Some quite bizarre replies to this thread. Ford Cougar? 😯

If I was at a different point in my life I’d jump at an S500 for a grand.

Hmmn, Ford Cougar……

The fact that JC recommends it rules it out immediately.
The fact that no one bought one, it’s as ugly as a hat full of monkey’s bums and has the spares availability of one of these:

also rules it out immediately.

I’ve currently got an Omega 2.2TD, so it has to be better built (difficult), just as reliable, bigger (if possible) and make me look like I run a stable of classy hookers.

Surely an Okha shares some spare parts with a Fieseler F103?

Get the Merc these people are mental!

A Merc of that age has a lot of parts to go wrong…and Merc parts ain’t cheap.

Parts are no problem. and you don’t need a second mortgage to buy them.

EDIT Actually I’m only messing around. Using the OP’s criteria I’d probably go for an old Jag.

Jeez PJM its german, old and mercedes hence reliable!
You recommended an Alfa, yes they are eyecandytastic but I wouldnt fancy owning an old ‘un! I reckon they would cost WAY more to keep on the road.

Woody – by posting the pic, you’ve just proved our point. Even ignoring everything else, in what way is a Cougar “big” in the context of an S class?

PJM1974 – Member

Surely an Okha shares some spare parts with a Fieseler F103?

Yeah, but Paul at P & R Autos (Bacup Road, opposite the Mason’s) reckons ramjets don’t pass the latest emission tests, and the chicks don’t dig camouflage these days.

I really fancy an XM or CX, but the life expectancy is shorter than the Okha.

Woody, that’s one hellishly ugly car. It’s like a Probe that’s been on ugly pills.
I’d rather eat worms than drive one of those. Sorry.

In fact, here’s a picture of one having it’s back end fettled:

Aracer – see edit 😉

I’ve owned a Volkswagen Golf GTi and an Alfa 156 V6, followed by an Alfa 147.

One went expensively wrong every three months and the other didn’t.

See if you can guess which was which.

PJM1974 – Member
I’ve owned a Volkswagen Golf GTi and an Alfa 156 V6, followed by an Alfa 147.

One went expensively wrong every three months and the other didn’t.

See if you can guess which was which.

Because this is STW & everyone likes to be clever, I say the alfa was fine & the golf cost you a shedload to repair, now what do I win?

😉

No brainer… W124 Mercedes. I bought a 2.6 190e for £600, an awful lot of bangs for your buck.
Citroen XM yup, had a couple, nice car.
Citroen CX…for £1000? Forget it, you’ll be very lucky to find a good one at that money and a s much as I love them a Merc is better and more reliable.

@2unfit2ride

A PJM order of merit is in the post to you as I type… 🙂

I’ve owned a VW Poolo too, which was also quite unreliable. My point being that everyone assumes that just because a car is German, it’s going to be infallible. That said, since 1999 Alfas have used Bosch electrics which are an awful lot better than the Magnetti Marelli equivalent and are much better for it.

The problems with my Volkswagens have been mainly mechanical, my Golf ate four fuel pumps, a water pump, an oil pump, a power steering pump, an engine fan which failed the day after a major service and the dealer network consistently failed to fix and diagnose basic faults.

Mercedes of a certain vintage are far from unreliable! Am pretty sure I could schlep my W123 around the world in reverse with only the odd fuel stop! Built like a brick privy!

Not bad for a grand… I would 🙂

I got this for a run around – 1983 BMW 728i, 89k, FSH, mint condition with full MOT for £540. Superb to drive and bags of character! I love an old barge 😀

As said above, you can pick up a nice BMW for that sort of price but IF it goes wrong you can expect it to be a bin job. You’ll love owning it until then though!

this is almost “what film extra car should i buy”

the last bmw reminds me of the sort of thing used by a west end gangster in a low budget British film.

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2560062.htm

740 v8 blue(purple tint) full cream leathers v good condition inside and out. m5 rims, heated seats, air con, sun roof. just had a few bits done to it new brakes and disks on front new tyres all round, new battery, new wiperblades, blancing just been done. 11 months mot, no tax but will reflect in price, v nice car to drive very luxurious and comfortable!!!!

Agree with the “big Jag” comment. There’s a garage on the coast near here (Sunderland way) selling Jags less than 10 years old for sub £3K, much less sometimes. They look stunning – if I was young and daft, I’d buy one!

Not so very long ago, I bought a 3L Cosworth-engined Ford Granada for £300. It went sideways everywhere and scared the sh1t out of the local boy racers in their 2L Corsa biscuit boxes. It also had heated seats – bargain! Sold it to a guy in Edinburgh who ripped out the engine and dropped it into a Capri 🙁

Few years ago I bought a ’92 Lexus LS400 for a grand. I’d almost been booked within 24 hours of owning it for sideways urban fun. Lovely car to drive, worst ever mpg was 21, best was on a 90mph cruise control coast to the Lakes and back when it returned 30mpg.
I had to put rear discs and pads on it and got some pattern ones cheap enough, the big killer was the ignition lock packing up, but by that point a lorry had driven into the side of it and written it off anyway.
As for the Merc, do it. Old Mercs are proper German engineering. I had an ’82 W123 280e with 213,000 on the clocks. Kept on going.

WHY?????????????????

Hi

I’ve had 3 XMs over the last 12years. All V6 and the last one a 24v – sold last month. Much more reliable cars than their general reputation would have you beleive. I only broke down once in that time.

I’d give the old Merc a go – sounds fun. Just budget for bills.

I’d get the Merc and drive around pretending to be Idi Amin.

I like yer style, HarrySpider, I like yer style….

But if you’re gonna do the whole dictator thing properly, then you need a Mercedes 600 Pullman Landaulet.

Check pon dis:

When I am rich, I am going to buy one, and then load up and drive be driven by my chauffeur into the car park at Swinley for a STW group ride, playing The Grand March from Verdi’s Aida.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlQMe2Buobw[/video]

Because I am indeed a gentleman of some class, refinement, taste and distinction.

You lot with yer boring cars…

[Nasally whiny voice] Yes I drive the Mondeo because I think you’ll find it has outstanding fuel economy and low service costs [/Nasally whiny voice]

The OP asks for reccomendations for a proper big daft motor, and you suggest a BMW that’s bin made in the last 30 yearS??

You have no soul…. 🙁

The OP asks for reccomendations for a proper big daft motor, and you suggest a BMW that’s bin made in the last 30 yearS??

You have no soul….

And you’d buy a merc?! pfft. I think you forgot the “stupidly cheap” bit.

Been looking at old V8 Plymouths and Buicks. You fancy a left-hooker?

The OP asks for reccomendations for a proper big daft motor, and you suggest a BMW that’s bin made in the last 30 yearS??

Plenty of BMW’s inside the last 30 years have had plenty of soul!

Anyway, get the Merc, if it goes caput, you’ve lost a grand… Only you haven’t, cos break it and sell on ebay and it’s probably worth more than £1k in parts easily!

I bought an E34 BMW 540i (rare 6 speed manual box in it) a couple of years ago in a similar fashion (though I’d been looking for one for a while). Paid £1500 for it (14 years old, 150k on the clock), ran it for 6 months or so (averaged 24mpg which was better than I was expecting though not cheap by any means, 32mpg at 70 with cruise control on the motorway!), then sold it for more than I paid for it! I could have made a LOT more money had I wanted to break it (a guy offered me £1300 for just the engine and gearbox!) but it was too nice to break, the guy who bought it off me had been looking for that very car for ages so was pleased he had it. The absolute best bit about buying an E34 Beemer though, is that they were built like brick outhouses, but when they do go wrong, cos there was so many lesser engined variants on the road back when they were new, there’s lots of spare parts on ebay and in breakers which makes them cheap as chips to run (except for the fuel). Not gonna be quite the case with an old S class Merc, but then it’s even less money in the first place, and it will make the OP cooler than Huggy Bear… Just be prepared to break and sell for spares if it needs ANY money spending on it at all!

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2768137.htm

MTFU

Get the Merc.

I bought an H Reg E class Estate, 3.0L Straight six petrol, seven seater 5 Years ago for £900 from ebay. Stll going strong today, 267,000 miles, only needed a fuel pump and a relay since buying it apart from routine service stuff.

Parts are cheap if you go to somewhere like EuroCar Parts, petrol isn’t though!

Big Mercs are nice, I drive a CL600, but can be expensive when things go wrong.

300 quid for the switch in the door that controlled the windows and seat position was my last pain although 1,200 for four tyres was the most painful to date.

Still worth it for the pleasure though. Just budget a couple of grand over the purchase price and use that as the running fund.

I have never woken up knowing I have to drive from Southampton to Manchester and back thinking – I wish I had a Skoda 1.9TDI instead.

And you’d buy a merc?! pfft. I think you forgot the “stupidly cheap” bit.

OPh and a BMW will be cheap to fix, will it? Yeah, right…

Plenty of BMW’s inside the last 30 years have had plenty of soul!

You are of course wrong, but I respect your right to be.

WCA’s car is stupid, but bloody comfy and a bit quick. It is soulless though WCA. You need something with a bit of character…

You could equip the Landaulet with running boards; imagine what fun could be had with the kids hanging onto the sides? They’d love it! What could possibly go wrong???! 🙂

Come on Rusty – you know it makes sense. You could pretend to be ANYONE in this thing and get a few American fridge freezers in the back along with your gaggle of hookers.

Dereck, if you know where I could get one of those for a grand please point me in the right direction. Cash (well, overdraft!) waiting.

To the OP, does it have to be big? Reasonable nick 944s can be had for £1500, I was seriously tempted last November, especially when I discovered insurance was £425. (28 and 4 years NCD) Would have just been a fun stop-gap until I needed a bigger car for carrying bikes in the spring again. Factor in depreciation for the cost of running a car and these are almost nothing.

Last summer’s runabout for a grand – a superb drive! Owned by Phil Liggett for 12 years 😉

Just budget a couple of grand over the purchase price and use that as the running fund.

I’ve run a fair number of big (once) expensive cars, and this is sound advice – as a £40k might only be £2k now, but it’ll cost £40k money to service.

Ignoring normal consumables and fuel, in 3 years and 30k miles my 535i has cost me £1400 in parts and labour – but this is to keep it in tip-top mechanical condition.

Derek, if you know where that can be bought for a grand, I reckon the North Manchester branch of STW should club together and get it for tooling about, take it in turns 🙂