I'm a bit bored tonight ... and I've started to get coupe envy after looking at pictures of mine when it was newer.

Which one of these would you choose? (I do reasonably high mileage, so going for a very low mileage one might be foolish, but I would want it to still be a head turner)

1. http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...fManufacture=1999&vehicleRegLetter=S
Warrington, 79k, £2k, Turbo, Leather, Air Con

2. http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...OfManufacture=1998&vehicleRegLetter=
East England. Turbo, 104k, £2650, Cloth, Air Con, Sunroof

3. http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...fManufacture=2000&vehicleRegLetter=V
Shipley, Bradford, 69k, £3k, N/A, Air Con, Cloth, Cambelt done

4. http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...fManufacture=1999&vehicleRegLetter=V
Dorset, V, Turbo, 37k, £5, Cloth, Computer !!!

Out of interest, does anyone know anything of any of them?

I do love window shopping. If I get a new contract in the near future, I might even go shopping for one for real

Ian.

Even though all these cars look almost identical, number 4's photo 1 grabs my attention the most and thats what I probably would go for, due to the low mileage.

But if you want a head turner why not get one with an LE kit on it?

I take it you want a burgundy coop then?

Last one gets my vote, need to hammer the price down a bit though, it's been on there for a fair time now so I don't reckon it would be too difficult.

Gareth

Computer? What the hell is he on about? It doesn't have a widget fitted and the only other computers are the various ECUs.

Hmmmm.

So technically it does have a computer !! This is just artistic licence from the motor trade. Either that or we are looking at the new Knight Rider !!

Get the Hoff

First one, and tell them they'll be happy with £1200 and pay them a grand and a half.

Buy some leather food with the change.

Job's a good un.

I think this would be a straight swap for either my Portofino N/A or Burgundy Spider. I kind of like the idea of a Burgundy fleet of Spider and Coupe on the drive, one for posing with the top down in good weather, the other for burning up the motorways I'm justifying this to my g/f with the saving on not having multiple touch-up paint pots

I've never driven a turbo, but from what I read on here, it sounds like it would be worth the little extra, so I was thinking that rules out number 3, despite the good looks and lowish mileage. Would that be the general consensus?

I'm likely to put 20k-30k a year on it, so I'm not sure if number 4 would be a sensible investment. Otherwise, it looks a real beauty.

Are there no votes for number 2? That one was my first thought, due to price (And the fact it's closer to where I am). I was thinking I could swap over the leather seats from my existing N/A to make it look a little better. Would the high mileage (104k) be a show stopper for you folks though?

If the location wasn't a factor, I think I'd be tending towards number 1, and swapping over the drivers seat with my existing one. Seems a good price, and looks fairly tidy, but showroom pictures can sometimes be a bit misleading.

Can you get Burgundy Coupes with LE kit? There don't seem to be many Coupe's around in that colour at all, and I don't think I've seen a LE one.

Wish I had another job lined up now, as I've really got fired up about a Burgundy Turbo now

Thanks for the encouragement

Just to say, 104k is not high milage, only average Less than 10k per year on a 1998 car. Don't start off with milages, we'll end up with carlt on here

It's got to be condition (service,bodywork,care) rather than the dial on the dash!

An LE kit doesn't mean it's a LE these can be fitted to the car quite painlessly You can put it on any car you buy in the end

LE's weren't produced in burgundy.

Number 1 does look good and you'll knock him down I'm sure. The mileage is neither here nor there really. If it's been looked after, then you'll get 3-4 years more out of number 1 before any major work or an engine swap would be a factor. Really low mileage isn't a plus in my eyes, as the chances are it won't have been used much, I've found to my cost in the past that cars that have mega low mileage and haven't been used too often tend to be a real money pit, all the hose and odds and ends that fail due to use have still to let go and could already be just waiting to spoil the party. A good average mileage car, looked after by an enthusiast or knowing garage will be a much better buy IMHO. I recently bought a black LE with bodywork issues, however, the interior is mint, the engine is superb and it's had a fair amount of cash spent on it recently, it drives lovely despite a cracked manifold and with the bits I already had and a re-spray, will look fantastic, I got it very cheap so even with the little work I need to do and the paint job, it will be a mint black LE with no paint issues etc. Everything is relative, if you are using it as much as you obviously will, it doesn't need to be a minter, but mechanically it must be really good.

Aim for spot on mechanics and be careful reading through where it has been looked after and you should get a decent picture of the car. There is a good chance that being in Warrington, it's been looked after by James Twist. He has a differing reputation, some love him, some hate him, but he does know the cars regardless of peoples opinions of him, if he has looked after the car, it should be ok, the same goes for any of the other regular specialists on here, Alitalia in Wrexham (sometimes known as Paxtons), MotoMech in Birmingham and SoloItalia down south etc. Any work at any of these places recently and you should be able to relax a little as all of these guys know the car better than anyone.

Best of luck!

Gareth

I decided to go and have a test drive in number 2 yesterday.

The bodywork on the sides was near perfect . I couldn't see any parking dints or scrapes, though it was getting a bit dark by the time I got there. I looked down the sides with the sun setting behind, which I'd have thought would have made any dints stand out, and it looked dintless. The interior was very tidy, and it seemed to be well looked after. I didn't get a chance to give it much oomph on the test drive, since it was out in the sticks and the roads were crap, but everything engine-wise seemed pretty smooth.

I have a couple of questions though:
On the bonnet, there was a crease of about half an inch on the leading edge. The best way to describe it would be: If the bonnet was made of damp paper mache, hold a pencil vertically, and push it half an inch against the edge. Does this sound like it could be easily patched up to be less noticable? (I'm not normally so picky, but since the rest of the car is impeccable, and the price reflects it, I'd be tempted to get rid of that blemish if I do go for it).

Also, on my Coop, the gear lever almost guides itself between gears. On this one, it needed forcing, particularly in 3rd and 4th, since it didn't guide itself to the next one. The owner said this was just some sort of nylon guide that needed replacing, and was a cheap fix. Anyone know if this sounds likely, or if this might be more of a problem?


Can't quite see when I'll find time to check out any of the others, but it was nice to see how good the paintwork can look without the parking dints. Just need to decide which of the current vehicles would need to go to make room for this one

Ian.


PS - If anyone else is interested in this one, I should mention that the end piece of the tail-pipe has fallen off, and the bumper had melted a little, but wasn't really noticeable. Generally, it seemed a very good example for 104k miles.

Rather than imagining a pencil pushed against the leading edge, imagine a 4x4, with a tow bar, slowly reversing into/out of a tight parking space.

I know it well

I had a word with my bodyshop guy and he reckons its a bit of a bugger coz it needs brushing in with the whole bonnet.

If you want burgundy...cheap toy http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/916799.htm

Why not PROVIDE an offer to Shabba for his kitted burgundy 20vt?

Shabba will be happy to sell, he has his eye on a Saxo 1.1 Graduate Cloth seats, windy windows, its just SOOOO him.

£1200 gets you mine, look under buying & selling advice for my honest description.