Help me find a car - 8K to spend

Ardent

Hey all

Looking to change car and would appreciate your thoughts on the following..

Currently driving a 1.6 petrol Vectra and doing less than 10K miles a year, mostly city driving. The Vectra is super reliable and going really well but I want to change to something that's more fun to drive, has plenty of poke and has lots of toys.

Looking on Donedeal there seems to be value in large (2.5L+) petrol engined cars. Budget is around 8K EUR but looking for something around the 2006/2007 mark. Not too arsed about motor tax if I can get a good spec car for a good price.

My wishlist includes:

- 2L+ engine (but less than 3L)
- Spacious saloon
- Leather interior
- Automatic transmission (nice to have)
- Parking sensors (nice to have)

The cars that are jumping out at me are the BMW 523/525/325, the Luxus IS220D/IS250 and the Honda Accord Exceutives. I've ruled out the Mercedes E Series as there seems to be a lot of talk on here about quality and reliability issues with them.

How would you guys rate these cars over each other? Anything else I should be looking at?

carbon nanotube

Honda Ex, just got one..:p

your budget should get a late 7th gen model.

bazz26

You will be able to pick up a 523i on your budget:


http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201210207224244

Padraig Mor

If you count 2995cc (€1392 tax) as under 3 litre, you will get a 2005 onwards Lexus GS300 on your budget no problem; might even push a 07 model. Same prices roughly as the IS250, but loads more gadgets, more powerful, yet the same mpg! You will not find a higher spec, or more reliable, car for the money. Find a desperate seller and you may even manage a GS450H.

Ardent

Thanks for the replies lads. I think I had already made my mind up on a BMW and was just waiting for the right one to come on the market. I ended up buying the 523i Bazz linked to!

First impressions: great handling, lovely smooth drive and fuel economy not as terrible as I thought it would be. It's too early to say but I think I was seeing MPG in the low thirties on the motorway today (cruise control all the way).

Overall, quite happy with my purchase as it's a huge improvement on my Vectra. I don't think I'll be spending THAT much more on petrol as the Vectra wasn't light on juice by any means. I will miss my Pioneer USB headunit though as the sound quality of these BMW audio systems is truly awful.

The car currently has winter run-flats on it. Would you guys recommend ditching these for regular all-weather tyres? I believe this will result in a softer ride but I don't think the boot has enough space for a spare..?

Anan1

Ardent wrote: »

The car currently has winter run-flats on it. Would you guys recommend ditching these for regular all-weather tyres? I believe this will result in a softer ride but I don't think the boot has enough space for a spare..?

Jesus no, they may be lifesavers come next winter! Get a new set of wheels and put summer tyres on them.

Ardent

@Padraig -
I test drove a GS300 on your advice. It was a 2006 model and I have to say they are a really really nice car! Maybe not quite as accomplished on the road as a 3 or 5 series but not far off. The thing is though, you get a lot more extras for your money - headed/cooled seats, better audio system, reversing camera etc etc. If one had come up at the right price I would have snapped it up. Not as common as the 5 series either, which is another plus.

Ardent

Anan1 wrote: »

Jesus no, they may be lifesavers come next winter! Get a new set of wheels and put summer tyres on them.

Oh, I'd keep them alight! But would you not take the winter tyres off the current wheels and put on summer tyres? Is there really a need for a new set of wheels?

Foxhole Norman

Grat Purchase! Well wear OP!

Declan Lander

Ardent wrote: »

Hey all

Looking to change car and would appreciate your thoughts on the following..

Currently driving a 1.6 petrol Vectra and doing less than 10K miles a year, mostly city driving. The Vectra is super reliable and going really well but I want to change to something that's more fun to drive, has plenty of poke and has lots of toys.

Out of intrest what kind of mpg would a 1.6 the vectra deliver ?

Ardent

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

Grat Purchase! Well wear OP!

Thank you, it was my first ever private purchase.

I had a bit of a heart attack driving it home: an engine-check light came on - and stayed on - after heavy accelaration at one point. I was so worried I had bought a lemon (even after having it checked over by a garage prior to purchase) and was reading all these horror stories that night about fuel injectors and coils.

The light went off by itself the next day and I brought the car for a service to a local indy BMW specialist. The guys in the garage ran a full diagnostic and confirmed there was nothing wrong. They reckoned the light came on due to a temporarily blocked vanos something-or-other. Talk about relief!

Ardent

Declan Lander wrote: »

Out of intrest what kind of mpg would a 1.6 the vectra deliver ?

You're looking at 37 MPG on the motorway and mid-twenties around town. A full tank would cost you about 85 EUR and you can expect to get 370-400 miles with a mix of motorway/town driving.