Car Ideas

[Lucio]

Ok, my poor car is dying a death of a thousand cuts, suspension is squeaking, exhaust has holes in it, and I think the clutch is starting to go.

Given I have a bit of spare cash a month, I'm looking at getting something newer on finance, but what would people recomend? Personally I like to drive bigger cars like Mondeos, Vectras or an Audi A4 but I'm conscious that with ever increasing fuel costs, it may be out of my price range this time around.

I've toyed with the idea of a Ford Focus, but will it give me enough performance, whilst keeping the VED and fuel costs in a somewhat sensible price range. My mate keeps suggesting a Suburu Impreza, but I can't imagine it'd be good for fuel costs!


For reference, my current car is a '95 Seat Ibizia 1.9 Diseal, my typical mileage is 3000 a year and well, my new g.f. really likes her cars so something that'd impress her would be good since she drives a 2.6l v6 Hyundi Coupe

[kalniel]

At 3000 miles a year fuel costs are pretty insignificant (doesn't feel like it I know, but do the sums ) Plus bigger cars don't always have worse economy - the germanic three are very economic for the size of the cars.

Try a merc C class.

[Bagnaj97]

I've been toying with the idea of a new car as well and I found that Tesco of all places now do 2nd hand cars. They're ex-lease cars, you can see the HPI and RAC inspection results and the prices are reasonable - the only downside is you can't really test drive them. Might be worth a look at least.

[Lucio]

Oooh, that's interesting, Toyota Hybrid for £150 a month... there's an interesting idea

[roachcoach]

I wouldn't touch the impreza with a bargepole if you're worried about fuel. That being said, 3k per year...might be worth it. Even if you get a 20mpg car at £1.50/litre its still only about £85 fuel a month. Or did you miss a zero off that?

Focus is a good wee car "ok" interior, nice boot space, although I don't know what grunt they have in models other than mine.

Some of the newer saabs are pretty good on both fuel, pull and tax. Quite understated too, less likely to attract riff raff. Unsure on costs, its not a car we looked at. BMW's are getting much cheaper now too and some of their more current diesels also meet the fuel/pull/tax criteria. Nice drives too, though not the best in the winter.

PS: If the lady is driving a 2.6l V6...buying a hybrid....well...I wouldn't

[Biscuit]

some great civic 2.2cdtis on there!

[DanceswithUnix]

What is the budget, or to put it another way £150/month over how many months?

Something to pass the Top Gear test:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2795625.htm
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2838416.htm

[mycarsavw]

3k miles a year?

If you're out to impress a lady, get a pink Micra with eyelashes on the headlights.

Or go for something RWD (Japanese or German) and insure it with a low mileage insurance company.

[PetrolHead]

Octavia VRS both models?

Seat Leon Cupra?

Civic Type R?

All of those cars are going to be sub 20mpg driven properly, but with your mileage who cares!

How much do you want to spend a month and over how long?

[1stRaven]

If you want to impress, get a convertible.

Volvo C70. Can be had for around £2k+ and if you get a T5 GT, pretty decent spec with the best sounding stereo I've have (Dynaudio speakers + amps + Subs as standard if you get the prologic system)

Fuel aint bad either. The T5 auto I had did 36mpg on a run ( low 20's round town) but manual would get the town figure up to 25mpg. Tax is £215 if you get a pre 01 model.

[Guy]

3k a year? If this isnt a typo then a diesel is massively overkill!

You dont really see the benefits until your doing 15/20k+ per year, and even then it can take a couple of years to break even with compared to buying the same model only the petrol variety.

[Lucio]

Ah just realised I only put work mileage down, not including social. Even so, that won't get above 5,000, since the furthest I go atm is Cambridge & back once a month.

[Rave]

For reference, my current car is a '95 Seat Ibizia 1.9 Diseal, my typical mileage is 3000 a year and well, my new g.f. really likes her cars so something that'd impress her would be good since she drives a 2.6l v6 Hyundi Coupe

I've been away on holiday, didn't know you'd pulled, nice one fella!

But....

Trying to impress a woman is IMO a bad reason to borrow money. If your GF already has a flash motah why do you need one as well? Are you going to race her when you go out on a date?

Get yourself a nice estate car (or large hatchback). A Hyundai Coupe isn't much cop for trips to B&Q or the council tip. Insure each other on the other's car. Then you're sorted, a practical car and a sporty car.

My wife can't drive, but I still justify the expense of owning two cars, a sporty little car (106 Rallye) and a big practical hatchback (old Diesel Mondeo). They're both cheap and pretty reliable, and on the very rare occasions when one won't start I just jump in the other to go to work.

I reckon you won't go far wrong with a Mk3 Mondeo- probably a 2L Petrol is your best bet, as you do so few miles, and the diesels are prone to injector faults and problems with their dual mass flywheels.

[MSIC]

Trying to impress a woman is IMO a bad reason to borrow money. If your GF already has a flash motah why do you need one as well? Are you going to race her when you go out on a date?

+1
Very nicely put sir!

diesels are prone to injector faults and problems with their dual mass flywheels.

My understanding also is that (certainly newer) diesel's particulate filters work by storing up particulates until the engine / exhaust is hot enough to then burn it all off - typically recommended as needing to be at 40 mph for 30 minutes on a semi-regular basis. This doesnt necessitate high mileage as such, but certainly should be considered.
That said, a petrol car is probably your best bet anyway.

Skoda Yeti 1.2 TSI. I'm just sayin' ... think about it

[DanceswithUnix]

It doesn't have to be about flash or racing. If you were dating a food critic you would probably think twice about giving them a sandwich of bland mild chedder in the cheapest bread you can find, and that is how some cars come across.

My wife would glaze over at the sight of a Focus let alone a Mondeo, but eg a Fiat 500 would raise a smile as they are cute and highly chuckable.

[Spud1]

The big question is what's your budget..i've kind of banging on about PCPs quite a bit recently to any of my mates who are looking at new cars - simply because if you go for the right model, you can get some stonking deals, usually with servicing thrown in (plus first years tax ofc). This gets even better if you are only doing say 5-6k a year, as the price comes shooting down.

For example (All based on around £6k a year milage, over 3 years)

Audi A1 Sport - about £200 a month with a £1k deposit. Don;t need any extras on this, they come fully loaded with a lot of toys (this is what I drive )
Vauxhall Astra - around £230 a month, with a £1350 deposit
Skoda Octavia - Around £190 a month, £1500 deposit.
Fiat 500 - Around £130 a month, £1000 deposit.
Fiat Punto - £159 a month, £159.00 deposit (increase the deposit to £1k and its £139 a month)

All those prices are very flexible if you have more/less deposit, or want to extend to 5 years..the audi is the best deal there due to the strong residuals, and if you can wait a few months for the new A3 to come out that will be amazingly cheap on a PCP too for the same reason.

PCP is the way to go when financing a new car at the moment imo - the prices are around 50% that of straight finance, so that saving can go into a deposit..plus you get a new car every 3 years, and if you choose the right ones you can keep trading up as long as the residuals hold up