Right, well as you all I know I bought a T4 not that long ago, whilst a very capable car doesn't really lend itself to being a cheap to run and insure second car.

Recently been looking at something smaller to replace it with... and considering something mid-90's Japanese boring fwd thing. But then I thought... why not find a 'nice' 300, as it'll be undoubtedly as cheap to run (purchase price in mind) and cheaper to insure.

I keep thinking this is a bad idea... but John's late 3 door 340 has inspired me for a simple tidy stockish 300

go for it Steve , why not ? far more charecter than say a toyota corolla

Hmm it is rather tempting, enquiring about a late low mileage 1.4 3 door at the moment. If anyone else knows of anything preferably a late rust freeish 3 door either 1.7 or 1.4 let me know, most likely a 1.4 since the 1.7 seem to get drift taxed!

SteveP wrote:I keep thinking this is a bad idea... but John's late 3 door 340 has inspired me for a simple tidy stockish 300

Wasn't that what I said about Fake...

You know what I think. It's not going to be as simple as a corolla, but then you've not been looing at them. It is better than the tosh you keep sending me, and you have a bank of spares already!

Hmph yeah, there is the familiarity bonus.... I think finding a nice one will be the hardest thing now

Hang on a mo - didn't you just sell a tidy 340 1.4.............??

I believe I called you a pillock at the time!

Yeah yeah, well a less rare example would be better with Renix and 5 speed... points ignition and 4 speed meant mediocre fuel economy even when driving like a granny

Maybe I shouldnt've chickened out and gone FWD, it was a bad move

You've already got a decent 300, so why be boring and get another one? Try something different - variety is the spice of life (or something like that). If I was you I'd stick with the Jap idea but go for something non boring - for example (from my car history):
1. mk1 MR2 - look good, go great, handle great but will still get you 35-40mpg. You've just gotta find a good one though!
2. Suzuki Swift GTi - little 1.3 rocket ship but cheap to insure, cheap to tax, and still 40+mpg.
In fact I could make you a loooong list of interesting sensible cars!!

Porsche 944, Mazda RX7 or MX-5, oh, sensible in that light, right so, umm. there seem to be little problem then, 240 diesel is not too bad if you find good one, however I would not try to go central London with one.

Is 360GLT insurance insane? I always seem to find injection engines more pleasant to own, sure if you drive only short trips it is not very good choice in fuel consumption point of view.

340 with 1.4 is quite nice really, cheap and quite solid too if taken care of.

Can see what you're saying about variety but an MR2 and Swift Gti would both be too expensive to insure (and insure my girlfriend on a provisional licesnse)... and both rot more than 300's. Fuel economy is negated by the steep purchase price of a nice MR2 anyway, I'd imagine £800 to low £1000's.

GLT insurance is cheap, barely any difference in price to the 340 - but thought a 340 might be lighter to drive to learn in. So sometimes it seems tempting to buy a real nice 300, and fuel economy isn't so important as the purchase price and insurance is so cheap....

I found a Swift suprisingly cheap to insure, but then I'm getting old and have limited mileage policies. In my experience they rot no worse than a 300 (in fact my MR2s and Swift were in much better condition than Fioner structurally). But there are plenty of dodgy ones out there! A proper nice MR2 would be £1k+, but a solid useable one can be had for as little as £500.

But saying that, the good thing about having a truly boring 2nd car is that it makes sure you concentrate on the car you want to. By having 2 300s you'll want to make sure they're both perfect and things start getting expensive. If you want a proper sensible car it should be one you don't really care about thats just there to get you from A to B. So, how about something French like a ZX TD and then run it on veg oil?!!

Or if you really cant prise yourself away from the 300s, buy Fioner off me

Yeah does make sense about having a boring 2nd car to concentrate on the 360... I kinda ended up in that situation before with the 343 and accidentally buying accessories for it...

LOL, exactly what I've been doing with Fioner, which is why I've been trying to force myself to sell her for the last year!!

Get a solid 1.4 and make sure it's a bland mk3 so you don't get attached. Then give it loads of guilt free abuse, they're tough as old boots. A bit thirsty when hammered though
Or like Carl says, give in to the allure of chip fat. You can process free waste oil into nice clean biodiesel for as little as 6p a litre! A shabby french TDi would be quite good because you could turn the boost up and kick its head in til it blows up, then get another.

filthyjohn wrote:make sure it's a bland mk3 so you don't get attached.

Haha, that's a fair point - less likely to get attached than a mk2 anyway... but still quite likely