Advice...

[chrismyatt82]

Afternoon all,

Havent been on here for a few months after the sale of my lovely car to Nick (MG ZS 180 in Le Mans Green)

My partner was on Maternity leave and then was made redundant so was basically up the creek without a paddle!

Circumstances are slowly changing and my partner is looking to start learning to drive again... We bought a VW Golf 1.4 S which is a lovely car and is dirt cheap to run and very reliable... this will be passed on to her as it just does nothing for in terms of performance

I am then looking at treating myself to a car at the end of the year which I can drive and have as a weekend car as well as the economical Golf

I am being drawn back to an MG ZS 180 mk1 again as every car I have drove or been in since owning I always say "I miss my ZS" or "This is nothing compared to the ZS"

The other 3 cars I am considering as I am looking at a budget of ?1000-1500 will be... (and I am here for opinions if possible)

Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo

Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6

Scooby Doo Impreza Turbo Saloon

I know the issues with reliability with the Alfa's and Fiat's, but again this will be like a Special Occasion car

I want something with great performance, stylish, leather interior, enough room to carry the kids if needed

With a small budget I cant stretch yet to my dream cars lol

Advice please!

[Captain Peanut]

Given your budget, and recently having to work with the same budget, my worry would be that any of the cars listed would not necessarily be in the best condition. That said its not impossible to get a good one with a bit of searching (I missed out on a mint condition Alfa 147, priced at ?1495 with low mileage, by a couple of hours!).

I was looking at Alfa's and the advice I was given was to budget for regular oil top ups, one of the owners clubs quoted 1L of oil for every 1500 miles! Apparently they can be quite temperamental if the oil is topped up and changed regularly. I've not had any experience of the Fiats and the obvious problem with a Scooby would be finding a non-thrashed one, as well as the running costs.

If it is a weekend car, and you're not going to see sense and buy another 180, have you considered a TF or other small soft top, something like an MX5? From all accounts they are pretty good fun to drive.

[chrismyatt82]

Given your budget, and recently having to work with the same budget, my worry would be that any of the cars listed would not necessarily be in the best condition. That said its not impossible to get a good one with a bit of searching (I missed out on a mint condition Alfa 147, priced at ?1495 with low mileage, by a couple of hours!).

I was looking at Alfa's and the advice I was given was to budget for regular oil top ups, one of the owners clubs quoted 1L of oil for every 1500 miles! Apparently they can be quite temperamental if the oil is topped up and changed regularly. I've not had any experience of the Fiats and the obvious problem with a Scooby would be finding a non-thrashed one, as well as the running costs.

If it is a weekend car, and you're not going to see sense and buy another 180, have you considered a TF or other small soft top, something like an MX5? From all accounts they are pretty good fun to drive.

Lol, great comment!

Convertables are a no no, other half just doesnt feel safe in them, and must have 4 (comfortable) seats too

There is a dirt cheap TF down the orad from me, but cant be doing 2 seaters!

[caled]

Stop fannying around and buy yourself another 180 when you can. Or see if you can save a little bit longer, mk2s have tumbled in price over the last 12 months.
There really isnt anything comparable in the price range, going by power, age and condition - I dread to think how old and in what condition a decent impreza would be!

[chrismyatt82]

I think Impreza may just be me following the crowd so will scrub that off... draws too much unwanted attention too

What kind of prices do the MK2's go for? Is this generally because the belts are due now and can get them at cut price?

[Captain Peanut]

With a bit of a haggle this could end your search:

http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=16881

[Mr ZS180]

I gotta say that the Fiat is a car I would own again.

I had mine for about a year or so and had no problems whatsoever with it!

Most stylish interior in a car I have ever owned and such a smooth drive from the 5 pot. 220bhp as standard and only ?40 for a ecu rechip to 240+bhp!!

I ended up swapping mine for an MGF as it was a hot summer and I always wanted an 'F' and I would still have it now had my littl'un not come along, but then him coming along drove me to the 180, another decision I definitely do not regret!!

I would say definitely a 180 or the coop 20v T. Definitely NOT an Impreza (unless you like driving a car that looks like a taxi inside) plus the 'chav' appeal is a really offputting aspect (much like how RS Turbos became in the early noughties) and problems with the Alfa will be inevitable, just a question of how ofter and how much to fix!

Cor thats a long reply!!!!!

[stamford]

I can see your thoughts on the selection given. However I would be concerned about the Subaru quality for the given budget, no doubt rough and caned somewhat. The Alfa, again a nice car but from what I have heard from some owners a little juicy to run, more than a 180. Not exactly cheap maintenance costs either. The FIAT is a nice car but bear in-mind the cost of a cambelt service, more expensive than the 180, as a friend had a non-turbo 5 cyl saloon and this was an engine out from underneath to change as there was no room up top to access them. Hard to believe but that is what he told me and that comment stuck in my mind.

For me it is better the devil you know and seeing that you still have them in your thoughts must be a good thing. For the budget you can pick one up that has had the cambelts done and perhaps a few tasteful mods on a mk1. However you will get biased opinions on here :D

You can always go for a FIAT and see how you get on, you might like it! Just remember what FIAT stands for ;)

[caled]

I had read about them dropping as low as ~?2.5k, admittedly more than you wanted to spend, but its an option at least. The belts would be another point to haggle over. The prices may have gone up again, but they were struggling to shift them over the winter.
I know DradusContact was trying to shift his a while ago over on XPF, dont know what happened to it in the end XPF (http://forums.xpowerforums.com/showthread.php?t=57007), but it had had the belts done and was last heard going on ebay with an ?1800 reserve due to a couple of niggly little faults. Shame, its a good looking car.

[Maxfly]

I think Impreza may just be me following the crowd so will scrub that off... draws too much unwanted attention too

What kind of prices do the MK2's go for? Is this generally because the belts are due now and can get them at cut price?

iirc the coupe is another car that has a labour intensive belt change, more so than the 180 from what i can remember reading. You know the 180 makes sense and price wise it really depends on how you feel about the car when you view it. I paid 2850 for my 55 reg with 38k miles, belts due a year after i bought it. It needed some work but tbh any zs i bought i would end up doing work to and the prices vary greatly. :)




p.s. get the 180!!!!!!!!!:party:

[fastmike]

we have a Fiat 20v turbo and its an expensive proposition , cam belts are about the same as a 180 as is the clutch...... engine oil cooler and pipes corrode and let go without warning...and takes the engine out with it..... there is a coolant pipe runs along the back of the engine , called( surpise surprise) the coolant pipe of death.... for obvious reasons, the body is galvanised so if no poor quality body repairs have been carried out corrosion shouldnt be a problem... Fiat parts for it are horrendous, petrol cap ?100 refurbed , BUT on a good day a nice thing to thrash down the lanes. A better proposition than a Scooby of which I,ve owned 2

[roverdave81]

i would touch a scooby for 1000 to 1500 as you will spend that on it again just sortin issue with it
as for the alfa as long as you dont mind it being in the garage and off the road 50% of the time then go for it
the fiat 20valve turbo is a great motor strong engine handles well and you can increase the boost and for 8psi to a safe 15psi air filter and decat/ exhaust and will see 240bhp as a mate had one a few years back
but could alway buy a cheap 180 and convert it to a t16 turbo over time

[Dan1971]

180 saloon.

Put an extra ?10 a week away between now and when you're buying and you'll get a decent enough Mk2

[chrismyatt82]

With a bit of a haggle this could end your search:

http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=16881

That is ideally what I want, however the timing is wrong, I am not looking for an immediate purchase, and I doubt it will be available later in the year

Lovely car

[chrismyatt82]

OK OK

Its looks like you guys have got me... I had a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo behind me last night, although the car looked and sounded really good, I just CANNOT imagine myself having that car

Then, round the corner I see an Xpower badged MG ZR, and round the next corner a Blue MG ZS 180... and I think it made my mind up from there...

The ZS is the car for me... when the time is right

As soon as the Mrs passes her test and I can justify having 2 cars, then I will be looking out for one =)

[KirkJames]

Yeah go for the ZS, you wont get a decent scooby for that price and will cost a bomb to run.