Unkel wants new cars. What do you recommend?

unkel

Right. Bought my '04 BMW 520i 2.2l (E60) auto 3 years ago after driving bangernomics cars (Rover, Saab, BMW) throughout the recession

Picked up a small convertible MGF for small money a year later and changed that recently for a small money BMW 318Ci 1.9l (E46) manual coupe sports

Since then the 5-series has been sitting here doing nothing much (but costing €268 per quarter in motortax alone). Herself drives it to the local shops etc but any time I get to pick a car, I always pick the bangernomics 3-series. It's not a fast car, but I just love driving it. It's extremely together in terms of handling / dynamics etc. It looks a bit like a banger from close by though and it is red, very bright red and herself hates the look of it / won't drive it

We only need one car 95% of the time, but we do need a second car the other 5%. We do about 16k km per year in total between the 2 cars. We would only consider petrol cars. Manual and auto are considered for either car

Budget for the two cars: about 5k plus the value of the current cars

I though I had this great idea: buy a BMW 320i or 325i or even 330i 3-series coupe (E92) as our main car and then maybe a classic car for the other 5% of driving. Saab Cabrio or W123 Mercedes would spring to mind there

One problem. We have 3 young kids (one still on booster seat) and they barely fit into the older 3-series coupe. The newer 3-series coupe is actually a little bit smaller again in the back

Off beat option: main car electric vehicle and second car sporty. But herself refuses the Nissan Leaf (I know it is very ugly, but I wouldn't mind it as a family car as long as I have my own sporty number ) I'm quite taken with the Renault Fluence ZE as you can pick up a low mileage '12 for about €5k (but you will have to pay about €80 per month in battery rental and you can not fast charge that car, so maximum range per day is 100km, which would make it impossible to take it on a trip to Galway, Cork, Kerry etc.)

Priority number 1: 2 cars that are very reasonable to buy and reasonable to run
Priority number 2: a sporty car that is great to drive for me
Priority number 3: a decent family car that herself likes (up to recently, the newer the reg plate, the better she liked a car. Until she got to drive a BMW and she really likes these now Her ideal car would be a BMW X5)

What say you? Any suggestions welcome! And from the above you can probably read I have developed a liking for BMWs over the years. The one thing I didn't yet mention is that I maintain my cars well, but on a shoestring. I.e. I do not like having to fork out big money for timing belt jobs

alastair

Oddball suggestion that avoids meeting many of your criteria, but might check some boxes. I've been a bit fixated by the things of late...

BMW(ish)
Sporty
Fits 3 kids (at a pinch)
Great road holding
Economical to run and tax
Can be specced to the wazoo
Quirky

2008 - 2014 MINI Cooper Clubman SD
The Clubman form factor makes them more practical, and knocks a bit of the supposedly 'girly' qualities off the car (if that's a bother) - admittedly more of a marmite car as a consequence. The third suicide half door is a bit silly, and on the wrong side, but if you've been sticking the kids in a coupe already, it's no big deal. More legroom in the back of the Clubman too. There's a couple of fancy limited edition models with all the toys and leather, panoramic roofs etc, if luxury is a consideration. But above all, they get great reviews as a fun driver's car. If you want to go bonkers, there's a full JCW spec Clubman too, though the diesel seems like it should be fun enough for substantially less outlay. If you really insist on petrol, the Clubman Cooper S would work as well.

Then save up and get one of those nice new BMW i3's when they come down in price.

The Sidewards Man

So cars have to have timing belts just done or cars with timing chains that don't give trouble?

The Sidewards Man

Serious hard on for ford there.

166man

I know we have had differences of opinion sometimes (:D) but would you consider an Alfa 159 even with the 1.8 petrol for herself? You'd get a pretty new, very safe car for very close to €2k? Won't set the world on fire but reliable enough cars.

Then you can buy a 3-Series with a proper engine!

unkel

166man wrote: »

but would you consider an Alfa 159 even with the 1.8 petrol for herself? You'd get a pretty new, very safe car for very close to €2k? Won't set the world on fire but reliable enough cars.

Did you see the '06 in bangernomics for €1,650? Very nice indeed! I'd even drive that myself

Idbatterim

Maybe a 325 E92, good balance between power and motor tax...

njburke

Was going to suggest a ZT or ZT-T, in the V6 2L, if diesels are out.
Until recently, we had a rover 75 tourer and Nissan Leaf combination, worked quiet well.
One EV between two cars has its advantages in motoring economy, they don't even wear the brake pads.

unkel

Aye, agreed. Already had a Rover 75 in the past. Fine car. Life's too short to buy the same car twice in my book though

Test drove a Leaf today. I like it as the main family bus (as long as I have something sporty and petrol as well - 325 E92 would tick that box alright!), very good deals on the Leaf and once bought, the running costs are ridiculously low. Like €200 in fuel for the year :eek: (at 12k km), not even taking into account free charging

selectamatic

2008 2.0 ivtec accord. Great cars with reliable rev happy engines 150bhp so not unbareably dull and nice interiors if got in a good spec.
Another bangernomics purchase for yourself.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

If you buy a Leaf, you need a perfect foil. Something that makes your penis shrivel. A 6 litre Mercedes bastard of some description would fit the bill.

Ded_Zebra

Do you have any age constraints for the "main" car? I assume you'll want something fairly modern and safe for the kids.


B6 passat highline are coming into your budget now. Not even remotely exciting but seriously sturdy safe car. Spacuous back seat and a big boot. The 1.6 should do 40MPG too.

Something like this?

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/vw-passat-1-6-fsi-highline/12379325

Although saying that the 159 is a good bit nicer and you could get a year newer too. Probably not quite as practical but definitely a better drive and less boring. Probably not quite as safe and not as roomy for child seats etc.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/alfa-159/12347904

You didn't mention any tax constraints but I understand if it's too dear. Lovely engine though and a nice car. I also see that it was taxed for the full 12 months last time it was taxed. Always a good sign.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mercedes-benz-clk-320-coupe-avangard/12369658

Way under budget for this one, I love these but they are getting on. This one looks immaculate though. Great reg too

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-c70-nct-jan-17-amp-taxed/12324795

Not specifically this one perhaps but seeing as the milage will be low? Just a thought.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/231-bhp-rx8-swap/12054130

Ded_Zebra

You could squeeze an X5 and not a bad looking one either. Would leave you with not a whole lot for your car though. Expensive to run too!

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-x5-3-0i-sport-my-2006-5dr/11888105

Cheaper option here but a lot oder and more dated.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/stunning-bmw-x5/12372829

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

If you can stretch your budget to $82,000 you can have this ideal family car

njburke

Did the Mrs test drive the leaf yet?
My wife hadn't considered one as an option until I did the numbers. She wanted an automatic diesel like the i30. After the first drive in the leaf she was sold on it, wouldn't part with it now.

As the main family bus, you'ld want to make sure you won't be demanding more than the battery can deliver without charging whilst still doing the bulk of the mileage as the main family runabout. ie 100 to say 120 K a day if needed.

unkel

@Ded_Zebra - some great suggestions, thanks!

The Alfa is a lot of car for the money. Pick of the bangernomics bunch 159s too, with the timing chain engine and tax not too high

That X5 is very fresh looking, I'm no fan of them and even from the interior it's blatantly obvious they're based on the E39, quite old stuff now. But the mrs loves them, might show her that one

That Volvo came up in bangernomics a few weeks ago. Asking price €1,200. I posted at the time it was overpriced and people were giving out to me telling me I was wrong. Well I wasn't. Asking now €995 which is more realistic. Surely €800 will take it. Like them myself, but it seems 2 doors are now out of the question having 3 kids. Meh, when we grew up we always had 2 door cars and their was 3 of us too, never bothered us. These days as soon as the female is pregnant with child #1, a massive MPV is bought :rolleyes: /rant

njburke wrote: »

Did the Mrs test drive the leaf yet?

She hasn't. She hates the look of it and she looked at me in disgust when I mentioned buying one She wouldn't be an early adopter of new tech either and she doesn't see any merit in getting an EV. I do as I'm the one paying the bills

166man

Looks like I have to eat humble pie on that Volvo! I really thought it was clean enough to justify that money. I'd have paid it myself! I guess the market for it is literally zero.

A shame really.

unkel

166man wrote: »

Looks like I have to eat humble pie on that Volvo! I really thought it was clean enough to justify that money. I'd have paid it myself!

Ah nobody can tell really. If you were in the market for one, it was worth every cent. Problem is there aren't many people in the market for a car like that (you weren't either), so the few people that are, will get very good value for money

The situation in this country is getting sillier and sillier. There's only a few hundred the difference between a clapped out banger with no NCT and a meticulously maintained, clean and well presented premium car of the same age with a long NCT. Madness really, but that's the way of the (still distorted) market