What Car?

[d215yq]

OK, so I'm thinking of the possibility of buying a Spanish car and have no idea what the options are. Naturally i'm considering another W124 but they are rare here and therefore not too easy to get fixed so I am entertaining other possibilities and even other makes!:Oops::Oops:

So if you had a complete open book for a workhorse and had these priorities then what would you suggest. Priorities are in this order.

Cheap to buy - €1000 is preferable, €1500 an absolute max
Cheap to run - easy to repair and reasonable mpg
Size - atleast W124 sized and estate is a bonus
Reliability - one breakdown is too much as life is too short for the hassle and the car will do long journeys around europe/spain.
Comfort - a bonus given the above.
Auto preferable though not essential.

Things I don't care about

Image - I have no interest in what it looks like
Performance - if it has all the above 0-60 in 15 secs is fine
Saftey/convenience gadgets - an electric sunroof is nice and that's about all I want.
Modern technology that is good when working but makes breakdowns more likely and costly to fix.

The shortlist so far is...

Rare cars here so not ideal:
W124 200/220 petrol or 250/300 diesel
W210 300TD (no rust issues in this climate, and I think this is the bullet proof non CDi engine?, but these cars are rarer than w124s here!)
Volvo 940/960 diesel

More common cars:
Audi 100/a6 tdi
Citroen C5 HDi
BMW E34 518i, 520i or 525tds
VW Passat tdi (though my father's experience leads me to think these don;t fulfil the reliability criteria??)

Any recommendations/comments on the above are greatly appreciated and will help me make a decision.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[lwbnick]

Cheap to buy - €1000 is preferable, €1500 an absolute max
Reliability - one breakdown is too much as life is too short for the hassle and the car will do long journeys around europe/spain.

Is this not mission impossible?

 

[FamilyPack]

Wow.

If you manage to find a comfortable, large, modern car with reasonable performance for €1000 that will not break down - even once - then you're a better car hunter than I am...

Good hunting...

 

[grober]

Any car equipped with the older design VAG group Pumpe-Düse ENGINES [ audi vw skoda] are capable of huge mileages provided they are fed the correct engine oil and their cam belt changed at recommended intervals. JUST STAY CLEAR OF ANY THAT HAVE BEEN CHIPPED!

 

[d215yq]

Is this not mission impossible?

Well, I've bought a £2k W124 E220 coupe 5 years ago and did 47k in 3and a half years without a single breakdown or major expense and sold it fully working with a year's MOT.

I then replaced it with a £1500 W124 E220 estate which i've had for 14months and done 20k miles and it's had its first breakdown now and has had very little spent on it.

And these cars were both bought in nice condition and are more desirable than some on my list...so surely if I am prepared to have something with a slower engine and cosmetically tatty (i don't mind bumpers hanging off, dents, etc...i want a pure workhorse) it is possible???

 

[d215yq]

Wow.

If you manage to find a comfortable, large, modern car with reasonable performance for €1000 that will not break down - even once - then you're a better car hunter than I am...

Good hunting...

Thanks, though if you read the post you would see i don't want anything modern nor anything with reasonable performance. Just a large, comfortable, reliable car for €1,000, can be as slow or old as it likes. As per my post above with luck i'm sure it can be done and if not then i suppose something constructive as to which is the best compromise could be handy.

 

[FamilyPack]

Thanks, though if you read the post you would see i don't want anything modern nor anything with reasonable performance.

Apologies - the modern part I clearly misread

However, I will stand by the comment about you wanting something with reasonable performance.

For a car of that era and potential mileage to still be able to do 0-60 in under 15 seconds is quite reasonable performance in my book.

I've run a few 1.9tdi and 2.0 tdi VAG diesels and had no trouble at all with them - they're not quick or very quiet, but they are very reliable. Just take a look at non-London taxi drivers - if they're not in a merc they're in a VAG diesel.

 

[turbopete]

most of the taxi's around here are fords. have you considered a mondeo estate?

 

[Oarsman]

Toyota or Honda. Actually any Japanese vehicle.
They seem to go on forever.
They seem to be used as gun platforms in every war for the last 20 years and I can't believe they ever get serviced!!

 

[d215yq]

most of the taxi's around here are fords. have you considered a mondeo estate?

Thanks for the suggestion, I thought of one last time round...and then heard of the stories of DMFs/turbos/injectors/clutches/pumps failing at great expense.

Though I notice you have a TDDi (not TDCi) and I think that all or most of the problems are only for the TDCi?? I also think a very early "new shape" bigger mondeo still used the TDDi? Could be a contender if the above is true

 

[d215yq]

Toyota or Honda. Actually any Japanese vehicle.
They seem to go on forever.
They seem to be used as gun platforms in every war for the last 20 years and I can't believe they ever get serviced!!

Very True, not many big estates though and very rare to find older Jap stuff here...if i was after a pickup or an off roader an old style land cruiser/patrol/hilux would be top of the list...

Though I'd also be tempted by the Ssangyong Musso - not very popular in the UK but you see a few round here and although ugly and cheap interior wise I think they have Merc drivetrains and look to be very simple and reliable mechanically

 

[WG M-B]

I have heard that cars are a wee bit over priced in Spain. Would you consider picking up a right hooker from back in the uk and taking it to Spain? Or is it not that simple???? Many bargains to be had on flee bay!!!!!!!!
I would imagine you could get a pretty mint 190 or 124 over here for the right money for well within your budget.

 

[turbopete]

Thanks for the suggestion, I thought of one last time round...and then heard of the stories of DMFs/turbos/injectors/clutches/pumps failing at great expense.

Though I notice you have a TDDi (not TDCi) and I think that all or most of the problems are only for the TDCi?? I also think a very early "new shape" bigger mondeo still used the TDDi? Could be a contender if the above is true

this does seem to be true. my TDDi has the standard flywheel rather than a DMF and the pump/injector/turbo problems and clutch/DMF faults seem to be almost entirely on TDCi engines. i originally wanted a TDCi but found this one and up to press its been faultless as far as running etc is concerned.

yes early mondeos had option of TDDi or TDCi engines. my focus has done around 230k miles and apart from wear and tear items (suspension bushes particularly on fords) and it shows no signs of ill effect mechanically!

something like this could be ideal http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-ESTATE-/220935282675?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3370c4dff3

 

[roofless]

I can't argue with the cars you've listed all good workhorses.
I had a passat TDI workhorse 1996 model .....loved it tho not as comfortable as a 124.
The big vauxhall-Opel Omega estate might be worth a try ?
it's big & not expensive

 

[d215yq]

I have heard that cars are a wee bit over priced in Spain. Would you consider picking up a right hooker from back in the uk and taking it to Spain? Or is it not that simple???? Many bargains to be had on flee bay!!!!!!!!
I would imagine you could get a pretty mint 190 or 124 over here for the right money for well within your budget.

They are pound for pound quite similar for what you get mechanically..its just "average condition" in the uk means one or two scratches and otherwise good condition and a reasonable service history, "average condition" in spain means cosmetically the bumpers are hanging off and there are dents in every panel and there's no service history as it was all done "cash in hand"... but importing a uk car costs €700+10% of spanish value in tax so that doubles the budget immediately...i dont mind rhd but driving a uk car has insurance issues and you have to go back to the uk once a year for the mot which costs a lot in petrol/tolls.

i'd love a 124 again but anything decent here is £3k so you'd get nowhere near mint for budget and they're hard to maintain here - asking local garages here about my car they're all very keen until i say the make is mercedes and then they look at you like you're mad and say words to the effect of "thats very specialised, goto the dealer or a big gargage, and then add "senor, it will be very very expensive!"

 

[d215yq]

this does seem to be true. my TDDi has the standard flywheel rather than a DMF and the pump/injector/turbo problems and clutch/DMF faults seem to be almost entirely on TDCi engines. i originally wanted a TDCi but found this one and up to press its been faultless as far as running etc is concerned.

yes early mondeos had option of TDDi or TDCi engines. my focus has done around 230k miles and apart from wear and tear items (suspension bushes particularly on fords) and it shows no signs of ill effect mechanically!

something like this could be ideal http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-ESTATE-/220935282675?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3370c4dff3

Exactly what i'm after....but doubt it'd be so cheap here as the scratches and dents are not such a big deal over here so don't reduce the price! Thanks for clarifying further on the TDDi v TDCi

 

[tode]

E300D, 1998, Valencia, 1000 euros here

 

[JEZ.S320L]

...i dont mind rhd but driving a uk car has insurance issues and you have to go back to the uk once a year for the mot which costs a lot in petrol/tolls........."

You can only keep a non-Spanish registered vehicle in Spain for a maximum of 6 months if non-resident - 1 month if resident, before 'metriculation' (Registering) on Spanish plates. Otherwise the risk of having the vehicle confiscated by the Guardia, is too high.

Eight people living on the Resort had their UK-registered cars taken off them in the last 2 months - I saw the cars leaving on a car transporter - including an XF.!

 

[JEZ.S320L]

I have heard that cars are a wee bit over priced in Spain. Would you consider picking up a right hooker from back in the uk and taking it to Spain? Or is it not that simple???? Many bargains to be had on flee bay!!!!!!!!
I would imagine you could get a pretty mint 190 or 124 over here for the right money for well within your budget.

Just a tad over-priced

e.g. a 2001-registered ML270 (W163) with 114,000 miles - mint condition, FMBSH - 12,000€

A 1998-registered S320L (W140) with 85,000 miles - mint condition - FMBSH - 14,000€

Both were mine - the ML sold to a friend for 'Mates Rates' and the S320L was the price quoted by the MB main agent - who would put it immediately on his forecourt for that money - with a guarenteed sale within a week..!!