New petrol daily driver required £5-7k

New petrol daily driver required £5-7k

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Karlsruhe

Original Poster:

42 posts

64 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
Due to changes in work I no longer need my trusty Volvo S60 D5 which I had bought to make longer journeys bearable.

I will now be doing at best 4k per year and would like something that is:

Capable of seating 5

Different (never seen the appeal of usual German suspects, although may buckle for a BMW older straight six or Merc V8 due to my perceived better reliability on the engine front)

Not too fussed about mpg

Relatively reliable

Age not a concern as long as not susceptible to rust.

So far I'm thinking:

Alfa 159 1.8 turbo/3.2
Audi S4
E39 530i
E90 325i/330i
Honda Legend
Jaguar XJR
Lexus LS430
W211/212 E500
VW Golf R32

Any real world opinions appreciated as well as suggestions. Please note I will not consider any Fords or Vauxhalls.

Nickp82

3,403 posts

100 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
Jaguar XF V8 (non-R) ?

Karlsruhe

Original Poster:

42 posts

64 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
Nick,

My brother has a 2012 XF 3.0 diesel. It's a lovely looking thing but hasn't been the best in terms of reliability- are the petrols better?

Nickp82

3,403 posts

100 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
Karlsruhe said:
Nick,

My brother has a 2012 XF 3.0 diesel. It's a lovely looking thing but hasn't been the best in terms of reliability- are the petrols better?
I ran an XFR for a short while but not long enough to really test its reliability . The gist I got was that the V8 is a generally reliable unit, the fuel economy was quite sensible for the power too.

ATM

18,949 posts

226 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
Karlsruhe said:
E39 530i
E90 325i/330i
E60 is easily in budget and a very good car. I'd push you towards an E61 estate because the boot is massive and makes the car so much more useful.

The older cars have the n52 engine which is very solid and reliable. The later n53 comes in the face-lift cars and has more complicated emissions related stuff which gets expensive to maintain and trouble shoot.

3000

Early saloon at lowest end of budget.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225062516657





7000

Later face-lift touring at the higher end of your budget.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186447766892


eth2190

74 posts

8 months

Karlsruhe

Original Poster:

42 posts

64 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
Some good suggestions so far. I don't need an estate as such as the Mrs has a Q7 and I have an Accord Euro R as a garage queen.

I just feel that potentially this could be the last time to experience some other great engines, as you may have noticed alot of my initial list is made up of early 2000s cars before the advent of downsizing. Not to say that there aren't any good units post 2005, just not in the budget I'm looking at.

Will explore Jag V8 further.

Karlsruhe

Original Poster:

42 posts

64 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
LS460 looks sensational value. I've read however that it's not as robust as it's forebearer with scope for some very large bills. But am open to it, real world experience appreciated.

ATM

18,949 posts

226 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
You could get the 550i e60. Which is a 367 bhp 4.8 litre v8 version. They go well.