after a lot of thinking, and test driving with annoyed dealerships, I'm going to have to go for something sensible in a new car, after coming VERY close to signing on the dotted line for a vxr8 but hey ho, can't have it all; I can't do a v8 with 100+ miles a day, the soarer is burning through £80+ a week in fuel alone and that's if I behave.. but I can have a new car for January. I say new, it can be new or used up to the value of 17k, or slightly more but I'd like to hold onto some pennies.. I need something *sensible*, a bit grown up and in a diesel.
At the moment, I'm looking at circa 04 535d M-sports (in black) but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions fitting the critera.. the cheaper the better, but I'm going to be keeping whatever car it is for some time yet (2-3 years minimum). I don't have the space for two cars either so will have a motorbike for the fun days.. £20k is new Octavia VRS money, but I reckon it'd be worth taking a hit for 60k or so and getting something which clings onto a bit of fun.. and then there's depreciation.
it also has to be a saloon or coupe or even estate, and ideally rwd or awd.. as I'm simply not a fan of hatchbacks. Looking for something that will return 40 mpg and upwards ideally.. totally not up on audis, vw's and mercs at the mo so arent at all sure what they offer in terms of price vs spec, anyone who is, feel free to chip in! not really sure what else is out there..?
SECONDLY,
I'm also off to Heidleberg soon as I've got a lot of time off and a freind's out there!
It's also near to the ring. Now, if I go to the ring, I don't want to take the soarer however as it's much more a cruiser as opposed to a track beast, so does anyone have any suggestions what could be a good shout for a bit of track fun?
I'll be switching cars soon, so the plan is to buy something trackable for strictly £2k and under, have a weeks worth of fun and games, keep it for a month that I'm off work for, and sell it before it's back to work, so I'll have it for a month or two. At the moment I'm looking at scoobies, but at £2k you're in dogsville or high mile kingdom, and anything turbo in that category, the fun side of a nissan 200 can come with an array of issues.. other than that, mr2's seem dirt cheap (mk 2's, mk 3's) Can anyone reccomend any other cheap (preferably rwd but who knows if the mood takes..) thrills for the price tag?
I'm not sure I'd get too worked up about it being a diesel tbh. The price difference between petrol and diesel seems to be getting bigger as a rule, and you'll probably pay more for the diesel in the first place, so I'm not sure it would work out much cheaper. Not that there's anything wrong with diesel, but last time I looked at the numbers properly I reckoned I'd actually be better off with a petrol.
I'm not sure I'd get too worked up about it being a diesel tbh. The price difference between petrol and diesel seems to be getting bigger as a rule, and you'll probably pay more for the diesel in the first place, so I'm not sure it would work out much cheaper. Not that there's anything wrong with diesel, but last time I looked at the numbers properly I reckoned I'd actually be better off with a petrol.
If you're doing 15k+ miles a year a diesel does start to make sense, OP suggesting doing 25k then even more so. Still it comes down to saying "I can't afford to run a petrol car I must go diesel" but saying you have a 17k budget, that's like those people who spend 2k more on a "green" car because it saves them £115 a year in road tax.
I'm not sure I'd get too worked up about it being a diesel tbh. The price difference between petrol and diesel seems to be getting bigger as a rule, and you'll probably pay more for the diesel in the first place, so I'm not sure it would work out much cheaper. Not that there's anything wrong with diesel, but last time I looked at the numbers properly I reckoned I'd actually be better off with a petrol.
I'm not hung up on it being a diesel, however there seems to be more bang for buck when balancing it out. to get a petrol that performs AND is economical isn't all too easy! whereas a 535d can have 4-500 bhp remapped and still return 40mpg with your foot down. the thing is, if I'm stuck with it for say 3 years, then that 7k equates to 2 and a bit k a year to run the petrol. In something that does say £90 a week in fuel, that's £4320 a year in fuel alone. It's a balance between getting something comfy and running the thing really. I wouldn't be after a petrol unless it was something with a bit of oomph, and that doesnt go with economy.
re weather or not it's worth having a diesel, have a look at the excel file I've attached, see what you think. it's just a basic calculater I've knocked together, it should be pretty self explanatory. Using approximate examples, it calculates the annual cost of running two cars with different mpg (40 and 25, assuming I hammer it everywhere) at 24k miles year, diesel costing £1.20 a litre, petrol at 1.08. it saves £1,400 a year set this way.. hammer down, say I'd get 20mpg from a 350z or something, and my uncle got near enough 40 from flooring it in his 35d..
even if you change it to a 5mpg (say 30 and 35mpg for the derv) difference between the two cars, and diesel being 20p more, it works out cheaper at most annual mileages. the whole 'its not worth it' point doesnt really ring true if you look at it.
the fact that in reality diesel this morning was 109.4 against petrol's 108 going by www.petrolprices.com this raises savings even more... It doesn't have to be diesel, but considering worst case I'm doing anywhere up to 52k miles a year, it will save a lot of money really.. I could be wrong as I've only knocked it up in between my manager peering over the shoulder like but it seems to make sense..
Fair one, I hadn't realised you were doing such high mileages, should have read your first post properly! The last time I looked at it I think it was about 8p a litre more for diesel and my brother's car was doing 40mpg on petrol, I've never got much more than 45mpg our of my diesel (it's been down to 36 recently, even on a run!) so that's why I was questioning it. Neither of our cars are quite in your range though!
First thing I was going to suggest when I read the first paragraph and before you even mentioned it, was a 335d or 535d. Pretty much the best performance diesel out there in my book. Brilliant blend of economy and performance. Any particular reason you want the larger 5-Series? To my mind, the 335d is the better looking car and will probably be that little bit more nimble and fun. 335d might be tough to get in budget, but still doable I reckon.
It looks like 335Ds are nudging 19/20k.... A bit of a left-field choice would be a Saab 9-3 TTiD 180, it'll be economical and provide adequate performance, but not a patch on a BMW 3litre diesel.
335d is a superb engine, Dad just got a 635d and the diesel is faster 50-100 than the Jag V8 and brilliant on the motorways...
So I would highly recommend the BMW, but get the 5 series over the 3series. They are driven by cocks! The driving experience is awesome though and honestly you cannot tell that it is a diesel inside, outside yes, but inside it is sooooo smooth.
The TTiD is a good oddball engine. I quite like the SAAB 9-5 facelift mind (does that make me weird? I like the old Multipla too..) and that comes with a 3.0V6 Oil burner, more a cruiser than sports model, mind.
The TTiD is a good oddball engine. I quite like the SAAB 9-5 facelift mind (does that make me weird? I like the old Multipla too..) and that comes with a 3.0V6 Oil burner, more a cruiser than sports model, mind.
Which 9-5 model year are you talking about? That 3.0V6 diesel has a little more bhp but the same torque as the TTiD, and uses more fuel to boot, it's definitely a cruiser.
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after suggestions again..
but hey ho, can't have it all; I can't do a v8 with 100+ miles a day, the soarer is burning through £80+ a week in fuel alone and that's if I behave.. but I can have a new car for January. I say new, it can be new or used up to the value of 17k, or slightly more but I'd like to hold onto some pennies.. I need something *sensible*, a bit grown up and in a diesel.
) but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions fitting the critera.. the cheaper the better, but I'm going to be keeping whatever car it is for some time yet (2-3 years minimum). I don't have the space for two cars either so will have a motorbike for the fun days.. £20k is new Octavia VRS money, but I reckon it'd be worth taking a hit for 60k or so and getting something which clings onto a bit of fun.. and then there's depreciation.
