New car time again - any ideas ?

You just missed my BX.

Had they solved the rust problems by 2001? - earlier E-class cars rot like f*ck.

To be honest, I'd suggest an E200 lump doesn't really suit the E-class anyway.

Not bad. Engine isn't the greatest, they're nice looking cars, but based on the MkIII, ISTR, but facelifted with MkIV front and rear ends. Will hold it's value well.

No. Don't even think about it!

Ewwww. Definitely not.

Alfa 156 V6. YKIMS.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk says... )

If he is looking at Mercs, and Beemers, why not a 166? Should get a tidy one for the price of that 318 shouldn't he?

Much as the idea has crossed my mind (more than once), I reckon it would manage to both make the experience special and ruin it simultaneously. Fabulous engine / terrible fuel consumption / Wonderful handling / crap dealers. It's a very fine balance between fantastic and terrible.

Might consider a 2.4 JTD however :-)

Doh !!

Those are nice. I can't think of much else in that class, except for maybe an Audi Cabriolet (older, but that doesn't seem to be an issue).

Ugh, just... no. They're horrid to drive, a waste of a good engine.

Reliant Robin?

No... I mean. Argh, such a wide remit. How about a nice Triumph Stag? Early 80s Mercedes SL?

Richard

Is it broken?

Just don't get seen driving it.

Well, it will have a sense of occasion about it: Occasionally it will work enough to make a return journey without incident, and occasionally it will break down so catastrophically that you won't want it back.

Yeah, but no.

Wow, I never saw /that/ coming.

(c:

Fair enough, but the depreciation that has brought it within my reach will not know to stop after I buy it. The motor trade would love me...

A quick Autotrader search shows 2005 cars at 14 grand and 1999 cars at 2500. Six years - 10 to 11 grand in depreciation. That's maybe ok, but not for me unfortunately.

Bloody good point.

He'd get a cracker for half what the 318i would cost - V6 166s are absolutely loaded with kit, go like f*ck, and cost peanuts.

Nope - all there and quite nice. A little bit leggy, but so what. Having said, that I don't really see the point when I think about it.

On the other hand..... will a tidy 166 ever be worth a lot less than that?

I reckon they've really hit the bottom of their depreciation curve - you just have to look at the prices a really tidy 164 will sell for to see that.

(Yes, sheds are worth f*ck all, but a nice 164 V6 will still fetch £2k)

totally off the subject but i'd love an SEL get one and tell me what it's like :)

Big, heavy, wafty and rusty.

I've nearly bought one. It's not something I'd want.

An SEC, however...

Richard

No grunt and four pedals, like a manual XM

Current favourite

V8 burble, comedy handling

Far to conservative to be interesting

Need 3 seats as a minimum. We have the Seat and the Audi for completely sensible motoring and the Sylva for complete stupidity. The Golf is currently getting the vote because it would take all 3 of us and I'm sure the 4 year old would love it. I don't think depreciation would be a killer either.

We shall see.

And about as well made, too.

And the intermediate shaft drowning out the V8 burble, and the sound of rust-worms eating the sills drowning that out...

Not even a six-cylinder engine.

Nah, keep it three years and it'll still be worth £3K or so, and that's a conservative estimate really - '91 Clippers are up to £2K in summer for good ones.

Since you already have an Audi, the Audi Cabriolet would probably feel boring. Can you find a Mercedes W124 E-class Cabriolet for around the £6K mark?

Or you could get a Maserati Biturbo.

Richard

Douglas Payne wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:

Whats a BX (working) like? I have a ZX I'd like to get rid of, but I'm intrigued by the odder Citroens. The ZX is a great workhorse, but if I'm forced to stay with budget cars ATM, I would be interested in one with a bit of character. A BX sounds like more fun than a ZX. Has to be the estate as it would be my camping car towing a trailer. Non pink camping that is. I've always used Volvo 740 estates before, but can't afford the petrol these days. ZX is a diesel, I hope there is a diesel BX?

Now you've lost it - Maserati biturbo indeed...(wait till it rusts then use the oily bits for the Sylva)

Regarding the E class cabriolet, it appears not. Although I'm seeing one fairly local for 7 grand. To be honest, the sheer ordinaryness of the golf is possibly a good point. Any repair I could think of (with the exception of the hood) would involve nothing more than nipping into GSF or euro for the bits and doing it. I don't see that as being the case with the Benz.

Other than that, life would an endless series of balmy evenings driving through the Dukes pass to Loch Katrine with the top down and some obscure Jazz on the CD player...

I might have been joking. Maybe...

Hmmm, if that's in budget, I think it would be worth a look, especially if it's six cylinders and automatic. Very classy indeed, rare, and well built.

Of course it's the case with the Benz. Apart from the hood, it's a W124. They do loads of W124 bits. Hell, some of the W124 parts are cheap from Mercedes themselves!

Very nice :)

Richard

BXs come in 1.7D and TD and 1.9D flavours. The engines are similar and common to 205/405/306/ZX/etc models. Higher spec ones have good seats, I was very fond of mine. The load area in an estate will be relatively wide because of the design of the rear suspension.

The Hydropneumagics in a BX are not all that complicated to anyone who knows what they are doing, but something like a blown bulb can easily cause the cost of repairs to outweigh the value of the vehicle. Bits are cheap from the likes of GSF and Eurocarparts.

Ride is very good for a car with its roots in 1983. Steering is a bit woolier than I care for but they grip and handle OK. And by jings they stop, the powered brakes can take some getting used to.

The bodies don't rust, there's loads of stuff about them on the internet and the isosceles styling means they look a bit cool, especially if you were young and impressionable during the 1980s.