobbins, unreliable heap.

    Ford Puma, 1.7, watch for rear arch rust. Guaranteed future classic. Wish I had never sold mine.
    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    SecretSam wrote:
    trek_dan wrote:
    Buy a cheap car for commuting and get a future classic like a 205 GTI

    The 205 GTI already is a classic. But I couldn't find a decent one when I wanted one back in the mid 90s, so good luck now! Instead I bought a mark 2 Golt GTI. Absolutely bobbins, unreliable heap.

    Ford Puma, 1.7, watch for rear arch rust. Guaranteed future classic. Wish I had never sold mine.

    Well rescued - you and DeVlaeminck were turning this thread into Sanatogen corner.

    I like my 1985 Saab 900 Turbo. No need for any other car. Safe, reliable, a hoot to drive (lagtastic), loads of boot space for bike etc, cooler than a Kia and if it wasn't the 8 valve version not too atrocious on fuel (but it is so it isn't).

    But that's shot up in value though you can still get respectable ones for £7k
    Faster than a tent.......
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    Volvo 240 Estate, lovely car, not as nice as the Peugeot 505 7 seater though.

    The only GTi I ever had was a Citroen BX 16v, just googled it and apparently they are seen as something of a cult classic now but it was never anywhere near as exciting to drive as my Mini 1275GT or 1990 Cooper.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • mr_goo
    mr_goo Posts: 3,770
    Glad to see my suggestion of an old Swedish tug boat has met with some approval. Think of it, you can even pretend to be a grizzled old Swedish detective and get away with being a miserable git.

    Another thought is a Land Rover 90 or 110. If you can get one for £7k. It never dates. Parts available forever. The more decrepit it looks the better. What's not to like ?.......... Probably the road tax is a killer.
    Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,866
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Volvo 240 Estate, lovely car.
    A friend of mine is a teacher and had one, the schoolkids said it looked like a narrow boat.
    I learnt to drive in one of them as that's what my mother had at the time. Hooning around in one of them with all of your mates in the back was kind of fun. Would I want one now? Hell no!
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • 1986sv
    1986sv Posts: 83
    https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201809250866457?model=S4%20AVANT&make=AUDI&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=se11ee&price-to=7000&sort=sponsored&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1

    Spend the rest on Petrol
  • Maglia_Rosa
    Maglia_Rosa Posts: 72
    21.1mpg. Nice.
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    It's all very well donning the rose-tinted specs and yearning for the stuff of yore like the 205 and Golf GTI but unfortunately if you compare them to more recent motors, even unpretentious ones, they no longer cut it. Nor do they have safety features that keep people alive.

    By all means buy one to look at but keep it off the road and don't shatter your own illusions.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    Robert88 wrote:
    It's all very well donning the rose-tinted specs and yearning for the stuff of yore like the 205 and Golf GTI but unfortunately if you compare them to more recent motors, even unpretentious ones, they no longer cut it. Nor do they have safety features that keep people alive.

    By all means buy one to look at but keep it off the road and don't shatter your own illusions.


    And they said I was a spokesman for the Sanatogen generation!
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,485
    If ever a thread highlighted the all encompassing banality and boredom of life in the future then this is it. A Volvo estate FFS? My Dad had one so I am familiar with the concept. I'm glad to have lived a life instead.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 12,035
    I've just sold a Volvo V70 T5, been in our family for over 13 years, and 100,000 largely trouble free miles.
    Had it converted to LPG when we wer gifted it, which made it affordable, loads of space, luxuries galore, and a great cruiser down through europe, cracking solid, well built and fast vehicle.
    Still on the original exhaust, at 17 years of age.
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    The only GTi I ever had was a Citroen BX 16v, just googled it and apparently they are seen as something of a cult classic now but it was never anywhere near as exciting to drive as my Mini 1275GT or 1990 Cooper.

    I have one in the garage, currently off the road, hoping (if I can get a new job paying a touch more) to fund it's restoration next year, or more likely the year after - have owned it since 1998. 4500rpm is where all the magic starts.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Robert88 wrote:
    It's all very well donning the rose-tinted specs and yearning for the stuff of yore like the 205 and Golf GTI but unfortunately if you compare them to more recent motors, even unpretentious ones, they no longer cut it. Nor do they have safety features that keep people alive.

    By all means buy one to look at but keep it off the road and don't shatter your own illusions.

    You need to take off your rose-tinted specs re modern cars. I've driven them. Big, heavy, overly complicated lumpen things. Fine as transport if your favourite colour is beige but that's about it. Modern cars just don't cut it.

    Mk1 Focus's are nice though.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,808
    edited October 2018
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Surely stuff like a 205GTi is more suited to a time when we were all young enough and there were fewer speed cameras that we wanted to drive like idiots?

    A Volvo estate - comfy seats, enough space to carry whatever, enough power to go as fast as you are allowed - is just the thing. Who wants to drive something that screams mid life crisis ?
    Not from my point of view - my 1.9GTI only had 130bhp but it was great fun without going license-losing fast. When I wanted to drive like like I stole it, I took it on a track day.

    But yep, we move on and it wouldn't be a car for me now.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,120
    Rolf F wrote:

    Ford Puma, 1.7, watch for rear arch rust. Guaranteed future classic. Wish I had never sold mine.

    Well rescued - you and DeVlaeminck were turning this thread into Sanatogen corner.

    Saab...cooler than a Kia[/quote]

    Pfft. My black Kia has one silver wing mirror. Out cool that! :D
    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    PBlakeney wrote:
    If ever a thread highlighted the all encompassing banality and boredom of life in the future then this is it. A Volvo estate FFS? My Dad had one so I am familiar with the concept. I'm glad to have lived a life instead.


    Exactly your dad had one, a mature man, the fact it's an estate says you are capable of getting a woman to marry you, have kids and enough money for dogs and a decent sized garden.

    What would you drive?
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Robert88 wrote:
    It's all very well donning the rose-tinted specs and yearning for the stuff of yore like the 205 and Golf GTI but unfortunately if you compare them to more recent motors, even unpretentious ones, they no longer cut it. Nor do they have safety features that keep people alive.

    By all means buy one to look at but keep it off the road and don't shatter your own illusions.


    And they said I was a spokesman for the Sanatogen generation!

    Not at all, it's the sanatogen (had to google it!) generation that have this idea that the cars of their yoof are so wonderful! Sure it's fascinating to look at what people used to drive years ago but today? No way! You'll be having me watch Last of the Summer Wine soon.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    If ever a thread highlighted the all encompassing banality and boredom of life in the future then this is it. A Volvo estate FFS? My Dad had one so I am familiar with the concept. I'm glad to have lived a life instead.


    Exactly your dad had one, a mature man, the fact it's an estate says you are capable of getting a woman to marry you, have kids and enough money for dogs and a decent sized garden.

    What would you drive?

    And never mind this.... (cool things are Volvo estates).

    850R111.jpg
    Robert88 wrote:
    Not at all, it's the sanatogen (had to google it!) generation that have this idea that the cars of their yoof are so wonderful! Sure it's fascinating to look at what people used to drive years ago but today? No way! You'll be having me watch Last of the Summer Wine soon.

    What thrilling object gets you all excited then automotively?
    Faster than a tent.......
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,485
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    If ever a thread highlighted the all encompassing banality and boredom of life in the future then this is it. A Volvo estate FFS? My Dad had one so I am familiar with the concept. I'm glad to have lived a life instead.


    Exactly your dad had one, a mature man, the fact it's an estate says you are capable of getting a woman to marry you, have kids and enough money for dogs and a decent sized garden.

    What would you drive?
    #notavolvo
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • mouth
    mouth Posts: 1,195
    1986sv wrote:
    https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201809250866457?model=S4%20AVANT&make=AUDI&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=se11ee&price-to=7000&sort=sponsored&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1

    Spend the rest on Petrol

    Save for the running costs, I reckon id have one of these next
    The only disability in life is a poor attitude.
  • kingdav
    kingdav Posts: 417
    All that marketing to cyclists and you'd think we'd all be in skodas
  • kingdav
    kingdav Posts: 417
    I suppose I should have said, I have a 2004 e-class estate 3.2 v6 petrol. Cost me about £3.5k 3 years ago. Very versatile, fast, comfy, 7 seats, swallows bikes whole. A £7k e-class estate is probably pretty nice.

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