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[STMO123]

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/MG+ZT/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966766-4294967087/search.action

Need i say more?  

The ones that are cheap are in need of the cambelts doing, £800-£1000. Easy to forget that one.

[Markie]

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/MG+ZT/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966766-4294967087/search.action

Need i say more?  

The ones that are cheap are in need of the cambelts doing, £800-£1000. Easy to forget that one.

Aye....all 4 cambelts at that....

[tunnie]

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/MG+ZT/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966766-4294967087/search.action

Need i say more?  

The ones that are cheap are in need of the cambelts doing, £800-£1000. Easy to forget that one.

Aye....all 4 cambelts at that....

4 cambelts?  

Still you know you want V8 power  

[Paul M]

The depreciation on the Astra will make the Alfa's fuel bill appear a bargain. You've seen how much it has depreciated already, and at that age it's still on the very steep part of the curve.

You do have the warranty so largely worry free motoring for a few years, but that doesn't come cheap even if it is a "sensible" car.

Maybe you're too in love with FWD after being wooed by the Alfa to consider coming back to meega ownership  

[STMO123]

The depreciation on the Astra will make the Alfa's fuel bill appear a bargain. You've seen how much it has depreciated already, and at that age it's still on the very steep part of the curve.

You do have the warranty so largely worry free motoring for a few years, but that doesn't come cheap even if it is a "sensible" car.

Maybe you're too in love with FWD after being wooed by the Alfa to consider coming back to meega ownership  

No Paul. I'm in love with trying to hang on to some of my hard-earned.

[Kevin Wood]

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/MG+ZT/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966766-4294967087/search.action

Need i say more?  

The ones that are cheap are in need of the cambelts doing, £800-£1000. Easy to forget that one.

Aye....all 4 cambelts at that....

4 cambelts?  

Still you know you want V8 power  

Yep. I would. V8's got one timing chain and RWD  

Kevin

[Paul M]

The depreciation on the Astra will make the Alfa's fuel bill appear a bargain. You've seen how much it has depreciated already, and at that age it's still on the very steep part of the curve.

You do have the warranty so largely worry free motoring for a few years, but that doesn't come cheap even if it is a "sensible" car.

Maybe you're too in love with FWD after being wooed by the Alfa to consider coming back to meega ownership  

No Paul. I'm in love with trying to hang on to some of my hard-earned.

Surely then spending £8000 on a nearly new car that will depreciate loads over the next few years isn't the best approach? It's nice having a warranty and an economical engine, but unless you do huge mileage or keep the car for many years, it would be far cheaper in overall terms to buy something like a 2003 V6 Omega. It's been through the worst of its savage depreciation, so you're getting a lot more car for a lot less money. It costs more to run, but unless you're very unlucky and have a major failure, it's still going to be a lot cheaper as it will lose less value. Even more so if you're paying for the new car with credit.

I've had a few cars more expensive than £8k, but of those I've never got less than 90% of what I paid come resale. Mainly because I only pay significant amounts of money for "fun" cars, that tend to be a bit rarer and more desirable. It helps that I'm not using them every day of course, keeping the mileage down. For the daily chores, I'd rather have a cheap runaround, perfect example being the 2.0 Audi I put about 50,000 miles onto over the course of 3 years, and sold for only £300 less than I paid for it. Add to that it was peanuts to run (all the parts were cheap from Euro Car Parts and it never broke down), and that is the perfect example of cheap motoring! I was sorry to see it go, but the lack of power (only about 115 BHP) and front wheel drive were the two things I really disliked about it, and the main reason I bought a 3.0 Omega for my runaround.

[Paul M]

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/MG+ZT/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966766-4294967087/search.action

Need i say more?  

The ones that are cheap are in need of the cambelts doing, £800-£1000. Easy to forget that one.

Aye....all 4 cambelts at that....

4 cambelts?  

Still you know you want V8 power  

Yep. I would. V8's got one timing chain and RWD  

Kevin

I have seriously considered a V8 ZT, they come with a 6 speed box and are apparently really good fun to drive. Just after Rover went under there were nearly new ones going for less than half list price, due to fears over warranties being worthless. Power output is a little disappointing though at 260 BHP, it's not bad for the kind of car it is, but for a modern V8 it's pretty poor. The same year BMW 545i was putting out around 340 BHP.

Still, a bit of a bargain considering the price they can be had for. I saw one pulling into a petrol station once with what looked like oil smoke coming from the 4 pipes at first I thought the engine must have blown but the guy just filled up, paid, and drove off as normal! Didn't sound anything unusual for a V8 so no idea what was going on there :-?

[Paul M]

Hmm just read the review of the MG ZT on Pistonheads and apparently it only has a 5sp box... I always thought they were 6sp :-/

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=138&i=9198

Probably not really necessary in what is a torquey rather than revvy V8, but it's nice having a 6sp for allowing a high top gear for relaxed cruising without compromising the spacing of the ratios. It's one thing I think the Omega really misses, the ratios are too widely spaced to accommodate its M-way munching high 5th gear.

[STMO123]

The depreciation on the Astra will make the Alfa's fuel bill appear a bargain. You've seen how much it has depreciated already, and at that age it's still on the very steep part of the curve.

You do have the warranty so largely worry free motoring for a few years, but that doesn't come cheap even if it is a "sensible" car.

Maybe you're too in love with FWD after being wooed by the Alfa to consider coming back to meega ownership  

No Paul. I'm in love with trying to hang on to some of my hard-earned.

Surely then spending £8000 on a nearly new car that will depreciate loads over the next few years isn't the best approach? It's nice having a warranty and an economical engine, but unless you do huge mileage or keep the car for many years, it would be far cheaper in overall terms to buy something like a 2003 V6 Omega. It's been through the worst of its savage depreciation, so you're getting a lot more car for a lot less money. It costs more to run, but unless you're very unlucky and have a major failure, it's still going to be a lot cheaper as it will lose less value. Even more so if you're paying for the new car with credit.

I've had a few cars more expensive than £8k, but of those I've never got less than 90% of what I paid come resale. Mainly because I only pay significant amounts of money for "fun" cars, that tend to be a bit rarer and more desirable. It helps that I'm not using them every day of course, keeping the mileage down. For the daily chores, I'd rather have a cheap runaround, perfect example being the 2.0 Audi I put about 50,000 miles onto over the course of 3 years, and sold for only £300 less than I paid for it. Add to that it was peanuts to run (all the parts were cheap from Euro Car Parts and it never broke down), and that is the perfect example of cheap motoring! I was sorry to see it go, but the lack of power (only about 115 BHP) and front wheel drive were the two things I really disliked about it, and the main reason I bought a 3.0 Omega for my runaround.

That's the idea. I've had enough of repair/maintenance bills on big cars. Time will tell if I can live without the power or not.

[Kevin Wood]

I have seriously considered a V8 ZT, they come with a 6 speed box and are apparently really good fun to drive. Just after Rover went under there were nearly new ones going for less than half list price, due to fears over warranties being worthless. Power output is a little disappointing though at 260 BHP, it's not bad for the kind of car it is, but for a modern V8 it's pretty poor. The same year BMW 545i was putting out around 340 BHP.

Still, a bit of a bargain considering the price they can be had for. I saw one pulling into a petrol station once with what looked like oil smoke coming from the 4 pipes at first I thought the engine must have blown but the guy just filled up, paid, and drove off as normal! Didn't sound anything unusual for a V8 so no idea what was going on there :-?

I guess that's the difference between a low-tech US engine and a high-tech european engine. I wonder which one's the sod to work on though?

A mate of mine's got one (had one a couple of years ago when I last saw him). They do sound lovely and it went nicely. I'm just not a fan of the retro styling though, TBH.

Kevin

[Crazydad]

I have seriously considered a V8 ZT, they come with a 6 speed box and are apparently really good fun to drive. Just after Rover went under there were nearly new ones going for less than half list price, due to fears over warranties being worthless. Power output is a little disappointing though at 260 BHP, it's not bad for the kind of car it is, but for a modern V8 it's pretty poor. The same year BMW 545i was putting out around 340 BHP.

Still, a bit of a bargain considering the price they can be had for. I saw one pulling into a petrol station once with what looked like oil smoke coming from the 4 pipes at first I thought the engine must have blown but the guy just filled up, paid, and drove off as normal! Didn't sound anything unusual for a V8 so no idea what was going on there :-?

I guess that's the difference between a low-tech US engine and a high-tech european engine. I wonder which one's the sod to work on though?

A mate of mine's got one (had one a couple of years ago when I last saw him). They do sound lovely and it went nicely. I'm just not a fan of the retro styling though, TBH.

Kevin

Did you know that the engine in the Astra is  from FIAT??

[Kevin Wood]

Did you know that the engine in the Astra is  from FIAT??

Really?

That's about the only Fiat bit I'd want in any car. They seem to be unburstable, while the rest of the car rots and shorts out around them.

Kevin

[Paul M]

I have seriously considered a V8 ZT, they come with a 6 speed box and are apparently really good fun to drive. Just after Rover went under there were nearly new ones going for less than half list price, due to fears over warranties being worthless. Power output is a little disappointing though at 260 BHP, it's not bad for the kind of car it is, but for a modern V8 it's pretty poor. The same year BMW 545i was putting out around 340 BHP.

Still, a bit of a bargain considering the price they can be had for. I saw one pulling into a petrol station once with what looked like oil smoke coming from the 4 pipes at first I thought the engine must have blown but the guy just filled up, paid, and drove off as normal! Didn't sound anything unusual for a V8 so no idea what was going on there :-?

I guess that's the difference between a low-tech US engine and a high-tech european engine. I wonder which one's the sod to work on though?

A mate of mine's got one (had one a couple of years ago when I last saw him). They do sound lovely and it went nicely. I'm just not a fan of the retro styling though, TBH.

Kevin

True. When I hired a Mustang in the US (brand new one, not a proper Mustang unfortunately ) I was amazed at how slow it felt. It really felt quite pedestrian, I've no idea how they manage it. To be fair it was a convertible and an automatic, I'm sure the 6-speed coupé would be a lot more lively, but those are almost impossible to find as rental cars in the US -- believe me I looked.

Saying that, the Corvette LS7 engine is no slouch, putting out 500 BHP. It is a 7 litre mind, but even then that's a pretty impressive BHP/litre for an American V8 8-)

[STMO123]

I have seriously considered a V8 ZT, they come with a 6 speed box and are apparently really good fun to drive. Just after Rover went under there were nearly new ones going for less than half list price, due to fears over warranties being worthless. Power output is a little disappointing though at 260 BHP, it's not bad for the kind of car it is, but for a modern V8 it's pretty poor. The same year BMW 545i was putting out around 340 BHP.

Still, a bit of a bargain considering the price they can be had for. I saw one pulling into a petrol station once with what looked like oil smoke coming from the 4 pipes at first I thought the engine must have blown but the guy just filled up, paid, and drove off as normal! Didn't sound anything unusual for a V8 so no idea what was going on there :-?

I guess that's the difference between a low-tech US engine and a high-tech european engine. I wonder which one's the sod to work on though?

A mate of mine's got one (had one a couple of years ago when I last saw him). They do sound lovely and it went nicely. I'm just not a fan of the retro styling though, TBH.

Kevin

Did you know that the engine in the Astra is  from FIAT??[/quote]

Did you know that the engine in an alfa romeo is from fiat?