Up to £10k. 4/5 door. Fun drivers car. Petrol. RWD?

[yus786]

Looking for advice please, previous cars are 1.6 petrol toyota corolla and current car is a 1.2tsi petrol skoda fabia. Never driven a powerful car.

Wanting something around 200bhp or more

Only do around 7-8k miles a year, 90% of them are urban miles in very short journeys so has to be a petrol

Needing something with 4/5 doors due to work

Manual

Up to £10,000 to spend, preferably spending less

Something that's not gonna depreciate loads if possible

Something fun to drive, would be taking it on longer drives if I had something fun

Thinking 328i, 330i, 335i maybe or 130i 135i? or an M car? What else can I go for?

Preferably something less than 10 years old

[Deerfoot]

130i is the default answer here I think.

[jakesmith]

Your list is only BMW 1 and 3, so decide how old a car you would like & miles, and then get the biggest engine within that criteria
I always go for something older with a bit more personality, R32 Golf, you could get a mint one loaded with that budget, wing backs, leather

[yus786]

Thank you for your replies, reason I want a newer car is due to reliability. Will the biggest engined car be the most fun to drive though? I don't really know what else is good which is why the shortlist only included BMWs

[cerb4.5lee]

I had a similar criteria to you 3 years ago and plumped for the E90 330i, the 130i is a cracking choice too.

The slight downsides of BMW'S are the excessive sound deadening and their weight in terms of fun though, but as competent all round cars I don't think you can go wrong.

[Ahbefive]

Can't say I thought much of the 130i when I drove one. Horrid offset pedals and overly fat steering wheel.

Drive some cars and see what you like most.

You could get a Focus ST of mazda 3 mps that I would personally prefer to any of the BMW's listed even if they are fwd.

An impreza would be on my list, the hatchback STi can be had for that sort of money or just testbdrive the BMWs if thats what you want.

[yus786]

Unfortunately looks like the 130i might not be the best choice as the back seats and boot are too cramped

Keep the suggestions coming!

Thanks

[cerb4.5lee]

If you're happy with FWD a Focus ST or Megane RS or Golf GTI etc, will be much more fun overall than any of the BMW's.

The BMW's are too refined/heavy to offer much in the fun stakes.

[anonymous-user]

yus786 said:

Looking for advice please, previous cars are 1.6 petrol toyota corolla and current car is a 1.2tsi petrol skoda fabia. Never driven a powerful car.

Wanting something around 200bhp or more

Only do around 7-8k miles a year, 90% of them are urban miles in very short journeys so has to be a petrol

Needing something with 4/5 doors due to work

Manual

Up to £10,000 to spend, preferably spending less

Something that's not gonna depreciate loads if possible

Something fun to drive, would be taking it on longer drives if I had something fun

Thinking 328i, 330i, 335i maybe or 130i 135i? or an M car? What else can I go for?

Preferably something less than 10 years old

Just a suggestion but you could lease a new car. Some great deals if you take the time to look around.

What about a more powerful front wheel or 4x4 car?

Last month my neighbours son leased a BMW 235i after having a Fiesta ST for 4 years. Unfortunately it is in the garage after spinning exiting a roundabout in the rain. He is 23 years old and it was his first RWD.

To be fair you have covered most 4 door cars in your list but what about

Mazda RX8 2.6 R3 yes they drive oil and fuel but many love them. You can get a 2010. Might be too small in the rear but worth a look.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...



You could get a C Class Mercedes but I personally found them very boring compared to a BMW.

You could also look at a Alpina D3. They are depreciating very slowly now.

Will be a bit older than you are after and a diesel but good cars.

[cerb4.5lee]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Mazda RX8 2.6 R3 yes they drive oil and fuel but many love them. You can get a 2010.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

I've been looking at these recently and they look surprisingly practical, and also it's one of a few selection of cars that have a N/A engine/manual gearbox/RWD and the all important LSD.

[Ahbefive]

That white rx8 does look nice.

[anonymous-user]

cerb4.5lee said:

I've been looking at these recently and they look surprisingly practical, and also it's one of a few selection of cars that have a N/A engine/manual gearbox/RWD and the all important LSD.

One of my mates had one when it first came out. Unfortunately when new they did depreciate pretty quickly which caught him out.

He loved the car though. Said it was great to drive and practical to boot.

I must say the R3 spec model looks the part.

A lot of car for the money but there are issues with them hence the lower prices.

These are the following which I have heard

1. Starting issues due to flooding engine
2. Very thirsty engine
3. Highest tax band
4. High oil on some
5. Full service history is a must as these cars need looking after.
6. Car needs proper warming up before driving.

Most people state the only issues is the MPG and tax and they love their RX8.

If you pick up a good one and make sure the oil is topped up you will have a great car.

Another three on Pistonheads

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...



http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...



http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 10th November 22:27

[Johnny 89]

How about an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA? Fwd but what an engine!!

[cerb4.5lee]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I've been looking at these recently and they look surprisingly practical, and also it's one of a few selection of cars that have a N/A engine/manual gearbox/RWD and the all important LSD.

One of my mates had one when it first came out. Unfortunately when new they did depreciate pretty quickly which caught him out.

He loved the car though. Said it was great to drive and practical to boot.

I must say the R3 spec model looks the part.

A lot of car for the money but there are issues with them hence the lower prices.

These are the following which I have heard

1. Starting issues due to flooding engine
2. Very thirsty engine
3. Highest tax band
4. High oil on some

Most people state the only issues is the MPG and tax and they love their RX8.

Another three on Pistonheads

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...



http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...



http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

Thanks for that buddy

I really love the way they look and I remember sitting in one at the Autosport show when they first came out.

I think I've overlooked them over the years purely because I usually go for bigger engines.

I've just been looking at something relatively practical which has RWD and a LSD and these really tick the boxes.

[anonymous-user]

cerb4.5lee said:

Thanks for that buddy

I really love the way they look and I remember sitting in one at the Autosport show when they first came out.

I think I've overlooked them over the years purely because I usually go for bigger engines.

I've just been looking at something relatively practical which has RWD and a LSD and these really tick the boxes.

The R3 is the end of the line RX8 and would be my personal pick.

Yes it will cost a bit more but hopefully being the end of production models mean Mazda has ironed out any of the cars earlier issues.

Again the car needs to have FSH at least and if Full Mazda service history even better.

Good luck if you decide to source one out

[yus786]

Thank you for all your replies thus far

From my very limited car knowledge I thought RWD was the way to go if you enjoyed driving. Not hellbent on RWD

Can't do an RX8 though as need a bit of space and practicality. Carry a lot of boxes

I am quite a sensible driver though and definitely will be taking it easy until I'm fully aware of a cars capability

[Johnny 89]

yus786 said:

Thank you for all your replies thus far

From my very limited car knowledge I thought RWD was the way to go if you enjoyed driving. Not hellbent on RWD

Can't do an RX8 though as need a bit of space and practicality. Carry a lot of boxes

I am quite a sensible driver though and definitely will be taking it easy until I'm fully aware of a cars capability

There are good, bad and mediocre versions of all drivetrain layouts. A good fwd will be more fun than a bad rwd and vice versa. Don't discount fwd

[cerb4.5lee]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

The R3 is the end of the line RX8 and would be my personal pick.

Yes it will cost a bit more but hopefully being the end of production models mean Mazda has ironed out any of the cars earlier issues.

Again the car needs to have FSH at least and if Full Mazda service history even better.

Good luck if you decide to source one out

Cheers

[ZX10R NIN]

Some cars worthy of consideration:

Passat R36 300bhp 53k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2011 Mondeo Titanium X Ecoboost 240bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2007 C350 Sport 34k FMBSH 275bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2006 C55 FMBSH 114k 370bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...