Help in car selection and sourcing please

[flango]

Well in addition to trying to find a car for my Father in Law (currently negotiating on a Volvo S80) so hopefully that one is sorted this weekend.

Now my next door neighbour has asked if I could suggest and possibly source a car for her. She is currently driving an Astra coupe but needs to change as she drives her parents around a lot and her parents are getting older and can't get in and out of the back of the Astra, so the brief is in her words not mine

Must have 4 doors
Bigger than astra (Vectra size)
Sporty looks
Drive and handle crisply, not like a barge
Can't be silver (Women and colours)
Engine size not important
Preferably manual but would consider Auto
Would like it not to be a common car you see loads of
Preferably a Prestige marque
Price band £2.5k - £4k

Where do I start All suggestions welcome please.

 

[renault12ts]

Common? Then it has to be a 3 series.

 

[flango]

Common? Then it has to be a 3 series.

No, NOT common (and she actually hates 3 series for that reason)

 

[renault12ts]

No, NOT common (and she actually hates 3 series for that reason)

Oops sorry. Not common. Mondeo then.

 

[flango]

Oops sorry. Not common. Mondeo then.

Prestige Marque

 

[d w124]

Well in addition to trying to find a car for my Father in Law (currently negotiating on a Volvo S80) so hopefully that one is sorted this weekend.

Now my next door neighbour has asked if I could suggest and possibly source a car for her. She is currently driving an Astra coupe but needs to change as she drives her parents around a lot and her parents are getting older and can't get in and out of the back of the Astra, so the brief is in her words not mine

Must have 4 doors
Bigger than astra (Vectra size)
Sporty looks
Drive and handle crisply, not like a barge
Can't be silver (Women and colours)
Engine size not important
Preferably manual but would consider Auto
Would like it not to be a common car you see loads of
Preferably a Prestige marque
Price band £2.5k - £4k

Where do I start All suggestions welcome please.

My e200 w124 might be for sale soon

 

[d w124]

Is only a 4 seater though,because it has E500 seats.

 

[wemorgan]

Alfa 156
MG ZS
Saab 93 (I had to include a Saab in this post!)
Seat Leon/Cordoba
Skoda Octavia

edit: appreciate some are not prestige......but they do have sporty variants

 

[flango]

Alfa 156
MG ZS
Saab 93 (I had to include a Saab in this post!)
Seat Leon/Cordoba
Skoda Octavia

edit: appreciate some are not prestige......but they do have sporty variants

Funnily enough the Alfa 156 crossed my mind too, dont know anything about them but didn't they have a reliability problem or am I getting mixed up with something else? Saab 93 was also one of my first thoughts

 

[wemorgan]

Funnily enough the Alfa 156 crossed my mind too, dont know anything about them but didn't they have a reliability problem or am I getting mixed up with something else? Saab 93 was also one of my first thoughts

I don't know much about the 156, other than it drives well, dealers are very expensive and the interior trim is easily damaged.
Car review: Alfa Romeo 156 (1998 - 2005)

I like the 93 and have had a 1998 coupe myself. The biggest issue I believe is with cracked bulkheads with the 93/900 model, so try to only look at post 2002 models.
Car review: SAAB 9-3 (2002 - 2007)

Jaguar X-Type?
Lexus IS200?
C-class (W203)
Audi A2 (good occupant space.....but not quite the boot space of a Vectra, more Astra)

 

[verytalldave]

Avantgarde A class?
Something like this perhaps..........
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2002&vehicleRegLetter=02
Certainly easy to in and out of.
Look at the HUGE space in the back.
You wont get better access in any car than one of these. Combined with a higher roofline, its an obvious choice to me.

 

[fabes]

Mgzt

I'll chip in with the obvious C class starter, but a friend just got a real bargain on what it, it has to be said, a really good car, the MGZT

Another went out and got a CDTi on the back of seeing the others V6 190

Either the BMW driven diesel or the 1.8T in plus trim are really quite nice.

There aren't loads around, they are sporty and servcing etc is no issue with most garages happy to deal with them. I prefer pre facelift models but even the most recent revamp ones are going for very little when you look at what you get.

If I wasn't as happy as I am with my Merc, I would give them a serious look

PS long term reliability / bodywork doesn't seem to be an issue
Strange they start to build (at long last) a good car then go out of business!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Audi A6?

 

[Vlad]

Lexus IS200......job done!

 

[Londonscottish]

My vote goes for the 156

I saw an absolute minter of a pre-facelift (or was it mk1?) 2ltr twin spark in a fabulous blue metallic with tan interior and all the toys for less than £5k - was seriously tempted to trade in the other half's Clio.

 

[Londonscottish]

Looked on Autotrader - LOADS for between £2k and £4k

I want one myself now.

PS I noticed there's a girlie button on Autotrader - you can actually search for a car by colour.

PPS I also noticed a number of diesel 156's on the site. With apologies to all the diesel lovers our there, a diesel Alfa is just plain WRONG

 

[chrisdovey]

passat w8
Auto Trader UK - VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 4.0 W8 4MOTION 4dr Saloon