What Car to buy with £3000?

As header really. Got around £3000 to spend on an "interesting" car.

Must be..

Quick. By Quick, I mean as quick as a Saab 900 T16 or quicker Do more than 20mpg around town in normal driving. Good motorway cruiser Good handling. Not bothered whether FWD or RWD, as long as it sticks to the road like shit to a blanket. Good Ergonomics and driving position for a 6 foot 15 stone fat bastard. Have a rear seat that's usuable for a baby seat and a 4 year old on a booster seat. No adults will travel in there. Ever. Not too concerned about insurance costs, as I've a clean licence and full NCB. Got to last me until September when I will be able to afford my Civic Type-R..

Don't want another Saab, don't want a French car either.

So, what do YOU reckon I should buy?

Or should I just buy a Camaro Z28 and frighten myself shitless every time I go round a corner?

thanks!

Mike

Reply to
Mike P
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MK3 Supra turbo if you can get rid of the economy thing, manual might just make it, uato no chance. Should get a tidy GT4 ST185, or a ropy ST205, is a fast as the Saab, but just won't feel it.

Alternatively, Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC gen4. What I was looking at before I got the celica. Imports have better specs than UKs, but more chance of finding a UK manual than a jap one, as a lot where autos, also Jap models had two chassis versions 2WS, and 4WS. 4WS means you can make a Uturn, 2WS are lighter and a lot quicker, but they need the M25 to turn in. Room in the back for 2 or even 3 amputies depending on what year as they remodeled the centre console for later ones, also later ones got a factory EL dash, and they all have the starship enterprise curved full width dash layout.

Plus you get to drive a decent VTEC engine before you buy the type R and decide whether you like the feeling.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

Thanks for the advice Carl. I was considering something Japanese, you might have made my mind up.

What year does the gen4 Prelude start? I've seen a few on Autotrader, all auto (doesn't bother me that much), all less than £2k, couple of examples below..

1994 HONDA PRELUDE 2.2 VTEC 2dr 4WS Coupe, Auto, Aircon, Climate, Cruise, Traction, Power seats, leather, FSH, MOT Feb, 6 months tax, 136K £1295 or an L-reg with 89K on it, same as that for £1650

Seriously tempted by these. To be honest, the economy around town isn't

*that* much of a problem, I do about 80 miles a week going to and from work, but it's all town driving, so costs me about £20 in the Saab! I can cope with that, but not much worse. Thing is, I need to do a 500 mile round trip every weekend, so it has to be economical(ish) for that cruising as I do at around 80-85, hence why I'm driving a Xantia TD at the moment. Divorce doesn't cost as much as I was expecting, so I can afford to drive something a little more interesting!

Thanks again! Mike

Reply to
Mike P

or to the petrol station :)

Reply to
dojj

hmmm prelude fits what you want pretty well and they go quite rapidly too! i went for an MR2 turbo though no need for rear seats :)

Reply to
Vamp

I think if I remember correctly, gen 4's were 91-96 for imports, 92-96 for UK's

Sites to look at are hpoa.org (join forums for free, and about $5 for membership to support the server costs) in the states, but with UK members. Or Honda Revolutions in the UK. Again join the forums for free, and pay to join the club if you like it and get the members discounts.

Cambelts need doing, and auxiliary belts and waterpumps at the same time, but fairly reasonable if you don't use Honda franchise dealers.

Sounds like an import with auto and climate control. That jap climate works well. With leather it may be a face lift model, which miles better, and gets the EL gauges, but if not you can retrofit them from guides on the HPOA site. Also the rear seat is one piece with a shortened console, instead of two divided bucket seats. Seats are designed by one of the biggies, Sparco or Recaro I think, and a little odd looking with the headrests built in, but I like them.

VTec is good for motorway and round town, because you can pootle arround in a shopping car in town, blast upto speed on the daul carriageways, and then drop back out of VTEC once upto speed on the motorway.

Biggest problem with Auto is, while they can be smoother, if pressing on, they drop out of the VTEC range when shifting.

I went to look at a private sale black 92 import with 90+k miles, it was loverly looking but had to walk away because it was an auto. I've never driven one, and I imagine with a bigger engine it would be fine, but with a 2.2 litre that needs to be revved to make go, it would have been a little difficult drive quickly.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

Thanks for all the good advice as usual Carl :-) I think I'm going to look into this a bit more deeply. I'm quite tempted by an auto actually, as it'll make going to work a lot more pleasant! Presumably you can hold the box in the lower gears if you want to presss on a bit? I've had a few autos in the past, so not a problem for me. The one I mentioned at £1650 has just had a major service with all belts replaced, so that might be a bonus..

I presume being a Honda they just go and go if you service them on time? Nothing particular to watch out for in particular? Reliability is a major issue as it'll be my only mode of transport. Hence why I've said no to my mate who's offered me his 1991 T16 in Mint condition, FSH, 97K for £1300.. I can be doing without dying gearboxes, oil burning turbo seals and strange electrical probs for a while :-)

cheers

Mike

Reply to
Mike P

Same as all Jap stuff, really.

They're ultra reliable up to a point, then everything fails at the same time and they become expensive liabilities. Be aware that the 4th Gen Prelude isn't as rust-proofed as later cars are, too. There's a few rusty ones starting to appear these days.

Still, lovely car if you find a good one.

Reply to
SteveH

200SX but then you may not be too bothered about getting a type-r (lower case as befits FWD scrabble wagons). 145mph, sub 7 sec 0-60, 25mpgish, cruises yup, slightly tail happy just pull the hand brake or floor the go pedal and steer into it [1]. Know some owners who are big pie eaters and they fit so I'm sure you will fit. There are baby seats that fit but it's kept secret so's people sell them cheap when they get kids. No problem getting subteens in the back so you will be OK for next 6 years or regulate their food intake so they don't outgrow their environment. [1] Get a copy of Best Motoring International - Drift Bible - Keiichi Tsuchiya Halfords or crash E d 0 n k e y crash

baby seats - you may have to register to see this.

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ri ta x El ite it won't recline.http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=3724ma mas and pa pas group1 pro- tec does recline according to reports.http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=3980also get a touring with wipe clean leather.

Reply to
Peter Hill

Something like this perhaps - not this one, I've seen later, lower mileage ones with owners that can spell in Autotrader ...

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I really like the shape. Prefer it over the Prelude actually.. I've looked at a few 200SXs and they're just not my thing really.

Cheers Mike

Reply to
Mike P

just make sure you've got oil in it the handbook states that you must check the oil verytime you put fuel into it especially so with the vetc engines

Reply to
dojj

Main rust points to look for on them is the wheel arch edges. they can be spotless all over, inside and out, and have weetabix arches.

Yep. Part of me wishes I had held on, even though I love the GT4 and the club scene that goes with it.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

That was with the Type R civics and Integras. The standard VTECs aren't so fussy.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

Thats very similar to mine. the grey colour is very nice. But they can be seriously thirsty. Got an intake air leak, and even with motorway driving, that air leak, and those popup lights, I was getting a best of

22mpg, averaging arround 19, and dipping to 16mpg.

I've just changed the Lambda and the fuel filter, the oil and the plugs. I'm going to reset the ECU today and put it into learning mode for the next two weeks and see how it picks up the new settings. Should really be able to low to mid twenties and 30+mpg on a good run.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

but still, good oil is good oil ;)

Reply to
dojj

However, this is sound advice for any reasonably high performance car engine.

Reply to
SteveH

yup let me know how that goes! i make 25mpg most of the time unless i go long distance then it goes up to around 30mpg mind you i don't get 4WD loss :)

Reply to
Vamp

Oh yeah, granted.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

Very true. I check mine at least weekly, always have done, especially when stone cold, usually on a sunday morning. Check oil, check fluids, drive round corner to Tesco and check tyre pressures, same tyre compressor everytime, because the gauges are always so far out that it might as well be consistently out.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

when I first bought it I did a 180mile motorway round trip on Super, just after fitted the cone filter and got 30mpg dead. Was well chuffed.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

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