Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Loads of Japanese imports in NZ,

i had one of these when i lived there... (fast, spacious and fun!)

1 Attachment

A Honda Jazz with one careful lady owner

Spent last week in South of France, want to do more of this, plus greyhound, plus bikes.

Old vtec honda now scratched off the list due to motorway misery
Defender also off the list, also due to motorway misery
Vw transporter off the list due to budget

Found an apparently immaculate subaru forester sti making its way to a well known respected jdm importer, due mid Sept I'm on the verge of putting a deposit on. 05 facelift model in blue, totally stock.

Anything else similar I should consider for 10k before I do? Keen to avoid comparatively boring German cars if possible...

Jazz or polo 9n3 or 6r shape.
1.2 na petrol is a gutless low group engine, mega reliable though and plenty around.
If they work out too much on insurance and you don't need to go on motorway then a kia picxanto? Several mates have had them, they arent exciting but mega reliable and tiny

What spec liberty/legacy is that?

I've been eyeballing Impreza WRXs so far at sensible money

is he selling? Why not ideal from insurance? is it pricey to insure? Sorry but I am going to ask a lot of n00b questions like these .. I can offer centre pull rim brake advice in return and some crab apples.

I have a sensible family estate car, run an insurance quote for yourself using the registration "P7 NBH" for a C55 Estate, 2007 vintage.

SiL regularly does 4hr journeys in her Gen 1 1.1ltr - rather her than me but she doesn't seem to mind.

Paging @Dammit

https://www.blocket.se/kalix/Sleeper_Volvo_245_T6_86903119.htm?ca=21&w=3

Do want.

excellent advise, thanks everyone! For now I just need to know the cost of the car so I can look further into it when I pass the test.

Initially I was thinking a £500-ish POS that I will run for a year and dispose of losing all of the £500 (and/or more)

OR

A sweet spot price for the requirements as @J0nathan posted like £4-5k and lose less money when I sell it.

buy a cheap cooking spec polo or some little japanese shopping trolley. you'll regret getting sommat nice as a first car.

perfect (except it is in yorkshire)

£500 sounds like a lot. When I picked up a Polo I got one for £300 and that was really nice compared to what you got for £150

It's a 1998 Legacy GTB , Twin turbo, 4wd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AhGr6ufmKE

i expect you'll be searching trademe ?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchString=subaru+legacy+gtb&type=Search&searchType=1&user_region=100&user_district=0&rsqid=811a112d6485452dab2cac6c960a0bb4-001&generalSearch_keypresses=1&generalSearch_suggested=0&generalSearch_suggestedCategory=

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Legacy-Spec-B-2-0GT/183926615344?hash=item2ad2e16d30:g:iMgAAOSwbWhdXm08

2lt twinscroll JDM with the 6 speed manual

that's cool.

i googled subaru legacy b spec euro rating and look who turned up in the first link:
http://www.uklegacy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/148199-ulez-and-euro-standard-bp5/

Anyone got any experience of a BMW i3? The rex version could work well for us. Electric for local drives, petrol for emergencies on longer drives

have you got a garage / off street parking?

me? yes and yes

then this is probably the car for you!

is that good? I am happy to travel and pick it up ..

Without an decent NCB insurance will be eyewatering. So your no.1 factor should be insurance cost as this may well be more than the cost of the car - so do some searching for the cheapest first cars. With this in mind, a left field suggestion is to look at lease options. A non-UK mate with no UK NCB was able to get Seat Cupra R with insurance rolled in / "for free". Admittedly he has been driving for >20yrs, but not in the UK. But after he did the sums the effective insurance cost (i.e. the extra he paid for his lease package) was c.£500 vs several '000s on insurance. Also you've got a company right? Talk to your accountant to see if there are still any useful tax breaks for EVs. Again you may be surprised that the cost of an all inc. lease package via your ltd. as a company car may be cheaper than buying a shitter and paying £3k on insurance for the 1st 2yrs.

If going 2nd hand ULEZ shouldn't really be an issue as there are cars that have been able to meet the emissions regs from as early as 2002. But for ease anything >2007 will defo be ok.

I'd suggest a Honda Jazz, as they're supper practical, come in small engines, were cheap to insure when I looked (ymmv), excellent storage design, and economical. Other eco options that haven't been suggested are:

Hyundai i30
Kia C'eed / Ceed
Toyota Aurus (Yaris is a bit small, but also worth looking at)
5 door Nissan Micra

anything German usually represents poor VFM - with Audi probably being the worst.

In terms of bike carriers, once you're strapping a bike to the outside it makes no difference. You'll be able to get a bike carrier for pretty much any car that you're going to be looking at. In terms of engine size / performance it's absolutely pointless even considering this. If you've got/will have a kid the amount of shit in the car will weight it down to the point of killing anything that would normally feel nippy. You also don't have the usually youthful luxury of going 3 door to save weight.

great reply! thnks.

Also you've got a company right? Talk to your accountant to see if there are still any useful tax breaks for EVs. Again you may be surprised that the cost of an all inc. lease package via your ltd. and giving you a company car may be cheaper than buying a shitter and paying £3k on insurance for the 1st 2yrs.

not the case anymore sadly .. gone full time

Honda Jazz