1. 350Z - No. Not practical at all for pending nipper in December. Not too mention very thirsty. I've looked at other thirsty engines too but they had a comprimise of being a nice big roomy car.
2. FN 2.2 diesel - Certainly looked at these. A nice Type S model with all the trimmings would be nice. There are also a couple of Type R's in that price range. Also looked at the older EP3's to save some cash a little. But not sure if they are quite doing it for me?
3. Skoda Octavia VRS estate - Interesting choice Nathan. An old work colleague had the 1st shape saloon model and it was nippy. I showed him how to do it against the lude (when it was on the road
). However, not seen too many estates around & ultimately in the words of the wife (boss), 'I'm not driving a Skoda!' 
4. E46 BMW 3.0d coupe - Great choice and perhaps one of the best comprimise of engine out there. However, a few things...We already have a low mileage E46 2.0d M sport (the 150bhp model - Post 2004). The wife mainly drives it. They are great cars but not sure we need two of them in our lives, and we need that hatch / estate boot for the odd large haulage of stuff. Now an estate 3.0d M sport might tempt me, but again I can't find any decent ones for the money. I even looked as far as an E46 M3! But that was quickly ruled out for the saloon boot again and a crappy high mileage example in my price range.
Thanks for the heads up Phil on the diff mount. I’ll check this. I’ve fixed a few things on it now and it’s got low miles (about 50-60k on a 54 plate).
5. Honda Legend – Saloon again! Plus for a newer shape, it’s top money. It also doesn’t do anything for me.
6. Another lude! No, there’s only one lude love in my life. While I can fix anything on them, I’m not going to have time to fix a second car between everything. The spare time I will have to work on cars will be finishing my project. I want something newer, that ultimately I will be given money to maintain – service, MOT, tax, etc.
Some others I’ve looked at in order of what I might get:
1. Subaru Impreza 2.5 WRX Sportswagon SL (5dr estate) – 2005/6 (hawk eye shape) onwards). Great car, good looks, bomb proof engines, practical space, 4WD for coming winter months, low mileage examples for the money. SL adds a sunroof and heated leather seats. Only drawbacks are the low mpg and high tax. Willing to overlook these and see how well I can run her over 6 months. Looking like the front runner at the moment.
2. Audi A4 estate (preferably S line model), most likely diesels, but have seen a couple of 2.0 20V Turbo models and 3.0 Quattro’s. Great cars, but for my price range and wanting the newer shape I’m left with high mileage examples (75-150k).
3. Alfa Romeo 159 Estate – Only just started looking at these last night. A ‘Ti’ edition would be nice but again top money. They do a very nice 2.4 JTDM diesel engine with 150-210bhp models. The 210bhp one has nearly 300 torque! Get’s it to 60 in 8 seconds. Plus the interiors are very nice places to drive a car from – pretty much all have leather too. Need to look at these some more, see what examples are around.
I also noticed the Alfa Romeo Brera has come down to this money. A very tasty looking sports coupe with a hatch boot! Also come in the 2.4 JTDM engine. But I need to see one in the flesh to see how practical those back seats are.
That’s pretty much it for possible purchases.
Like I said, I have others swimming around in the back of my head, such as EP3/FN Civics, DC5 Teg (a little old?), BMW E46’s, etc.
Wow! I’ve done it again. Another essay!
Cheers,
Rob
