Stupid idea for a first proper car?

edkwon said:
If by 'fleet car' you mean 'rental fleet car'
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I rather meant company cars, but my concern is about rental fleet cars even more so.

Same thing when the Police auctions their cars. The German cops have gone from using white cars to silver cars with glued-on Police stickers, simply because silver is the most common color, so when they remove the stickers, they can sell the car much easier. But think about how police cars are driven. Do you think that when they have some operation, they consider warming up the engine before they floor it? Even if it's dirt cheap, I wouldn't buy such a car, unless it is so cheap that I can drive it for like a year or two without investments before it breaks down.
 
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WillDAQ said:
The real question is, does cruising at 90 really put much strain on the car? I suspect not to be honest. If it's being treated like a rally cross on the other hand...
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Cruising at 90mph won't. Flooring the car from cold will. My dad worked some time as a sales exec, and even now as an accounts manager he's forced to do a LOT of mileage. The deal he has, is that he keeps the car for 4 years, then trades it in for something else. He doesn't pay petrol, tax, insurance, maintenance...But he really does drive it like he stole it. I wouldn't be surprised if that BMW was a repair/write off job, so if you do decide to buy it, make sure you get it electronically checked.

Weird as it sounds, i'd rather go out and buy a Roadster than most saloon cars, certainly don't need the extra space.. and yet the 5 series appeals some how
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If you want my opinion (which you probably don't), here's a short-list of cars I'd be looking at in the ?8k region.

Stupid Options
-1975 Alfa 1600GT - ?6995
-1987 Audi Quattro 10V - ?7595
-E30 BMW M3 - ?6000
-FD3S Mazda RX7 - ?4795
-Track-Prepped Impreza Type RA - ?8250
-1990 Formula Renault car - ?5995
-'78 Corvette - ?8750
-'74 Ford Escort - ?7000

Slightly more intelligent options
-'02 Honda S2000 - ?7695
-Cat D repaired S2 Lotus Elise - ?8500
-Honda Accord Type-R - ?5500
-Nissan Skyline GTR BNR33 - ?7995

Best option
-'98-spec Honda Integra Type-R - ?7495

Now, obviously a lot of these are daft, and you probably couldn't insure most, let alone afford to run them. But with the current economic situation, it really is a buyers market. ?8k at the moment for a car is a LOT of money, and it would be a shame to see you waste it on a shagged rep-mobile, when you could potentially buy the car of your dreams. IMO, for the money, a '98 spec Integra will do everything you could ever want it to do. It'll return over 30MPG in peaceful comfort, then it'll devour most things on track, and it will get you home again without ever experiencing a problem. The one I've listed there is fetching a lot of money due to the modifications and the history, but you can pick one up for around ?5k, but if you go that route, make sure you go for a 98+ spec car. Until recently, me and my partner had been talking of selling both our cars to buy one (though it's no longer possible as I'm joining the RAF), but my best friend has one, and it really is an incredible car.

Anyway, hope that helps, and good luck with your search. Pistonheads is a great site to find the more unusual cars for sale.
 
How is an Integra Type-R capable of peaceful comfort? I thought driving one at a motorway would mean hours of *BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA* because of the lightweight soundproofing.
 
^

as long as you don't rice the car up by adding a fart can or strip all the interior and sound deafening materials out, the wind, engine and tyre noise shouldn't be too bad.
 
ITR's are incredibably harsh guys, great car though.
 
As an owner of a German luxury car as my first car I would highly suggest you stay away. I love the car and (knocks on wood) its running great. However, maintenance is a bitch and its very hard to have fun in one because you will feel bad pushing it on your average B road because the car is just so damn nice. If you just want something fun to drive I would suggest any of the MR2's or a 200SX, solid cars and lots of potential also generally cheap enough to not be too worried about breaking something.
 
You should get a beetle :D



*waits for laughter to subside*




Believe it or not it IS a good first car. I can literally steer it with my pinky finger and break with my toe if I want to, very easy to keep in control even if you fell like being stupid and pushing it to 100+ mph. They have luxurious german options like heated leather seats, which I don't have but can contest to the fact even with the horrible conditions of the nearby roads I'm always perfectly comfy. It gets decent gas mileage, it's FUN to drive which is very important to me. It's safe and you can smack it into stuff all the time and drive it over snowbanks and it takes it very well. When things crap out it's usually things that are annoying but not things that stop the car from being drivable like the radio, the windows, in my case the convertible top.
 
MadCow809 said:
^

as long as you don't rice the car up by adding a fart can or strip all the interior and sound deafening materials out, the wind, engine and tyre noise shouldn't be too bad.
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I've driven DC2 ITR's on the local roads and freeways, they are not quiet and comfortable cars and they already lack a lot of sound deadening material out of the factory, compared to the normal trim Integras.
 
How about this for a deal...

An S-class for a grand!

Even with huge repair bills, that's still the sale of the century. Better still, it's the last of the old massively over-engineered Panzer Division Mercedes S-classes, so despite that rust hole I doubt it'd fall to bits, even with 165,000 miles on the clock.

The reviews of the time said there was very little use in buying any more than an S320, and even this S280 would do the job just fine.
 
edkwon said:
I've driven DC2 ITR's on the local roads and freeways, they are not quiet and comfortable cars and they already lack a lot of sound deadening material out of the factory, compared to the normal trim Integras.
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I come from driving a stripped out Miata, to me, the DC2 is like riding in a cloud. Even my friend, who came from a GT-Four Celica, thinks it's quiet and comfortable, and didn't complain once driving across Europe and back. Thats with a Mugen induction kit, and a 5Zigen exhaust (90db).

There, fixed that for you.
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Hah, was it obvious that list was the longest for a reason? I'd dump ?8k into any of those in a heartbeat. :D
 
Crazyjeeper said:
I vote for the 78 Corvette. :D
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you know europe doesn't have that option, weren't you the one that told me that? :p
on the other hand, since I have the 2.0 auto model of beetle, which can;t be chipped and speed up like the 1.8T, I will take the 78 vette :D
 
Where did the Corvette come from. There's no chance of getting a good one for a decent price, adn they're totally impractical for driving in the UK.
 
Nocturnal said:
...
If you want my opinion (which you probably don't), here's a short-list of cars I'd be looking at in the ?8k region.

Stupid Options
-1975 Alfa 1600GT - ?6995
-1987 Audi Quattro 10V - ?7595
-E30 BMW M3 - ?6000
-FD3S Mazda RX7 - ?4795
-Track-Prepped Impreza Type RA - ?8250
-1990 Formula Renault car - ?5995
-'78 Corvette - ?8750
-'74 Ford Escort - ?7000

Slightly more intelligent options
-'02 Honda S2000 - ?7695
-Cat D repaired S2 Lotus Elise - ?8500
-Honda Accord Type-R - ?5500
-Nissan Skyline GTR BNR33 - ?7995

Best option
-'98-spec Honda Integra Type-R - ?7495
...
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Now a couple on that list i'd considered, so far i've looked at:

In contention
-Smart Roadster Coupe (fun)
-5 Series 2.5 (luxury)
-VW Polo 1.4 (sensible)

Previous Ideas
-SLK 230 old model
-Jag XJS I6 (bad idea!)
-IS200
-LR Discovery 2.5(?)
-Volvo V70 T5
-Passat 1.9TDI
-Triumph TR6
-Triumph Stag
-Skyline R33
-Lotus Elise

The last two you've already spotted! Still like the Roadster Coupe the most, particularly the Brabus spec:

media


I think the real problem is that i'm not looking at one class of car, whether I like a car seems somewhat arbitrary which doesn't help...

prizrak said:
As an owner of a German luxury car as my first car I would highly suggest you stay away. I love the car and (knocks on wood) its running great. However, maintenance is a bitch and its very hard to have fun in one because you will feel bad pushing it on your average B road because the car is just so damn nice. If you just want something fun to drive I would suggest any of the MR2's or a 200SX, solid cars and lots of potential also generally cheap enough to not be too worried about breaking something.
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I think I could live with the James May school of motoring driving along in my all-the-toys 5 series. A mate of mine has just bought a Mk1 MR2 and it's OK but I wouldn't get one. Smart's a more modern take on the same idea.

katwalk said:
You should get a beetle :D
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See thing above about my taste in cars. Both the new beetle and mini should not exist ;)

Ironlord said:
How about this for a deal...
An S-class for a grand!
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Please no, i've just found an S class with a TV in it (!) for ?8k.. 200k miles though :?
 
That Roadster does look very sinister, I like much.
 
I think I could live with the James May school of motoring driving along in my all-the-toys 5 series.
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That's exactly what I thought when I was buying the car ;) I already have a list of mods that I want done to it ;)
 
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