£2000 car

sickofusernames

I'd go for a German car myself (not biased, lol) as the build quality is just so much better, you can pick up a lovely 10 yr old 5 series BMW for a couple of grand but it'll be a petrol so you have to weigh up the daily running costs.

Forget a diesel for that kind of money though unless you buy none German.

Before I get slated for being a brand snob, I drive my missus' Renault Megane and it's a nice car to drive, comfortable etc but sadly it's riddled with problems like most Renaults.

petrolhead69

£2k would buy you a very usable car, for reliablity and practicality I'd choose a passat around a 53 plate myself, but you could get a nice 3 or 5 or even a 7 series for that too but they would be over 10 years old so higher maintenance, I was ready for chucking a match in my 7 series when the fuel tank started leaking and fixing it turned into a 3 day saga of rusty exhaust welding and dropping props etc. audi a4 is a cracking car for that money very well put together imo, we've been running a 15 year old £500 one for a year and a half and theres no way an n plate mondeo or vectra would be looking and driving as nice as this old barge is now: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2291271
you'd get a decent tdi a4,a6 or passat in your budget easily too if 50mpg floats your boat but avoid the 2.5 at all costs, 1.9 110,115 or 130hp are the ones to go for. a £2k bmw diesel would be the old IDI engines so pretty thirsty and slow by modern standards

petrolhead69

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Avoid MB's at that price, chances are they'll be riddled with rust.

BMW 5 series got to be one of the best contenders but don't rule out a sensible mileage Lexus 400, it'll drink juice but if it's been serviced proper like and hasn't been neglected then it should be pretty bombproof,as would a Toyota Camry...Lexus quality but without the badge.

The ls400 was a great car but before looking at one check out parts prices. I nearly shat myself when I went to buy a set of discs and pads for it, £430!

merlie

VX Zafira ... you have 3 kids ... and their luggage ! ... Also versatile .. great for trips to the dump / Ikea / taking mowers to oulaws etc etc ... doesn't look outta place with bike rack on the roof or hanging on the tailgate. Had ours nearly ten years and had no major probs.

somech

bmw 5 series would be the obvious choice imo
condition/spec and history are the key to buying these

bulletproof engines great build quality avoid the 520 (gutless)
best ones are the 528 upto year 2000 after that the 525 or 530 would suit
find one in sport guise and you'll be suprised how well they handle for a big barge

Sucker_for_sweeties

I know nothing in depth about cars, just that we have, like you always had cars around the £600 to £800 bracket.
Until OH got an Audia A4 (S reg I think - pretty ancient). Cost £1600 last January.So far he's had to spend on front tyres and around £180 in his MOT. No more than any other car we've had.

And I understand EXACTLY what you mean by a 'bit special'. The build quality is fab, it looks sexy and in great nick, and because it's diesel it's OK to run. I think deep down he loves it more than he did his old scirocco (sp?) from years ago.

pukkamum

Thank you all think DH is going to go for the 5 series BMW.
Merlie i take your point but we also have a ford transit campervan we use for 'big loads, this would just be the day to day car.
I personally am completely fed up with the whole process, the trouble is we have always in the past 'had' to make a quick decision on a new car as always only had one and DH would need it for work, but now we have the van too we can take our time but this means we keep going round in circles!!!!!

emmell

My brother looked for about 3 weeks, autotrader, ebay and pistonheads, ended up buying one he'd seen in autotrader about 70 miles away.
I suggested he looked up to about £2300 with the hope of getting the price down. We narrowed the search down slightly because he wanted the 1996 shape onward, automatic with leather. The oldest he looked at was a 'R' reg and the newest a 'W' reg all within his price range, oh and it had to be the six cylinder model (I think) petrol, as the diesel was out of the price range.
His is a lovely metallic blue with pale grey leather and with his personal plate on really looks the bis. He's not a badge snob (he does have a Skoda and a Suzuki jeep as well), he just loves BMW's.
ML.

tomstickland

A lot depends on what you really want. You can buy some quite tidy BMs for £2K and if you want a bit of poke and rear wheel drive they're worth it. I looked at an immaculate 328 sport touring a year ago for £800.

Unpopular engines can be cheaper to buy since people worry about the mpg.

The best valye run of the mill car I could find was Mondeos at a few years old for £2.5K.

The Audi A3 is pretty cheap and pretty solid cars.

sheslookinhot

Sucker_for_sweeties wrote: »

I know nothing in depth about cars, just that we have, like you always had cars around the £600 to £800 bracket.
Until OH got an Audia A4 (S reg I think - pretty ancient). Cost £1600 last January.So far he's had to spend on front tyres and around £180 in his MOT. No more than any other car we've had.

And I understand EXACTLY what you mean by a 'bit special'. The build quality is fab, it looks sexy and in great nick, and because it's diesel it's OK to run. I think deep down he loves it more than he did his old scirocco (sp?) from years ago.

mmmm, I doubt there is any chance of that;)