Another what to buy thread!

gutteruu

Looking to change the wifes 02 A4. Have a budget of up to 8-9k. Not sure what to go for. She does big motorway miles. She is after something a bit fancier than the usual skoda's etc. but budget is pretty low.

Maybe an older 3/5 series, Merc or A6? Been told to avoid merc's in mid 00's and not sure about BMW's. Was told to avoid Audi's over 06 and especially the 2.0l. Looking through boring old avensis/octavia/mondeos etc. and nothing is inspiring me.

biko

Lexus?

corsav6

Volvo?

gutteruu

Forgot about a Lexus. Should be reliable enough. Checked donedeal and prices seem pretty reasonable. Seems like it fits the bill!

gutteruu

Jag X-type any good?

debabyjesus

gutteruu wrote: »

Should be reliable enough

Ha

Idbatterim

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320-E90-/37013893785345660/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320-E90-/201404221257641/advert?channel=CARS (think this one has the notorious diesel engine though)

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/2.0-D-SE/37713880034542030/advert?channel=CARS

noelf

gutteruu wrote: »

Jag X-type any good?

Xj would be even better 06 2.7 diesel on carzone E8200 colour is red . Don't know how to link it from my phone.

gutteruu

debabyjesus wrote: »

Ha

Lexus a bit iffy on reliability? Thought they were glorified toyotas. Those X-types do look nice though. No idea about how reliable they are though.

bazz26

The Lexus diesel is far from reliable, they can suffer from head gasket failure and the gearing ratios are all wrong. They are also not that good on fuel.


How about an Alfa Romeo 159:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Alfa-Romeo/159/1.9JTDM-16V/37213859776175800/


Or if you are willing to buy private then this one is cheaper again:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Alfa-Romeo/159/1.9-JTD/201404221233188/

gutteruu

A reliable Alfa ? Love alfa's but its a case of waiting for them to fail ? Seen some nice 9-3 Saab's, but not sure how good they are also.

Moneymaker

gutteruu wrote: »

A reliable Alfa ? Love alfa's but its a case of waiting for them to fail ? Seen some nice 9-3 Saab's, but not sure how good they are also.

Get a decent, well loved and looked after Alfa and they're no less reliable than any other car.

How about an Accord or a 407?

Here's some cars well within budget;

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-accord-2-2-i-ctdi/6289853

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2007-mercedes-c200-cdi-price-reduced/5771821

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2010-skoda-superb-s-1-9-tdi/6296001

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2008-peugeot-407-gt-hdi-sat-nav-nct-/6105566

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-523i-touring-07-only-60k-miles/6320777

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-s80-2-5-litre-petrol/6230778

Satanta

Being honest, out of the offerings above I'd go for a pre lci E60. I drove an E61 and loved it. Every second of it. They are nice to drive and the pre lci (07) seems reliable enough

The only thing I'd say about them is they are prone to thermostat failure which affects mpg. The stat seems to stick open and they dont get up to proper operating temp (mine went to 78 instead of 90). That was the case with mine and I found it hard to convince someone to change it because there was apparently nothing wrong with it. I ended up doing it myself thanks to a Beemer forum. Worked a treat. Post lci models suffer timing chain issues. I had mine mapped too which was nice.

bazz26

gutteruu wrote: »

A reliable Alfa ? Love alfa's but its a case of waiting for them to fail ? Seen some nice 9-3 Saab's, but not sure how good they are also.

You do realise that the diesel engine in the Alfa 159 is the exact same that is found in the 9-3, right and the Opel Vectra too? It's made by Fiat and was one of the class leading diesel engines at the time. The 159 is also better built than the 9-3 and has superior handling dynamics.