Thinking Of Getting A Second Car

[grantley1988 1]

Even though i love driving the 205 every day the conversations you have with people, the looks by middle aged men being drawn back to there youth and wiping the smile of faces of much more expensive machinery in my little car. It has broken down twice in the last month. I had never worked on a car before i got my 205 and now i have changed a gear box, fitted new driveshafts etc etc. Which has been great and i love working on it, I just hate having to wait 2 or 3 days for a part to have to come in stock and me being without a car.

 

So i have been thinking of getting a second car. I do not no what to look for but the one thing I would like is for it to be civilised on the motorway, as my girlfriend is at uni and my only gripe about the 205 is that its abit boomy driving at 80 on the motorway going to see her.

 

Plus it means i will be able to clean the 205 from head to toe and get under the car all painted and no rusty bolts

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have looked on pistonheads but get bored and keeping clicking on lambo's and the like!

[AJA_GTi 0]

For that money I'd get a VAG turbo diesel with high miles and good history if you do a lot of motorway driving mate.

 

Golf

A3

A4

PASSAT

[lfallgti 12]

Even though i love driving the 205 every day the conversations you have with people, the looks by middle aged men being drawn back to there youth and wiping the smile of faces of much more expensive machinery in my little car. It has broken down twice in the last month. I had never worked on a car before i got my 205 and now i have changed a gear box, fitted new driveshafts etc etc. Which has been great and i love working on it, I just hate having to wait 2 or 3 days for a part to have to come in stock and me being without a car.

 

So i have been thinking of getting a second car. I do not no what to look for but the one thing I would like is for it to be civilised on the motorway, as my girlfriend is at uni and my only gripe about the 205 is that its abit boomy driving at 80 on the motorway going to see her.

 

Plus it means i will be able to clean the 205 from head to toe and get under the car all painted and no rusty bolts

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have looked on pistonheads but get bored and keeping clicking on lambo's and the like!

 

306 gti-6. They're probably as cheap as they're going to get now, I picked one up for £600 and it's absolutely superb. Like a grown up 205, but will still make you smile in the twisties.

[Baz 421]

Why not spend a bit of money on preventative maintenance on the 205, then it hopefully won't keep breaking.

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Another vote for something Volkswagen diesel, but think outside the box and look at SEAT and Skoda versions to get a newer car for your price range. They are generally reliable and cheap to run.

[Rob Thomson 6]

You can a 10 year old 100k car with loads of life left in it for £500.

 

I have a fettish for Mk2 Mondeos; I picked up my current 2 litre Zetec for £2k about 3.5yrs ago. 44k, FFSH, not a mark on it. It's now on 111k, gets thoroughly abused, serviced occassionally, and yet it's faultlessly reliable, a great mile muncher, does 40mpg on a run and is surprisingly good to drive. It's big, it's got a big boot, it'll tow, nobody will ever steal it, parts are cheap. Being a s*itty old Mondeo I smash it into things without a care in the world. It's the perfect daily driver for me.

[Anthony 1,003]

There's so many good cars around that price bracket it's difficult to suggest something.

 

Any other preferences or requirements to help narrow it down somewhat? Fun, economical, practical, reliable, cheap insurance/tax etc?

[grantley1988 1]

Why not spend a bit of money on preventative maintenance on the 205, then it hopefully won't keep breaking.

 

I have thought about about buying lots of spares for the 205 as when something breaks i have it in "stock" Its not that it keeps breaking, the clutch cable snapped and i have to wait 2 days for it to get to euro car parts and things like that being without the car waiting for parts really annoys me!

 

I don't do much motorway miles really... Something a little cool, practicle and reliable.

[Batfink 201]

theres so many though i found VAG models overpriced. I picked up my BMW diesel for £2k and it did 30k miles a year and finally died on 230k

on the other end of the scale my neighbour has a clio 1.4 for £1400 with only 67k on the clocks..

Theres got to be loads of Honda Yaris and other basic, practical and reliable cars kicking about, even things like Ford Focus TCDi's which are very pleasant to drive.

[GLPoomobile 958]

I was looking at Autotrader a while back to see what I could get for a bag of sand in the local area, and I was really surprised by some of the cars available. Up the ante and start looking at between £1k and £2k and the options are even better.

 

So I recently ended up with a 2002 Saab 9-3 SE Turbo. Looks lovely (black 3 door coupe, Aero/Viggen bodykit, 17" Aero alloys), all the toys (cruise, electric adjustable memory heated seats, full leather, digital climate control, decent stereo), quiet, comfortable, refined, and plenty of oomph for overtaking. Shame I wrote it off within a week

 

I've since been looking at Saab 9-5s to replace the 9-3. Don't mind if it's saloon or wagon. For £1500 you'll get a 9-5 SE, either 2.0 (150bhp but easily mapped to 220 for circa £400), or a 2.3 (170 or 185bhp depending on year, and again easily mapped to 230). They are smart looking motors, and again for that price you are going to get something fully loaded if you look around (typical spec differences being whether the seats are electric or manual, and if they are heated, but most seem to come with full leather, climate control {dual zone in the 9-5} and cruie control). I'm hoping to end up with a manual HoT Aero for less than £2k, which is 230bhp out the box.

 

Although my options are more limited now I'm in Edinburgh (doesn't seem to such a good car market up here for the kind of stuff I'm looking at), for the price range I've been looking at over the last few months, Saab 9-3s and 9-5s seem to be much better specced than many other cars.

 

My other choice would be a Volvo 850 or V70 T5. I'm in to the big, safe, practical and comfortable car thing at the moment

 

EDIT: Agree that VAG models are overpriced.

Edited November 3, 2010 by GLPoomobile

[wracing 19]

as said mk2 mondeo, great cars. I may have one up for grabs under budget with loads of history

 

James

[Batfink 201]

I was looking at Autotrader a while back to see what I could get for a bag of sand in the local area, and I was really surprised by some of the cars available. Up the ante and start looking at between £1k and £2k and the options are even better.

 

So I recently ended up with a 2002 Saab 9-3 SE Turbo. Looks lovely (black 3 door coupe, Aero/Viggen bodykit, 17" Aero alloys), all the toys (cruise, electric adjustable memory heated seats, full leather, digital climate control, decent stereo), quiet, comfortable, refined, and plenty of oomph for overtaking. Shame I wrote it off within a week

 

I've since been looking at Saab 9-5s to replace the 9-3. Don't mind if it's saloon or wagon. For £1500 you'll get a 9-5 SE, either 2.0 (150bhp but easily mapped to 220 for circa £400), or a 2.3 (170 or 185bhp depending on year, and again easily mapped to 230). They are smart looking motors, and again for that price you are going to get something fully loaded if you look around (typical spec differences being whether the seats are electric or manual, and if they are heated, but most seem to come with full leather, climate control {dual zone in the 9-5} and cruie control). I'm hoping to end up with a manual HoT Aero for less than £2k, which is 230bhp out the box.

 

Although my options are more limited now I'm in Edinburgh (doesn't seem to such a good car market up here for the kind of stuff I'm looking at), for the price range I've been looking at over the last few months, Saab 9-3s and 9-5s seem to be much better specced than many other cars.

 

My other choice would be a Volvo 850 or V70 T5. I'm in to the big, safe, practical and comfortable car thing at the moment

 

EDIT: Agree that VAG models are overpriced.

 

best post of the day! You have to love the less popular cars! Having been driven by Baz in his Volvo the V5 turbo engine note is a delight and I would consider one as a daily hack

[GLPoomobile 958]

If the Saab 9-5 thing is of any interest, here's a couple of examples localish to me (if only I wasn't waiting on the damn insurance payout )

 

Wagon

 

Saloon

 

And a bonus one (for the sake of it) - just needs a new grill

[DaveW 6]

Nissan primera GT, some kind of 306? the list is huge...

[GLPoomobile 958]

the list is huge...

 

It definately is!

 

Another thing I found when looking is that if you have any desire at all to have some semblence of performance, it'll be difficult to find anything in that price range unless you are looking at cars of a slightly older vintage (mid 90s and back) and/or higher mileage - which is another reason I ended up in the Saab camp (sorry to harp on about it ). For my criteria, nothing else seems to fit the bill (although something comes close.....) because whilst I can find nice saloons and hatches with decent spec lists, none of them have any real punch to them. On the other hand you can find some 2002 onwards cheap performance, if you don't mind bending over and lubing yourself up come tax renewal time.

 

But if performance isn't on the agenda, then there's a world of choice available.

 

That other option I mentioned above? Alfa 156. 1.8 16v easily achievable, 2.0 JTS less so, or the 2.5 V6 if you are lucky (bearing in mind I'm talking £2k budget as opposed to your £1k-£1.5k budget). But still not quite enough bang for the buck for my liking, and I'd be worried about the build quality reputation (whether rightly or wrongly).

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

Lewthepimps old 325i as posted in THIS thread, best £700 you'll spend. Need I say more?

 

[damien 22 1 Cars]

you need to pin it down abit more than just the price tag.

 

i picked up my 306 dt for £300 with sub 100k.

what about a mondeo st? seen afew on ebay for BIN £700

fiat coupe turbo?

impreza?

106gti?

[shalmaneser 26]

Why not spend a bit of money on preventative maintenance on the 205, then it hopefully won't keep breaking.

 

I agree. Throwing £1000/1500 at your 205 will clean her right up, it's certainly enought for a gti-6/VTS gearbox conversion, which is a much more pleasant motorway cruising package, and a hell of a lot quicker in the twisties too!

 

Remember, if you get another car you've got double the road tax, double the MOT bills, double the routine maintenance costs (tyres, oil), not to mention the dreaded insurance...

[Jrod 7]

double the routine maintenance costs (tyres, oil),

 

Not quite true, you'll share the miles between the 2 so they will last twice as long!

 

Also if ever you have problems you can just put the 205 away and not worry. I'd never own just a 205.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Jrod

[2-Pugs 57]

Shameless plug, perhaps not a cool enough image but every other box ticked, I have a xsara vtr for sale. Apart from image I cannot fault it at all really!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Nothing wrong with a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10th car at all, I rarely use a 205 daliy as it's just too small and they don;t have Cruse control.

As said you can buy allot now for little money, I sold my old Estate for £400.00 fully loaded with everything but 270k, but it's still going fine with its new owner

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

406 coupe V6.

 

For under a grand you can get a car thats designed by Pininfarina and looks the dogs nuts, a bullet proof V6 engine that propels the car to 60 in around 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 150+ (ideal for motorway cruising). Electric heated full leather seats, electric heated mirrors, cruise control, climate control, airbags, abs, 4 pot brembos, jbl/bose sound system, huge boot and many more features.

 

Definately a lot of car for your money and great fun to drive

[grantley1988 1]

I agree. Throwing £1000/1500 at your 205 will clean her right up, it's certainly enought for a gti-6/VTS gearbox conversion, which is a much more pleasant motorway cruising package, and a hell of a lot quicker in the twisties too!

 

Remember, if you get another car you've got double the road tax, double the MOT bills, double the routine maintenance costs (tyres, oil), not to mention the dreaded insurance...

 

my 205 has a 205 turbo engine so has more than enough power for the motorways and twistys

 

406 coupe V6.

 

For under a grand you can get a car thats designed by Pininfarina and looks the dogs nuts, a bullet proof V6 engine that propels the car to 60 in around 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 150+ (ideal for motorway cruising). Electric heated full leather seats, electric heated mirrors, cruise control, climate control, airbags, abs, 4 pot brembos, jbl/bose sound system, huge boot and many more features.

 

Definately a lot of car for your money and great fun to drive

 

Did think about these.

 

Will have to start looking at insurance and tax etc. The blue saab that GLPoomobile posted up looks like what i am after! what are the sabbs like to drive, running costs etc...

Edited November 4, 2010 by grantley1988

[Baz 421]

I didn't mean buy spares so when it breaks you can fix it! 'Preventative' maintenance means just that, replace the consumables to prevent the thing from breaking, 205's are_not_unreliable!

 

 

Also if ever you have problems you can just put the 205 away and not worry. I'd never own just a 205.

 

Why not if it does everything you need? Given i have other cars at the moment and i don't do mega-mileage, but i've relied on 205's alone for years. I don't wish to tempt fate, but they don't have a habit of letting me down. I don't know why people seem to think otherwise about them!

Edited November 4, 2010 by Baz

[grantley1988 1]

I didn't mean buy spares so when it breaks you can fix it! 'Preventative' maintenance means just that, replace the consumables to prevent the thing from breaking, 205's are_not_unreliable!

 

 

 

 

Why not if it does everything you need? Given i have other cars at the moment and i don't do mega-mileage, but i've relied on 205's alone for years. I don't wish to tempt fate, but they don't have a habit of letting me down. I don't know why people seem to think otherwise about them!

 

My 205 has not been unreliable in the slightest. Just having one car and if something is to giveway then i have a back up.

What do you class as preventative maitenance?

I don't do alot of mileage, just to and from work which is 5 miles and seeing my girlfriend once every few weeks which is a 90 mile round trip. So not much at all.

In my mind i would like to have a car that will always be there plodding away and my 205 which i can can make mint and not use as much.

Its all these bloody restoration threads with mint beams and spotless bays which is swaying me towards a second car most probibly!!!