Avant
Full Member
Posts: 691 
|
Post by Avant on Aug 3, 2020 12:48:24 GMT
I would say, think of the maximum amount you want to spend, and then halve it. That will hopefully allow for repairs and replacements. The logic is that a £2K car isn't necessarily twice as reliable as a £1k car.
As people are always saying on HJ, bangernomics makes a lot of sense provided you buy on condition rather than make or model. That said, there's a good case for starting the search, as you have, with Fords (lots of them around and parts are plentiful) or Toyotas (less likely to go wrong in the first place: nothing soldiers on quite like an old Toyota).
|
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,425
|
Post by WDB on Aug 3, 2020 12:50:27 GMT
Loads of older Subarus down under... Not that I’ve spent much time on the roads recently but I can’t think when I last saw a Subaru. I suppose 4WD used to be Subaru’s ‘thing’; now it’s everywhere, the compelling sales proposition has gone. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 12:55:50 GMT
There are two Subarus living in my close, one Outback and one Legacy estate.
|
|
|
|
Post by Humph on Aug 3, 2020 13:02:17 GMT
>>nothing soldiers on quite like an old Toyota).
A friend of my son was left an old ( make that "ancient" ) Corolla by his recently deceased Grandfather. Hideous thing, but in remarkably good condition. Only thing he had to do was polish the headlight lenses as they had clouded over. He's been using it as his daily driver to get to work. Can remember how old it is, but it's very old indeed and has a lot of miles on it, but it just goes.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 14:32:10 GMT
|
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,425
|
Post by WDB on Aug 3, 2020 15:32:30 GMT
There are two Subarus living in my close, one Outback and one Legacy estate. So that’s where they go — along with the 1990s BMWs. Do they also get blacked-out windows and dropped suspension? (I used to think the suspension thing was a modification, but your E’s experience suggests it was a spontaneous reaction to its new habitat. 😈) |
|
|
|
Post by Humph on Aug 3, 2020 15:43:17 GMT
Sort of, although probably not as nice as that one. Getting up for 200,000 miles on the one I'm speaking about. |
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,425
|
Post by WDB on Aug 3, 2020 15:58:54 GMT
I remember a test drive in whatever was the current ‘Corolla Liftback’ in 1993 — looked a bit like that one but with less bulbous front and back ends. It had a superb 1.6 engine that put out something like 115hp, which was a lot in those days, and it went beautifully. That, unfortunately, made it prohibitively expensive to insure, otherwise I’ve no doubt it would have been a better buy than the Astra I ended up with. No sunroof too; a rare bonus on a well-specced car back then.
|
|
|
|
Post by Humph on Aug 3, 2020 16:56:01 GMT
What is it with you and sunroofs? ( Other than being outrageously too tall ) Sunroofs are a delight to normal people. Are you a vampire or something?
😉
|
|
|
|
Post by dixinormus on Aug 4, 2020 2:12:36 GMT
That Toyota looks tasty for a grand Al. Probably giffer-owned all its life and picked up cheaply by the dealer. WCPGW?
|
|
|
|
Post by EspadaIII on Aug 4, 2020 3:37:46 GMT
For that age and mileage the price is ok if the car is almost mint.
Sales of Subarus appear to have dropped off a cliff. Not seen any near me for ages. Mind you, when I drove my Outback between 2006 - 2010 people asked me what it was. A client commented it was the perfect Q car. Fast yet anonymous.
|
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,425
|
Post by WDB on Aug 4, 2020 8:59:39 GMT
What is it with you and sunroofs? ( Other than being outrageously too tall ) Sunroofs are a delight to normal people. Are you a vampire or something? 😉 I might as well ask you why you’d prefer a car without a drawing pin on the seat. 🧐 |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2020 9:16:50 GMT
There are two Subarus living in my close, one Outback and one Legacy estate. So that’s where they go — along with the 1990s BMWs. Do they also get blacked-out windows and dropped suspension? (I used to think the suspension thing was a modification, but your E’s experience suggests it was a spontaneous reaction to its new habitat. 😈) The Outback just went past my window - it's a 17 plate, and it's been here at least a couple of years. Not really a cheap car. Greybeard the Grey drives it. The Legacy estate is a bit older, owned by an east Asian family. No mods that I can see. Perhaps some aftermarket wheels, they usually go past around 2pm, I'll keep an eye out. |
|
|
|
Post by Humph on Aug 4, 2020 10:06:16 GMT
What is it with you and sunroofs? ( Other than being outrageously too tall ) Sunroofs are a delight to normal people. Are you a vampire or something? 😉 I might as well ask you why you’d prefer a car without a drawing pin on the seat. 🧐 Honestly, all banter aside, I still don't really understand your objection. I can see that if a vehicle had a low roofline, and a sunroof fitted, that it might be a problem for a tall person to fit in it, but if there is adequate head room, what's the problem? I love the feeling of light in the cabin, even with a glass roof closed, but better still, the fresh air with it open is lovely when the weather is appropriate. On my car, even at motorway speeds, any noise is minimal with the roof open, unless I've also got the roof rack on, when it becomes a bit noisy over 50mph with the lid off. |
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,425
|
Post by WDB on Aug 4, 2020 11:07:30 GMT
I can see that if a vehicle had a low roofline, and a sunroof fitted, that it might be a problem for a tall person to fit in it, but if there is adequate head room, what's the problem? Well, first define ‘low’, then define ‘adequate’. A Berlingo could probably take a sunroof without impinging on the space I want, but anything that isn’t of that sort of tallness won’t have the headroom to spare. A sliding roof typically reduces headroom by about 50mm, and on most cases that makes the difference between comfort and contact. In some cases it’s worse. When I was shopping for a CLS I tried a couple with the sliding roof — which, unhelpfully, comes in a package with features I do want, including memory seats. The car’s rakish silhouette (stop it, Humph) means the sliding panel has to duck ever lower as it travels aft, leaving a huge inverted hump right in front of the rear passengers’ eyes. Without the hump, there’s adequate headroom in the back for me; with it, it’s cramped and oppressive. It’s why I bought a 2013 car, in which the roof and the memory seats were discrete options. |
|
