HFS's Cars

[Famine]

I think the pre-93 1.6s are 110bhp and these are the only ones that come in under budget. I'd be wary of getting a 1.8 under £1500 because even with the Mazda's reliability £1.5k is pushing it even for an early 1.6. Ideally I'd have another grand to spend on top of this to get a mint 1.6.

Milford_Cubicle - my fiancee - bought a 1998 Mk1 1.8i Berkeley (1 of 400) last January for £2,700. A 1.8 for £1,500 is in your budget.

What about a Cougar?

Mmmm... Cougar... Trouble is, the tax will cost a fair bit over here and it'll drink like it's new year's eve. I think he'd get a bit of a shock migrating from a 1.3 Fiesta to a 2.5 V6. It's one of those cars that would only work in America, I suspect.

The Cougar did come in 2.0 Zetec form, with 130 bhp standard. Sounds like a decent package.

The AUP prevents me from saying exactly what the Ford Cougar is, but it is it, and a great, big, steaming pile of it at that. You'd be better off with a Ford Probe - and we all know how popular they are (though at least they're a heavier MX-6 in a frock rather than a heavier Mondeo in a frock).

Also, the 2 litre Cougar is slow like you wouldn't believe. The difference in acceleration between it and a 1.3 Fiesta is marginal.

 

[Danny]

Why is the Cougar so bad? I wouldn't mind one, it's cool with me if my car is slow. Gotta be a step up, right?

 

[Famine]

Oh, they're just awful. They're pretty enough from the front back to the A-pillar and reasonable inside, but that's about where it stops. They're thirsty, slow, unreliable, slow, numb-handling, slow, heavy, slow, hideous from nearly every angle, slow and slow.

I'm not sure in which universe making a Mondeo taller and heavier and giving it a coupe-style body to rob it of practicality and interior space made sense to Ford, but apparently it did and they went with it.

Then they sacked the guy who designed the front end and gave the job of designing the rest to a pack of blind, retarded macaque rhesus monkeys. Oh, and then they ditched the wholly reliable Mazda K-series V6 lump they'd been using in the Probe for a Duratec which oft-shreds itself (helped by, most commonly, dodgy water pump impellers).

Hateful hateful hateful car.

 

[Danny]

Oh, they're just awful. They're pretty enough from the front back to the A-pillar and reasonable inside, but that's about where it stops. They're thirsty, slow, unreliable, slow, numb-handling, slow, heavy, slow, hideous from nearly every angle, slow and slow.

I'm not sure in which universe making a Mondeo taller and heavier and giving it a coupe-style body to rob it of practicality and interior space made sense to Ford, but apparently it did and they went with it.

Then they sacked the guy who designed the front end and gave the job of designing the rest to a pack of blind, retarded macaque rhesus monkeys. Oh, and then they ditched the wholly reliable Mazda K-series V6 lump they'd been using in the Probe for a Duratec which oft-shreds itself (helped by, most commonly, dodgy water pump impellers).

Hateful hateful hateful car.

I see, thanks for the explanation. How strange it is, that the Cougar is so poor when the Puma is so awesome.

 

[Jondot]

Alright then, how about the car underneath?

£1500 would get you a delightful Zetec 1.8.

(Stolen from someone's Flickr uploads)

 

[Rotary Junkie]

As far as I've heard, the Zetec 1.8 knocks out very, very good fuel economy in the Mondeo as long as the state of tune is good.

Like... 30-35 US MPG.

Buy.

 

[YSSMAN]

Actually, that has reminded me... Have you considered the loveliness that is...

Ok, so it's a Fiesta in a frock, but that doesn't mean you can't have any fun

Yes please... I love them too much!

 

[Famine]

I see, thanks for the explanation. How strange it is, that the Cougar is so poor when the Puma is so awesome.

There's a reason Ford USA are now taking Ford Europe cars for their own market, and why Ford Europe aren't taking Ford USA cars any more...

 

[gator of kana]

How about a good old fashion Hyundai Tiburon. State of the art technology

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Same issues as the Cougar and then some.

And then some with build quality that I don't trust at all. And a little more with just plain garbage choices for power.

 

[niky]

C'mon, if the engine hasn't eaten itself by now, it should be okay... it wasn't that common a problem... right? Right? Right???

Oh, they're just awful. They're pretty enough from the front back to the A-pillar and reasonable inside, but that's about where it stops. They're thirsty, slow, unreliable, slow, numb-handling, slow, heavy, slow, hideous from nearly every angle, slow and slow.

I'm not sure in which universe making a Mondeo taller and heavier and giving it a coupe-style body to rob it of practicality and interior space made sense to Ford, but apparently it did and they went with it.

Then they sacked the guy who designed the front end and gave the job of designing the rest to a pack of blind, retarded macaque rhesus monkeys. Oh, and then they ditched the wholly reliable Mazda K-series V6 lump they'd been using in the Probe for a Duratec which oft-shreds itself (helped by, most commonly, dodgy water pump impellers).

Hateful hateful hateful car.

Classic Famine...

 

[Jondot]

And for £1500 you wouldn't get a pretty one. You'd end up with the mk1, which looks like an Accent that had bodged facial reconstructive surgery.

 

[gator of kana]

And for £1500 you wouldn't get a pretty one. You'd end up with the mk1, which looks like an Accent that had bodged facial reconstructive surgery.

Looks nice to me

 

[Sniffs]

you want dodgy, have a peek at what America got for the Mk 1 Tiburon (which I was seriously considering)

and complete with fugly aero parts, too

now...
*picks jaw up off floor at Golf 1 GTi* where did you even find one?! in the US, all the golf1's/Rabbit1's disintegrated into piles of rust flakes (German AND US built) *is now insalely jealous of current Golf1 owner from pic*

where are you finding these 2 liter class cars, you lucky devil? all our small enders have long since disintegrated...and that includes even poor ol civics around here ( i think the American equivelant of Chavs get ahold of them). the only surviving ones we have are some scattered Escorts and Tempos. (everything else in your price range in US terms has 250k miles on it, and is held together with duct tape, spit, bailing wire, and a prayer!)

Famine: what, can you use the abbrevriation, either?

 

[Jondot]

Looks nice to me

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder I suppose.

 

[niky]

Well, actually... that was the Tiburon model where Hyundai was having trouble with its in-house engines, wasn't it (after moving away from straight Mitsubishi copies...even though the similarities remain... although I could be wrong and it could be the mark I)... but AFAIK, it was an erratic issue... I've got a friend who had one and loved it. Not as incredibly underpowered (compared to the competition) as the current one and with decent handling.

Looks great from some angles... incredibly, awkwardly bulky from others... an interesting car to own.

 

[Mrs. Famine]

There's a guy I know (well, I don't know him personally) but he's moving and can't take 5 cars with him... so it looks like his major price reduction is your gain, homeforsummer

Now, if you don't want to be very tempted by a very cheap, exceptionally well looked after car then I suggest you DO NOT click this link...

 

[homeforsummer]

As far as I've heard, the Zetec 1.8 knocks out very, very good fuel economy in the Mondeo as long as the state of tune is good.

Like... 30-35 US MPG.

Buy.

Erm... nah. A Mondeo? Much as it's a good car, there are literally hundreds of thousands of them around. I could drive down the street and within a minute find one just like the picture posted earlier. And then another in the next minute. Not remotely interesting enough for me. I wouldn't care if it got double that economy.

How about a good old fashion Hyundai Tiburon. State of the art technology

Wouldn't really find one of those for the money and if I did it'd be the 1.6, which would be dead slow. And I'm not keen on the Mk1 Hyundai Coupe posted either. If I'm getting a coupe the Prelude is much more preferable.

*picks jaw up off floor at Golf 1 GTi* where did you even find one?! in the US, all the golf1's/Rabbit1's disintegrated into piles of rust flakes (German AND US built) *is now insalely jealous of current Golf1 owner from pic*

The Mk1s for sale in my price range won't look quite that nice, but they are about and as long as they haven't been abused they'll be a solid base to restore to mint. GTIs and hot hatches in general are a massive market in the UK (Renault sells more Renaultsport Clios and Meganes in the UK than they do anywhere else in Europe, for example) so GTIs are usually looked after pretty well, and MK1s are positively revered. They're certainly becoming collectors cars.

where are you finding these 2 liter class cars, you lucky devil? all our small enders have long since disintegrated...and that includes even poor ol civics around here ( i think the American equivelant of Chavs get ahold of them). the only surviving ones we have are some scattered Escorts and Tempos. (everything else in your price range in US terms has 250k miles on it, and is held together with duct tape, spit, bailing wire, and a prayer!)

Cars depreciate terribly in the UK because there's so much "keeping up with the Joneses", people replace their cars quite regularly and also rarely tend to go for base models, so the base models (like the bog-standard 2.0 Prelude) depreciate especially badly.

As for finding 2.0l cars in great condition, it's because in the UK 2.0l isn't really a small engine. Cars of this size don't tend to be thrashed, people do lower mileages in the UK than they do in the States, and 2.0l cars are generally under-stressed so they last pretty well.

There's a guy I know (well, I don't know him personally) but he's moving and can't take 5 cars with him... so it looks like his major price reduction is your gain, homeforsummer

Now, if you don't want to be very tempted by a very cheap, exceptionally well looked after car then I suggest you DO NOT click this link...

Hah! Nice one. I like how the price keeps coming down...

 

[gator of kana]

Well what about a Honda Integra, it's a bit faster than the Hyundai Tiburon

 

[Jondot]

Well what about a Honda Integra, it's a bit faster than the Hyundai Tiburon

Find a decent Integra for his budget and I will eat my shoes. In fact, find any Integra coupe for under £2,000 and I'll be surprised.

 

[gator of kana]

Find a decent Integra for his budget and I will eat my shoes. In fact, find any Integra coupe for under £2,000 and I'll be surprised.

You mean they cost more than that used?

 

[homeforsummer]

You mean they cost more than that used?

I've only ever even seen a couple of DC2 Integras for under £2k, let alone a DC5. The only Integras that regularly come in under my budget are the DA and DB models from the late 80s.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love even a basic DC2 and certainly a DC5, but I'd no chance of affording either realistically on my budget.

 

[Mrs. Famine]

Buy the MX-5. End.

 

[YSSMAN]

How about a good old fashion Hyundai Tiburon. State of the art technology
*pic*

I don't understand you. At all.

===

Did you know Hyundai continued to make my car after Toyota switched styles in 1999?

 

[gator of kana]

I don't understand you. At all.

===

Did you know Hyundai continued to make my car after Toyota switched styles in 1999?

Tell me what you don't understand and I'll explain. I think this would be a pretty good choice right here

 

[Jondot]

Tell me what you don't understand and I'll explain. I think this would be a pretty good choice right here

Well yeah, if he had £3000 to throw around.

 

[Danny]

That MRS looks, well, just plain happy to be there.

 

[YSSMAN]

Tell me what you don't understand and I'll explain.

You're silly. Just all the way around.

Hugsies?

 

[gator of kana]

You're silly. Just all the way around.

Hugsies?

Yeah, I get that a lot. It's just that I've been having special relationships with certain cars depended by people who by them and what their personalities are where I live, some relationships were good and some were bad. For example, I hate the Ford Explorer to death because someone who owned one was mean to me, made me feel condemned in his car. Kept on telling me to respect his car like I owned it and he's had it for 3 years and kept that thing looking like no one ever used it before. My Hyundai Elantra isn't like that but it's my pride and joy.

 

[Danny]

Yeah, I get that a lot. It's just that I've been having special relationships with certain cars depended by people who by them and what their personalities are where I live, some relationships were good and some were bad. For example, I hate the Ford Explorer to death because someone who owned one was mean to me, made me feel condemned in his car. Kept on telling me to respect his car like I owned it and he's had it for 3 years and kept that thing looking like no one ever used it before. My Hyundai Elantra isn't like that but it's my pride and joy.

Ok, I give up.

I've read this paragraph four times and still have no idea what you're saying!