Jasper
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 03:59 PM |
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Another car choice.....
Ok, so I'm gonna have around £10k to spend on a car for everyday. Want it to be fun, reliable and fairly practical - must take 4 people and
reasonable boot.
My inital thoughts were Scooby or an Alfa of some kind.
Your thoughts??????
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Hellfire
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 04:20 PM |
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Neither 
Subaru - tacky insides. Body panel metal thinner than crisp bags, but reliable.
Alfa - good materials, badly put together and unreliable.
Obviously a 'bling' thing.
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Jumpy Guy
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 04:24 PM |
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Alfa - had one for three years, did 96,000 miles!!!!!!!
fast, sounds fantastic (proper engine)
NO PROBLEMS!! unreliable, pah!!
far more character than the Audi i drive now
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MikeR
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 04:33 PM |
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My only experiences are,
Scooby's are expensive to do a cam belt change
The two alfas i know seem to have persistant reliability problems - but are great drivers cars. By persistant i mean the same fault keeps re-occuring,
in one car its stuck CD & badly fitted front window (fitted 4 times now - still not right) and the other car has had a problem with the steptronic
gearbox 3 times.
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stevebubs
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 04:39 PM |
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BMW 528 or one of the V8 beasts...?
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Hellfire
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 04:48 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Jumpy Guy
Alfa - had one for three years, did 96,000 miles!!!!!!!
fast, sounds fantastic (proper engine)
NO PROBLEMS!! unreliable, pah!!
far more character than the Audi i drive now
That explains why my company have just taken them off of the choice list then. Undoubtably a nice car... but cost to maintain/repair per month is
more than it costs to lease per month.
[Edited on 1-4-05 by Hellfire]
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Hellfire
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 04:50 PM |
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....and subaru's are as common as horse sh!t in a stable.
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 05:22 PM |
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get an alfa (not biased or nowt)
who cares who wins
pass the pork pies
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mackie
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 05:34 PM |
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Volvo 240 GLT Estate with a 500bhp turbo engine?
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mookaloid
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 07:37 PM |
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Golf GTTdi 5dr?
That would be my £10k everyday car
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SteveO
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 08:00 PM |
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Had my Alfa 156 for 3.5 years now . no problems, done over 200k, same clutch 5th gear and cat' just gone. i think i've got my monies
worth. 
Steve
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Jasper
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 08:04 PM |
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Hmmmm - like the look of the Golf....
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mackie
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 08:10 PM |
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A Seat Leon or Skoda Octavia TDi might be better value. You could probably get an Octavia vRS for that money.
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Danozeman
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 08:41 PM |
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Golf, bora or an audi a4 would be my choice in tdi form. The octavia's are also very nice but id rather say i have3 an audi or a vw.. 
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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Danozeman
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 08:41 PM |
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Oh yeah and seat leon..
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 08:43 PM |
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alfa were lowest in the reliability tables of 25 manufacturers - do a bit of net searching.
my mate had a 156 for several 1000 miles, no problems. but the 146 he had before had to have both doors welded back on as the hinges parted from the
body
atb
steve
ps - subarus are VERY cheap inside and very expensive to run. a mate got 17mpg
quote:
Originally posted by Jumpy Guy
Alfa - had one for three years, did 96,000 miles!!!!!!!
fast, sounds fantastic (proper engine)
NO PROBLEMS!! unreliable, pah!!
far more character than the Audi i drive now
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r3nuf
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| posted on 1/4/05 at 09:06 PM |
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I had an Alfa 156 2.4 JTD for 3 years. Did 147k in it. Managed to blow 5 Turbos, during this time!!
All replaced under warranty. Also had some huge service bills.
Therefore would agree about reliability, but would have another tomorrow. Absolutely loved it
Drive Fast....Brake Late....Take Chances
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Simon
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 12:09 AM |
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MG ZT 190
or
MG ZS 180
Both fab cars - don't listen to what motoring journos say about MG R, have a look at owners forums.
ATB
Simon
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Liam
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 03:14 AM |
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My experience of Italian cars (alfa 164, 155 and GTV, fiat Uno, Cinquecento and Coupé turbo):
Awesome looks and awesome [sounding] engines. Build and reliabilty is awful! Oh and they have the worst engine bays in the world to work on -
managing to combine a small engine with a large engine bay and still acheive absolutley no access to any part whatsoever.
10K eh? - a lot to spend on a car, but obviously not a brand new/company one with free warranty/no responsibility. In that case, and considering your
requirements, I'd go for a mint 3.0 litre Vauxhall Omega Elite. Correct-wheel-drive, totally pimpin, big, comfy, and fun to drive. It will
loose bugger all in value.
Oh and you'll have about 8K left to spend on something worth spending money on - like a holiday, fun, or even your future!
[rant]
I think people value 'the car' WAY to highly and are therefore prepared to spend far too much money on them (like making them the next
biggest purchase to your house!) when it simply isn't neccesary. At the end of the day they are for getting from A to B. I would never spend
10K on a daily car even if I had it!
Not including tax and insurance, I motor in the lap of luxury, and with superb reliability, far faster than most people on the road, for an average of
something like £500 per year, and not a huge amount of my time. Old excecutive cars are the way forward - let fools buy them new, their value
disintegrates, and you snap them up - 10 years old and a 30th the price!
Absolutely no reason to spend 10K on a car. And I will never understand the fool that buys a brand new car. [/un-called-for rant]
Have fun,
Liam
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Jasper
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 09:05 AM |
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Liam, know what you mean - that's why I have an 850T5 Volvo, but for the first time in my life I want something smart and newish....
Been checking out Alfa on the JD Power survey - they came in last - won't be one of those then, shame.....
The Octavia's an option, but it's just that Skoda name......
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phelpsa
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 09:07 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Hellfire
Neither
Subaru - tacky insides. Body panel metal thinner than crisp bags, but reliable.
The classic shape models were known for their plastic door handles that snapped off etc. but the new shaped ones are more refined. The new shape ones
are heavier than the old ones too because subaru decided to increase rigidity (take the roof lining off and you'll see what I mean).
As for reliability, my dad had a big end go at 12k miles, and apparantly this is quite common with 99-02 cars new shape and classic because of the
flimsy MAF sensor.
Adam
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Liam
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 12:54 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
Liam, know what you mean - that's why I have an 850T5 Volvo, but for the first time in my life I want something smart and newish....
Been checking out Alfa on the JD Power survey - they came in last - won't be one of those then, shame.....
The Octavia's an option, but it's just that Skoda name......
Well fair enough - but I'd still spend 8 on the car and have some spare
I didn't mention it, but despite the drawn out torture that was changing an Alfa 164 V6 clutch, I'd love another one simply for the sound
of the engine.
Skodas are nice nowadays - but why not get a proper one - i.e. an Audi. Have a few colleagues with them and never hear a bad word about them.
Liam
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zilspeed
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 01:03 PM |
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I have a Passayt TDI130. You could probably get a nice one of those for under 10 grand. Extremely well put together interior, bucket loads of low down
torque - useful torque starts about 1500rpm and plateaus at 1900. Great economy as well - around 40mpg for my 4wd version. Acres of interior space,
compliant ride.
Down side - I'm really starting to get fed up with the gruffness of the engine.
P.S. I don't own this car - it's leased. When it goes back in 17 months time I will be buying a banger for somewhere at the right side of
500 quid if I can and taking the expenses thank you very much.
[Edited on 2/4/05 by zilspeed]
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Snuggs
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 03:33 PM |
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Plenty of very nice Jags out there for under 10K.
But do not buy an S type cos there crap.
Clive
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Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does.
I doubt therefore I may be.
Luposlipophobia : Fear of being chased by wolves around a freshly waxed kitchen floor, while wearing only socks on your feet.
My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely!
http://www.venganza.org
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http://www.snuggs.co.uk
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john_p_b
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| posted on 2/4/05 at 04:41 PM |
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Octavia Vrs all the way for that kinda money. looks very understated and goes like buggery! if i had to swap the cossie for something sensible
i'd deffinatly look at one of them.
subaru along with any jap car maker just don't get the idea when it comes to interiors, i think you have to look to germany or sweden for decent
asthetics. had a 54 plate impreza on demo at work a few months back, i'd say the interior is on par with that in my sapphire, i.e. a great slab
of bland un-inspiring plastic. the sapphire has the just passed 15th birthday in it's defence
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