Buting a new(used) vert for the old lady

[Gus]

Morning lads and ladies,

Mum is looking to purchase a used car over the next few weeks/months and I thought i would turn to you guys for some advice. She is looking for a convertible in the 30k-40k range that isnt too old in the tooth, 1-4 yrs. So far we have test driven an Eos diesel with DSG... smooth as(little too pricey ); peugeot 307cc with a little 1.6(perfectly priced, but so gutless).
This weekend we will be venturing to our local Holden delearship to test drive an Astra H vert.
So what are peoples opinions of the above cars? troubles? pros? cons?
Are there any other model options i have missed?

Cheers
Gus

[Wraith]

Morning lads and ladies,

Mum is looking to purchase a used car over the next few weeks/months and I thought i would turn to you guys for some advice. She is looking for a convertible in the 30k-40k range that isnt too old in the tooth, 1-4 yrs. So far we have test driven an Eos diesel with DSG... smooth as(little too pricey ); peugeot 307cc with a little 1.6(perfectly priced, but so gutless).
This weekend we will be venturing to our local Holden delearship to test drive an Astra H vert.
So what are peoples opinions of the above cars? troubles? pros? cons?
Are there any other model options i have missed?

Cheers
Gus

The Astra H vert is a beaut car - full stop !!! if you can get one go for it...you might even get lucky and be able to find a brand new one left over and score it on road for less than 40k !!!

I had the chance to buy one last year brand new from a dealership in Werribee for 39,900 drive away ! absolute bargain compared to the 'normal' price of well over 50k and TS verts were also priced at just under to well over 50k drive away when new...
The Eos is also a very good car and overall probably better all things considered than the Opel verts, but as you know they cost more, so up to the individual if they want to go for the extra spend

Both variants turbo petrol and turbo diesel with DSG are a great driving combination...

Ohter models you've missed are the TS vert, but as your wanting no older than 4 years forget those and also they're a soft top, I assume your wanting a hard top...

The only other recommendation I would make is the new Pug 207CC one of my favourite 'little' hard top verts...you'd probably find a range topper near new or S/H with low usage for under 40k...the range topper has a BMW 1.6ltr turbo petrol and moves along very well...nice interior and not bad external styling IMO.

Only prob is internal space or practicality, ie. useless back seats, but if that's not a prob, check them out :)

[Gus]

Cheers for the reply.
The Pug 207CC was the first car i put on the list for her, but was quickly eliminated when we saw the size of the useless backseat. My grandparents are often chauffered around by mum and their old bones/muscles would struggle with the leg room methinks.
AH astra is looking the front runner at the moment. it has a lot of bells and whistles standard that the other manufacturers considered 'optional extras'.
I wonder if i could sneak some opel badges on it if she got it?

[JohnBu]

don't know much the AH astra twintop,

but have you considered say a 2005 BMW E46 325i convertible- http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=8193898&keywords=e46%20convertible&tsrc=allcarhome&SearchAction=N&__Ntk=CarAll&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode%20matchany&__Qpb=true&YearFromShort=1649&__D=e46%20convertible&silo=1011&seot=1&__sid=1239FCDC57E7&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%20%201649&__Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|0||pCar_RankSort_Int32 |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Cr=1&__Ntt=e46%20convertible&trecs=40

If you can hold out, I'm sure you can score one for $40k, perhaps even a 330i if you're patient.

a BMW is going to be much more reliable than a VW, Opel or Pug.

I'm not a big fan of a folding hardtop roof.. I can only see trouble once it's out of warranty.

[Gus]

don't know much the AH astra twintop,

but have you considered say a 2005 BMW E46 325i convertible- http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=8193898&keywords=e46%20convertible&tsrc=allcarhome&SearchAction=N&__Ntk=CarAll&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode%20matchany&__Qpb=true&YearFromShort=1649&__D=e46%20convertible&silo=1011&seot=1&__sid=1239FCDC57E7&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%20%201649&__Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|0||pCar_RankSort_Int32 |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Cr=1&__Ntt=e46%20convertible&trecs=40

If you can hold out, I'm sure you can score one for $40k, perhaps even a 330i if you're patient.

.

Me likey.
thing is though that we need to do this fairly soon and need to trade in the old mazda6, so have only been looking to delears. plus i want her to be covered by dealer warranties.
ill have a kwik look at some bimmer dealers.

[Wraith]

I'm a fan of those Beemer verts as well, but I didn't mention them because of the cost, they don't fit into your budget...not only buying cost but ongoing running costs should be considered...

Be aware that any of those Beemers listed will be out of warranty to begin with and have a far higher servicing/running cost outlay than any of the other types listed...if something were to go wrong (and it often does on Beemers, they are actually 'not' very reliable cars, my cousins' workshops are always full of them getting repaired and you only need to go on some BMW forums to see the large number of probs people keep having with them, even the newer models) you'll be up for a fortune to fix it...remember no warranty on any S/H one older than 3 years, unless you purchase S/H from a dealer which will cost you more again on the purchase price...and we all know how shabby S/H dealer warranties can be, not trying to put you off them, just giving you a realistic heads up :)

With what you initially started with on your wanted/short list, you simply couldn't go wrong with a brand new AH vert. at or under 40k drive away, ie. if there's any of em left ???

[Gus]

I can't find any ah verts later than 08 on carsales.
am planning on a trip to booran in chelt this weekend so will see what they say about any ex demo or unrego'd verts.

[Greg K]

heres an MY09 in WA:
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/demo/details.aspx?R=7898476&__sid=12829BC128DC&__Qpb=true&Cr=6&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=&__N=1216%201247%201282%201252%201246%204294965857% 204294965856%204294866175%204294801855&SearchAction=N&seot=1&__Nne=15&trecs=9&silo=1011

and one in Vic:
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=8545264&__sid=12829BC128DC&__Qpb=true&Cr=2&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=&__N=1216%201247%201282%201252%201246%204294965857% 204294965856%204294866175%204294801855&SearchAction=N&seot=1&__Nne=15&trecs=9&silo=1011

[Wraith]

I can't find any ah verts later than 08 on carsales.
am planning on a trip to booran in chelt this weekend so will see what they say about any ex demo or unrego'd verts.


heres an MY09 in WA:
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/demo/details.aspx?R=7898476&__sid=12829BC128DC&__Qpb=true&Cr=6&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=&__N=1216%201247%201282%201252%201246%204294965857% 204294965856%204294866175%204294801855&SearchAction=N&seot=1&__Nne=15&trecs=9&silo=1011

and one in Vic:
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=8545264&__sid=12829BC128DC&__Qpb=true&Cr=2&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=&__N=1216%201247%201282%201252%201246%204294965857% 204294965856%204294866175%204294801855&SearchAction=N&seot=1&__Nne=15&trecs=9&silo=1011

There you go, just as I said - brand new AH verts for under 40k drive away unless you don't like the colour go for it, there's no other vert package out there you can possibly get for that price and you'll be at least twice or 3 times better off with one of these than a S/H Beemer vert for the same price, unless your one of those badge/brand parading type of car people LOL :D

The other very big advantage is if your going to be using it regularly or as a daily drive, your far better off with a hard top vert than a soft top vert for this application...I would never contemplate using a soft top as an everyday ride, unless your only keeping it short term and updating later...the soft top will wear prematurely compared with the rest of the car and obviously security/safety is not as good...I own a soft top, so I'm not being biased - that's just the way it is...

All the best with it, hope you end up with something you'll be really happy with :)