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

Great deal on that W124 indeed!
I'm restoring a W123 estate presently.

Unusually, it's not very rusty at all.
Unfortunately, most everything else has been neglected... for 20 odd years, by the one previous owner.

Sparky, £2000 is a huge budget. Question is do you want it to be fun too...?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/bmw/e39-5-series-96-04/bmw-5-series-e39-525i-se-touring-------------2002/2249074

Sparky, £2000 is a huge budget. Question is do you want it to be fun too...?

Basically, this money has been squirrelled away gradually for a motorbike. But it dawns on me that perhaps I should just stick to the bike for commuting and buy a car to get me to the mountains more. That would perhaps be more fun-per-quid than a motorbike.

Mrs Sparky lives away in Norfolk, has a tiny car, and doesn't like it getting muddy. So the time that I can actually use it is minimal.

If I can get something for a couple of grand then I would be able to disappear as and when I want. It doesn't have to be fun.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/bmw/e39-5-series-96-04/bmw-5-series-e39-525i-se-touring-------------2002/2249074

This looks nice, but I imagine any problems would be catastrophically expensive to fix, no?

Hey sparks, with a similar budget and remit but with a need to be able to park on our already crowded street, i'm looking for any smallish diesel estate, like a skoda fabia estate, or a golf estate. Would prefer something a bit bigger (like a volvo or old bmw 3 series) but the mrs says smaller, less road tax, better fuel economy is important.

i'll be interested to see what you get!

Not sure if I'll get anything yet. I'm a notorious ditherer with stuff like this. I'll happily drop similar money on a bike, but cars and motorbikes worry me - it feels like they're always dangling a financial Sword of Damocles over my head, what with potential repair bills and the like.

http://pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/skoda/octavia/skoda-octavia-1-8t-rs-5dr-full-mot-recent-cambelt-change/2285976?isexperiment=true

Bit pricey for the miles, but a fun drive and recently had cambelt done, which is the big bastard job for these. Same engine as the old Audi TT, Seat Leon Cupra and Golf GTI (I think?).

1st of March 2001 is the date from which you'd be looking at emissions based VED.

I pay £225 (1995 year of first reg) for mine, but would be looking at a lot more I suspect if it was emissions based.

its also currently capped at £285 for cars made before March 23 2006

This looks nice, but I imagine any problems would be catastrophically expensive to fix, no?

Depends if you want to fix it yourself. In the grand scheme of things, most cars are expensive to fix. In my experience, the cheapest parts are on Japanese cars, if you really wanted to go budget, you'd be amazed at how much you can fit in a Nissan Micra, and how fucking cheap they are to run. Likewise with the Honda Jazz. Both are renowned for their reliability.

With regards to that BMW, shit can go wrong and unfortunately, no matter how well some cars have been kept, they still develop faults. BMW parts will be more expensive to buy too but choosing the right garage/mechanic should mean you're not charged more labour just because of the brand.

One of the problems with 15-20 year old cars is that parts that are not considered "consumables" start need replacing. Tie rods, steering arms, wishbones, ball joints, shock absorbers, bushes. Not all of them and not on every car, but older cars need more regular maintenance purely because they're getting old. Not all of these things are essential and not all will be MOT failures, but they'll make everything seem more wishy-washy and detract from the drive. One of the many problems with this is that in the UK, 15-20 winters will have chewed everything to shit. The underside of the car will be corroded and seized so that will make replacing all of these fairly simple and cheap steering and suspension parts, a really long job involving grinders, blowtorches, air tools, really long breaker bars and preferably a 4 poster ramp.

TL;DR

my BMW suggestion isn't necessarily a good idea, buy a Honda Jazz

you can fit two (57cm-ish road) bikes, one with the front wheel off the other in tact, in the back of a corsa b. that's £400 quid tops, and at that price you wouldn't even bother cleaning the mud out the back when you're done. doesn't need to be an estate car to be a suitable bike-transporter, as long as you're not looking to carry more than two people at the same time as all the gear.

(disclosure: finally offloading my corsa in the coming weeks, if someone's mug enough to buy it)

stand out from the crowd sparky

triumph 2000 estate or if your lucky the 2.5PI

http://www.autozeitung.de/classic-cars/triumph-2-5-pi-estate-car-fahrbericht-bilder-technische-daten?panorama=1

I think that looks awesome.
I think there's something wrong with me.

you're just fine, its everyone else who is wrong / mad

I would really like a Land Rover Defender. But I know that's stupid for many reasons.

I can think of nothing more enjoyable than regularly driving from London to Wales in a Defender.

With a Saris Bones rack any car can be a good transporter.

Totally solid when attached properly and can take 3 bikes.#

At the money you're taking about buy on conditon not mileage.

ha

I can think of nothing more enjoyable than regularly driving from London to Wales in a Defender.

I know. But I actually quite like basic, rickety cars. I genuinely believe that cars should be less comfortable, warm and luxurious - I think it's responsible for a lot of complacency and accidents. But that's a tangent...

This looks nice, but I imagine any problems would be catastrophically expensive to fix, no?

VW passat diesel, Chris Harris ran one as a camera car for a while and apparently loved it, though he eventually had to replace it with something quicker. Could pick one up for £1k I reckon

VW passat diesel, Chris Harris ran one as a camera car for a while and apparently loved it, though he eventually had to replace it with something quicker. Could pick one up for £1k I reckon

Funny you should mention that, as someone (I won't say who as it was a PM) just sent me a message offering this:

2004 Skoda Octavia estate, Tdi diesel.
10 months mot and taxed until Oct or Nov.
123,000 miles, 1 previous owner.

Which sounds interesting.

Now Ive been offered a Vito (sport!) ...thinking about a camper conversion....thoughts?

I think it would be cheaper and easier to buy a converted one.

100k - belts, clutch, turbo, bushes all good/ recently replaced?
If not $....

I think it would be cheaper and easier to buy a converted one.

Trangia + blow-up mattress + iPad = all of life's luxuries.