BozzaFC

So, it seems someone picked this up cheap, drove it for a month, and is now selling it for almost double what they paid for it. Good luck to them

Thanks, those are good points, but perhaps I should have been more clear. She’s a very competent driver. Her and I were brought up on a farm, and as such have driven from when we were about 5 years old around paddocks and so on. When I was 8 years old I was rolling dirt in my dad’s Kubota tractor by myself. My sister drives over the Saddle Road in the Manawatu in a manual Hilux with no issues. She has her licence, and currently drives the spare Ford Laser manual. Now, she wants her own car that is slightly more exciting. As I said in the initial post, I didn’t want to make this thread about her. Instead, I thought it would be a cool general discussion to have, about cheap, fun cars. After all, some of the most fun cars are the cheap and underpowered ones. And for context, I bought both my NZ new Alfa 156 2.5 V6 24v manual (my first car) and my current NZ new E39 530i, both with less than 140kms, for less than $5k each. I would regard both as fun cars, and both were and are reliable. With the Alfa, rather than any young hoon writing it off, it was an elderly gentlemen who didn’t hook his trailer up properly that wrote it off! ?

MX5s are always a good option. Will keep an eye open

Wow, just Googled this. How have I never heard of/seen one of these before! I didn't realise the Colt could be anything more than a boring nana car. Alas, not her style Have you had one @qube ?

MR2s seem to be a lot rarer than I first anticipated. Four manual listings on TM, with the nicest one asking $5,800. I could get a BMW for less! https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/auction-1906322078.htm?rsqid=1de4c02c0b89458680e9564a24bd63db

Surely you're not trying to tell me that oversteer is, in any case, a bad thing???

I should have said, the one I saw was a 2nd gen. It was a pretty good looking car from what I saw. And being a Toyota, you would expect it to be reliable. Unfortunately, I text my mum and told her to look out for it but it hasn't been parked where I saw it again ? . Hopefully it pops back up so she can take it for a test drive! Can't find it on Trade Me either I have always found the MR-S to be a hideous automobile, usually driven by middle-aged men and women who think they're the king of the castle because their old Toyota's roof comes off

Thanks for that. I’d be keen to hear how she gets on with it. In my very limited experience with VW products I’ve heard some horror stories. But again, very limited experience

Thanks! My mum had a 1996 318i saloon in red that my sister and I were brought up with. She bought it in ‘05 with about 60,000 kms on it and it dutifully and reliably served us for just over 10 years when it finally had some oil issue that would have cost more than it was worth to fix. Had done 280,000 kms or so then. Apart from the terrible clear coat peeling off the bonnet, it was a great car. Man I miss that car. So our family knows about how safe and reliable those 318i E36s are. In saying that, there’s quite a few Bimmers in the family so definitely open to other recommendations. There was a tidy E30 on trade me that would have really suited and my sister LOVED the classic look of it, except it’s slightly out of the price range as seems to be so common with the E30s now

I was back home in Whanganui the other day and drove past what I think was a Toyota MR2. It was yellow (her favourite colour) and looked quite sporty. Any experience with these? I was in a rush so didn’t get a chance to stop and properly check it out, so not sure about the details. Certainly looked cool with pop up headlights I believe

Probably, but still keen to hear any and all recommendations You’re not selling another car are you? ?

Hey guys, When I was back in high school (only a couple years ago) all my friends had the most mundane cars: old and tired Honda Civics, Suzuki Swifts, Nissan Marchs and the like, and nine times out of ten auto. Now that my sister has her licence and is approaching the need for her first car, I thought this would be an interesting discussion to be had. She's not a massive petrolhead, but my love for cars has rubbed off onto her to the extent that she cares somewhat about what she drives. But I don't want to make this thread about her, so what are your best cars that are: Under $5k Fun-ish Manual Relatively reliable and cheap to run At least marginally more exciting than a March Not limited to Bimmers/Euro cars What cool cars have you guys owned, wanted to own or plan on owning?

These are cool. I hope to see it and you around!

Had a spare afternoon today so decided to get out the toothbrush and attack the steering wheel. Spent about 30 minutes and pretty happy with the result. It looks a lot better but feels even nicer! Had to take it for a drive afterwards; couldn’t stop feeling it up...

Small but extremely satisfying upgrade tonight: Have plenty of spares if anyone needs one

Can highly recommend Nick’s videos. He likes his Bimmers too ?

@adro was kind enough to show me around and let me have a spin in his 540i today - awesome car! Absolutely beautiful to drive and has a menacing exhaust note to match Cheers!

Can't wait to see this cruising around Wellington!

Had a listen to a couple songs before and I was going to say something but didn’t want to hurt your feelings ?

That sounds tedious! I always get so nervous with new people touching my car for this exact reason. Glad it’s all sorted and Beaurepairs was helpful with it, did they pay the $200?

Cool car! With the shocks, I would probably recommend OEM for consistency?

Anything called Boston is pretty lovable! ? This will be an exciting project! And yeah, really nice colour ?

Enjoyed watching this! Whereabouts did you film it? The roads at the beginning look nice

Seen this on TM a few times in the last year or so. It is definitely beautiful, but not 15k beautiful.

@Eagle making room for a new Bimmer? Good luck with the sale!