Fifth Gear: Used Car Bargains

Throwback Thursday clip from series 18, Jonny gives us a look into how to find a used car bargain.

[ThomasHarrisonLord]

Oh wow, a Honda S2000 for £4, 500. Those were the days! I knew I should have purchased one back when this film was current.

[Deltaintegrale]

Problem with the Germans at £5k is that your gonna have to spend quite a bit keeping everything in good order. My BMW E46 was nice to drive and looked good but after 2 years I was just waiting for something else to go wrong. So I went for a £5k lexus which I hope will live up to their reputation of being uber reliable.

[-jl]

stopped watching after he said the 2.5 TDI Audi engine is a good one...haha

[LeontheKiller]

"Very best engine, a brilliant audi 2.5 tdi" lmao 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[markom]

A6 All Road and the Mercedes S class aren't cheap to run... Which means you need to have 5k more ready in the bank to run it properly

[bluedogtransportwa]

really? the first one up is an allroad? the car notorious for blowing gearboxes every 100k?

[notroll]

Please say when this was originally aired. Must have been before S2000 became rare classics and before rust took its toll on the W220 Mercs.

[Chriswales]

The Honda was a decent buy back then, the other two you would've be lucky to get couple of years use out of them. Both great cars brand new but not to be touched 2nd hand. How many of those A6 Allroads are still around? There's no shortage of similar aged A4 Avants with the 1.9 TDI engine around.

[ashram]

the audi and the merc will break your wallet 2 months later, , the S2000 is the real bargain, i would love to have it as featured in the video cool cute black joy of a ride

[scheggehut]

The 2.5TDI is a piece of shit, even more worse than an early 2.0 TDI. Even the V8 CDI from Mercedes has a better engine reliability.

[funkykoval]

Don't belived what i just heared! The best audi/vw diesel! This article comes from german car magazine Autobild "The 2.5 TDI V6 engine, although it was produced at the same time as the 1.9 TDI engine praised for durability, turned out to be a great design slip. After a few years of use, practically everything breaks down in it. Unfortunately, it is unprofitable to buy several interesting cars from the secondary market, such as the Audi A6 Allroad 2.5 TDI" Trust me guys they are good of checking cars reliability.

[marquiseb]

Is he really flicking through a book to find cars? What year is this 1999?

[RaspberryCai]

I got a rover 75 2.0 diesel the other month, talk about a used car bargain! Though they've got a reputation for being unreliable, the 2.0 Diesel is actually very reliable, and the interior is beyond compare for the price.

[unicorntomboy]

I am happy that Johnny currently does Fully Charged nowadays

[biggerbitcoin]

Never listen to fifth gear about buying a car. They drive for a couple of days and don't have a clue what these cars are like for more than a week. S class Merc is an absolute bargain for a reason, they are rust buckets and fall apart. This was at an age where Mercs decided to make as much money as possible using as cheapest materials.

[charlie-talbottalbot]

The 2.5 is an absolute dog that's a fact

[logwind]

The S class is the cheapest used car that will empty your wallet in double quick time.

[VladiArsenal]

The 2.5Tdi engine is an absolute nightmare when it comes to running costs and reliability! It also sounds like a dog, even when it is working. How could you say it is a good engine...

[jpracingph]

And all three will cost you as much as the purchase price when things go wrong.

[Ryanist]

Of course it's tempting to go out to buy a S-Class Merc, Audi A6 or Honda S2000. But this guy forgets a couple of things:

1. The car history does not tell you if the previous owner or owners has been Sunday drivers.

2. Even if the car is in good shape when you buy it. You need to maintain the car in good condition too and what do you think the maintenance cost will be on a Mercedes S-Class or a Audi A6???

3. If you buy a Mercedes S-Class or a Audi A6, what will you pay in insurance and tax, will it be economical?

4. If you live in London or commute to London. Will it be easy to find parking spaces for a car like Mercedes S-Class or a Audi A6?

To be totally honest, this was the most useless car advise I have ever heard. I'm not saying that you should go out and buy a Chevrolet Spark. My point is that we are all in different places in life, but it would be wrong not to ask yourself these questions if you can afford it and will the car be easy to live with even if you are a average Smith?