OK little scenario ... you have roughly around £7- £8000 to buy a car with... you are looking at something second hand rather than brand new.
There are some 'necessities' in mind:

1. You want something newer than a 01 plate
2. You dont want something thats 'hot hatch' or likely to have been screwed senseless by its previous owner ( in a vehicle sense you pervs lol)
3. You want something of a nice standard with full electrics and all the usual posh gadgetry but you dont want something thats going to get you labelled as a tosser.
4. Its gotta have 4 doors, you've got golf stuff and a dog and 3 kids.


What would you buy?

In no particular order:

Ford Focus
Peugeot 307
Renault Megane (a nice mark 1 or a basic mark 2)
Toyota Yaris
Volvo S40 (or if poss with your connections ) V40

dont like focus
megane.. hmmm so/so actually prefer the clio for some bizarre reason lmao
v40 ... yes indeedy muchos car for cost
Yaris.. I lurve the yaris but getting 5 door ones are impossible around here
a pug.. hmmm if I'm looking at little cars the the 206 is a poss

but then theres that bargain alfa 156 to consider... Its booked at what mines worth on a trade buy so I'd try and blag a straight swap lmao!

but the depreciation

yeah I know.. its a bummer! Thats why this one seems so cheap, mind I suppose all cars depreciate and I dont really keep them long ( 2 years max)

oooh for £11k I can have an x type ( someone wake me up.. I'm supposed to be thinking cheap and cheerful lmao)

There's always the Alfa 166 but, as Nomi said, depreciation on one of those is very alarming.

If you're worried about it getting vandalised you don't want owt flash anyhow, Renaults are incredibly well specced up as standard and their repair / servicing costs are not silly either. Having had about 6 clios in my family I feel safe to comment that they aren't the most roomy of cars, that's why I said megane.

hinm indoors has just on phone.. a dealer mate of his has just bought a fleet of 54plate Mazda 2 series ( tst model or something).. he's willing to let me have my pick at £6100 .

I've shown the kids pics of the clio and the 206 and they do prefer the 206 but the clio seems cheaper second hand... It takes a lot for me to swallow my vanity and go for something less flashier than normal but I'm sick and tired of the expense and the image tag that comes with owning a BMW lmao!!

Don't get a ford focus, we've got one at the moment
Peugeot..ours was noisy.
Can't comment on the others

cheers kay.. nah I wont touch fords... I've had them in the past with bad experiences, its purely a personal dislike and nothing against fords themselves

The 206's are as common as muck....what about one of the newer model Citroens ? I don't know much about them but they look nice.
Love Lynda XX.

Or a SEAT Ibiza ??
Love Lynda XX.

The focus is great to drive but very boring, the 206 has a slight problem with the engine suddenly cutting out whenever it feels like it - so I would avoid them.

The good thing about an Alfa is you will get a 5 year old one (if not newer) dirt cheap - but you do have to consider all those Italian electronics and you will probably be able to watch it oxidising

'98 Primera

hehe Lynda.. I want a car thats as common as muck.. afterall the beamer is lmao!!

MF : i aint touching anything thats older than what I already have and thats 2000


I've got a valuation for my car this morning given its mileage and condition and for the state its in the below average trade in price is £4,900 and thats taking into account the 145,000 miles and the bodywork scuffs ( thanks vandals ya bastards!!) ... I'm looking at 3 04 206's today ... apparently the later models dont have the 'issue' the older models have and they got 4/5 in the used car guide we use at work. One of these 04 206's is £6400 , tis a pretty basic model but I dont want anything fancy anymore ( flash cars here are vandal magnets) .. so I figured... they give me at least £4600 for mine ( it does need respraying lol) and I'll stick the £1800 on my credit card and demand 12 months tax and a full tank of petrol in it ... hmmmmm naaah I want full worth for mine AND the tax and petrol anyway lol.. they need to get rid of these 04's before the 05's come in shortly.

my logic sucks... I know


ps Stranger ... cheers for the pm info.. I dont want to get a loan or finance so I cant stretch to the modus ( nice though!!).. I've got £3k spare on one of my credit cards I can use as the rest of the payment towards a car... I got a 53plate mazda2 ( with some fancy lettering or something after it) to look at for £6200

A deal has been done

I'll reveal the car when I have it 'in hand' with some dodgy phone cam pics .. but there'll probably be some groans from the fellas lmao!!

You didn't get a Vitara did you

roflmao nope.. but do not fear.. you'll have still groan and there'll be some of these fellas posted -> :rolleyes:

Actually i've just found out the car I was buying is actually an import so I need to check and double check all the implications before I commit... but the guy who is desperate for my bmw can get me one thats not imported but the price has got to be right

so its not back to the drawing board just yet.. mores a case of sitting tight but the import is mine if I want it ( I just need to check with the original dealers that it is full UK spec)

The suspense is killing me, will you tell us if we guess?

Ford Ka convertable? Suzuki Jimny?

Suzuki Lliana?

right ok.... but I dont want to be counting my chickens before they hatch coz I dont have a car in hand right now.

I'm having problems with this import car... my insurance ( being trade insurance) is advising against buying the import car. The guy who sold us the bmw really wants to buy it back and is pulling out all the stops to get me a non import car at my budget.. apparently his son has just passed his driving test and he thinks it'll be a great first car for him ( too much money to burn lol.. mind you he has just spent £300k on a fleet on freelanders to sell on)

I'll find a picture of what I'm waiting for and you can all groan, call me a hairdresser and tell me I'm bloody stupid to consider it ( i cant help it, I've fallen in love with them heheheheh)

Hairdresser

yeah i know.. bollocks to it.. coming back with problems on our trade insurance for it so.... the next 'wanted' car is a VW Golf ... so I'm off to harass all local dealers and traders about them instead :rolleyes:

You're a woman so the 206 CC would've been ok for you.

Golf is a better bet though so good luck with finding what you want within your budget.

I'll pm ya and tell ya what I've got but its not going to be in hand for another 2-3 weeks

Sorry, but it would never do for me....not in THAT colour !!!! Go for a nice Golf.....I don't see many of them in silver !!
Love Lynda XX.

tell us then

lol I havent got it yet Nomistrek... as soon as I have the car I'll take a pic and post it... its going to be the beginning of next month before I have the car in hand

Fingers crossed its something German

You can buy my 1988 Mazda 626 for a very tidy sum of $100, thats about 40 Pounds. It has electric windows, A/C (doesn't work), its white with a poo brown tint from the dirt roads, and has only 235,000Km on the clock. Never had any problems with it, except for some new brake hoses and a left wheel bearing, and a new steering rack, and muffler, and the current muffler has been welded up twice. Oh, and I put the steering rack on wrong the steering wheel is at the wrong angle. For an extra 5 Pounds I can throw in the additional sound system featuring a spare broken old car stereo (tape only), and one that goes (sometimes) and two of the four speakers feature a relaxing crackling sound due to excessive volume levels for the last 150,000Km.

Car comes with two bottles of steering fluid, from when the rack leaked, half a litre of motor oil, and a spare oil filter. It also features a free spare wheel brace from which I don't know where I got it from.

This car is completely road legal and is registered, and has a current NZ warrant of fitness. This great package could be yours for just 40P!!

Or you could by my bike?!

Are you suggesting my car is slower than your pushbike????? It is not slower, but it is less sturdy.

Having said that, I've gotten out of a few binds in that car, especially on the gravel. I wouldn't trade it for your rusty rimmed bike.

my bike isnt rusty... Its more stable than your car at 10 kmh

My car is proven. I bet your bike hasn't done 235,000 Km!!!

Also, it is rusty on the rims. my car has rust, but that adds character.

no rust on the rims anymore, sanded and sealed and new rear rim, My bike has taken many knocks and falls and is still going

Well my cars never been in an accident in my hands so there!

Thats clever of you but my bike is a freestyle BMX, designed to take knocks and be punished at the hands of skilled stunt riders (im not one of them). But your car would full apart like 15th century ceramics dropped on concrete.

Just don't lean on your car

arghh i havent got it yet but the fleet is supposedly due to arrive at my sellers compound around the 28th give or take a few days.

Hopefully I wont jinx myself by announcing what it is ( I told stranger I didnt dare incase something went wrong but what the hell eh)

ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaah .. it is an 04 VW Golf se 1.9tdi ( basically a diesel golf lol) and heres a pic of one like it

Not a deseasel!!! I guess with the current gas prices I can't blame you too much.

Golf's are cool, My Gf has one and my step mum too. I call them golf clubs, cos they look like a wedge.

Hey if it wasn't safe, I wouldn't drive it.

Your BMX has a max speed of what?? 5km/h?? Mine does 160 so there.

nah nothing really to do with the fuel prices as diesel here is actually the same price or slightly more expensive than petrol at a lot of forecourts now.... Its a business deal car rather than a car of choice, well the make is of choice but I would have preferred petrol, all the same but at the price I'm getting it at, I cant really complain.
My dad has a 53 diesel golf, he uses for work and its lovely to drive or be driven in .. anyway I just wanted an everyday car.. a normal car that normal working class people with two kids, a huge overdraft and an incontinent old mutt own. The BMW was nice but it really gives off a 'tosser' image to other people and thats really sad.

Diesel rules, the vehicle I just got for Mrs S is a diesel and it is much much better than the petrol equivalent.

Smoother, faster, more economical, better acceleration I'm deffo getting myself a diesel next time I change.

Your new motor *touches wood* looks superb Christie and so much better than a BMW

Wow I can't believe diesel is the same as petrol there!!

Here its about 65c/L for diesel and 118c/L for petrol, but you do have to buy road user miles for a deasel and keep a log book. ( throw back from the days when only truck drivers and farmers were the only ones who bought diesel)

Anyway, I don't like Deseasles. Despite car manufacturer companies making them more powerful lately, they are still mostly slow old buckets of shit, that pour dirty black smoke everywhere. A finely tuned one I don't mind so much, but I prefer petrol. On the whole its cleanerand its more powerful.

heheheh Scream ... thats the same kind of opinon I had on diesels until I actually drove some recent ones .. my dads work car is diesel and its so quiet you would think it was petrol and to be honest, it can shift a fair bit too, i've been in the car when he's been near rimming a sports cars arse in the fast lane of the motorway with plenty of 'pull' still once they've finally moved over.

I guess I don't like the fact that they are inneficient. I mean, take the same engine specs and hardware etc, but make it petrol powered and it will be slightly more powerful on the bottom end, and hugely more powerful on the top end.

It takes a lot of extra electronics and larger throttle bodies to make deasels go faster, which I think is stupid. Whats the point??
But thats just my biased opinion. I don't like them.

heheh the good thing about an opinon is theres no such thing as a right or wrong one hun
everyone is entitled to their own and their own is all that matters

I'm not bothered about power anymore.. I have owned gti's, si's, xr's, rs's etc etc and they didnt impress me or they were stolen from me ... I just want something boring and basic now, something everyone else owns

I want a McLaren Mercedes SLR. I saw it on Top gear. 5.8L supercharged V8. Sounds like "the god of thunder" Faster around TG's test track than the Merciegalo and Zonda.

Anyone got a second hand one??

heheh nah but I wouldnt mind one if I ever had the money!!!

Diesel is cheaper at the petrol stations but you have to buy diesel KM's in order to drive it, so it works out in the long run to be about the same

Sounds alot like my wheels