Old faithful Vectra v6 is dying, inspiration needed for old sub £2k fun car pls?

As above a fun car to drive, mpg not really an issue so long as it’s a bit rapid!
Thinking another vectra Sri, Volvo t5… Etc

Xj6 jags are going for peanuts I had one and loved it really nice to drive and I could play all my old tapes in it too

I had an X-type last year, the 3.0i one is AWD with plenty of go.

230bhp and sub 7 sec, also averaged 27mpg.

Far nicer to drive than an old V6 Vectra, based on a previous company car that use to eat its front tyres due to a combination of auto, FWD, bang-it-in-traction control and 200bhp – and company fuel 🙂

Alfa romeo gtv v6. One of the best production engines ever made.

Prices are reckoned to have bottomed now and should hold its value / creep up.

Would need a garage to keep it in good nic’ tho.

Something like this?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/toyota/mr2/toyota-mr2-twin-turbo-coupe/2209988

Older Mondeo ST220’s should be around that kind of money.

Older Jags like XJ’s and S-Types can be had for peanuts too

mk1 octy vrs, once you have sorted any niggles the underlying car is solid

A BMW 330i M Sport?

A lovely handling rear wheel drive car.

Some nice suggestions love those old mr2’s although I did watch a friends blow a spark plug out up into the bonnet so hard it left a major dent on the outside!! Jags are tempting, mondeos Less so! Not found a gtv v6 for that money love them though!

£2k buys you a lot of BMW with a big engine.

Think 5 series and a V8…

I used to own an immaculate E34 (will be rare as rocking horse poo now, but E39’s still plenty about) 540i Touring with a 6 speed manual box.

It didn’t hang about! But then with nigh on 300bhp it wouldn’t do… 0-60 was 6 seconds, and it was limited to 155mph.

Best thing was that fuel aside, it was by far the cheapest car I’ve ever run. Could pick up any parts from breakers, eBay or BMW enthusiast forums for peanuts. The tiny cost of keeping it going (compared to just about everything else I’ve owned) almost made up for the fuel consumption, which at 24mpg average could have been worse considering the power on tap. It’d manage to too 30mpg on a run on the motorway even, though spirited back land driving would dip it below 15mpg. Took it on an EVO magazine track day once, surprised a number of much newer and (on paper) faster cars such as an E60 M5, Porsche 996 Carreras etc, though that day it only just managed over 10mpg!!! 😉

Loved that car sooooo much. Had to get rid a while back cos of a redundancy. For the minimal mileage I do again now, I could almost afford the fuel for it again (though it’s 30p a litre dearer now than 5 years ago when I had it).

ST170?

Or, what could possibly go wrong?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403272849490/sort/default/usedcars/model/corrado/price-to/2000/radius/1500/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/transmission/manual/postcode/eh145lw/make/volkswagen?logcode=p

I was going to suggest a Hyundai Coupe til I realised they’re slower than my mondeo. Now it’s no slouch but still it’s hard to recommend a V6 sporty coupe that can’t outrun a diesel 3 piece suite.

Alfa 166 3.0 or 3.2 🙂

Ha ha the corrado vr…bottomless moneypit…6, althoughi I still fancy one!! I’ll look into the 540 sounds fun!

Does it need to be Saloon shaped ?
205 is still a fun car or a citrone xantia vts
And no I’m not mad the vts is just a cheap 306 gti6
Lots of go for the money

Or Leon 20v turbo if you need the space

osteo1 – Member

Ha ha the corrado vr…bottomless moneypit..

How much difference can 100ml make, they said 😆

And no I’m not mad the vts is just a cheap 306 gti6
Lots of go for the money

Owned a 306gti-6 for 3 years in my youth. Pretty rapid motor, but to be honest, even by Peugeots standards, not that well built. You’ll struggle to find one worth buying these days, even then I wouldn’t spend more than £1k on it and I’d budget for a lot of things to need fixing.

The Xsara VTS had the same go, just not quite as polished handling, only a 5spd box, and a velour interior rather than leather. People don’t really know what they are, so they fetch bottom dollar. Saw a minter (by PSA standards) with about 80k on the clock on Autotrader about 4 years back for only £750. If you could find one now (again, most have probably perished) they’d almost pay you to take it away I suspect!

Certainly there’s better cars for £2k out there, and many of them have big engines and RWD! :-p

Opps got my models a little mixed up lol
Big engine and rwd does always mean a good fun drive
It’s about the twisty bits

My favorite bargain was a phase 1 clio 16v
Cost me 2500 with 30000 miles on it. Was 12 years ago before they became old school popular

Owned a 306 gti6 very rapid and one of my favourite driving experiences… but 2k in one year on maintenance put me off Peugeot for life!

540i Touring with a 6 speed manual box.

The poor man’s M5, and you did well to find one with the M5 manual box, they were quite rare.
My Brother had one but it was written off whilst parked by a drunk driver. After the front end was stoved in it became apparant that it almost certainly wasn’t the first accident the car had been in.

I unwittingly bought an S-Type (3.0 V6) whilst pissed, and it was very cheap but had a lot of niggling problems. If you’re tempted don’t bother with an early one (5 speed Ford gearbox), go with the facelift (6 speed ZF gearbox). All the problems had been ironed out by then.

Not a particularly sporty car but it is a proper Jag and it did feel special.

Don’t go Alfa 166 3.0 as I had one for a year and had to scrap it as a bearing went in the drive shaft at the gear box end and it was £400 from Alfa with that again to fit it. Typically Alfa and that’s why they are all so cheap and usually poorly maintained.

Mondeo ST220 is a good call and should be possible for £2k.
Or maybe a SAAB Aero?

Oddly the worst car I’ve had for running cost and generally being rubbish
Was an audi a4 t sport
When it worked was great , but so much money to spend to keep it going
Maybe that’s the problem
With buying at the bottom of the market

Saab 9-3 Aero.

Stupid fast and cost pennies, the 5 pot engine is legendary.

Friend just bought one, I got pulled over 4 minutes later, I’m not driving it again, with the autobox it’s just way too easy.

What about a nice supergcharged XJR6
http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/165050/1995-jaguar-xjr6-supercharged-320bhp

Ex police Volvo V70 t5
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-V70-T5-EX-TRAFFIC-POLICE-CAR-/291115099810?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43c7cfe6a2

Or Old school Volvo 850 T5
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1996-Volvo-850-2-3-T5-Auto-Black-Full-History-Tax-Fresh-MOT-/261446517993?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cdf6d44e9

the 5 pot engine is legendary

And wholly imaginary. 4 or 6 only in the 9-3

We’ve got a 330i e46 touring and a v70 t5 and they are totally different animals! 330i is a drivers can and now I’ve replaced the suspension bushes absolutely spot on, but the volvo is like driving a barge, albeit a very quick barge with hilarious turbo lag!

Why’s it dying?

I had an st220 estate, it was absolutely brilliant, that v6 swell was lovely. It just seemed to have power all the way through the revs. Handled very well, very stiff car so B roads were a bit jiggly but sweeping A roads, or decent Tarmac was just brilliant. Very high spec level as well.

E46 330 coupe best car I’ve owned 0-60 6.5 seconds and top speed of 155mph a true drivers car

SAAB 9-5 Aero estate. Now cheap, very fast, very safe, loads of room to chuck bikes into. Parts are fairly cheap and plentiful and it is no less reliable than anything else.

Paid £2900 a year ago for a 55 plate with 95k on the clock with leather heated seats, with most of the usual toys and a manual gearbox. 250BHP as standard.

Some bargains out there.

Lexus IS200 ??
just bought a sportcross version for £1700
2003 with 130k miles drives perfect super smooth straight 6 engine does low 30’s mpg electric everything… and it all works!

My latest cheap and cheerful do-it-all car is a Mercedes E430 Avantgarde Estate for well under £2k. Cavernous, FMBSH, 60 in under 7s and (this one at least) solid, clean condition.

My colleague here has just bought a Merc ML500 for £2000. 5 litre V8, 4WD leather, electric everything. Nice. Likes a drink, mind.

Saab Aero as ^^.

Wish I’d waited and bought one instead of my 9-5 estate. Even though it’s ‘only’ 170bhp and an auto it’s still respectably quick. The Aero is great spec and performance for very little money.

Those Alfa GTVs seem overpriced – sure they were much cheaper a couple of years back (i.e under £1500)

I’ve been looking for something nice to drive, cheap to own and fuel, 2 seater, convertible and sub £2k…. Either an MX5 or an MR2 Roadster are top of the list.

emissions(!) .. some/(most) of these cars should be destined for the scrap yard 😉

My mk3 golf 16v in the classifieds?

Get the revs up and it is quite good fun.

My mk3 golf 16v in the classifieds?

I saw that- do they really sell for that much?!!

Mine is in pretty damn fine nick, plus low mileage, hasn’t been butchered like a lot of them and has about £700 of audio equipment fitted 🙂

BMW E36 328i Sport.