I don't think I'd be alive if I had one of those when I was younger. I'm surprised that anyone who had one on the road (in running order) is left to tell the tale.
I hear you, but I have learned that practicality and fun aren't good bedmates. There just always seems to be a compromise (there are a few semi-exceptions in the 100K euro bracket). as such, for a daily drive, I am hard pressed to recommend, say, my mate's 550hp-on-the-wheels Nissan Skyline GTR32. It's a MISSILE on the road, and it's good to drive, but for every day, or the (quite regular around these parts) 700km weekends, I wouldn't want that. I'd want something a bit softer on the road, without a 5 point harness, with normal ride height and a stereo that I can actually hear. Maybe some space for some shopping or a duffel bag would be cool as well. If you want fast, buy a Caterham, turbo convert it. It'll be faster than 99% of all the cars out there (including a Veyron, off the line, if done right). It'll also be cheaper than most performance cars. (similar options exist) Hot hatches on the other hand try to strike that balance. Which is what makes the decision there somewhat tougher, since you clearly want the "everydayness" of it all. And possibly the comfort. I suppose there is a degree of subjectivity in there, but I would never buy an every day car for 0-60 stats. That said, I would NOT buy a car because of it's 0-60 stats (if, say, they were above 12 seconds).
Indeed I want to be driving something mental like a TVR/Ferarri but the harsh reality of my day to day life is on my 100 mile daily commute it would break me. So for me a little hot hatch (well its an Abarth so probably considered luke-warm, would also struggle against a 320d) that is family compatible, quick but can do >40mpg when I want it too suits me fine, its relatively light so easy on consumables, blimey this past year I have done track events into the double digits, competitive motor sport too taking class win, travelled 20k and just changed a set of tyres, try that in a heavy turbo diesel.
It's not overly hot, it's not a hatch, but I've fallen in love. Alfa Romeo 159 2.4 JTDM Potentially one of the most hard-on provoking cars I've seen. Best of all? £800 fully comp to insure.
That's one of my fave Alfa's (although I'm not a big Alfa fan). Those front lights are pure sex. The only sticking point imo, 108,500 miles on a petrol Alfa. I'm not sure I'd ever buy a petrol car with more than 80k on the clock. You could have trouble free motoring for years, you could need an engine rebuild in no time. There is a reason Alfa's have their reputation, they can be rather fragile. An old work colleague had an Alfa Estate (can't remember the model no), and the engine blew with only 18,000 miles on the clock. The garage sent it off to get re-built and it blew again within a few months. I know not everyone has problems, but my experiences are that there are more big problems with Alfa's than a lot of other makes. I wouldn't let this stop me on a low mileage Alfa Romeo, but It'd make me really think twice on a high miler. Edit. Arg, it is so very nice though. The interior is lovely.
QFT. What a load of bollocks. It's all a lottery, but most cars are written off for repairs to other parts than engine damage long before they fail. Chances are your friend had a 156 with the 1.8 litre petrol engine - there were several bad engines out there and all replaced by Alfa under warranty for early death. Would you buy an Audi? A tech friend of mine spends 40 hours a week replacing and rebuilding their engines (petrol and diesel) when they fail within warranty, often with less than 10k miles. Low or high mileage failures through age-related wear still happen (which becomes a factor in an early 159 or E90 3 series now). There should be a line drawn between the Brera and 159-era Alfas and the earlier stuff. The 159 is actually more reliable than its German equivalents thanks to over-engineering to try and counter their reputation.
You'd have to be insane to spend £6.5k on an Alfa with over 100k under its wheels. But as we are on Alfa sex, I'll see your 159 and raise you... I have a thing for convertibles. :/
I suppose it's personal preference, but I've grown up with my parents having to run cheap cars, and high miles really does matter in my experience. Modern cars certainly last far better than older ones, but small problems still start to mount after 100k miles. And the possibility of a big failure really does increase. Diesel cars are known to last longer than petrols and as such I wouldn't be quite as nervous about a diesel high miler. Even then, there's a decent chance of a turbo going poof on turbo diesel motors. Edit. It's not only about the engine either. 100k miles is also 100k miles of wear on the suspension, linkages, bushes, interior etc.etc. Depending on previous work done, the original clutch could still be there, which could need replacing soon. Although I'd expect the gearbox to last a lot longer, there's no guarantees. Brake lines will most likely be deteriorating, requiring a change soon if they haven't been done already. My parents old Rover soldiered on to over 200,000 miles, but by that point everything was starting to go. The engine was still strong to be fair, but that doesn't matter when you have gearbox problems, a leaking sunroof, dodgy electric windows, clutch problems (with the master cylinder), play in all the linkages, and general creaks and squeaks. It's just not the same car any more. Poor quality of the Rover would of course be partly to blame, but wear adds up. I think you're spot on with the 156, and I think it may have been a 1.8. Fair enough. I also wouldn't buy a BMW or Audi with over 100k miles on the clock, especially at £6.5k. My 320D had 87k miles when I bought it, but I knew it wouldn't be seeing many miles, and I only paid £4.5k.
A couple of other options I don't think have cropped up, the Mazda 3MPS and Volvo C30 T5 should be worth looking at, at least.
Ok no BMWs so I will throw this into the mix http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../postcode/ws35af/page/1/radius/1500?logcode=p Sorry, but personally i don't touch it unless it's German or Japanese. Not really a hot hatch but it will pull due to being a diesel. If you really want some fun however then just look here: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../radius/1500/postcode/ws35af/page/1?logcode=p My friend has an S3 - fun is an understatement and this should be similar. Or for slightly above budget a really nice 3dr example http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...page/1/radius/1500/keywords/quattro?logcode=p
If you buy crap, you'll get crap. Any vauxhall, ford, rover and french with over 140K is very much a lottery as to what you get. If you buy quality such as Volvo, Saab or Germany you'll be grinning way over 200K trouble free. For instance my last Volvo 440 (1994) considered possibly the worst volvo ever produced with its volvo tweaked renault engine did 210K before rust in the back end claimed the wheel well and frankly the welding would cost more than the car. So I parted with it. 13 years trouble free mileage, ragged every mile My current car is a 1998 Saab 900 Turbo, monsters mostly all hot hatches I've come across. Came with a FSH for a mere £343. I smashed 45,000 miles on it since I bought it 2 years ago, hard miles at that. I was reading the Saab workshop manual, with proper servicing the headgasket and headbolts will last to 250K, and the lower crank bearings 800K. So if you buy quality vehicles in the first place you won't have any issues
Depends what you mean by trouble free. Wear and tear will always result in certain bits and pieces degrading to the point of needing to be replaced. Few clutches will last 200k miles, and getting one replaced varies in difficulty and cost. If the whole engine needs to be removed or dropped then the labour costs quickly mount. The cost of getting brake lines replaced (the MOT guy said mine will probably need replacing in order to pass the next MOT) isn't substantial, but could add up to a couple of hundred. Bushings could be another reasonably expensive thing that might need changing when the miles rack-up. Then there's all the little fiddly things. Issues with electric windows (I needed to fix my passenger side window a couple of years ago). Small electrical failures (I had to replace one of the rear bulb clusters as the connector short circuited and melted the housing. I also had to fix a few wires which broke going into the boot-lid), or broken switches (one of the electric window switches broke and needed supergluing together). These things do tend to come thick and fast as the miles are put-on. You're not safe if you buy German etc. either. Turbo's are a common failure point on a lot of diesel cars. When I picked up one of my friends for the first time in my bmw, the first thing his dad asked was how many miles it had done, because the turbo on his went soon after it crossed the 100,000 mark and it cost him £2.5k to fix. There's always the dreaded swirl flap issue as well (although I de-flapped mine last summer).
Mine isn't, yeah its got a few standard GM plastic bits, but everything else is Saab 3 door coupe has custom steel pressings. Wasn't until the 9-3 did they monkey around with vectra bits. Brake lines can go at any period during a vehicles life, and most MOT stations tend to use "brake line replacement" as money making tricks, customer fear it's faulty where really it isn't. There are a few other tricks, but I don't want my friends loosing out on such easy money.. Sounds like you bought a lemon Turbo failures are a result of poor oil change intervals. If you put 20K on the engine oil you'll start burning up the bearings quickly, even quicker with diesels due to the coke build up. Most cars that fail is purely down to poor ownership not mileage.
I have to query this and your frequent recommendation on buying a Saab. Granted you drive an older model but when I was looking at replacing my aging golf with a cheap (sub £4k) car a Saab was near the top of the list. Looking at the reviews and owner experiences on 9-3s and 9-5s they said they were dull as hell to drive, have dodgy electrics and a worrying tendency to fall apart.
