Dave Thornton

Can you find me a secondhand car or cars for 22k which satisfy the following requirements:

1. At least four doors and seats, a reasonable boot with folding seats.
2. A passenger airbag that turns off or a 3rd row of seats for my wife taking 3 children on the shared school run (3 child seats rarely fit across one row)
3. 4WD for the muddy country lanes near me
4. Low depreciation
5. A driver's car that I would enjoy at the weekends. By enjoyment, I mean a manual gearbox, nice sound, precise steering, ability to toe & heel, 0-60 in less than 6 seconds.
6. I don't need doors that shut with a nice clunk, auto headlights that stay on when it's sunny, auto wipers that don't know when it's raining, or a BMW.

I always buy secondhand, about 3 years old, and keep for at least a year. 22k would get me a 2003/4 S4 V8 Avant or a 1999 Discovery td5 & 2003/4 Evo 8 FQ300 or a Cayenne V6 (OK, so 0-60 takes 9 secs but the badge might make up for it.

Anything else I should be considering? My thoughts so far is that the Evo/Disco combination is best, as the Cayenne is probably going to disappoint overall and the Audi is probably a little lifeless in the steering department.

Over to you ...

rasheedn

i would take the cayenne
S4 maybe
discovery -hell no
evo - yeah but its a bit plasticky compared to the cayenne and S4!!

The Chief

An Merc ML320 for the school run and those country lanes 8k
and an Evo or Scooby for 14k

Longjing

What about an A6 Allroad? Clever air suspension and available either with the old s4 bi-turbo 2.7 or the newer v8. Might all be tiptronic though, not sure. A regular A6 2.7t or s6 might do as well.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

I'd rather go for an A6 avant and an Impreza.

Oh hang on, I did

paul2070

Most definately NOT the Cayenne,at least not with the V6 in it anyway.Had a look and drive of one earlier this year as it was fully optioned,20's etc etc(look **** standard),and although the handling was great for a 2 tonne+ 4x4 IMO it had to be,because once you got it up to speed you certainly would not want to be slowing down again for a corner!!!!.............................

Oh,and 16mpg

steve jackson

iTrader: (2)

Cannot understand why you are considering anything other than the S4 avant with the requirements you describe!!

Steve

GrantyBoy

might even be able to get an 2001 RS4 Avant for that money. Thats what I'm looking at to be my next car

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

S4.

In the Cayenne most people on the road will hate you and never let you out of junctions.

The old discovery doesn't bear thinking about.

sti-04!!

Cayenne

Biased opinion though

Dont know much about the 3.2, get yourself a 4.5 V8 with a couple of turbos strapped to it

Fat Boy

V6 Cayenne drives well and doesn't feel 9 secs slow, but doesn't have 3rd row of seats, or at least they didn't initially, so at that price i assume you'd be in one of the earlier ones

Blueblaster

Basically you want a 2.5 tonne Caterham with a roof rack. No car is going to do that lot. You'll need to compromise. Reduce your list and try again.

AudiLover

s6 avant?

AMG estate?

Olly

Had good experience of all. S4 for me, complete no brainer.

Cayenne: Why oh why??? Don't, just don't. Drive a V8S on a weekly basis- just glad it's not mine. Cannot think of one single reason why anyone would desire one. Or even consider one. Could give you a l-o-n-g list why (all in my opinion of course ) but don't want to use up all the bandwidth.

Evo. Still a weapon, probably a good buy too. But now owned by the wrong sort. And easily the un-coolest car on the road.

Discovery: Old, agricultural now, do you like hard shoulders and AA vans?

S4. Not had as much experience as the others. But had a good thrash in a mate's borrowed S4 Avant for an afternoon around 12 months ago, and I was very impressed. Classy, understated, well built, comfy, plenty of room. Bags of creamy performance, sounds the business with the V8, great manual box too. Sure it's no Caterham in the sharpness department, but for covering SERIOUS ground quickly and without fuss, it was fantastic. One problem: I checked the computer when I handed the keys back: 9mpg!

Audi for me.

Dave Thornton

Thanks for all the replies.

S4 looks like the favourite - the V8 can sound even better with aftermarket back boxes - several on Youtube.

I'm very grateful for the tip off about an ML320 being so cheap. Light years ahead of the Discovery, for the same money. Combined with an Evo it would do the job.

I'm not really one to compromise - my 330d Touring is a compromise. A very good car but not really suited to our needs.

Half the fun of a new car is choosing!

j.d.clarke

I've just bought an ML320...

1999
FMBSH
52,000 miles
17" wheel upgrade
Full leather (heated seats)
Silver

£10,400

Well please with it, great for the muddy lanes around me, the daily grind to work - especially with the auto / heated seats. Economy is pants though ! 18mpg most of the time, I can get it to just over 19mpg if I drive VERY, VERY carefully !!!

Selling my 328Ci BMW to then buy something for the weekends / summer days for the journey to work.

Have considered...

Boxster S
early 996 Carrera
S4 cab
E46 M3 cab


Think I'll end up going for the Boxster and use the change to get the one who must be obeyed a different car

KiwiGTI

Whta's the big problem with Discovery's?

I've always loved the "iconic" shape and have thought about one for myself.

Duck_Pond

The latest shaped Disco is a very nice car. I'm not a fan of these huge cars in general, but the latest offerings from LR are very, very nice. I've been in the new Disco, RR, RR Sport and at the weekend the latest Freelander. All are a huge improvement over the older models. So if you can afford a new version, go for it.

Dave Thornton

I just thought it would be nice to say thanks to The Chief and update you several months on what I test drove and bought.

First, the S4. Small inside and not especially sporty. Very good at pulling away in sixth from 10mph. And wonderful noise if you had the window down. Disliked it enough not to give my wife the other half of the test drive!

Bought an Evo for 14k as instructed by The Chief. And the best bit of advice was to buy a Mercedes ML - a 430. 268bhp, 0-60 in 8 seconds, 22mpg on a long run, 7 seats, leather and electric everything, 68k and FMBSH, for less than £7k. 2000MY, pre-2001, so road tax is 'only' £180. Main dealer servicing for £57 per hour. Feels very safe when transporting the family. Plastics are brittle and prone to breaking - that's the only bad thing.

So thank you Scoobynet (the Scoob is long gone) - in this case the advice has proved invaluable.

Matteeboy

Dave - What model Evo?
Like those 430 M Classes - very understated but nicely pokey.

Sounds like a great combination!

Dave Thornton

Evo 8 FQ300 in black, with black half leather, no mods, FMSH, only 24k

Matteeboy

Very nice - I seem to have gone a little bit green in colour!
Suprised the Merc doesn't have more power with that V8 but nice and torquey.

Methinks your carbon footprint may grow to a little, but hell, we run out of oil soon so who cares?!