Motors New car suggestions wanted, fast but cheap!

Ok gonna be looking for a new car soon and would appreciate some suggestions I've owned a few cars in the past including a prelude 2.2 vTec but due to *cough* license problems I'm currently driving a Corsa 1.4 16v, in the near future I shall be a free man again though, so am looking at stepping up considerably. I want something quick, very quick and I want something with all the mod cons, air con etc etc. However, I also only have a budget of about £4-6k, and want something that is reasonable to insure too. For example, my prelude was cheaper to insure than an Astra GTE that was 4 insurance groups lower due to the type of car, reputation etc!

I'm currently thinking about the Fiat Couple 20v Turbo, as these can be picked up for the right price and whilst not cheap to insure, certainly don't have the reputation of many proper sports cars that terrifies insurance companies! They also have pretty good write ups for driving pleasure etc. So you get the idea of what I want! Another one that came to mind was a Calibra Turbo, but I don't like the public image these have and I know from indirect experience they can develop some nastily expensive faults... I'm also considering another prelude 2.2 vTec as I loved my old one to bits, but the only thing that concerns me is the cost of repairs - reasonabley priced running costs is another must

Ok, lets see what ya got Cheers.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18305&item=2489114620&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18301&item=2489562911&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31357&item=2489662453&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29755&item=2489497223&rd=1 - I want that car.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31359&item=2489640630&rd=1 - BUY THIS!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9872&item=2489413559&rd=1

Thats just from 5 minutes of browsing...There are a lot of fast and interesting cars around.

*n

 

Cheers for the suggestions I use ebay a lot (am a computer seller) but I'm not sure I'd be confident buying a car from there - I don't know enough about them to judge the value of the more obscure ones and the potential to get shafted is huge!

Also, I don't want anything too old. I'm not mechanically minded and don't really want to have to do anything more than shove it in the garage for the annual service. I also want all the mod cons than come with more modern cars, CD player, air con, alarm, central locking etc. I like gadgets

 

Go on Autotrader.
If u can get Anything...

Honda Preludes are good, but the newer design sucks imo. That 2.2 aint slow though.
Mitsubishi 3000GT's, So nice, Powerful, and Aerodynamics which move as you go faster...
Subaru Impreza? 4WD... what more can i say?
Nissan 200SX, you'd be suprised, but these go pretty cheap now.
Toyota Mr2's, Good car, Engine behind you and RWD, Fun.
Mazda MX5, 1.8i/1.6i Convertible, Fun, and not too slow.
Mazda RX7, Yes you will get the greatest car ever for that money... (hehe i love em)
Mazda MX3, V6's in these, Small but Very Quick.
Mazda MX6, Quite hard to find, But very nice, top engine is so fast 2.5 V6 24v (we own the 626 with it in)


That is, if u can get insured... good luck, and when and whatever you get, we want pics!

 

hehe some nice ideas there I hadn't though of, ta

Honda Preludes - Yep, owned the 2.2 vTec stunning bit of kit Completey agree about the new shape too, would buy old if I did
Mitsubishi 3000GT's, - Bit much for my needs I think, love em too but don't want to go *that* sporty!
Subaru Impreza? 4WD... Good point, will look into prices
Nissan 200SX, possibility actually, not the best looking cars though
Toyota Mr2's - fun certainly, bit of a hair dressers car though
Mazda MX5, 1.8i/1.6i - not quick enough for my tastes!
Mazda RX7 - really? for that money? Interesting
Mazda MX3 - Test drove one of these before, wasn't very impressed I have to say. Not a patch on a Prelude vTec
Mazda MX6 - Nice cars, but a bit large for my needs I think.
So that gives me options of: Another prelude, an impreza, a fiat coupe, an Rx7 hmm decisions

Insurance will be interesting. At present I have a 3 year ban, dangerous driving and an 'own fault accident' on my insurance, and I've been quoted £1100 for the prelude. In May my record gets wiped completely clean (over 5 years from all incidents) so it should drop down a lot. That said, I'm sure the prelude is one of the cheaper models to insure out of that list so we shall see

 

I'd go for the Prelude, personally, Fast, looks nice, 4WS, 2.2Vtec, whats not good about it!?

Other Points:
RX7 might be a bit heavier on petrol since they aint that well refined...
And the impreza is a good car, and it is 4wd, but again, they aint cheap to run let me asure you!

 

Am swaying more towards the prelude again the more I think about it lol. End of the day I did extensive research last time and the prelude came out on top for a reason

Only think that concerns me is the potential for high costs, if something goes wrong with say, the 4ws system then the costs could be huge!! The insurance on the Rx7 is going to be too high, so I think I'm gonna have to rule that out. Prelude is good too because if you want it to be economical you can drive it below the vTec threshold as a standard 2.2. I do still quite like the idea of an Mr2 but the public image they portray is not good at all lol. Would be fun to drive though with the rear wheel drive...

 

Prelude? Honda? Breaking down? Rare mate...
Find a good one for starters and you shouldn't have many problems with it.

And yeah, using the 2.2 out of vtec range is pretty good, if u keep the revs low its actually a cheapish Fast car to run!

Agree bout RX7 Insurance... not sure what group its in, but you know the Fiat Coupe is either 19/20...

 

Yeah the 16v Turbo is 18 and the 20v is 19, which will probably push it just too high anyway. The prelude is still 17 but they seem particularly cheap to insure for some reason... Impreza is only 17 too, but I guess the actual running costs are high with them anyway. Mr2 is only 16 as well....

 

Anyone know anything about importing cars yourself? I guess it could work out quite cheap to do so but I have no idea how to go about it, and how likely you are to get screwed over?!

 

There are Some good import sites, I was close to getting a Civic Si imported but i rethought after looking into it a bit more...
Theres TAX to pay, and sometimes parts need to be changed to make it UKlegal...
Steer Clear i'd say, but you can safe a few £100~ if your lucky.

 

Considered a hot hatch or you wanting a 'proper' sports car?

Honda Civic Jordan
Renault Clio 172
Alfa Romeo 147

I'd go for a GTO though if i weren't 21

 

Id go for the Ford Probe gt. Even the SE has decent pickup. Its basicaly a 626 motor in it. 2.5L v6 or the se has a 2L 4cylinder block. Has good rep in the US just change rear discs if it has more than 60-70K miles. Personaly thats the smallest car i would go for. But then again Im 6'1 and I really dont feel very comfortable in cars. I prefer vans and suv's (dont flame me for my preferences plz).

My 2cent.

 

Well, really after a 'proper' sports car to be honest. Hot-hatches tend to be pretty uneventful inside compared to something like a prelude and I really want the full package, as opposed to just the performance on it's own. I also don't want to be classed in any way in the same group as the local chav's!!

 

Fair enough mate. If you're temped by a scooby then don't forget the Mitsubishi Evo, I know which my money would go on (again, if I weren't 21)! Don't know what kind of insurance quotes you'll get on one though.

 

Insurance will be too high on the Evo I'm afraid, otherwise would definitely be an option!

Just been looking at Mitusbishi FTO, they are well within price range and look pretty tasty

 

Anyone know what insurance group the FTO is, it's not listed on Parkers…? It's a definate possibility, I love the styling and the performance is about right too (same as the prelude). It's economical at low revs and has a very similar system to vTec. Interested in the tiptronic gears as well, gonna have to have a test drive of one of those I think

 

FTO is group 13-18 it seems http://www.onestopcaradvice.co.uk/insurance_groups/mitsubishi/fto.htm

Though i think the best idea to get an idea of price is to whack your details into www.confused.com. Though it may not provide the best quotes for imports and such I think it's a good start as a guesstimate, and it only takes 30 seconds to enter the details of a different car once you've put your personal details in. Takes about 30mins to get back with results usually but your free to do whatever else you like during that time at least.

 

Hmm 18 seems a bit high for the top model, was hoping it would be 17… That probably puts it out my range then unfortunately, which is a shame because it only has the same performance as the prelude… Prelude is definitely looking like the sensible option again...!

It's a bit difficult for me to get quotes at the moment, as in a few months my license will have completely changed! That said, I had a quote for a prelude at £1100 a few months ago, TFT, Dangerous driving, 3 year ban and own fault accident, and no no-claims. When I'm up for renewal I won't have to declare anything, and will have 2 years no-claims so I'd imagine it will be considerably better than that!

 

Its actually the same engine as the MX6, 2.5 v6 24v, but yeah great car, we're looking for one.