Best medium to big car for a grand you can get in Ireland today

brendansmith

Reliability is the major factor here.

robtri

what?????

EPM

There's suggestions in your other thread.

If you want cheap and dont care about engine size look at the Mondeo first

mikkael

There are many ways to interperet the question really. Anything with a big engine is going to be particularly cheap at the moment. I'd imagine for a grand you should pick up a Daewoo Leganza, don't know a huge amount about them but had my eye on one years ago. Zero image, but nice italian design and Korean built so should be reliable ( Daewoo now branded as Chevrolet )

If you want something more classy / substantial you could do worse than a Volvo - a Volvo that's been well kept that is. An 460 or the bigger 850 would be good buys. The newer S40 is an excellent car, though not huge luggage space available.

The aforementioned Mondeo is a good bet, just make sure the clutch is okay. Apparently they have some sort of strange hydraulic clutch release mechanism that costs a fortune to get fixed. This is what I've heard, but then again everything costs a fortune if you go to main dealers so I stand to be corrected on that!

Another fairly decent motor that falls into your price category is the Renault Laguna, a few generations back ( late '90's, early 00's ).

Best of luck

Tony.

itarumaa

I wouldn´t buy Daewoo ever again, one was enough, however Volvo s40 is a nice car and you can get that one for 1k,

I have a s40 2l Petrol and it is not the most comfortable car or most economical but well built and cheap to buy.

brendansmith

mikkael wrote: »

If you want something more classy / substantial you could do worse than a Volvo - a Volvo that's been well kept that is. An 460 or the bigger 850 would be good buys. The newer S40 is an excellent car, though not huge luggage space available.
.

itarumaa wrote: »

I wouldn´t buy Daewoo ever again, one was enough, however Volvo s40 is a nice car and you can get that one for 1k,

I have a s40 2l Petrol and it is not the most comfortable car or most economical but well built and cheap to buy.

Jesus, I never even considered a volvo, thanks for that lads.

Saab Ed

Over budget but haggle a bit and you'll get close. Worth the extra IMO...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Accord/V-tec/200940195362081/advert?channel=CARS

brendansmith

Saab Ed wrote: »

Over budget but haggle a bit and you'll get close. Worth the extra IMO...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Accord/V-tec/200940195362081/advert?channel=CARS

The exact car my dad has. I had it for a week and i was in love.

kermitpwee

For a grand i would say a Toyota carina e.

Eoin

Check out the "Bangernomics car of the week/day" thread for some ideas.

Saab Ed

kermitpwee wrote: »

For a grand i would say a Toyota carina e.

Yeah but then we're back to the Sonata comments from the previous thread ...white goods. Lifes to short to sit in a Toyota for any lent of time. Only for Taxi men and 47 year old secondry school teachers looking to retire early, other wise stay away. :eek::D

brendansmith

kermitpwee wrote: »

For a grand i would say a Toyota carina e.

I like your thinking.

niceirishfella

BAM!

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1028215

Saab Ed

niceirishfella wrote: »

BAM!

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1028215

Best to check the price of one of these first...

:D

BlackWizard

Reliable and affordable accoding to a thread I was just reading.

Meet the Hyundai Sonata

Saab Ed

Saab Ed wrote: »

Yeah but then we're back to the Sonata comments from the previous thread ...white goods. Lifes to short to sit in a Toyota for any lent of time. Only for Taxi men and 47 year old secondry school teachers looking to retire early, other wise stay away. :eek::D

A Carina is a fine bus, the 2.0 petrols were a great car to drive. A bit balnd styling wise but fine cars. For a grand you'd find it hard to beat one. Although a W124 Merc would be in range if you don't mind going back to the early 90s age wise. Great cars too.

kermitpwee

Saab Ed wrote: »

Yeah but then we're back to the Sonata comments from the previous thread ...white goods. Lifes to short to sit in a Toyota for any lent of time. Only for Taxi men and 47 year old secondry school teachers looking to retire early, other wise stay away. :eek::D

I mentioned the carina e as the op asked for a reliable car for a grand. I have owned and worked on a few of them. Parts are cheap and secondhand parts/panels are widely available. Also the problems they suffer from are widely known and can be fixed easily, they also are a big car.

If the op was looking for a 'drivers car' then I would advise something else. For reliability i said a carina e. You cant have it everyway. For 1000 euro you cant buy a reliable 'drivers car' imo.

itarumaa

How about Avensis, I assume you can get older ones around 1k , well at least those 1.8 automatics.

Marlow

You can get a BMW 5-series E34 with 1.8 or 2.0i engine for a grand

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/518i/200937195193874/advert?channel=CARS

Then again, at that price, they might need a fix. This one has a slipping clutch.

/M

kermitpwee

itarumaa wrote: »

How about Avensis, I assume you can get older ones around 1k , well at least those 1.8 automatics.

Ya the first generation Avensis is a reliable car. An avensis for a grand might be a bit ropey imo but there may be a good one out there for a grand, just might have to do a lot of looking to find it.

Rover 600 in either 1.8 or 2.0 petrol non turbo will also prove reliable, so too the Accords of the same vintage. 1997 models in good condition would be available for a grand, these would have been seen as being more executive cars than the Carina back in the day.

itarumaa

My friend actually had a Rover 600, he bought it for 1e, drove one year and sold it for 300e.

I think he didn´t had any major issues with the car.

Matt Simis

Saab Ed wrote: »

Best to check the price of one of these first...

:D

Ye Olde A8 (with it's little V6 2.8l engine) is a 28 to 35mpg car. Thats not bad. Driving around in a bank managers car compared to a pukey Daewoo, erm.. surely "only" getting 30mpg+ is pleasantly acceptable?

Its pure Bangornomics win.. assuming its working alright obviously.

niceirishfella

Matt Simis wrote: »

Ye Olde A8 (with it's little V6 2.8l engine) is a 28 to 35mpg car. Thats not bad. Driving around in a bank managers car compared to a pukey Daewoo, erm.. surely "only" getting 30mpg+ is pleasantly acceptable?

Its pure Bangornomics win.. assuming its working alright obviously.

+1, its an enormous amount of car for 1k!:D

Saab Ed

Matt Simis wrote: »

Ye Olde A8 (with it's little V6 2.8l engine) is a 28 to 35mpg car. Thats not bad. Driving around in a bank managers car compared to a pukey Daewoo, erm.. surely "only" getting 30mpg+ is pleasantly acceptable?

Its pure Bangornomics win.. assuming its working alright obviously.

I totally agree , what a car for the money but there's not a hope in hell you'll get 35+ mpg out of one of these driven in the real world, not a hope. Feather lite on the go pedal, straight roads at 55 everywhere and no traffic then maybe but the first sight of urban roads at rush hour or sit at 75 on the West road with 3 passengers and 35+ is up in smoke. You can 35 mpg out of anything driven easy but then again you can probably get 7 mpg out of every car too.

unkel

brendansmith wrote: »

Reliability is the major factor here.

Reliability is becoming a bit of a non-issue these days. The last reliability index I saw showed that the least reliable car of all has on average 1 issue per year.

An averagely reliable car has an average of 1 issue per 100 years*, so it is pointless to aim for a car that's more reliable than average...

* I'm making this bit up but you get the picture

RayCon

I second (or third) the recommedation for an Accord ... they're bullet proof reliable.

Esel

Looks like this is gone, but you could try posting on the thread...

Mint '98 Toyota Camry 2.2 FS €1000

bazz26

Some options:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200940195350209

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200941195461416

itarumaa

itarumaa wrote: »

My friend actually had a Rover 600, he bought it for 1e, drove one year and sold it for 300e.

I think he didn´t had any major issues with the car.

I bought a 1999 one for €2350 in 2006, drove it for six months and sold if for €3500 Great car that one was.

mickdw

niceirishfella wrote: »

BAM!

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1028215

I wouldnt mind having a look at that. Thinking of sticking my A5 for sale. That would be a nice machine to fill a gap for a few weeks til I find new car.
A hired avensis costs about 250/week. Id rather that audi even if I had to jump it every morning:)

Marlow

mickdw wrote: »

A hired avensis costs about 250/week. Id rather that audi even if I had to jump it every morning:)

Definatly better off with that Audi

/M

bazz26

Before everyone goes out and buys an executive barge for a €1000, could it be a false economy? I find it hard to believe that even in today's market that a perfectly good running panzor would be worth a bit more than a grand.

Maybe I am being a little paranoid here but these buses are not cheap to fix if they need fixing and at a grand I'm guessing something needs fixing.

niceirishfella

ahhhh Bollix Bazz, don't go piss on the parade, its got to be that A8....:-)

bazz26

niceirishfella wrote: »

ahhhh Bollix Bazz, don't go piss on the parade, its got to be that A8....:-)

No such thing as a free lunch even for a grand...

Marlow

bazz26 wrote: »

Before everyone goes out and buys an executive barge for a €1000, could it be a false economy? I find it hard to believe that even in today's market that a perfectly good running panzor would be worth a bit more than a grand.

Maybe I am being a little paranoid here but these buses are not cheap to fix if they need fixing and at a grand I'm guessing something needs fixing.

The issue, why these cars are cheap, when they get over a certain age (10+ years) is that parts and tax are quite expensive.

That A8 would be like 1200 something/year to tax and cost quite a bit to maintain. It's a rock solid and fun car though.

You can get 5- and especially 7- series BMW's for pretty cheap, too, once they are over a certain age. Also, if you are somewhat young, insuring that big an engine might be an issue. Another reason, why the car is cheap. Hard to sell.

/M

bazz26

Marlow wrote: »

The issue, why these cars are cheap, when they get over a certain age (10+ years) is that parts and tax are quite expensive.

That A8 would be like 1200 something/year to tax and cost quite a bit to maintain. It's a rock solid and fun car though.

You can get 5- and especially 7- series BMW's for pretty cheap, too, once they are over a certain age. Also, if you are somewhat young, insuring that big an engine might be an issue. Another reason, why the car is cheap. Hard to sell.

/M

The car might be on the level but I just think that even a large engined exec like that has to be worth a few bob more even when depreciation has bottomed out. My gut feeling is that there is something expensive that needs fixing and the owner doesn't want to spend the money on it hence the price.

Nobody knows for sure though so the point is mute at the moment I guess.

EPM

I'd be inclined to side with bazz on this. Even the way its presented in the pictures isn't great, almost as if the owner couldn't be bothered

emurphy

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/518i/200937195193874/advert?channel=CARS

other than the clutch problem thats a beautiful example of an old 5 series.

niceirishfella

EPM wrote: »

I'd be inclined to side with bazz on this. Even the way its presented in the pictures isn't great, almost as if the owner couldn't be bothered

sure, ok, but what do you want? If its mechanically sound, who give a toss about the poor pics.
It's 1k -
like you could have this for the same kind dosh...:rolleyes:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1005741

Marlow

emurphy wrote: »

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/518i/200937195193874/advert?channel=CARS

other than the clutch problem thats a beautiful example of an old 5 series.

Yep. And the clutch isn't that bad to fix.

/M

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

Before everyone goes out and buys an executive barge for a €1000, could it be a false economy? I find it hard to believe that even in today's market that a perfectly good running panzor would be worth a bit more than a grand.

Maybe I am being a little paranoid here but these buses are not cheap to fix if they need fixing and at a grand I'm guessing something needs fixing.

I agree, it's more than likely needing major cash thrown at it. A friend sold a 1998 A4 2.4 petrol with no NCT that needed suspension bushings, had leaking power steering and as few other issues (none too major) for €1300, he had no bother shifting it.

The coolant bottle in that A8 is either empty or has just water in it, there's no coolant there anyway. A 1993 A8 that is sound couldn't be bought for €1000.

EPM

niceirishfella wrote: »

sure, ok, but what do you want? If its mechanically sound, who give a toss about the poor pics.
It's 1k -
like you could have this for the same kind dosh...:rolleyes:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1005741

Wouldn't touch that either;)

Even if you are spending a grand you'd hope that it was functional, as all things considered (tax, insurance, consumption) it should really be a bit cheaper at that age to make it worth buying. No doubting its some lump of finely tuned metal for the money. Suppose the way to go into it ideally would be if you get 6 months and it packs in you're not losing too much. Beats the depreciation on a new Tiida anyway:pac:

niceirishfella

EPM wrote: »

Wouldn't touch that either;)

Even if you are spending a grand you'd hope that it was functional, as all things considered (tax, insurance, consumption) it should really be a bit cheaper at that age to make it worth buying. No doubting its some lump of finely tuned metal for the money. Suppose the way to go into it ideally would be if you get 6 months and it packs in you're not losing too much. Beats the depreciation on a new Tiida anyway:pac:

right, you state you would'nt touch it, but then you follow up with lots of postitives?

EPM

not really positives. I do like A8's but i can see how it could be good value but thats only if it was running well. But there are a lot of if's with it thats all

Marlow

EPM wrote: »

not really positives. I do like A8's but i can see how it could be good value but thats only if it was running well. But there are a lot of if's with it thats all

There's a lot of if's with any second hand car, no matter the price tag. That's why you look at'em before you buy them.

/M

EPM

some if's are more expensive than others though:D

Does anyone think that A8 for a €1000 is anywhere near NCT pass condition, I would be 99.9% sure there are costlies need doing to her.

mikkael

RoverJames wrote: »

Does anyone think that A8 for a €1000 is anywhere near NCT pass condition, I would be 99.9% sure there are costlies need doing to her.

I'd say you'd be dead right!

fwiw, personally I'd avoid. The A8 is probably less common than even the A2, so the possibility of picking up bits from an indie are nil. Furthermore, if memory serves the body is aluminium, which makes dent repairs in the future a bit of a pain.

It's laden to the gills with advanced electronics too. I got some good advice from people in the trade: either buy pre 1990 ( few electronics ) or post 1995 ( by which time they'd got their act together somewhat with electronics ). Electronics can ruin you life when they go wrong.

I bought a 1990 Saab 9000 myself and it's great, but viciously expensive. Even the brake dust shields ( a strip of metal ) are €132 a pair. I don't want this to sound / be taken as disrespectful, but if the cost of tyres / petrol worry you, think again. I say that as someone who all too often is ruled by the heart as opposed to head, so I know what I'm on about!

The small things cost a bloody fortune, and pattern parts aren't always as good as originals. It's unlikely imho that you'd even get non - brand parts for an A8. In terms of economy, you'd probably get about 22 - 25 m.p.g. at best.

Beautiful car ( one of my favourites actually ) but I'd tread with caution ... and then some. To my thinking, either you've got the bargain of the century there, there's something very expensive wrong with the engine / gearbox, or
it needs a load of little things that add up to the same expense.

I was thinking Lexus LS400, but you'd have a job even to get one of them in NCT condition for the money. If you go with the A8, check underneath for rust if it's a U.K. import, and check it for being written off ( finance probably isn't an issue at this stage ). In particular, I'd check it for weld lines at some point back through it's life.

Generally speaking, there's all sorts of scams going on with these fellas who own lock - up "garages" btw. Some even have gangland members behind them. A friend bought a Freelander ( 00 ) for €1,500 off a guy and it turned out to have the wrong number plates ( he found this out just before the engine went kaput @ '80,000' miles )

After he complained, he discovered two lads sitting in a jeep in the dark watching him for a few nights outside his house. Dramatic I admit, and probably irrelevant, but it does happen.

So it's either a huge bargain or a complete dog!

Best of luck,

Tony.

niceirishfella

RoverJames wrote: »

Does anyone think that A8 for a €1000 is anywhere near NCT pass condition, I would be 99.9% sure there are costlies need doing to her.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1028215
I rang about it and its JUST SOLD!
The vendor said he was hammered with calls.
I asked what the craic with it was and he said the car was AOK bar needing suspension bushes on the front passenger side, mechanically all over it was AOK, Transmission/Engine/Body/Interior was all good he claimed.
So, it needed some work like it was always going to, but still it could have been the one that got away, or NOT!;)

SeanW

Saab Ed wrote: »

Yeah but then we're back to the Sonata comments from the previous thread ...white goods. Lifes to short to sit in a Toyota for any lent of time. Only for Taxi men and 47 year old secondry school teachers looking to retire early, other wise stay away. :eek::D

Toyota can be quite fun to drive, my (not so) new Avensis is a lot more enjoyable than the car I passed my test in, a 98 VW Polo that has the more complicated gearbox layout, no power steering - and was always in the mechanics shop for some problem or another.

That and with a good service regime, Toyotas can run more or less forever.
The OP is looking for a reliable car for €1,000. There is simply no point in wasting money on anything OTHER THAN Toyota at this range.

The OP is likely further limited to petrol Toyotas (as diesels tend to be more expensive), and should make sure that any car s/he buys has a good length of NCT left.