16-20 grand on a convertable/cabriolet, what would you have?

Monty Burns

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Hey Guys

decided that its time we bought a convertable/cabriolet but would like some ideas on whats out there.

Things we have decided:
  • must have four seats
  • prefer diesel (cheaper insurance, tax(usualy), cheaper per mile on gas and little performance diference from the comparisons i've seen online)
  • its mainly for my gf to drive as I have a motorbike and use it in all weathers, so performance again, isn't really a factor (nothing will match my bike for this budget)

We're toying with the following vehicles:

  • Audi A4
  • Volvo (c70?)
  • Saab 93 Aero
  • Peugeot 307cc (my gf's choice.... unusual as its its the cheapest!)

Other possibles but less likely (all gf's decision to almost rule them out):

  • Focus Cab ("ugly")
  • Megane ("the rear looks like a blokes car")
  • BMW 3 series Cab ("everyones got one" - yeah like no one has an Audi right?!?! )


What other options are there out there that we haven't thought about? Are there any known issues with the vehicles above?
 
My girlfriends parents have had both the A4 and Saab 9-3 cab and loved them both. I prefer the Audi myself and its lovely inside.

I don't know the answer to this- but would a diesel convertable be a bit noisy?
 
A brand new lower spec A3 convertible ?
 
We've just bought an Audi A4 cab which is a nice car but I don't think that you'll find a diesel in your price range
 
Actually guys, your Audi's aren't as expensive as you seem to think:smashin:

Just look at Ebay, Car Giant etc .... very many examples at only 2 or 3 years old (high'ish millage but in this day and age, that shouldnt be a problem).

And no, modern diesels are not that noisey and loose virtually nothing in performance.

For example, I looked at the Megane or Focus, can't remember exactly which but, 0.60 petrol was 11.8, diesel was 12.2! As we are not looking for speed machines, this sort of diference means nothing to us :thumbsup:
 
Actually guys, your Audi's aren't as expensive as you seem to think:smashin:

I think that senility is setting in early as I read your post as £10,000 to £12,000.

There are some great A4 Cabs for sale in your price range and now that I've read it properly I would also like to add the Mercedes CLK to your list of possibles
 
I think that senility is setting in early as I read your post as £10,000 to £12,000.

There are some great A4 Cabs for sale in your price range and now that I've read it properly I would also like to add the Mercedes CLK to your list of possibles
:rotfl:

Maybe you've got "posters feever" what with having some 15000+ :D

Actually, never really thought about a CLK as the Merc's seem to be a tadge expensive compared to the others. Curiously, I dont recall any of them appearing in searches but then, maybe i've just ignore them as i've assumed there out of range?

Thanks for the suggestion, will take a look again specificaly for CLK's :)
 
I would say none in that budget range. Reason being a convertible is first and foremost about being flash, it is an emotional purchase rather than a practical one. And in my opinion there is nothing wrong with that. Heck I've had 4 convertibles myself. But with that concept it also comes (in my opinion ofcourse) that when you get a second hand one it removes a lot of that emotion and flashiness, and (in my opinion again) can look rather sad if one is not careful. Definitely not a purchase I would never buy a second hand model unless it is/has been a demonstrator. Somehow I find that convertibles age much quicker than the rest of the model range....
 
As a matter of interest how miles per annum do you expect the car to do as if it's fairly low or a lot of stop / start driving a diesel could be a false economy
 
Other than the VW Eos you've pretty much got all of them there...

I like the Eos, it's not too big, not too small and you will have plenty to choose from in your price range.

Don't buy a Peugeot, they are crap.
 
As a matter of interest how miles per annum do you expect the car to do as if it's fairly low or a lot of stop / start driving a diesel could be a false economy

Hmmm .... thats interesting.

It probably would be a lot of start/stop and low'ish milage. We live in West London (Well on the edge) and its primary driver will be my girlfriend who will be using it to commute. As she's a newly qualified teacher (hopefully anyway) she has no idea where should could be working. It could be 5 mins up the road (interview Tuesday) or the other end of Middlesex.

I guess, to be honest, it would probably be commute in traffic.

How would a diesel be a false economy? With lower emmisions on the samples i've looked at and cheaper insurance in mind, you must be talking about petrol/diesel mpg.... how is diesel worse? I honestly have no clue about this, im a biker, so its good that you bring this up!

Decadance, didn't think about the EOS, so thats number two to add to the list! Thanks!!! Why do you say Peugeots are crap?


Happily Dejong, our opinion (and i suspect many others) are vastly diferent to yours on this but hey, thats what opinions are, very personal and neither right nor wrong :)
 
Definitely go for a Merc CLK, I have a standard diesel one. We wanted the convertible but when looking at the boot size (for the kids pushchair it put us off).

Great car, bit loud for the first five minutes but it quietens down quickly. Ours is only used for round town and we have +45mpg on the trip.
 
Thanks for that :thumbsup:

Will take a look in the usual places tonight ... ebay etc
 
Peugeot convertibles rattle and prone to faults. My best man had two of them, a 206 and a 307, because his wife liked them but they both spent weeks on end in the garage and lost an absolute fortune when they came to trade them in.

I bought a Peugeot 307 for the wife and it also had a lot of problems, they are not built well at all. I will never buy a French car again as long as I live.

Just my personal experiences of course for what it's worth...French cars are cheap for a reason.
 
Also if you're using it to pop around town etc. a CLK/A4/Saab might become a bit cumbersome. Plus the EOS is named after another vehicle you should know well...it's karma!
 
Personal experience (of other real life people) is an ideal store of information. Thank you for explaining why! Sounds like that may be a no-no then.

And Russell, thanks for that. Will google them later and see whats-what :thumbsup:
 
Also if you're using it to pop around town etc. a CLK/A4/Saab might become a bit cumbersome. Plus the EOS is named after another vehicle you should know well...it's karma!


Yeah probably but, its her choice and you know how we all like to please (even if we know they are wrong!:rotfl:)

An EOS? Don't know what your talking about ;)
 
How would a diesel be a false economy? With lower emmisions on the samples i've looked at and cheaper insurance in mind, you must be talking about petrol/diesel mpg.... how is diesel worse?

Cars perform at their optimum when the engines are warm and diesels take a lot longer to warm up than petrol which makes them far less economic on stop / start motoring than on a reasonable length run.

They also cost more to buy and diesel itself costs more than petrol.

They are great for people doing large mileages but less so for anyone else
 
Check out Pistonheads, that is where we got ours from.

Regarding the CLK

Just had a good poke around on Piston Heads/Auto-trader/ebay/gumtree and it didn't look very promising. The only examples I could find were big engined petrol ones (2.6 etc) which, with fuel prices as they are, is a no. Couldn't find any diesels for under 20k at all. They also seemed to be older than the other cars i've looked at so its kind of re-inforcing my view that Merc's are too expensive for our budget.

Shame as it does look like a nice car but not gona finance running a 2.6l engine at £1.10+ a pop!
 
saab is a vectruck with a reskin /spit

for me from your list only the A4 and 3 series would i choose, going for a quatro

although as a footnote as i like driving i wouldn't buy any cab that started of as a roofed model, guaranteed wibble wobbles, hell id try and get a V8 S4 :) bah theres V8 S4 cabs for 20k on trader... give me an avant :p
 
I'd get a nice BMW convertible - E46, sport spec. Get whatever size engine you think you could live with (personally that'd be at least the base 6-cylinder model)

looks great, who cares if its common?
 
I want a specially commissioned Ford Fusion made from rust proof metal with all components designed to last 300000 miles,Top speed about 80mph
 
Cars perform at their optimum when the engines are warm and diesels take a lot longer to warm up than petrol which makes them far less economic on stop / start motoring than on a reasonable length run.

They also cost more to buy and diesel itself costs more than petrol.

They are great for people doing large mileages but less so for anyone else
on the other hand engines have a longer life span and are generally cheaper to service
 
I went through this decision making process a year ago.I wanted 4 seats,4 wheel drive and decent performance.That limited me to an A4 3.0 diesel or an A4 petrol cabriolet.The 3.0 diesel is an excellent performer but I decided I couldn't live with the rattle with the roof down.The cheapest I can see is £22k here
If that's too rich then of the 4 seaters I too would go for an Eos.Of the 2 seaters I felt the 2.0 TT was the best value,but too small for me (the diesel is due out next month and I suspect will have one of the best residuals of any car on the market).Have fun whatever you decide on.
 

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