Recommendations for sporty but practical car?

Marty McFly

Right here goes im looking to spend in around 20,000 euro on a car but i want something thats sporty and practical preferably a saloon style car. prob ina round the 2.0 litre mark any suggestion would be welcome.

Mr Benevolent

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

Right here goes im looking to spend in around 20,000 euro on a car but i want something thats sporty and practical preferably a saloon style car. prob ina round the 2.0 litre mark any suggestion would be welcome.

What were you driving before? Any manufacturer preferences? I'd go with a 320d. Remaps can really bring the power up.

Bluefoam

Alfa 159

tossy

Octavia vRS

Barr

SAAB 9-3 saloon , the 2.0T is a flyer.

stealthyspeeder

Mazda 6 MPS

Marty McFly

Confab wrote: »

What were you driving before? Any manufacturer preferences? I'd go with a 320d. Remaps can really bring the power up.

I was, am driving a 99 1.4 astra been a great car never had one bit of a problem with it, but i think its time for a major upgrade. As for manufacturer im open to most apart from alfas, and fiats been told there not the most reliable.

bazz26

Subaru Legacy:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200921192885818

Honda Accord:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200935195020624

Bluefoam

If you are concerned about the reliability of alfa's and fiats you should also steer clear of any french car and any VAG car which include vw, Audi etc...

Nuttzz

Alfa GT

dohc

S2000 sporty not very practical though

E39MSport

Bluefoam wrote: »

If you are concerned about the reliability of alfa's and fiats you should also steer clear of any french car and any VAG car which include vw, Audi etc...

First tim I've ever seen vag lumped with 'stay away' cars. I would put them high on the list for reliability purely from personal opinion. Perhaps some investigation might prove otherwise. What are your prefs?

Drummerboy08

Current generation VAG's are having alot of nightmare-ish reliability problems at the minute. In particular the 1.9TDi Passat and Golf.

smash

RX-8

stealthyspeeder

steve06 wrote: »

RX-8

Its certainly sporty (excellent handling and sounds amazing!), but practical? Maybe if you are studying oil top up's, want to spend more time at your local petrol station filling up, and dont have kids or you never need to transport anything, it could be kinda practical!:D

Drummerboy08

I know you suggested a 6 MPS Stealthy, but I think this could be a winner. Spend a few quid on it modding, and still have a few grand left in your pocket to maintain it.

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200926194444273

Beta Ray Bill

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

Right here goes im looking to spend in around 20,000 euro on a car but i want something thats sporty and practical preferably a saloon style car. prob ina round the 2.0 litre mark any suggestion would be welcome.

2.0L + Practical + Sport + €20,000 + Saloon = Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII

They are heavy on Juice though and need a service every 5000 miles

Beta Ray Bill

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

Mazda 6 MPS

Actually this is the winner.

Drummerboy08

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200839190082855



I take back the 3 MPS suggestion! :eek:

stealthyspeeder

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

I know you suggested a 6 MPS Stealthy, but I think this could be a winner. Spend a few quid on it modding, and still have a few grand left in your pocket to maintain it.

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200926194444273

I thought this, but as most of the regular posters know I have one, and im pretty much gay for "Mazda 3 MPS", and the OP said saloon, i thought i'd give the 6 a mention. Other posters have mentioned the Octavia VRS and the Accord Type R, I think its between these 3.

Drummerboy08

I think if you could get your hands on a nice VRS 2.0TDi, and remap it, it could be a winner. For me anyhow.

The 3 is still a practical car, plenty of room in them. Although since I looked, the 6 does look the business. Looks good value too.

smash

The 3 MPS above need a new rear bumper as far as I know and that's why it's cheap. Still a good car though.

Drummerboy08

Does it?

smash

yea, a friend looked at it last week.

Drummerboy08

Are we talking about the 3 or the 6? Although, both look fairly solid....

smash

the 3, that's why it's cheaper than the other 3's on the market.

Damage looks very light to be honest. A scuff more than anything...

BnA

My completely unqualified 2 Cents...

If you are going to spend 20k on a 2 litre(ish) size car, then the first thing I would say, unless you have a lot of money, is it would have to be diesel. There are 2 problems with any 2 litre petrol car you you get for that kind of money.

a) It would probably be fairly thirsty, but that will depend on what you buy.

b) The depreciation would almost certainly be tear jerkingly shocking. Second hand, big engined petrol cars are getting harder and harder to sell. And with a carbon tax on fuel probably on the way, it's probably only going to get worse.

€20k is a lot of money to have to spend on a car so I would say your choice would be fairly wide.

There are obvious choices:

BMW 520D : http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/520d-SE-/200931194786120/advert?channel=CARS

BMW 320D : http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320D-S-1/200925194374427/advert?channel=CARS

Audi A4 : http://www.carzone.ie/search/Audi/A4/1.9-TDI-/200930194711101/advert?channel=CARS

The not as obvious :

Alfa GT : http://www.carzone.ie/search/Alfa-Romeo/GT/1.9-JTDm/200936195099689/advert?channel=CARS

Alfa 159 : http://www.carzone.ie/search/Alfa-Romeo/159/1.9-jtd-/200929194648256/advert?channel=CARS

Octavia RS Diesel : http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/RS-2.0-C/200933194914783/advert?channel=CARS

Subaru Impreza Diesel (Slightly above your budget, but a new car) : http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Impreza/Diesel-b/200902191423186/advert?channel=CARS

If I was in your position, I would take the Impreza for a test drive. If it drove well enough to make up for it's (IMO) pug ugliness, I would go for it. Otherwise, I think I'd go for one of the Alfas

Drummerboy08

Just above the exhaust? That looks fairly repairable. Still makes it great value compared to other similar vehicles in this market!

Ranleth

It comes down to personal preference:
1. A new-ish decent car (Mazda)
or
2. A 4-5 year old sports executive car (5 series BMW or Lexus IS250).

I'd go for the Lexus myself as the bigger cars have come down a lot in price in recent months. You get a lot more for your money too, the only real negatives are the cost of parts and services.

smash

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Just above the exhaust? That looks fairly repairable. Still makes it great value compared to other similar vehicles in this market!

yea exactly.

OP - stop limiting yourself by engine size and get this!

stealthyspeeder

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Just above the exhaust? That looks fairly repairable. Still makes it great value compared to other similar vehicles in this market!

If the reflector was sourced and replaced it would cover most of the (light) damage, I have a feeling that this would be like rocking horse sh!t to find though. Also the reflector might have a clip where the hole in the plastic is,meaning it couldnt be replaced other than being glued on. (which would still leave a slight hole at the edge of the reflector). The only other option would be a new rear bumber, as this part is specific to the MPS range, I would expect the price to be higher for it.

BnA wrote: »

My completely unqualified 2 Cents...

If you are going to spend 20k on a 2 litre(ish) size car, then the first thing I would say, unless you have a lot of money, is it would have to be diesel.

I see the logic, but something about the word diesel, and the word sporty, for me doesnt work! Going out to find a sporty car and coming back with diesel would be like going out to pull a model, and coming back with a really sound, rich, but fat girl! It's just not what you went out to get! (but could have its own merits!)

bazz26

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Just above the exhaust? That looks fairly repairable. Still makes it great value compared to other similar vehicles in this market!

Another reason that Mazda 3 MPS maybe cheap is because it has a Co2 rating of 231g/km which puts it into the highest motor tax band of €2100 pa. :eek:

If you can swallow that then it is a bargin for the performance.

Drummerboy08

bazz26 wrote: »

Another reason that Mazda 3 MPS maybe cheap is because it has a Co2 rating of 231g/km which puts it into the highest motor tax band of €2100 pa. :eek:

If you can swallow that then it is a bargin for the performance.

Hopefully it was registered before July 08......

smash

it was registered before the CO2 change came in. There's a load of MPS's that just appeared on carzone, they're all demo Mazda cars registered before July.