Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I need a more family orientated car to transport the kids & the blomin missus around. It has to be reasonable to drive & not ridiculously thirsty. Or cost much more than my '44 to buy. Don't care about tax or insurance.
Thinking of an Lexus IS200. Not very quick it's true. Less power than my '44. But it should tune well. Wonder if anyone out theres had one. Also considered a Volvo S60 2 liter turbo though front wheel drive another easy car to remap. BMW's are top dollar & once I started on one of those I would spend ££££'s. Most sensible option a Ford Puma. Very cheap to buy. Cheap bits & easily tunable. But it's a bit girly........
Must have back seats big enough for a baby carrier. Any ideas???

IS300 Sport Cross on the list when I ended up with the Jeep. None of them are particularly economical as they need to be revved to go well, even then the 200 isn't that quick. Some parts can be eye wateringly expensive as they are Lexus MD only. Generally reckoned to be bombproof if looked after.

Pumas nice to drive but the ones that haven't been chavved will be rusty, some quite badly.

How about an FTO? 200BHP big boot, tiptronic


And as it happens I have one for sale

Consider a Golf TDi or Audi A4 Avant Tdi. Both really good cars for what you require.

Well I just paid for a pair of new turbo drive shafts for my pride & joy. Makes it even harder to sell it. Especially now the suns started to shine. Sorry Siggy. Don't do autos. Anything interesting is nearly £500 in car tax. Mmmmmmmmm. Leaning lexus as I found a mint one owner car with 40K miles for just 2K. Plus 1K a year to tax & insure it. Keep the '44 & it's nothing to tax & insure but will cost 1K a year in parts. You can't win. Thanks for the ideas. Still totally undecided.

Use to have an is200 and absolutely loved it, looks, silky straight six, packed with kit, fantastic car! Unfortunately, if you want one for kids it falls short and was the reason I sold mine. The rear seats are very cramped and if you're using a rear facing baby seat in the back you have to the front seat fully forward and the seat back upright.

After going through several different family cars/ 4x4s etc and hating them, I got a bmw 523 (e39) which I've had now for 6 years and is a great car. Big enough to get 3 child seats across the back and plenty of quality and luxury. Mine's a petrol and mpg is about 26, so you may want to consider a diesel.

Ford Puma girly. Are you crazy??? If you remember the original advert, Steve McQueen was driving one! If it's good enough for him... I still think they're a good looking car - Future classic???

Advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2OV7Zz4VsM

Making of the advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzzV2DloGmk

Ben

J.J. you already have the perfect car. Concentrate on ways to persuade the wife to believe this.you know it makes sense ,as they say

What about a VW Bora V5 or a 2ltr diesel (6 speed). Don't laugh, these are really good cars!!

I had a V5 (2.3ltr) a few years back and it was a really nice drive, very grown up and didn't attract too much attention.

The 6 speed diesel Boras are faster than you may think and most diesel engines are responsive to chip upgrades; ride that fat torque curve...!!!!

True but I still can't fit a two babies in the back. Never mind all there kit. So not sure when i could actually use it.


Looked at V5's I like the engine. Drove a Passat with one. But there arn't that many out there & there premium price. I owned a turbo deasel once. The turbo seized & knackered the the engine. (Vanes came off & were ingested.) Cost nearly 5K to repair. Makes the '44 seem cheap. Have to say the various company ones have all needed major maintenance & very quickly lost power. I will not be buying new but with 100K+miles on for my budget. I'l get the new drive shafts on & then see.

I stick by my first suggestions because I always look at the Golf and think "The best car I've never had", and the Audi Avant is a favourite of Stef and mine - it's on the list.

If you're thinking to get a Lexus iS thing the you may as well just buy the Toyota Avensis - it's practically the same thing without the bling and the badge, and probably cheaper to run. That Toyota Avensis that sponsors Midsomer Murders looks exactly the same as the Lexus iS whatever.

And I think you can still buy them without a 'Taxi' badge on the roof

Looked up the Toyota. Only a 4 pot for the same price. Lexus is better value. Probably the insurance is less but for me it makes no difference. The Lexus has more kit & leather. 6 pot 24 valve beats 16v any day for me! Lexus looks better too. Different headlights. More aggressive. They tune well. Wayne who got a third more go form my '44 loves them! Cost me over 1K in strengthening the drive train when he'd finished. Never heard of that from a chip. Whoever it came from!

A friend of mine had a 200 from new, took it to main dealer for a service and on picking car up service reception said they would call him when his new wheels arrived at the dealership, when he asked what/why ? they replied that there was some pitting on the alloys and they would be replaced under warranty, he hadn't even noticed the pitting