What's the best reasonably priced car for touring Europe?

"472CID" (472CID) 03/10/2014 at 12:29 • Filed to: OPPOPOLL

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When you think of the perfect cars for plodding around Europe you might think of Ferraris or Aston Martins. So few can afford such luxuries so what would you choose with a more realistic budget, say under $10,000 (7.200E)? What's the best combination for efficiency, utility, reliability, style and of course driving pleasure for 4 figures? Here's my top 3:

BMW 5 Series Touring

Good looking and practical, it would be a joy throwing some skis in back and driving up some Alps.

Alfa Romeo Brera

Other hatches might be fast or better built, but none are nearly this pretty. It's the closest you can get to an affordable Ferrari hot hatch.

Camaro SS

Last but not least we've got the big American middle finger of the group. See also Mustang, Firebird, Corvette, CTS-V, SRT8s.

 > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 12:38

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The answer is always a Miata. I would've preferred a wagon but this is all I can find.

Or perhaps Porsche 944 Combi?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 12:45

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Jaguar XJ40. You could pick up a fully functional 3.2l or 3.6l (or 4.0l if your lucky) in the UK for under a grand. Spend the thousands saved on more cool things to do :)

You could also pick up a 4.0l XJS for £4000 and have one of the most comfortable grand tourers of all time, again with thousands to spare.

505Turbeaux > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 12:46

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http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/a… for under 10 grand you could be ripping in this Alpina

KnowsAboutCars > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 12:47

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Audi c4 S4 and S6 or old muscle car.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 12:51

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If I had to pick a car for driving around in europe, and in that price range... it would be a Skoda or a Mazda.. The Mazda 6 is a rather good car, looks quite good and handles more than well. You could get a Skoda Superb as well, I'd have the 1.4 TSi.

Sure, none of them are the most stylish cars ever made, but they are reliable and parts are easy to get in almost all of Europe.

Party-vi >  03/10/2014 at 12:54

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Wow. That top completely transforms the Miata.

472CID > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 03/10/2014 at 12:54

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You could probably find an XJR for this price, though fuel bills would be higher. An XJ-S would be cheap but repair bills would bring you right back up.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 13:02

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A V12 XJS might be costly, but an I6 one should be absolutely fine. Just make sure you get a decent one and you'll be laughing. There's a bit of a reputation with these cars, but it's usually garnered from ill-maintained V12 ones.

An XJR would be excellent as well. Just make sure that if you get one of the 4.0l V8 ones the plastic chain tensioner has been replaced with the later metal one. It's a known failure point on these engines.

ozkar0rtiz > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 13:09

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MB 300TD

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 13:13

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I was considering the Lexus LS430, which commands stupidly low prices these days for such luxury. That is, until I read "driving pleasure".

ABORT MISSION, RESTART.

Ok.

Skoda Octavia vRS Estate, in Metallic Blue. 2.0L turbo engine has been remapped to produced 230bhp, now for sale at £4,995/US$8,308.

Huge boot, with power to boot (ucwidt), 1 previous owner with 124,000 miles on the clock. And it's a manual.

My hovercraft is full of eels > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/10/2014 at 13:33

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The Mazda6 was also on my list. The first gen MPS (=Mazdaspeed).

Jobjoris > 472CID 03/10/2014 at 14:49

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Last but not least we've got the big American middle finger of the group. See also Mustang, Firebird, Corvette, CTS-V, SRT8s

Europe will return the finger instantly with fuel-prices over here!

RacinBob > ozkar0rtiz 03/14/2014 at 01:03

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Interesting, my dad owned the 4 dr 300cd first, then the 2 dr 300cd