Mad to go for a 10 year old BMW 3 Touring?

Plutonium Kun

Hi, everyone, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this:

I don't drive much (live in Dublin city centre), but I've been looking for a car for weekends away in the mountains or west coast. I do lots of outdoor sports, so the main thing is that it should be able to hold bikes, surf board, etc (preferably internally for security). I reckon I'd do about 8-10,000 km per year, almost all motorway cruising or mountain roads and possibly some trips to France.I hope to have a roof tent as discussed in this thread - so I'd prefer to have roof rails and a load capacity of at least 75kg.

I don't own a car now, but I've rented a wide variety over the years, and I've come to the conclusion that an estate car would probably suit me more than an SUV, although I must admit I do like the Citroen C4 Cactus. I've more or less narrowed a 'new car' choice down to a Cactus, or a Skoda Fabia or Octavia estate, bought on PCP (very good 0% deals going now). All told, I'd calculate that a PCP would cost me around 3-4 K per annum, less insurance (assuming 3-4K residual at the end of the 3 year period).

But on calculating annual costs, I've been drawn to older second hand cars, and I can't keep my eyes away from some BMW 3 Tourings for sale around the 4-7000 euro mark, all around 10 years old. In terms of annual cost, it would seem significantly cheaper (even with much higher road tax), and would make much more luxurious cruisers and more fun driving. Allowing for higher road tax and maintenance, I would guess this would work out around 2K per annum (assuming after 3 years I'd get a 4K scrappage scheme if I went for a new car).

But in the past I had bad experiences with old cars and very high maintenance bills when something goes wrong, so I sort of dread the notion of being faced rapidly with a choice of scrapping a car I just bought a few months ago or facing a few grand bill for some gold plated unique BMW part.

So is the BMW route worth it, or should I just grab one of those 0% PCPs while I can?

drunkmonkey

I think considering your mileage and what you want for it spending 5k is probably the best route as your doing little or no milage.

You want a well documented serviced one, petrol or diesel doesn't really make a difference just find the cleanest one you can for your budget.

Something like this, get one with leather https://www.donedeal.ie/view/15575773 Bmw 320D Msport Shadowline

The one advantage an SUV/Jeep would have is ground clearance if your going off road, down the beach over the mountains etc.

Maybe a Range Rover sport with commercial tax of €333.. https://www.donedeal.ie/view/15633755 €333 road tax ... taxed and doed!!!

Now this is a complete outsider but can easily converted to a commercial for cheap tax but it'll be a 2 seater. Some car though https://www.donedeal.ie/view/14581188 Audi S4 V8 Quattro Avant

bazz26

I wouldn't even bother considering a diesel if your only predicting to do between 8k and 10k km per year. I'd also look into the cost of insurance if you have not owned a car up to now as it ain't cheap and I cannot see you getting many quotes not to mind reasonable ones on the likes of a Range Rover.

Plutonium Kun

Yes, insurance quotes have been sky high (which is very annoying as I've been driving 30 years without an accident or penalty point), but oddly enough the quotes are pretty similar no matter what car I suggest. I've been told I'll just have to grit my teeth and pay a bit insurance bill for the first year or two before it comes down to something more regular.

iamtony

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

Hi, everyone, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this:

I don't drive much (live in Dublin city centre), but I've been looking for a car for weekends away in the mountains or west coast. I do lots of outdoor sports, so the main thing is that it should be able to hold bikes, surf board, etc (preferably internally for security). I reckon I'd do about 8-10,000 km per year, almost all motorway cruising or mountain roads and possibly some trips to France.I hope to have a roof tent as discussed in this thread - so I'd prefer to have roof rails and a load capacity of at least 75kg.

I don't own a car now, but I've rented a wide variety over the years, and I've come to the conclusion that an estate car would probably suit me more than an SUV, although I must admit I do like the Citroen C4 Cactus. I've more or less narrowed a 'new car' choice down to a Cactus, or a Skoda Fabia or Octavia estate, bought on PCP (very good 0% deals going now). All told, I'd calculate that a PCP would cost me around 3-4 K per annum, less insurance (assuming 3-4K residual at the end of the 3 year period).

But on calculating annual costs, I've been drawn to older second hand cars, and I can't keep my eyes away from some BMW 3 Tourings for sale around the 4-7000 euro mark, all around 10 years old. In terms of annual cost, it would seem significantly cheaper (even with much higher road tax), and would make much more luxurious cruisers and more fun driving. Allowing for higher road tax and maintenance, I would guess this would work out around 2K per annum (assuming after 3 years I'd get a 4K scrappage scheme if I went for a new car).

But in the past I had bad experiences with old cars and very high maintenance bills when something goes wrong, so I sort of dread the notion of being faced rapidly with a choice of scrapping a car I just bought a few months ago or facing a few grand bill for some gold plated unique BMW part.

So is the BMW route worth it, or should I just grab one of those 0% PCPs while I can?

Have you thought about something like this https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volkswagen-caravelle-vito-camper-van/15795869 best option for the kind of things you will be doing and the whole back of it folds completely flat and an airbed slides in. I used to do Motorsport in one of these and it was great. Pull out the table for your lunch. Plus they hold there value like no other.

Big Nasty

A BMW is going to be more expensive to buy and run than a similar year Toyota or Ford. If you've no interest in cars and just want something reliable to get you from A > B you know what to do. The BMW will be a nicer place to be and realistically parts aren't much more expensive. If you've your heart set on a BMW then go for it as you'll just end up hating the bland-box. Just go in to it with your eyes wide open and as with any car get it thoroughly checked over by a reliable mechanic before purchase.

Plutonium Kun

Have you thought about something like this https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sal...r-van/15795869 best option for the kind of things you will be doing and the whole back of it folds completely flat and an airbed slides in. I used to do Motorsport in one of these and it was great. Pull out the table for your lunch. Plus they hold there value like no other.

I owned one for four years! I just sold it a few months ago (for pretty much the same price it cost me to do the conversion from an old van to camper). It was great, but I found it too big and unwieldy for my needs. Plus I had a problem with insurance - you can only get them on camper van insurance here, which meant I couldn't use it for my work needs, so I ended up having to rent cars anyway for much of my driving.

Plutonium Kun

Big Nasty wrote: »

A BMW is going to be more expensive to buy and run than a similar year Toyota or Ford. If you've no interest in cars and just want something reliable to get you from A > B you know what to do. The BMW will be a nicer place to be and realistically parts aren't much more expensive. If you've your heart set on a BMW then go for it as you'll just end up hating the bland-box. Just go in to it with your eyes wide open and as with any car get it thoroughly checked over by a reliable mechanic before purchase.

I know an old Ford or VW would be cheaper to buy, but (I can stand corrected on this), I would have thought the older ones would be less mechanically reliable than from a quality brand like BMW or Mercedes and may be more prone to the sort of breakdown that would lead to it getting scrapped. Looking through the small ads, the 'nice' VW's seem to be around 5-7 years old, around 8-10K - the cheaper ones look (to me) to be a bit rubbish, while there are what look like some beautiful BMW's from around 2007 or 8 for around 6K. Thats my perception anyway.

Big Nasty

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

I know an old Ford or VW would be cheaper to buy, but (I can stand corrected on this), I would have thought the older ones would be less mechanically reliable than from a quality brand like BMW or Mercedes and may be more prone to the sort of breakdown that would lead to it getting scrapped. Looking through the small ads, the 'nice' VW's seem to be around 5-7 years old, around 8-10K - the cheaper ones look (to me) to be a bit rubbish, while there are what look like some beautiful BMW's from around 2007 or 8 for around 6K. Thats my perception anyway.

Up until relatively recently a lot of people in this country didn't bother with keeping a service history, didn't do any preventative maintenance and only fixed what was broken or replace what the NCT man said they had to. That's why Ford & Toyota historically have been so popular in this country - they'll take heaps of abuse with very low maintenance. On the other end of the scale the general opinion is that Alfa's are **** because, being Italian, they are high maintenance, i.e. if you don't look after them, they won't look after you. I'd class most German cars as being somewhere in the middle.

Supergurrier

While S4's are cool I wouldn't be buying that one.

Blazer

Supergurrier wrote: »

While S4's are cool I wouldn't be buying that one.

how come out of curiosity?

iamtony

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

I owned one for four years! I just sold it a few months ago (for pretty much the same price it cost me to do the conversion from an old van to camper). It was great, but I found it too big and unwieldy for my needs. Plus I had a problem with insurance - you can only get them on camper van insurance here, which meant I couldn't use it for my work needs, so I ended up having to rent cars anyway for much of my driving.

that isn't a converted to camper van I linked to its a proper caravelle and isn't classed as a camper so you can get insured on them.