Challenge: £1250 budget

SLITHER99

Petrol automatic for £1250. Approx 6000 miles a year.

Any thoughts

Rolandtheroadie

Is that for 1 car?
Divide it by three, buy on MOT/tax left and the story the seller spins. Probably via ebay.

GAZ237

scotsman4th wrote: »

Is that for 1 car?
Divide it by three, buy on MOT/tax left and the story the seller spins. Probably via ebay.

Can anyone translate this?

Rolandtheroadie

GAZ237 wrote: »

Can anyone translate this?

Sorry, thought it was easy/obvious.

£1250 divided by 3 equals £417 ish.

Look at cars with a good MOT left, and hopefully tax (buy on mot/tax?). I normally price cars at £50 per month MOT and tax at cost.

The seller (on ebay) will tell a story about the car. This will include (but not limited to) how long they've had the car for, what they've done to the car and why they are selling the car.

You will normally be able to assess their love for the car in the description.

Any more translations avaliable on request.

forgotmyname

Nearly 15,000 cars on the autotrader site for £500 - £1000.

Top of the list when i just searched a nice Volvo Estate. £500. Although the not checked by their mechanic and sold as unroadworthy makes me pass that one over. 14,900 left

Do you care if it does 30mpg or 40mpg? Bigger cars tend to be cheaper to buy. 10mpg difference = about £300 a year difference.

SLITHER99

Not concerned with economy.

It needs to have a decent boot to fit three large suitcase type cases. Would rather something Astra or Focus sized. Easy to park is a big plus.

Weird_Nev

Volvo saloons and hondas are often overlooked at that pricepoint, but tend to attract more mature owners and be looked after and well specified for the money.
They're also commonly automatic.
I'd start my search there.

Hintza

7 series BMW?

forgotmyname

There are a couple of people on ebay that sell older Volvo's and cheap cars that have been in one family or one owner from new.

I keep an eye on them sometimes and some wonderful cars do pop up. Plenty of cherished Volvo's.

Recently one had an old 440 model in immaculate condition. Spotless everthing, Not a dink or spot of rust anywhere.

It was like a time warp car, Probably garaged all its life and washed and blow dried every week.

That would have been under budget. And should have lasted many years with a bit of care.

Tobster86

E39 BMW 5 series. Very roomy, comfortable, reliable and the steptronic gearboxes are exceptionally good.

I paid £1300 + my old Peugeot 306 for a fully loaded 1999 BMW 540i earlier this year and am very happy with it. The non-V8 models of this age (520i, 525i & 528i) are typically £1100ish and do high twenties to low thirties to the gallon depending on where they're driven.

I get a suprisingly good (for a 4.4l V8!) 25mpg from mine. My cousin has a manual 528i and gets around 29mpg. He paid £900 for it a year ago although it has a couple of cosmetic scrapes.

They're quick cars too; even the 6 cylinder ones.

They tend to have a lot of toys which may be subject to the occasional electrical niggle but I've yet to have an issue that wasn't surmountable with a soldering iron. Me & my cousin have had no mechanical issues whatsoever and his just passed it's MOT with no problems or advisories.

fivetide

SLITHER99 wrote: »

Not concerned with economy.

It needs to have a decent boot to fit three large suitcase type cases. Would rather something Astra or Focus sized. Easy to park is a big plus.

C-Class Merc.

Turning circle likea taxi. Comfy, auto, not great on juice but chain driven engines capable of 200,000 + no problem.

This on is sold but they keep popping up. Worth £300 as scrap.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/classifieds-cars-sale/158734-mercedes-c220d-low-miles-%A3795.html