A good mate of mine is talking about a car for fun, to mess about with etc. General info: Budget up to £8k ish Has a company car 2 kids of high school age Works full time 2/10 previous car fettling experience Bangs on about V8s and big hp Wants to blast B roads etc Wants something modern enough to be 'safe' Likes idea of fettling on a project car Garage full of stuff but has drive space Wife won't let him buy a Ducati :') As expected I'm recommending something VW and 90s-ish but he's looking at BMWs / Jags / Mercedes etc - I want to save him from a money pit. I think he should avoid project cars and buy something that's in good usable condition - a better use of his money and time unless he really wants to get into the land of grubby fingernails and bleeding knuckles... What do you think he should look at / buy, and any other advice? Any good stories of your friends' car (mis)adventures?
SAAB 9-3 / 9-5 Hirsch Under valued, may be in budget / safe / v.fast / discrete for drive way parking / rare if that's your thing / owners club + Hirsch still exist for parts support.
For that money all he is going to get is a money pit as I’m sure you told him. MK2 golfs are still great value and there are so many vr6 conversions available for sub £8k that got to be the way forward hasn’t it?
This (and still have money left over) 1996 Alfa Romeo 155 2.0 16V Twinspark (carandclassic.com) I had one of these and frankly, the engine is second to none and will last for ages - just change the cambelt and tensioners per the required frequency and the oil. The car handles like it's on rails and the exhaust note will keep a smile on your face.
If he would consider and edition 30 mk5, the guy who bought mine is selling after 4 years and I can absolutely vouch for the car 100%, best car I ever owned and the amount of history it has is unreal. 6.7k Old enough to be "special" and at the same time safe to drive and has creature comforts. If I didn't have 3 x mk2s and a good daily I'd have it back tomorrow.
Thanks for advice everybody - have passed on to my friend who will almost certainly ignore it all haha @RichardDarrenB thanks for the offer - I don't think he'll go for it but will PM for more details etc I'll share back if and when my esteemed friend settles on his money pit of choice
