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Next car?

Had a shufti at sorting the sills on the Ovlov this afternoon, and discovered that the right hand side one has reverted to Iron Oxide. Anyone got any ideas for what car I should get next, on the following criteria: Should manage 30mpg or so in the real world (what my Ka and this Volvo seem to average). 20mpg with me piloting it and in a very big hurry. Needs to do 0-60 in a reasonable time, handle either well, or in an amusingly sideways fashion. Something that won't rust. Ever. Like how Audi 80s never rust. Less than < £500 or so to buy. It'd be very nice if I could fit a mountain bike in the back with the front wheel on. I also want to be able to get 4 people in it without them a) having to be midgets and b) the car becoming enormously slow. Needs to be pretty reliable too. As in, dies due to me thrashing the life out of it less than once every 10 thousand miles. And comfy. Even the Volvo has comfy seats.

Current thoughts are along the lines of Audi 80 / 90, SAAB 900i (possibly a bit rusty for my liking, but they do look great), VW Golf MK2 (insurance was

*very* fierce when I got quotes for a GTi a while back), and perhaps something along the lines of a Mondeo (rust? bits falling off (they did in my Ka)?), 405 or Xantia (hydropneumatic stuff? bits falling off? both french, both might have decent diseasels?). Any comments on these or ideas for other cars? Nothing Fester / Micra sized, hideously overpriced and I don't much like the amount of noise on the motorway.
Reply to
Doki
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Get yourself a Proton and you'll get a car with 4/5 doors and 12 months MOT, still saving £300 on the above price!

Wifey loves hers!

Reply to
Ex Alfa Adam

Another car for my possibles list: SAAB 9000.

Reply to
Doki

405 won't rust. It will rattle, and knock, but if you learn to ignore that, it'll be fine :)
Reply to
DanTXD

No. Never. Not Ever. Did you see the bit about handling? And not being made out of cheese?

Reply to
Doki

BMW E34 520/525? Certainly you can pick them up for

Reply to
JB

And Scirrocos / Audi Coupes if they last well.

Reply to
Doki

They've got EFi too haven't they? And lovely lovely RWD. Right. I need one in black, with leather. I can manage without chrome wheels and window tints though,

Reply to
Doki

This guy has a couple you might be interested in.

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Mike.

Reply to
Mike G
.
9000 I had used to average 33mpg, and i was no light foot. Nice handling, fairly good ride and plenty of toys! 900's are good but I only got around 27mpg..... If you find a rusty 900 it's either an early car or been dipped in the sea..Most should be rust free being built from the finest heavy gauge swedish steel :-)

Some early 85-89 9000's can look tatty (doors etc) - but you'll never find structural rot...built like tanks.

Reply to
Chris

*cough*Alfa 155*cough*

Seriously, you'd get one for under £500 if you're not looking for a minter, or alternatively, I know someone who has a fairly tidy 75 that may well go for around that price.

Reply to
SteveH

Problem with older VAG stuff is that it rots in hidden, expensive places.

Reply to
SteveH

Also how about (don't baulk..) a sierra 2.0 twinky EFI? German built ones seem pretty solid - picked a late 92 car for peanuts as a stop gap, goes really well. Handles OK too - nice arse out action in the wet :-)

Reply to
Chris

I've been tempted before, but read the twinks are a bit fragile.

Reply to
Doki

In news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de, Doki decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Ok, ignore the rust and buy my XR4x4. It's solid enough to last another couple of years, reliable, handles well, cheap to fix, MOT til April, decent tyres etc...

to you, £300...

Reply to
Pete M

Mmm. Straight 6 lovelyness. Terrible shame about Merc interiors though. There are three ways to do luxury, IMO, and that's Jag / Rolls / Bentley style walnut and leather, Audi style black black and black or Swedish half car half B&O hifi style. Grey leather and great expanses of plastic don't do much for me. That said, that Merc goes stark staring mental when you flick it into Sports mode. Probably not half as brutal as my uncle's Caterham, but you're too tightly strapped in to tell in one of those :P.

Reply to
Doki

It's not so much the fact that the thing'll rot to dust, as the fact that a rusty car looks like a shiteheap. To stop it looking like a shiteheap, I'll spend lots of money on welding. Until all the metal on the car has eventually been replaced, being as it's a Ford.

Reply to
Doki

You're after a cheap car that handles ain't ya? For under £500... My Sierra handles, is reliable as f*ck and is £300.. Don't bother with the welding, cos it doesn't need any. It's just a Bagpuss motor, but it drives well, isn't that bad on fuel at all if you don't cane it, and it's not a diesel. It's the perfect car for ya ;-)

Reply to
Pete M

Are you sure you can get a MTB in the boot of one? It's certainly a struggle getting one in the boot of an XJ40, which I'd have thought was bigger, despite the giant suspension. Or are you talking of estates?

Reply to
Doki

God, the XJ40 boot is notoriously tiny - very space inefficient. The E28 is old-skool - the tin around the outside marks the boot, basically. None of that messy trim and boxes like the XJ40 has. Don't know about the E34 but IIRC they're on a par with a Passat saloon.

Richard

Reply to
Richard Kilpatrick

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