What to buy for 4k(ish)

[Penfold]

Hello all. I'm in danger of boring the entire evo forum to death with with what are 'X' cars like so I'll start of you lot

My initial thought were 325 Sport as I'd like to try RWD. Finding one that fits the bill is tricky though as I'm a fussy bugger and most of them seem to have been either maxxxxed or neglected (i.e. no S/H)

What about a Celica GT4? There seem to be plenty in my price range but would they be dogs? Anybody here owned or driven one?

My most recent addition to the 'list' is a S2 106 Rallye. This seems to be the most sensible choice as for the price of either of the above you can get a much newer Rallye with about 50k less miles on the clock.

My main problem is that I'm Mr. Indecisive (thinking about three TOTALLY different cars). I want something fun to drive, slightly practical, suitable for the occasional hillclimb/sprint/trackday and something which won't cost me a fortune to fix every few months.

Any opinions on the above/other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[mhibbins]

4k would get you a very nice manual J-reg (or similar) honda prelude. The jap ones are quick with the vtec band starting lower so you can stay in the band between gearchanges. I had one for 3 years and lots of miles and nothing went wrong at all. You could also get a nissan 200sx (similar age) which would be faster and rwd but nowhere near as good a car from my experience (I got rid of ours after 6 months).

Mark

[moleamol]

For 4k you should be able to pick up a 325 sport. This has a LSD to go with th RWD so is much better. It also has better suspension and brakes. Most of these haven't been touched by the MAX brigade as the thick feckers just buy the cheapest one and don't appreciate the real sports car attributes.

[CarZee]

You could buy an enormous bag of weed and a comfy armchair for 4K

Ah.. you wanted a car..

[pdavison]

What about these:

1. Porsche 944
2. Renault Clio 16v (Williams @ this price range ?)
3. Toyota MR2 (possibly MR2 Turbo)
4. Peugeot 205 GTi LAD Motorsport prepared (have a look at their site: www.ladmotorsport.co.uk/).

Just my two pennies worth !

Cheers

Paul

[pjg]

It's a bit "bolt-on-boy" but you could prbably pick up a decent S-reg Saxo VTR or VTS for that money, maybe £500 more.

[mhibbins]

Go for the weed everytime, french cars blow goats imo. We've had 4 french cars and the build quality is more variable than on tvrs. We've had 2 205 gtis and my 1.9 was reliable for 2 years with no problem until I crashed it but my wife's 1.6 was the least reliable car we have ever had... in the end it was breaking down nearly every other day.

Mind you, I *really* loved my citroen 2cv (first car) but my second car, a citroen bx17rd, was the biggest pile of unreliable cr*p in the history of cars (apart from the 1.6 205 I guess).

Mark

>> Edited by mhibbins on Wednesday 3rd July 13:30

[Basil Brush]

Is it me, or are the French unable to make car seats which don't wobble about after a few miles.

[wattsm666]

I had a Clio 16V and it was great when it worked. The gearboxes are weak and when give up they break the casing so a re-build is out of the question. I also had a problem in that it kept cutting out when it got hot and no one could track the problem down so I part exchanged it.

[mhibbins]

quote:Is it me, or are the French unable to make car seats which don't wobble about after a few miles.

Cr*p aren't they, the seats on my bx fell apart (but still felt more luxurious than my 2cv ) and the seats in my wife's 205 gti just disintegrated and we had to find a set of half-leathers from a 1.9 in a scrappy to replace them as we were emptying it of seat foam on a daily basis.

It's the paint that gets me, my gray 1.9 was perfect after 2 years of constant abuse from me but my wife's red 205 roof paint just peeled clean off. A friend bought a 306 in black fresh from the factory and within a month a lot of the paint had simply fallen off

[Basil Brush]

A friend used to equate the structural integrity of my old R5GT turbo to a rocket powered coke can. The body work was so thin you couldn't point a hose pipe straight at it without it bending.

[mhibbins]

I could never work out why old 205s seemed so amazingly rust free until I bought one and found they were actually built from thick(ish) paint rather than metal.

You know you're in trouble when you remove a seat and the bodyshell flexes.

>> Edited by mhibbins on Wednesday 3rd July 14:45

[Penfold]

Cheers for the replies people. Much food for thought. I've decided that now I'm in a position to be able to get something 'interesting', (24 so insurance not so prohibitive) I'll not forgive myself if I end up with another FWD hatch.

My head is full of thoughts of turbos, LSDs, 4WD, RWD etc. I may explode! (actually the bag of weed/comfy chair option look least stressful right now)

MR2 is a prospect although I've heard that the Mk2's were less of a drivers' machine and more of a poseurs choice? Right or wrong?

Also, having owned a Corolla GTi for a while I know how expensive Toyota parts and servicing can be and the prospect of a 4WD turbo one is slightly scary. I'm thinking that as BMW specialists/suppliers are more abundant the 325 Sport would be the cheaper long-term option, and that time spent looking for the right one would be well spent?

Again, many thanks for your help. All opinions are appreciated, especially from anyone who has run one of these cars.

Rich.

>> Edited by Penfold on Thursday 4th July 07:57

[pdavison]

I used to have an MR2 GT and you're right, they're not as much of a drivers car as the first MR2. However, they are reasonable quick (0-60 in around 7 secs) and rear wheel drive and therefore good fun to drive.

If you want more fun (although I haven't personally driven one) I would imagine that the turbos would offer some entertainment.

My MR2 didn't cost me a great deal to run, there are probably just as many Toyota specialists as there are BMW specialists !

Happy hunting...

Cheers

Paul

[mhibbins]

Just don't buy a red one. The dealers will mop them before sale so they look nice and shiney but they fade like crazy. It's not particular to toyota (it's just that there are lots of red mr2s) and I think it's down to the water based paint that was used over the last 10 years. Perhaps someone who knows about paint could let me know. Anyway, read cars fade to pink .

[Ian W]

Hello. New boy here!

Go for an MR2 MK2 turbo if you can find one within your budget. Had the pleasure of driving one to Russia and back last year. A good responsive car all be it a little light at the front when at speed!

>> Edited by Ian W on Thursday 4th July 13:18

[pete]

Red MR2s from before about 1996 are particularly susceptible to paint fade, as Toyota didn't use a clear top coat on non-metallic paint before then.

I had a red 1992 MR2 GT, and yes, it was slowly turning pink. A bit of red colour tinted polish brought it back up to scratch, although it did need doing about once a month.

Other than that, it was a great car when it worked. They're hellishly expensive when they go wrong, with the mid engined config leading to some exciting labour quotes. Handling was great in the dry, but in the wet suffered from snap understeer to oversteer with no warning - kept me on my toes around roundabouts

Pete

[mhibbins]

quote:Red MR2s from before about 1996 are particularly susceptible to paint fade, as Toyota didn't use a clear top coat on non-metallic paint before then.

Ah, presumably that why cheap resprays on red cars fade more quickly than the rest of the car. My friends 944 suffers from this, the car is gorgeous but the rear right wing is pink

Is the only permanent fix to respray but this time apply a laquer coat?

[Penfold]

Don't I know about paint fade!

I'm currently running a red (pink!) 1990 rolla' GTi (should have got the RWD one) and I'm dreading selling the thing because it will mean many hours of polishing and then a guilty feeling as the new owner drives it away

Thanks for all your help guys.

Rich