What car for £2,000?
Discussion
After the impersonated uneconomical failure of my Focus this weekend, I've decided to look for another car, criteria must be:
MG ZT 190 seems to be top, seen an 03 plate with 40k on for £1995, unbeatable value?
- Solid feeling (no flimsy tiny Ka's, Yarises, etc)
- Reliable (must last a good while)
- Nice interior
- Bit of poke
- Reasonable MPG
MG ZT 190 seems to be top, seen an 03 plate with 40k on for £1995, unbeatable value?
T84 said:
After the impersonated uneconomical failure of my Focus this weekend, I've decided to look for another car, criteria must be:
MG ZT 190 seems to be top, seen an 03 plate with 40k on for £1995, unbeatable value?
id say the MG is only a fiew of the above mentioned, certainly not reliable i see these broken down at the side of the road quite a lot on my daily travels, if you want super reliable go japanese, yarises are actualy good little cars- Solid feeling (no flimsy tiny Ka's, Yarises, etc)
- Reliable (must last a good while)
- Nice interior
- Bit of poke
- Reasonable MPG
MG ZT 190 seems to be top, seen an 03 plate with 40k on for £1995, unbeatable value?
T84 said:
Worried about running costs of an E39.
I thought ZT's were reliable?
My friend bought a 2002 TDCI Focus the same time I bought this 2 years ago, he is a couple of grand ahead of me on maintenance costs. I have replaced: all suspension, cooling system including radiator, anti roll bar links, cam sensors, solenoid valves.... its not quite a Triggers broom, but a vast majority of the car is only a couple of years old I thought ZT's were reliable?
tempted just to get it fixed but it won't last much longer 
The main ZT things to look out for are:
Thermostat leaking - look in the V for signs of red coolant staining. Costs about £250 to replace i think.
Clutch Slave Cylinder leaking - sympton is the clutch not to fully disengage meaning it's stubborn to get into 1st and sometimes second. Garages can fit a new clutch from £400-£600.
Leaks in to boot and passenger footwell from drainage pipes coming apart. Easy to fix.
In terms of the cambelts the general view is that they were actually designed for 100k intervals, so 60k is overly conservative. I've seen no cases of cambelt failure on the MG forums (which are very good).
They seem to be fairly solid - certainly no better or worse than any other marque of car (As an aside i was recently reading an old Topgear mag and noted that the ZT finished 28th in the readers survey - above the 3 series). No issues of head gasket failure on the V6 either.
Can't go wrong for £2k, they're very capable cars.
Thermostat leaking - look in the V for signs of red coolant staining. Costs about £250 to replace i think.
Clutch Slave Cylinder leaking - sympton is the clutch not to fully disengage meaning it's stubborn to get into 1st and sometimes second. Garages can fit a new clutch from £400-£600.
Leaks in to boot and passenger footwell from drainage pipes coming apart. Easy to fix.
In terms of the cambelts the general view is that they were actually designed for 100k intervals, so 60k is overly conservative. I've seen no cases of cambelt failure on the MG forums (which are very good).
They seem to be fairly solid - certainly no better or worse than any other marque of car (As an aside i was recently reading an old Topgear mag and noted that the ZT finished 28th in the readers survey - above the 3 series). No issues of head gasket failure on the V6 either.
Can't go wrong for £2k, they're very capable cars.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Rob_F said:
Thermostat leaking - look in the V for signs of red coolant staining. Costs about £250 to replace i think.
Run that by me again!? Is it an engine out job or something!?OP - shame you didn't like the car, they really can be hustled. Still, I can kind of understand what you mean about the controls, my girlfriend can't manage to drive the thing.
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