Car Suggestion - Around £6000

[Gerrard]

My current lease hire will end at the end of the month and I decided not to renew it for another year as my job circumstances might change soon (the scheme is linked with my job). I therefore have to find another car by the end of the month but would appreciate any suggestions.

My main use is a 10 mile/20 minute commute each way to work, with occasional longer motorway driving; so around 7-8000 miles a year. However, if my job changes, it could be anything up to 50 miles each way to work.
It is just me in the car, so it can be quite small, but probably not a 2-seater. Also has to have a reasonable luggage space for a very large holdall for when I go travelling with work.
I would prefer something that was "nippy" but doesn't have to be "fast", if that makes sense. i.e. a useful acceleration. It is unfortunate that Autotrader groups the accelerations to 8-12sec; it could do with splitting that up to make searching more useful!
Budget is flexible and could go up to £8000, but would rather not invest quite so much into a car, but I am open to possibilities.
Air Conditioning would be the minimum requirement, but climate control would be nice.
Cruise control would be nice.
Having spent the last 3 years with an automatic, I think I actually prefer a manual.

So far, the cars that have caught my eye: -

Fiesta (08-)
- Either the 1.6 diesel or maybe strentching to the 1.0 EcoBoost 100ps; unfortunately the 125ps is just out of my price range.
- Lots of them around and equipment is good for the price.

Mini Clubman Cooper D (07-15)
- The normal Mini's boot is ridiculous, and I actually like the look of the look of the Clubman. It is a bit quicker than the Fiesta.
- There are not many around and I don't have time to sit around waiting for a good one to turn up/
- They are also relatively expensive, especially for the amount equipment on them.

Toyota Prius (09-15)
- This was a bit of random one as I was searching for good petrol based economy, but the figures actually look pretty good. However, I would have to stretch to £9000 to get a choice and is only available in automatic.
- Equipment is good though, including a HUD as standard!

I have a feeling that the Fiesta is the standard to compare to and will probably what I will end up with, unless convinced otherwise.


Cheers.

[Mucka]

For £6000 there are so many options, If you look at derv;s ideally you want be doing at least 12000 a year to justify the extra cost over a petrol.

Are you restricted to any insurance groups or fussed about cheap tax bands?

[stevie lee]

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classif...01509026556282

theres also a tonne of more sensible suggestions in http://forums.hexus.net/automotive/3...small-car.html including a discussion about bmw's


fyi. that lancia delta was sold. you missed out on that


just depends what age of car you want. go a bit older and you can buy 5 Honda civics (2004 or older) for £6k from near me. if one breaks, just use the next one. driveway space may be a problem though.

[b0redom]

We'll soon be in what is laughably called summer in the UK. Buy an MX-5 or S2000, or even an old Boxster. You know it makes sense.

My old Mazda Roadster S import was the best car I ever drove.....

[Gerrard]

Well, i did have a look at a Clubman that had done 140k miles for £4000 and was thinking of just trying to get another two years out of that wouldn't be the worst value for money!

I had an '07 diesel Civic that looked good on the numbers for economy and acceleration, but had a few minor issues (clutch wears out easily, split dash causes issues with reflections at night and the radio aerial was poor).

I have looked through the small car thread, but most are saying (as indeed the reviews) that the Fiesta is the sensible choice; especially the EcoBoost. Did look at the Fabia vRS and Fiesta ST, but to be honest, I am not interested in "those" types of cars. Even the TwinAir Panda looks good on paper, but the reviews just say the Fiesta handles better...

I am not limited on insurance or tax as such, my previous cars include an ST220 and a CLK 500 (5.0l V8!), but this time I am in my "sort-of-sensible" phase. I did look into Porsche Boxsters a few years ago (thread is here: http://forums.hexus.net/automotive/2...ky-unique.html). Again, unless there is a vaguely economical 2-seater around (lets say, 45mpg+ ), I am probably not interested at this stage.

[kalniel]

For £6000 and commutes I'd be looking at slightly larger cars - they drop in value so you can get some good bargains - loads of Foci and Astras for that price with slightly agricultural diesels if you push on the higher end of mileage, slightly thirsty petrols if not. There are a lot of 1.9 or 2.0TDI golf-chassis cars from SEAT, VW, Skoda and AUDI - all of which have a surfeit of torque and will feel like solid cars even towards 100k miles (though you shouldn't have to go anything like that old and I wouldn't recommend it given eventual turbo/DMF issues).

[Xlucine]

DMF is a pain, but it could end up costing less. You ought to get a very nice ~100k mile car for £2-3k, budget £1000 for a flywheel replacement and you'll be sorted. If you need it for a commute at the start of april then it'll be a bit harder to fit it in, but there should be time to find a car and get it sorted this month

[directhex]

You can get a 2011 Leaf or 2013 Zoe in budget, and stop having fuel costs

[kalniel]

You can get a 2011 Leaf or 2013 Zoe in budget, and stop having fuel costs

Can they reliably do 100 miles on a cold day?

[directhex]

Can they reliably do 100 miles on a cold day?

No. But they can reliably do "a 10 mile/20 minute commute each way to work, with occasional longer motorway driving"

[Gerrard]

Unforunately, if I do change jobs in the near future, the limited range could be a big problem. Ideally, I would get what you have, the Ampera as I could stick with EV only for my current commute, but I am not "cornered" on range if my circumstances change. However, they are well outside my price range and the cost benefits just don't add up; not yet at least. Maybe a few more years down the line that will change.

Still looking like a diesel Fiesta at the moment; cheaper to buy than an EcoBoost and are around the same price as their petrol equivalents but at £100 cheaper to tax and more fuel efficient for the few miles I do. Just a little bit more sluggish...

[kalniel]

Still looking like a diesel Fiesta at the moment; cheaper to buy than an EcoBoost and are around the same price as their petrol equivalents but at £100 cheaper to tax and more fuel efficient for the few miles I do. Just a little bit more sluggish...

Drive one first. We have a fiesta econetic and it's a LOT more sluggish than the VAG stable.

[Lucio]

Personally I'd recomend the Renault Megane 1.5 Dci for a balance between economy, space and performance.

Found it reasonably nippy, fuel economy was good, car tax was excellent at £35 a year and despite the odd looking handbreak, the driving position was really comfortable with an arm rest either side that worked great on longer journies as a place to rest your elbows.

Only reason mine went is I couldn't afford to get the door seals replaced in time before the interior went mouldy.

As with everything Renault, it'll be the electrics that kill it.

[Gerrard]

Drive one first. We have a fiesta econetic and it's a LOT more sluggish than the VAG stable.

I was thinking of the Titanium level and not the Econetic one; it is slightly quicker. However, I think all turbo diesels suffer from the same issue that there is a little bit of lag when trying to pull off.

[kalniel]

I was thinking of the Titanium level and not the Econetic one; it is slightly quicker. However, I think all turbo diesels suffer from the same issue that there is a little bit of lag when trying to pull off.

Actually that's something it doesn't seem to suffer from, again, compared to VAG diesels. Pulling off is very quick.. it just doesn't get any quicker afterwards Could be the econetic again though - it's got a very under-stressed engine and presumingly only a small, low-pressure, turbo.

[herulach]

As others have said, £6k is a huge range. If you're looking at fiesta size you're going to be getting a worse, older car than something bigger, and tbh for commuting it makes little difference (I drive a 2015 C220D, gets 45mpg average 10 miles into manchester, wife's 900cc Skoda citigo gets about 46 on the same journey)

For that type of money your best bang for buck is going to be in big barges. A6, E Class, 5 Series all easily available sub 70/80k miles for that type of money.