[Closed] Interesting daily driver for £3500

£3500 [...] reliable but also fun and interesting to drive.

Sounds unlikely. Unless you have vastly different ideas of 'interesting' and 'reliable' to the general population.

For that price boring and reliable is maybe just about achievable.

Smart Roadster. Can't promise reliable but you'd get a sorted one.

I assume fun and interesting to drive means driving like a prick?. Slow doon, there's enough helmets on the road, get something cheap and efficient instead.

Smart Roadster. Can’t promise reliable but you’d get a sorted one.

Should have said I need to get my bike into it too!!

Was thinking Clio 182/197??

I assume fun and interesting to drive means driving like a prick?

Thats a big assumption..... totally incorrect though.

Should have said I need to get my bike into it too!!

My bikes go in fine (one at a time).

Fabia VRS? The old diesel ones were great although may be getting a bit long in the tooth now.

I assume fun and interesting to drive means driving like a prick?

Why would you think that?

Fiat Panda 100hp. You'll get a nice one for much less than £3500 and be able to experience real life Mario Kart.

I want to say Mx5 but for 3.5k you're looking at ropey old mk2's and the bottom of the barrel mk3's.

BMW 325ti. Rear wheel drive, 6 cylinder engine, manual box and a massive hatchback boot. That's a pretty unique combination. Buy a 318 if you want to use less juice.

What happened to the Cayman?

Can you get a bike in the back of a panda 100hp.guess youd need to take both the wheels off.as regards to the clio 182 I think from looking s while ago that you would get one for 4k with 100 000 miles on it. I was reading about people getting through gearboxes and suspension bits and other stuff.they don't seem to be that well built for the power.i think theres other sporty clios that might fit the bill.

We are currently running two Skoda Octavia VRS and don’t really need two cars that big so the idea is sell mine, stick a lump in the bank and for me to buy a daily for around £3500.

I commute 42 miles a day so need something that going to be reliable but also fun and interesting to drive. If possible with a bit of poke too.

- Octavia's are not that big
- Money in the bank will generate next to no income
- £3500 is getting down into 'fix it weekly' money - and how 'reliable' does it need to be?

Why would you think that?

A previous comment that a 1.8 petrol car didn't have enough oomph for the OP.

A fast Subaru Forester or Legacy?

A previous comment that a 1.8 petrol car didn’t have enough oomph for the OP.

Still doesn't mean the OP would drive like a prick though. And it is just as easy to drive like a prick in a 65bhp car as it is in a 650bhp one.

I'll take your word for it.

EP3 Civic Type R.

Absolute riot to drive when you're in the mood whilst still being pretty sensible as a normal car. £3500 won't get you a minter but a quick scan on eBay suggests there are plenty of well-looked after ones at that price (as well as a lot of chavved up ones). Bike will fit with the rear seats down.

Suzuki swift sport.
Cheap, fun and reliable.

Suzuki swift sport.

I like them - great looking little cars.

Suzuki swift sports are great but you have to put the bike on the roof as far as I can tell not enough room in the back.cannot use a rear carrier due to boot design and wing and cannot fit a towbar due to exhaust design.i would like to think I am wrong.

And it is just as easy to drive like a prick in a 65bhp car as it is in a 650bhp one.

The latter is potentially a lot more dangerous.

Civic Type R FN2.

Reliable? Aye
Fun? Aye
Fast? Sorta alright!
£3500? Easily

It’s also like a van in the back and the seats fold totally flat so it swallows bikes with ease.

Fiat Panda 100hp

That. Really miss my 100hp Fiat 500. Great fun and reliable.

Or even the twin air engine would be fun.

The latter is potentially a lot more dangerous.

Errr. Yes. But it doesn't alter that what I said is undeniably a fact.

you already have one hot hatch, so don't get another

mx5, mk3 mr2

£3500 is getting down into ‘fix it weekly’ money

Sure it is.

For that kinda money, with bike carrying ability then as people have said, a semi decent FN2 Type R can be had for less than a semi decent EP3 now. For £3500 thats where my money would likely go. Or any number off this list:
- Clio 172/182/197
- mk5 Golf GTI
- EP3 maybe, FN2 Type R
- Polo 9N3 GTI
- R53 Mini Cooper S (a late supercharged one)
- can you pickup things like Corsa VXRs for £3500 now?
- mk1 TT? Could get a bike in/on it.

trumpton
Free Member

as regards to the clio 182 I think from looking s while ago that you would get one for 4k with 100 000 miles on it. I was reading about people getting through gearboxes and suspension bits and other stuff.they don’t seem to be that well built for the power.i think theres other sporty clios that might fit the bill.

Where'd you see that? I ran one for a few years and always faffed around on ClioSport as a result. Can only remember seeing gearboxes becoming an issue on turbos with over 300bhp and cant remember suspension ever being an issue (except for a Trophy, but then hopefulyl you'd know what you were getting into). If its rear shocks wearing out then they are around £85 each, so not an issue. They actually seem to have fewer issue that people running the likes of a 1.2 from the same era

However.....for running as a daily these aren't the cars to choose. I sold mine, with a heavy heart, when i started using it to commute. Too many niggles that need time sorting (ever the newest ones are now 15 years old) and not particularly comfy places to be. Still miss that car......

They also aren't as cheap as they used to be. Mine was £3k when it was 8 years old. Newer ones (197s and 200s) still need more money to buy and drink a LOT of fuel

By the way, SOTW on Pistonheads last week was a sub £1000 Panda 100HP. Looked pretty good... Get one of those and save another £2500.

Can you get a bike in the back of a panda 100hp

You can definitely get regular bikes in the back with both wheels off. There's a few mountain bikers in the owners group on Facebook.

My Geometron had to go on the roof. Even with both wheels off and the shock removed it wouldn't squeeze down to Panda size.

BMW Compact suggestion still stands. Massive boot.

Another option could be an early 2000s 5 series estate with a 3 litre petrol or diesel

I would say a skoda ovtavia vrs would fit the bill well. Oh.....

Errr. Yes. But it doesn’t alter that what I said is undeniably a fact.

Yes. Indeed. But unfortunately a pointless one.

A previous comment that a 1.8 petrol car didn’t have enough oomph for the OP.

I'll still stand by that comment, the car in question was a 1.8 civic with 140bhp, yes it had power but absolutely no torque so needed revving all the time to get moving. Still doesn't mean I drove it like a prick.

What happened to the Cayman?

Cayman sold before i had chance to get to look at it again.

Octavia’s are not that big
– Money in the bank will generate next to no income
– £3500 is getting down into ‘fix it weekly’ money – and how ‘reliable’ does it need to be?

They arent big but we have two and dont need that size of car each.
Money in the bank will certainly help with the current climate.

I’ll still stand by that comment, the car in question was a 1.8 civic with 140bhp, yes it had power but absolutely no torque so needed revving all the time to get moving

I had the exact same car, mibbe there was something wrong with it, as mine didn't need 'plenty revving'.

I had the exact same car, mibbe there was something wrong with it, as mine didn’t need ‘plenty revving’.

Maybe,

The point is is that we don't need two big family cars, our other Octavia we've owned from new and its an estate so would prefer to keep that one.

I would like a sport little hot hatch to get me to work and back that going to be reliable and have some poke. Doesnt mean Im going to drive it like a dick or whatever word you used previously

We've got a mk5 GTI and a mk1 TT 225 on our driveway right now. The GTI we've had for six or seven years now. Either will do what you're asking, happily.

Sounds unlikely. Unless you have vastly different ideas of ‘interesting’ and ‘reliable’ to the general population.

For that price boring and reliable is maybe just about achievable.

Username checks out.
Nonsense. Over the last 20 years i've never spent more than 2.5k on a daily, and have had a fair few fun/interesting cars (numerous mx5s, mr2, 200sx, Clio Cup etc) that have been, on the whole, pretty damn reliable and cheap to run. Granted, the same cars are more expensive now as they're older and there are less around, but their shoes will have been filled by something else.
Pertinently to this thread though, the most unreliable by far was the Clio(172 Cup) - bought the Cup chiefly as there were fewer things to go wrong... but despite buying one with a great history, something minor packed up with alarming regularity. Usually electrical. Final straw was then the clutch plates seperated from the clutch centre on the way to get the clutch looked at.

Loads of good warm hatches in that price range that will be great, just decide what you want and don't buy the first you see.
Swift Sport, Panda 100, some sort of warm Fiesta, Legacy GT, some sort of Mini, Focus ST etc etc

Audi TT ??

Can you get a bike in the back of a panda 100hp.guess youd need to take both the wheels off.as regards to the clio 182...

...you'll still need to take both wheels off. I was riding a medium Pace RC405 when I had mine and frankly that was a bit of a squeeze without taking the rear seat base out completely. And bikes haven't been getting shorter, or wheel sizes any smaller over the intervening 10 years or so. Depending on the nature of the commute, a 182 may not be a great plan anyway. The nimble handling that makes them great fun to chuck around on a track day or on twisty roads with good sight lines, makes then a bit nervous and fidgety for motorway mileage, and the gearing is pretty short too so they're a bit of a buzz box.

Yes. Indeed. But unfortunately a pointless one.

For what reason is it a pointless fact? And was your point of view a valid one?

Hopkinsgm are you referring to the panda or clio about getting your pace in

I would say a skoda ovtavia vrs would fit the bill well. Oh…..

Doesn't tick the "interesting" bit in the slightest. I had a mk2 Octavia vRS for a few years and although the engine was decent, interior was cheap, didn't handle very well and was far, far, far away from being interesting. Had the same engine in my mk5 Golf GTI and it was night and day. Far more "interesting" (fun).

What makes a car fun can be very different between people. I don't need lots of power but I do like cars that are small and light as the lack of weight is a big factor in the handling.
For me the 80's hot hatches were good for that reason as compared to todays cars they were very light but also very low powered/slow but plenty fast enough to be fun.
Other people may find a big and heavy car with masses of power more fun.

– Clio 172/182/197
– mk5 Golf GTI
– EP3 maybe, FN2 Type R
– Polo 9N3 GTI
– R53 Mini Cooper S (a late supercharged one)
– can you pickup things like Corsa VXRs for £3500 now?
– mk1 TT? Could get a bike in/on it.

I might add Fiesta ST (couple of generations old) or an MX-5, but otherwise this pretty much sums it up if you want fairly reliable and fun. Beyond this list, you can find things that may be more fun, but much less reliable potentially