MOTORS FINANCE: FRUGAL FUN:What's out there for the budget car buyer? PADDY COMYNtakes a look at fun cars at less than €10,000
LET’S FACE it, it’s all a little bit miserable at the moment – you only have to look at car sales figures to see that there aren’t too many new cars being sold. But does that mean you can’t buy something fun for small money? Motors takes a walk through some of Ireland’s forecourts to see what you can find for less than €10,000 that will put a smile on your face, in spite of all the doom and gloom.
Obviously before we start, a word of caution. When you start using words like “bargain” in relation to motor cars, you have to accept that there is seldom such a thing. Old, larger cars can have more things go wrong with them, especially in the case of convertibles – things like roofs going wrong or needing repairing. But with such a huge number of used cars on sale at the moment and a more urgent demand to sell, there has seldom been a better time to buy something a little interesting.
On a purely selfish note, there are many writers within Motors who have a thing for the E30 BMW 3-Series, so that’s where we’re starting this week.
The convertible version is one of the classiest ways to milk whatever sunshine you can find and we found a neat 1990 325i version with under 100,000 miles for €7,750. Brian Feeney from E30owners.com told The Irish Times what to do when looking at one of these Bavarian classics: “Check the footwells (front and rear), rear arches, the main jacking points under the car, door sills and so on for rust and look out for electric hoods, as they can prove troublesome and tricky to fix.
“A general note with soft tops is to test drive with the hood up – you’ll hear any untoward noises better if not impaired by wind and it also gives you the opportunity to check the efficacy of the hood seals and fit of the hood.”
The second BMW on our list is a Z3. Possibly not BMW’s finest work but, with the 2.8-litre engine installed, it’s not short on power with 190bhp. We found a 2000 model for €8,995.
Check the suspension and fuel tank for damage and make sure you see invoices for service work, but this is a very fun car.
A similar car from a similar era is the Honda S2000, which has just recently bowed out of production. With an engine you really had to work hard, the S2000 was rewarding to drive if you were prepared to put in the effort. What made it so special was that it was pretty reliable, thanks to good build and a good engine. We spotted a 1999 model with just 102,000km for €9,000 in Kilkenny.
There is huge romance attached to ownership of the old MG. We found a 1976 MG Midget at Weston Classics for €4,850 (westonclassics.com) and owner Liam D’arcy told us about the benefits of buying one of these.
“Firstly you will get cheap road tax – of €42 per year – it has a small economical engine, comes in under €5,000, they are great fun, parts are very easy to get and you can get classic insurance, which would cost anything from €120 to €200. There is no NCT required but most bought from a reputable dealer have been well cared for.”
D’arcy told us that the classic car scene has also been affected by the economic downturn and prices have dropped. “Prices have dropped, but not dramatically, and they don’t depreciate anywhere near the rate that modern cars do,” says D’arcy. “Prices fluctuate slightly, but not hugely.”
So what should you look for if you fancy an MG? “Well really the engines can be well-sorted, but rust is the killer. Check the sills and don’t be taken in by flashy paintwork.”
There seem to be an endless number of Mazda MX-5s available for small money, with €5,000 getting you a half decent model, but we picked out a 2001 with a hardtop and 102,988km for €8,995.
Some Japanese import models might be an odd specification but they are generally pretty well put together. As with most convertibles, you need to spend special attention to the hood. Danny Beardshall from carhoodsireland.ie told Motors “it costs from about €800 to replace a hood. Some of these are aftermarket hoods but these are often better quality than the one put there in the first place. An MX-5 hood will cost €1,100 to supply and fit. Electric hoods can give more trouble, especially the BMW E36 models. The manual E36 is no problem but the electric one can be difficult to fix.”
Most of Beardshall’s business comes from older models such as older VW Golfs, MGs and Mazda MX-5s. He has advice for those thinking of buying an older convertible.
“You need to budget about €1,000 or so for a replacement hood. A hood has a life of between seven and nine years. Hoods with plastic rear windscreens crack and vinyl roofs crack, too.” His top tip is not to look at the fabric of the roof, but more the frame that carried the hood: “They need to inspect that, because if it’s broken then it can be very hard to get these parts.”
Moving away from the convertibles, if you fancy one of the original hot hatchbacks, the 205 GTi is challenging to drive but very rewarding. We found a 1994 model in the classifieds for €5,250 and it was the more powerful 1.9-litre version. On these light cars, check for rust, body damage and for rusty rear discs.
Staying with the French, and one dealer in Cork has a Renault Clio 2.0 16V 172 from 2003 for €8,950. This was – and remains – one of the most entertaining small hatchbacks around. Plus, it would work perfectly as an everyday car.
Think Japanese and the solutions for fun cars are endless. Ask any excitable teenager for advice and they’ll point you in the direction of cars like the Nissan 200SX, which is rear-wheel drive and, for €4,950, we found an S14A 2.0 turbo that certainly looked the part.
Or what about a Subaru Impreza 2.0-litre turbo AWD?
We found a 2002 version of this road-going rally car for €10,000 and, aside from the usual checks – which will include a lot more inspection of potential work from over-enthusiastic but under-skilled DIY enthusiasts – these cars tend to be very well engineered.
So for those of you thinking of either trading down your family car to something more fun or using the money under the mattress to buy yourself a weekend fun car, the good news is – recession or not – there are incredible bargains to be had for reasonably small money.