Yay - what car post ... again.

Dig up some specs on an Alfa 166, 1-3 years old. Check the specs, check the prices, check the performance.

Then snap the dealers arm off at the shoulder.

Just an example. "2003 3.0 24v V6. Wilsons Cheam Alfa Romeo 4 door, One Owner,=20 Saloon, Silver Grey, 2921 miles, Air conditioning,Alarm,Alloy=20 wheels,Anti-lock brakes,Drivers airbag,Electric seats,Electric=20 windows,Metallic paint,Passenger airbag,Power . . . . (trade) "

and the best bit. =A314,999

or=20

"02(02) ALFA-ROMEO 166 V6 24V Sportronic Lusso 3.0 Litre engine,=20 Jordans Hull Alfa Romeo 4 door, Automatic, One Owner, Saloon, Nuvola=20 Blue, 19400 miles, Alarm,Anti-lock brakes,CD Multichanger,Climate=20 control,Drivers airbag,Electric seats,Electric windows,Leather=20 interior,Passenger . . . . (trade) Alfa Romeo Franchised Retailer Approved Used Cars =20 =A314,999"

=20 "2003 52 Reg ALFA ROMEO 166 2.5 V6 24V Lusso Dixon Alfa Romeo Leeds 4=20 Doors, Manual, Saloon, Petrol, NEPTUNE GREY. ABS, Adjustable seats,=20 Adjustable steering column/wheel, Air conditioning, Alloy wheels, Anti=20 theft system, Central locking, Colour coding - Body, Computer, . . .=20 =A314,995"

Bloody year old, and worth 50% of where they started. =20

--=20 The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

What he said. But I'd buy one at another year older and another 50% discount.

for arround 15k he is looking at an 02 9-5 HOT aero Don't know if that=20 includes leather.

Estates are better and a 2002 HOT Aero estate with Leather is arround=20 the same price.

Won't get a 9-3 new style for arround that money, but would easily get a=20 decent old style (Vectra with handling pack) one wit excellent spec but=20 it will be a little older.

Alternatively =A34k will get a 97 9000 Aero 225BHP 2.3 with electric=20 adjust Recarros, climate, surround sound etc and spend the rest at=20 Maptun.

A lot of people who have bought 9-5 Aeros have sold them and enjoyed=20 life with the money, and spent far less on a late 9000 Aero, and enjoyed=20 driving.

Before you go WTF, check out what the exchange of Swedish Krona to GBP=20 is.

--=20 The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

Just an example. "2003 3.0 24v V6. Wilsons Cheam Alfa Romeo 4 door, One Owner, Saloon, Silver Grey, 2921 miles, Air conditioning,Alarm,Alloy wheels,Anti-lock brakes,Drivers airbag,Electric seats,Electric windows,Metallic paint,Passenger airbag,Power . . . . (trade) "

and the best bit. £14,999

Wrong colour.

or

"02(02) ALFA-ROMEO 166 V6 24V Sportronic Lusso 3.0 Litre engine, Jordans Hull Alfa Romeo 4 door, Automatic, One Owner, Saloon, Nuvola Blue, 19400 miles, Alarm,Anti-lock brakes,CD Multichanger,Climate control,Drivers airbag,Electric seats,Electric windows,Leather interior,Passenger . . . . (trade) Alfa Romeo Franchised Retailer Approved Used Cars £14,999"

Now you're talking! I saw this one the other day on autotrader - what does sportronic mean? It's not some sort of selespeed-alike semi-auto gearbox is it?

Yep. Aren't they generally worth about a quarter of what they are now in another 3 years or so?

Peter

BMW 330i - 231BHP, 0-60 6.7 £12k will get you an 01 with 50k ish.

330d, although for that money they are mostly 80k miles+.

lexus GS430 with ~60k at 13k. Mmmmm 4.3 V8, 0-60 6.1. bit thirsty :)

Mitsu' evo 5/6 with 40-50k, about 12k. Not sure how comfy, but bastard quick.

Nissan skyline R33, ~'98, ~45kmiles. As above...

Impreza wrx, '02, ~45k ""

'98 supra twin-turbot. Mmmmm 326BHP, 0-60 4.7s Expensive to keep.

Volvo s60 T5? 250BHp, 0-60 6.5, pretty comfy, reasonable steer. £12k will get you an '02 with ~40k.

Volvo s60 D5 + chip -> ~200Hp(at a guess)

Some of the Car Supermarkets have imports for £15995 brand new - they are from Cyprus though I think.

That's exactly what it is, ;( Still we were having a discussion about it yesterday and neither could remember the name of it so thanks skodapi.. sorry Meatball for that.

Especially with the new model giving you a nice big hammer to whack the dealers' price down with. (See if you can get one for £10k then spend another three on getting 300bhp) :) Presumably the Fabia vRS is too small and you won't want to take the depreciation hit of a new car?

Is that a problem? ;)

In article , depreso snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

Not much of a whack unfortunatley, new vRS isn't being introduced until next year at the earliest, as I understand it.

Biggest competition to the Octavia vRS, is the Fabia vRS, then the Seat ibiza version.

About £12k budget then, wait another year and get the Passat W8 you kept showing me :D Don't get the 166, they're UGLY, and it will break down. The Octavia just down the street is quite nice, not very quick as standard tho are they? 0-60 in 8.5 seconds, except the one they gave to Autocar that was oddly a lot quicker than the ones us punters could buy....

Don't buy the TT, its gay. Leon Cupra R would rock mightily.

It's like a Tiptronic made by Magnetti Marelli. I think that says it all.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news4.newsguy.com, Nom decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I drove a Seat Leon 1.8 SE from Chester to Boston, Lincs, today and I have to say it was one of the most impressive cars I've ever driven. So much so that I'm *seriously* considering buying one. All it needed to be perfect was a bit more poke, 125 bhp wasn't /quite/ enough. Brakes, steering, ride, handling, seats, stereo, were all pretty much exactly how I like my cars, I like the looks, more discreet than an Audi but still nice enough to get comment from the rather nice girlie in the pertol station in Boston "That's a bit nice, what is it?"... even better still, it only used £20 worth of fuel to do 190 spirited miles in 3 hours....

Nidd Vale Motors have a Vauxhall Vectra Elits 3.2 in black with leather, climate etc. etc. for £13000

No thanks.

Looks *horrendous*, and I don't fancy the repair bills. There's a reason for their cheapness :)

I like the look of

't mention mileage though.

Yeah, I've looked. And cambelts etc. aren't sensible money at BMW dealers !

Too big, and just plain silly !!!

Running costs of both. Parts can be loony money, and they're non-trivial to fix. Evo needs the diff fluid changing every few thousand miles etc.

They have no "stealth factor" whatsoever :)

Yep --> Expensive to keep.

Astra appeals because if I pick up a 6-month-old one, then it's still got

2.5 years of warranty left. And being an Astra, parts will be readily available and sensible money. And I like the shape.

They are tempting, because they're *so* cheap. £13K new now, and used ones can be had for £8K. Bloke on my street has a silver one, and I quite like it.

Correct on both counts :)

No, but they're all the same ! I'd love a Leon Cupra R/Audi S3/Golf R32 etc. - but all are VASTLY more than the Octavia RS. Pah !

Passat W8 is the ultimate.

Potential running costs put me off though. Imagine if it needs the headgasket doing (it has four of them) ?

But I still want one plenty.

4.0 W8 + 4x4 + 280bhp + Royalty Spec = Nice :D

As I said, I'm in no rush. If they drop in price a bit over the next few months, I'll go for a testdrive of the one in Sheffield (cos it'll still be there - the same ones are still on Autotrader now !).

Agreed.

180bhp, and no 4x4 transmission-loss. And it'll chip to 220bhp-ish - should be able to match TI-pace then. And I can always tune it more.

Pah.

Agreed - but they're silly money still.

OK, you've convinced me. Find me a low-mileage Cupra R for less than £12K please :)

I quite like the new Vectra actually. Not particularly quick though - 210bhp, but it weighs a metric fuckload.

Does seem cheap - I shall keep an eye out.

I have the feeling that if I spent £13K on a Vectra, it'd be worth about £2K when I change in three years :)