New car for gordy time , help please

[Gordy]

I will have the cashola soon to actually get rid of my godawful citreon saxo. I have 5-6 grand to spend and would like a small sporty car that is above all else reliable! I would like a fairly low insurance group like the saxo vtrs for example.

Three cars I have been considering are

Ford Puma 1.7:

I like the looks the insurance is bearable and its supposed to be reliable

Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16v:

Again I like the looks, vw's are supposed to be reliable, but I'm concerned about its performance and the insurance is too high for a 1.4 but not overly bad

Mini Cooper

I've always loved the old mini and there are some nice old style coopers about, they are sporty but have good insurance costs. My main concern is their size, I'm 6"2 and most of my friends are 6foot plus so getting 4or5 of them in the back could be a nightmare.



What do people think of these choices? Any others you can suggest. (I refuse to buy anything french! )

[ken]

you would get a lot of Honda Accord for that dollar, prolly the most reliable car available and it would accomodate you and your mates easily.

[dkmech]

Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC. Quick, reliable, cheap. Not as small as a puma mind. And insurance is group 17. Or you could consider a celica - insurance would be less on one of them.

Obviously people are gonna tell you to get a nissan 200sx... But thats also group 17 iirc.

[Gordy]

Not a fan of the prelude and anything in that insurance group would be out of the question

I like the new honda civic vtecs but I'm not sure I could get one for under 6 grand

[Zak33]

Puma..(if you fit it) is a good car

[Butuz]

200sx. Standard S14 95-97 you can pic up a really nice one for £3-£5k
200sx. Standard S14a 97-2000 you can pick up nice one for £5-£8k

Regardless of the insurance group, its far cheaper than i expected. For a standard 200sx car with no mods, I am quoted £777 by admiral fully comp. Quoted £500 on my focus 2.0 ghia with the same company and thats a ins group 12 old mans slipper wearing car.

Butuz

[Butuz]

Oh just saw what you said about fitting 6ft mates in the back

Theres about as much room in the back of a 200sx as there is in a Mini Cooper. And theres about as much room in the back of a Mini Cooper as there is in the original Mini

I suggest you get an people carrier mate. My priorities are to me, the driver, my mates will just have to squeeeze (or walk)

Butuz

[Vimeous]

Off the top of my head how about a Civic 5dr 1.6i VTEC SE Sport? 136bhp but sane insurance. I just checked www.parkers.co.uk and they reckon £6k would get you a dealer 2000/X with 40k on the clock. A good private should be about £5k.

I suggest it because it's pretty pokey, reliable, and not overly expensive to run. Also it's not too big. I bought mine because I didn't want big but still needed space for 4 adults with a hatch boot. It's not a Saxo it terms of nimbleness but certainly isn't a sluggard
Is it just and old Rover? It's much better than that!

Sites to help you hunt down the motor of your choice :
www.parkers.co.uk
www.honestjohn.co.uk
www.autotrader.co.uk

EDIT

OOO a REALLY usefull page I've just found for insurance vs car info:
http://www.motor-car-insurance-uk.co.uk/honda.htm

P.s.
If you can stomach the insurance a Lupo Gti might be small enough

[Gordy]

Thanks for the info

I'm not that bothered about people sitting in comfort in the back as long as they can fit in at a push thats fine

Not sure about the looks of the lupo hehe .

[Vimeous]

But 7.2 to 60! (official & therefore conservative)
Unmodded Citroen and Pug boys ain't got a hope

[Atomic]

Fiat Stilo is worth a look, slightly larger than a Polo and a nice car too.

[Gordy]

Whats the polo gti like? Looks quite nice


Not been a fan of fiats , they were always supposed to be shockingly built werent they?

I'm off for a wonder round a few dealers and see what takes my eye

[Vimeous]

Polo GTi looks great but costs a bomb. Ibiza Cupra are similar but much better vfm (though I hate to say it).
The Stilo is a suprisingly huge car, definitely one of the new generation of 'big' small cars.

[Barakka]

Not been a fan of fiats , they were always supposed to be shockingly built werent they?

No more than computers are only for people with PhD's... LOL
Fiat's like to be looked after that's all.

But the Stilo is probably a bit large for what you're after .... a Punto maybe ?

Could get a 1.9 JTD on about a X plate for your budget, full electrics, air con, about 100 bhp, but can be pushed to 155bhp (190 lb/ft torque) with a simple insurance friendly ECU remap.

Depends if you like the looks though, lots of people consider them girls cars

[DR]

Personally the Cooper!

[davidstone28]

The Puma is the probably the best car there. The Polo is just too slow and the Mini has engineering dating from the Dark Ages.

Alternatively, a Alfa 156 would be fair alternative. You can pick up an W/X plate 1.8 in good nick at auction for about £6k-7k.