Recommend me a decent coupe.

[herulach]

So, my C30 is coming up to its 35k service, and will be needing a full set of rubber reasonably shortly. Since theres probably the guts of £1k there, I thought I'd start looking at just changing it. I love the car, but the interior in particular is a bit dated compared to modern stuff, and I like getting new cars.

I do between 25/30k p.a. so it needs to be comfy & fuel efficient, but modestly quick i.e. a 1.9/2 turbo diesel. Doesn't need to be big, but I'm not too keen on a tonka toy either. Budget is somewhere in the 15-18k range and ideally not more than a year old. So far I've looked at:

Megane coupe - average looking, decent boot, crap interior
Astra GTC - decent looking, 2.0 TDI is like hens teeth and most don't have bluetooth/climate etc.
Scirroco - Want, a lot, but its right at the edge of (and really sneaking a bit outside) budget, particularly by the time you get toys on it, but then it will hold value well.
The Beetle - kind of nice looking, but I can't decide if its too girly, and I'm really only looking because its a cheaper scirroco.

At the weekend I'm going looking at both the Leon SC and the MY14 Mito - Is there anything else obvious I'm missing? I don't want an Audi or a BMW, and my budget won't get me into a merc.

[kalniel]

Depends what your definition of coupe is and why you want that in particular. Merc C-series coupes can be found in budget, but it's probably not that great.

Leon SC is good, if you can get the new ones based on the MBQ platform (mk 3 leon).

edit: ah you've seen the megane.

VW passat CC?

Or if you can cope with a hatch:

Golf GTD
Octavia VRS

[herulach]

I suppose by coupe, I actually mean reasonably nice looking 3 door hatch. Although there are C coupes in budget, they'd be the older chopped boot one, or have significantly more miles.

I hadn't even considered a CC - thought they'd be way out of budget, but they're actually not that bad, it'd be stretching it a little, but then it is a lot of car.

[finlay666]

The CC is a lovely gar, gf's dad has one (admittedly had about £5-10k of custom kit in it from the previous owner inc 2 tone leather interior)

[GoodZE]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...-2003/1595292#
save £10,000 and spend it on petrol for the year!

[herulach]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...-2003/1595292#
save £10,000 and spend it on petrol for the year!

Chavtastic much? It needs to be reasonably new - a condition of my car allowance from work is that it has to be less than 5 years old, and I want something I can keep for 3 or so, hence looking at year old stuff. If I didn't have that stipulation I'd be all over something like a Brera S

[GoodZE]

Chavtastic much?

Ever heard of a joke mate? If you're into VW's you could look at the new MK6 GTD or Passat.

what manufacturer are you into? and are you looking for a family sort of car or just a hatchback or what?

[herulach]

Ever heard of a joke mate? If you're into VW's you could look at the new MK6 GTD or Passat.

what manufacturer are you into? and are you looking for a family sort of car or just a hatchback or what?

Not fussed about the badge provided its a decent car, the only thing I explicitly don't want is an audi. Build quality/comfort is pretty much paramount. Based on the average speeds on my current car's computer I spend somewhere in the region of 19/20 hours a week in it, and fairly often that will be in 4+ hour stretches, so it needs to be a nice place to sit.

90% of the time theres only me in it, but I do need rear seats on occasion, but only for short journeys. I'm not really averse to something bigger, but its just towing extra weight round most of the time

[GoodZE]

Well tbf mate, i'd personally got for a Passat or skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI but your best bet is having a good look and test driving a few cars until you find what you want good sized cars and good MPG aswell.

I also think the estates look a lot nicer but that's all about personal preference.

[DanceswithUnix]

Not so fuel efficient, Toyota GT86:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01310129252728


Pug RCZ might be worth a test drive?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01307237948819


You can get a 0% deal on a new Mito for that sort of money, if you don't mind a dressed up Punto:

http://www.alfaromeo.co.uk/uk/#/fina...-hire-purchase

Edit to add: Honda Civic?

[herulach]

Not so fuel efficient, Toyota GT86:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01310129252728


Pug RCZ might be worth a test drive?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01307237948819


You can get a 0% deal on a new Mito for that sort of money, if you don't mind a dressed up Punto:

http://www.alfaromeo.co.uk/uk/#/fina...-hire-purchase

Edit to add: Honda Civic?

I absolutely don't mind a dressed up punto, I'm going to look at mitos at the weekend, and to be honest if they have an etna black one I'll probably end up driving off in it (its black with a blood red flake, it looks awesome) but I can't get 0%, you either need a 40% deposit or to be buying one of the hairdryer powered ones to get those deals.

RCZ is a good call, will add it to the list.

[DanceswithUnix]

RCZ is a good call, will add it to the list.

The Frenchness would worry me a tad, but if it drives as nice as it looks I could over look that.

How new does it have to be? If I was looking at Mito I think I would be tempted towards http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01308228423310 or http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...01308298521292 as they would be much nicer on a long journey. They are a bit through your 5 year span though. Perhaps by year 5, Alfa will have started making cars again rather than their current range of 2 models

My current commute vehicle is a 147 1.9 Jtdm Lusso.

[herulach]

Been to look at the Mito, RCZ and Leon SC today, and I'm strongly leaning toward the Leon, its by far the best balance of practicality vs. fun. The RCZ is nice enough, but I'd thought it was a hatchback. The saloon part of it really puts me off. The boots a decent size, but this would be our main 'big' car, so I need some ability to put decent sized stuff in it. Similarly the Mito looses out quite a bit on the interior, it feels like a small car, and the quality of the finish on some stuff puts me off. As a pootling round car its great, but not somewhere I'd want to do mega miles in.

So basically its a leon SC or a scirroco, with the leon probably coming out on top since its a much nicer drive and lots better spec (I'm looking at a pre reg 2.0TDI FR for £18k, with sat nav & uprated stereo, where you'd be in a pretty basic scirroco for that money).

[herulach]

Picked up the leon this morning. Hugely impressed. About the only thing the volvo trumps it on is the steering wheel - this one feels a bit thin, but then I think thats a VAG thing (or maybe a volvo having huge wheels thing).

Boot is also humongous, and rather pleasingly it came with an actual spare (think this is due to the sound system, as the sub sits inside the spare wheel).