At the risk of boring everyone, I’m going to continue the thread of “If the Tiguan were to blow up suddenly, what car could / should I replace it with?”
It will be a regular, but occasional post.
Here are my criteria: preferably pre-1995, stick shift, costing no more than $40,000, reliable (for an older car), roomy (i.e. no sports cars — I still have stuff to schlep around).
And then there’s this one — lamentably in Yurp, which means shipping costs and some kind of import duty — but it still gets my juices going:
I’m actually a huge fan of small station wagons — I’ve owned three before: VW Jetta, VW Passat and Opel Ascona (Chev Cavalier, for my Murkin Readers). I loved all of them, without exception, and would take one over any SUV, every day of the week. Moreover, I loves me my 3-series Beemers; I still look back on my 318i with fondness and longing.
I’m a little leery of the stated mileage (only 29,000? WTF).
And then there’s this (from the website):
“The E30 Touring represents the last 3 Series BMW built in a truly ‘old-school”’way: without intrusive electronics, with analog gauges, genuine steering feel, and that unmistakable E30 atmosphere.”
I think they’ve been reading my blog.
Of course, the sensible answer is buy the best Toyota you can find.
Last forever type things, I’d consider
W123 Mercedes they come in a SW.
S123 Mercedes.
244 Volvo – they have a huge estate model
They are outside your date range but the e 39 Beemers are awesome cars. I had a 540 but the six cylinder cars are good too.
My BMW forums and friends say say the E46 series of 3 cars (1999-2005) was the best ever for reliability, ease of maintenance and reliability. I suspect you can find a wagon with comfortable mileage, if you’re patient, on cars.com or a similar venue.
A well maintained E30 body BMW can last a lifetime.
And oh, if you want someone to go look at that car, I’m about an hour away from where the seller is located, 90 minutes at most (though looks like he stores his cars elsewhere, as it’s a house, not a business location).
Bit far for me with my current health, but if I make a slow day trip out of it I should be able to manage
Kim – If you’re serious about going for an older car, then I suggest https://bringatrailer.com/. This is an on-line auction site that has a good reputation. You can set up a watchlist so that you are notified when a car type that you have specified comes up for auction. You can make the search criteria as wide or as narrow as you choose. (In my case, I look at anything pre-war.) When notified, it’s easy to scan the listing to see if that specific car is a candidate.
Each auction is 7 days in duration, and most of the action usually happens in the last hour of bidding. Also, BAT extends the auction by a few minutes after the last bid, so that noone loses out over a slow internet connection or whatever.
Their fees are reasonable (to me) and disclosed up front. For an overview, check their “Learn How It Works” page and review the FAQs. I suggest you watch a few auctions to see how it works in practice. Also, they offer other services such as vehicle inspection, shipping, etc. at an additional fee.
You never know when an interesting car will come up for auction, and every auction is different. Sometimes, cars get priced out of reach and sometimes there are bargins available. Some cars are listed as “projects”, some are drivers with some flaws (usually fully disclosed), and some are show cars. The point is, you won’t find what you want if you don’t look.
Cheers! Keith in Kalifornia
I agree with the Toyota.
Maybe a Subaru of some sort would work for you.
The E30 is not only a very good-looking car, but a mainstay of the ADAC Classic Series. The standard street versions were very prone to roll over due to their trailing-arm suspension, so the answer is not to push an unmodified E30 very hard.
The E36 is undoubtedly a much better car mechanically and dynamically, but its looks do not stretch my underpants at all.
PS in the UK you can pick up a good E30 for the equivalent of about $5000. Yes I know rhd but surely that is a good indicator of the price level.
Yep, you have to go back at least 30 years to find a BMW that would last trouble free for any time past the warranty. The 340 had the thermostat housing, water pump, and some electronics go out to the tune of $6k just after the warranty ended. The wife’s 550 had the main bearings seize while it was still in warranty and I sold it after it was repaired. I doubt that car ever had the engine above 4000 RPM. I am done with BMW.
Older models come with older problems. If you can deal with that, you’ll find plenty of choices.
I think you might want to look hard at the Mazda 3 Hatchback.
For reasons set forth below:
1. No Screen Monopoly (Dedicated Hard Buttons)
Physical Climate Control: The dashboard features completely separate, analog buttons and dials for the heater, A/C, and fan speed.
No Touchscreen Demands: The central 8.8-inch display is not a touchscreen. It sits far back on the dashboard, entirely controlled by a rugged physical command dial and volume knob down by your shifter. If the screen ever fails, the car remains perfectly drivable.
Analogue Dash Combo: The driver’s gauge cluster uses a hybrid design, sandwiching a basic digital trip display between permanent physical needles and gauges for vital stats like speed and fuel.
2. Under the Hood: No Hyper-Efficient Fragility
No turbo charger, naturally aspirated, no Stop/Start nonsense.
3. No Fragile CVTs
4. The 6-Speed Manual (The 20-Year “Cheat Code”)
Zero Computers: There are no electronic transmission control modules, complex fluid valves, or software codes that can glitch and brick the car. Pure Mechanical Linkage: Your hand physically moves steel cables to shove the gears into place. Simple Maintenance: It has no high-pressure pumps or sensitive hydraulic fluid. You only need to drain and replace a basic pool of heavy gear oil roughly every 50,000 to 60,000 miles to keep the gears pristine forever. Cheap Wear Items: The only item that wears out is the clutch disc. Even if you abuse it, changing a clutch down the road is a routine, affordable repair, whereas a broken modern automatic requires throwing the entire transmission away.
You’d have to come to grips with driving a Jap model, but I think once you throw this unit into a curve and get it up on 2 wheels, you’ll be sold.
Yes, and if you need a little bigger, my experience with a couple of Mazda CX-5’s has been outstanding.
I find it very hard to consider buying a 32-year-old car to use as a daily driver at any price, much less paying $40,000 for it.