could buy a LHD in Switzerland - but I'm a bit worried about, well you know, things..

[testdriver]

Dear community

my first post :~

I've always wanted this car, and now it seems I could buy one...

https://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/mg-zt-kombi-2004-occasion?body=1&index=3&make=52&st=1&vehid=5101054&vehtyp=10&returnurl=%2fde%2fautos%2fmg%3fbody%3d1%26make%3d5 2%26st%3d1%26vehtyp%3d10%26r%3d5

maybe the only one in Switzerland...

I'm now in my early 50's, just became grand-dad a year ago :love hey, the love-smiley could be a bit nicer ;-) driving a BMW 135i coupe as a daily (my wife a Mazda MX-5 as a daily), as weekend joy we own a Lotus Exige S1 (currently advertised to sell) and a Lotus Elite 75 (funky 70s style).

my questions/worries/concerns:


I would sell my BMW 135i Coupe for the 260 - does that make any sense?
Is the 260 any good as a daily?
Does it have isofix- (or any kind of infant/children safety seat) -attachements? (sorry for asking :ash otherwise, I would have to drive our son-in-law's Hyundai at weekends...
30k CHF is about 22k GBP - a bit hefty for an odd station wagon, don't you think?
Will I have to replace the clutch every month because of the torque?
What about parts, servicing etc.? From my Lotus history I know it can be a pain at times...


ah yes, and please, talk me out of the car. Too expensive, not suitable as a daily, too long, too little safety devices, hard to maintain etc. etc.

Thanks ;)

[Nich]

Hi Daniel,

Welcome along.

To try and answer your questions.

1. Can't answer that, really have no idea about your circumstances but the 260 is much more fun to drive.
2. Lot of members use their 260's as a daily driver. Average 22/23 m.p.g.
3. No ISOfix, I transport my grandchildren in my 260 using standard child seats but don't know the laws in your country.
4. 22K is a lot of money but the 260's fetch high prices in Europe. Cost of UK model approximately 8K.
5. Clutch replacement anything up to 80K miles. Some go sooner, depends on how its been driven.
6. Parts availablity is OK. A few hard to source bits but the club have re-manufactured brake backplates, brake discs, shock absorbers etc. Most things are solvable. Oil and filter every 5000 miles, everything else normal intervals.

I am afraid I can't talk you out of the car, I've had mine for 14 years and still love driving it.

Hope this helps.

Nich.



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[colintf]

Love the colour - Royal Blue

There's a member on here Dani in Switzerland with a ZT260.

The wife of the president of the MG Car Club Luxembourg (Guy is also a member on here) has a ZTT260 as a daily drive :)

:cool:

[SCP440]

I have had my 260 for over 2 years and is my daily driver.

I have recently returned from Italy when I travelled 2500 in 10 days with no problems.

The downside of using a 260 in my view are,

The smallish fuel tank for 4.6 litre engine so you range varies between 200 and 250 miles.

Tyre ware, rears can be down to there legal limit in about 5000k miles.

My previous vehicles have had similar performance but had bigger ranges and better tyre ware.

Would I swap my 260 for anything else? Probably not at the moment. There are a lot of cars that are quicker, there are cars that are more comfortable but the package of a lazy V8 with good handling ,a comfortable ride takes beating. Its no AMG Merc or Alpina BMW but it also wont cost you a kings ransom on parts and a months wages every time it goes to the garage.

Steve

[David]

There is another LHD ZT-T 260 for sale, in Germany, at present. 120,000km on the clock in Moody Blue for Euro 19,900,maybe worth thinking about as an alternative? https://suchen.mobile.de/auto-insera...action=vipReco
Import into Switzerland may be a problem, but the "Swiss" Royal Blue one you are looking at is in fact a German import anyway, I understand.

David

[Malcolmr]

All ZTs delivered new to Australia had these child restraint anchorages fitted. Are these what you mean? If so, there is a captive nut fitting in the seat frame to accommodate them. However, when I imported old 206 from the UK, the captive nut was not on the frame but it may well be in LHD cars, although the hole to take it was. To meet Aussie standards, I had to use a nut and bolt to hold the anchorages in place. This required some fiddling to ease the upholstery away from the seat frame and then to hold a nut in place but it works and there is no evidence of tampering.

I use old 206 daily and love it. It does exactly what I tell it to do and never answers back. Especially it doesn't beep, ding or hoot at me if I fail to do up my seat belt, use the clutch and handbrake in the "wrong" sequence, leave the key in or any number of other so-called "incorrect" actions. We are up to 200,000 kms now and still climbing...

[SCP440]

Especially it doesn't beep, ding or hoot at me if I fail to do up my seat belt, use the clutch and handbrake in the "wrong" sequence, leave the key in or any number of other so-called "incorrect" actions.

Yes you forget how annoying these bing bongs get, I have been working on a 3 year old Peugeot this week that has needed a few test drives and every time I get in there is a bing or bong for something. I wont start unless I have my foot on the brake pedal, it also wont let me select drive unless I also have the brake pedal down. Do we really need all these devices?

The only time my ZTT 260 has beeped at me when SWMBO left here door slightly open when I went to lock it, we both looked at each other as we had her for over a year before we knew it did that.

Steve

[MG260SEV8]

Hello, I bought my car direct from the Longbridge factory in 2005 and I dont use it much now but it always makes me smile when I drive it!

Why not get a RHD car here in the UK? It will be much cheaper

I helped a German member to find a UK car a few years ago, he had a few minor issues to address but he got it registered in Germany.

I dont know about Switzerland

My suggestion would enable you to keep the BMW and save money!

Best of Luck

Ian

[Nich]

He hasn't been back........:) Perhaps we put him off.

Nich.

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[David]

I see that the ZT-T in Switzerland (#693) is no longer listed on Autoscout24, since the weekend. Maybe "testdriver" bought it after all ?

Unrelated, but I see that the XPG ZT 260, for sale in Australia, #625 belonging to member 'Subtly Brutish', sold last week for $A31,500 (~£17,600). Someone in the State of Victoria 'MalcolmR' informs me. Good price.

David