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

what's the catch I'm not seeing?

IDK. How cheap are we talking?

Isn't it just the usual premium car issues?

• status car no longer the current bodyshape
  
• heavy depreciation
  
• expensive parts
  
• expensive labour
  
• the above two mean after 3yrs/first owner they less likely to be maintained passing work down the line
  
• supply / demand (for eg how many car buyers want an old status car with no status which after repairs could cost the same as a newer dull car?)
  

$1500 per year fully comp... Probably not worth it for a $10,000-ish car...

ING will insure me for under $800 per year, that seems reasonable to me for fully comp...

@6pt Ha, yeah, nah... Reliable would be great, I don't want a money pit...

linko?

Ouch, that's steep, but expected.

As others have outlined, it's a pretty huge gamble with cars like that and you'd want to love it and be prepared to spend a lot during ownership.

Yeah, I have heard some real horror stories with 335i's.

I'm keeping a spreadsheet of 325i running costs, so will report back in 11 months time!

Q: my winter tyres are in the garden waiting to be fitted. Most of them are not under cover (and it's been bit wet this week). Is that an issue for when I'm going to get them fitted? Will they have to be bone dry by then or not necessary? (even Google didn't know, how disappointing)

Won’t be a problem, they can dry them.

https://youtu.be/ZqricaXElqk

great to see Dale.

I didn't understand half of what he said. Not the accent but the technical guff. What I did take from it is that his car is 43 times more powerful than mine. But I am cool with that.

I’ve had second hand BMWs for a few years here. 03 530, 05 330 and now 11 535i they’ve all been pretty reliable. As someone mentioned, the cooling systems need attention around 70-80k. And I did coil packs on the 330 at about 90.

In the same time my mate has returned a new Audi as a lemon and my neighbor the same with a Honda.

I’d take most internet horror stories with a pinch of salt.

Cool.

Our 525i (E61) has just about cost the purchase price (£4.5k) in keeping it running for 2.5 years. Half was the initial ‘sort everything’ garage visit and some of that is normal servicing/consumables and a tyre or two but it’s not great.

By considerably overpaying for my car I have hopefully delayed the point at which maintenance cost = purchase price. Only cos it’ll take longer to get there, not because things won’t go wrong.

Bleak!
The one saving grace is that if you’re handy there are guides to repairing everything and refurb’d parts are often available. I’ve done various small bits myself but there seems to be no end of things that can and will go wrong.

IS that really DB!?

Mine is going to munich legends on Saturday morning for its post-purchase inspection. Fingers crossed.

Going to get them to remove the eyesore towbar while it's on their ramp, and to change the number plates I've bought but been too lazy to change myself.

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Fucken hell! Go dogger

Help/ advice needed- looking to buy a second hand car for £3k or thereabouts. Mostly for motorway driving and occasional tip/ikea runs. Was looking at a focus or similar as I want it to have a good 5 years out of it and fun/nice to drive. GF wants a hybrid to keep carbon footprint down but they’re all quite pricey.

Not sure where to start looking outside of autotrader and not keen at buying via eBay and the like.

I really do like those BMW's... Despite the reliability concerns. I very nearly bought a similar one not long ago. A rare manual too. But it had high Kay's and minimal service history. Also when I looked at it the description of "immaculate" didn't match reality. No surprise there.

I ended up spending way more than expected on an 2015 Audi A4 Avant that came with 2 years factory warranty. Which has been used 3 times in 4 months. Headlight ballast and globe, brakes ( their inspection didn't pick up the fronts were worn, so they replaced for free) and a sun visor plastic clip snapped.
I'm hoping any major oil issues or dsg woes pop in the next year. Good car though, currently road tripping in it and it's quite fun in the twisty bits around the north NSW hinterland.

You have very similar requirements to those I had 2 years ago.
I bought a 2008 Honda Civic 1.8 Petrol. It’s ticked all the bland but cheap to run boxes.

yes it is. But is it really you user15324?

I mean, is anyone really anyone?
He just looks so different, and more Australian somehow.

@dsalmon - Civic is a good suggestion. £-for-£ mk5 Golf GTI will be less good value, but more fun. If you go bigger Mazda 6 is worth a look in that budget/age. They were rated well at the time and like a Civic are the sort of cars that are often in good condition for their age.

At that budget you have to give up on a hybrid/EV unless you lease/similar. If carbon footprint is a concern there is a good argument for buying used over a new hybrid - although there are so many variables it's not a simple calc.

When you say;

Mostly for motorway driving and occasional tip/ikea runs.

How many miles p/a do you expect me to do? If you're doing a reasonable number of motorway miles a larger engine might be more suitable and economical. If it's a trip a month or less then it doesn't matter.

Hi, thanks. I’ll start looking at civics. Re motorways will be max two journeys a month so low mileage. Did want 1.2 or above to have some fun as well. Spotted a civic 1.8 last night that was over budget but interesting.

Ta!

Of the 1.8 2006-2012 Civics, they all have the same engine/power.
S-Types are only 3 door and have stiffer suspension.
EX are the higher spec’d, ES base model and SE somewhere in between I believe.