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

Have to agree. Reminds me of those aftermarket MX5 interiors where owners spend too much money on moss-europe.co.uk

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Crazy that it now makes economic sense to import £6k Sharans - used to be the preserve of Skylines and NSXs

TBF I was being a bit cheeky as the first is from a rolls and the 2nd is an aftermarket mx5 recover.

Still I don't like it and I think it will date badly. Plus now soul has mentioned the practical benefits of a diamond pattern for covering up imperfections I feel even more vindicated.

import from Singapore vw sharan

who did you import through? Do you get any kind of warranty?

its not so much the car but the spec, mileage and the condition for a 10 year old car, could of bought similar over here but would have done 100k more, like a rusty boat underneath and probably diesel. This looks like new including the underneath

@Sam_w

A mate has got a C4 Grand Picasso that he's rating but not sure if it's better than a Ford.

yes, it comes with a warranty but not sure what its worth in reality - bit like most warranties. I bought it after looking at the 80 photos of it and based on the fact 10 year old cars are pretty worthless in Singapore - half the cost is the car the other half is fees/shipping/duty
I may speak differently come February when its due to arrive!

Looks like a great deal, well done to you. I was just pointing out that the 2nd hand car market in this country seems to now broken (like lots of other areas of the economy)

Would love a Gen2, but a long way out of my price range. And I can't quite bring myself to spend that much on a Gen1, especially as I do a lot of shorter journeys in it, so petrol is better suited.

For reference, the used car I bought in Feb is now worth 20% more than I paid for it - not sure if to hold or to cash in

Interesting...

There is actually a place about 50 miles from me that has a few Japanese import Tourans, not quite as high a spec as that, but crazy low miles. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112030192740

Convert an old milk float to a passenger vehicle?

70s car vibe?

I think saying the market is broken in relation to 2nd hand cars is a bit of a stretch.

When I was younger, 2nd hand cars were a lot more expensive. It's only the comparatively recent proliferation of dirt cheap finance that has tanked the 2nd hand market.

I may be biased, but when we were looking for a car in 2018, it seemed as though >£8k you really had to start asking yourself why you'd roll the dice on a reasonable mileage newish 2nd car, when you could just buy a new car with a real warranty.

That is the part of the market that is broken. Not, in historical term, this relatively small bump in 2nd hand car prices.

Pricewise, have I missed the sort of age/milage you're after, as ebay and pistonheads seem to have loads of absolute dirt cheap ones. I haven't scrolled through all of them. But they don't jump out as having a huge premium. I'd have thought as long as the interior is in good nick these cars would be fine with high miles, especially with a bigger engine.

Edit: OK, £10k ≈ 80k miles @ 10yrs

Interesting - however bog standard 2nd hand cars shouldn't a) be increasing in value by double digit percentages in 10 months or b) make sense to ship from Singapore

I would love to spend around £7k. So has to last a good few years at that price. I would like Petrol as plenty of short journeys, and makes me feel better about myself slightly. I would like as low miles as possible (Who wouldn't!) I'm quite tempted to go see the imported Touran, they have three of them, they seem to be really high spec, and a supercharged turbo charged 1.4 petrol, which generates 140bhp, so should be punchy enough to haul the kids and dogs round in.

If anything highlights the irrationality of the market it's the inappropriate range of truly practical family cars.

I can see why after murc'd out #RRmum SUVs, the Zafria seems to be one of the most popular family cars near me.

Yes, I do sort of agree with that.

I wonder if current car prices are actually indicative of true levels of inflation.

Looks good man.

I have to admit I was a bit concerned about 1.4 petrol being powerful enough for a car that size - supercharged and turbo should definitely help!

That was my exact fear to. Apparently it produces as much power as a NA 2.0l

horrific

Is it possible to prove ULEZ compliance with a non-EU import?

worth having a look on here if you can wait 3-4 months - even worth a look just to see whats available - even have a very nice landy with no rust!

https://www.beforward.jp/