Sorry another "new" car thread

[5lab]

seriously, try the celica. a very *nice* car, its a long way from the bangery stuff you're used to - it'll hold its value - after 10 years it'd still be worth 3k if looked after - a fiester is worth about £3. 1.8 engine isnt too big, but it is very nippy - particularly in 180bhp guise (you can choose 180 or 140). and just fits nicely in your criteria..

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW...00634246865705

i don't know what they're like for size inside - no idea, but you might find em fine. 5 miles of city driving is more than enough to get an engine warmed up, but that does sound like 2,000 cold starts a year (are you sure thats right - thats 6 trips a day, every day??)

otherwise, you seem to like your fords, how about a late puma, same sorta vein as a celica, but a touch smaller.

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW...00633246794266

or, for go-kart handling, the mini can't be beat - i think they're coming into your pricerange now. go for a cooper - quick enough, without holding the cooper s premium

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW...00632101360601

[JPreston]

The celica is lovely inside (my mate has one), really built from scratch as a coupe, but i wouldn't say it's roomy by any means and the back seats are teeny. I've got an Octavia vRS, it's very practical indeed and loads of fun (and leaves his celica for dead).

Nearer your requirements though - this is a really sound recommendation - how about a hyundai coupe?

Oh and don't worry about engine wear and so on, just go on and get a flash motor. Anyway FWIW in my experience the bigger the engine, the further it goes...crappy little 1 litre engines fall apart loads sooner, not to mention the rattly small cars they put them in.

[5lab]

Oh and don't worry about engine wear and so on, just go on and get a flash motor.

i'd agree with that - look in a scrappy - its rare to find a modern engine with piston slap - they've all died because they've had a prang or rust. if you're doing short trips just make sure you've got good oil in there, and you should be fine (and no ragging till its warmed up)

[Howard]

The idea of avoiding high milers if you don't wanna spend money on it is true though

[daniel_owen_uk]

lol - well you said Golf GTI and the mk1/2/3 are all waaay older - the leon i looked at in autotrader was a 2001 btw. I'd suggest your chances of finding a 2000 onwards Golf GTI with less than 30k on it somewhat optimistic... Somebody needs to get realistic

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www...00633101415404

Cough cough

[dangel]

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www...00633101415404

Cough cough

Nice find - except it's the dog slow 150bhp version

[dangel]

seriously, try the celica. a very *nice* car, its a long way from the bangery stuff you're used to - it'll hold its value - after 10 years it'd still be worth 3k if looked after - a fiester is worth about £3. 1.8 engine isnt too big, but it is very nippy - particularly in 180bhp guise (you can choose 180 or 140). and just fits nicely in your criteria..

Linky didn't work but did you mean the 140 or _190_ (latest model) in which case i really didn't like it. I borrowed one for a day from a dealer and found it very tiring to drive - all that 5...4...3...2...1 as you wait for it to hit ~6500 rpm and get some power. I like the exterior looks of it but the cabin was made by fisher price (although it does look quite good) and there's no room in it really - my over six foot m8 was told by the salesman that although he couldn't sit in it without his head hitting the roof he could 'just buy one with a sunroof'

[daniel_owen_uk]

ROFL, right look for one with sunroof, check.

Seen a fair few golfs for under the 7k mark, but I am really liking the octavia vrs and the ibiza cupra.

If you were looking at 2001-2002 golfs what should I be looking for? Presumably the quicker ones are 2.0?
http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW...00633246337613 ?

[Howard]

No the 2 litre version is slow and crap. Stay clear. 115bhp from a 2litre engine? Get real

[dangel]

Nods. No, you want the 1.8T producing 180bhp it's much quicker. The 2.0 litre is beyond horrible!

Octavia - good car, good build, lots of room and drives well. Q car status.

The Ibiza Cupra: latest model a bit curious on looks, interior not-so-nice (annoying reverse fuel guage, instruments face away from you, cheap plastics). 1.8T engine has plenty of beans - TDI 'sport' models also worth a look as are very rapid and tunable. It's a size class down from the golf/leon/octavia platform tho.

[5lab]

yeah the old golf gti isnt actually a very nice car, and it holds it's value farr too well. what about an aventime? swift, very comfortable, although not the best handler, it certainly stands out. saab 9-3 aero?

[kalniel]

Saab are meant to be designed for long trips I thought..

The Seat's are probably a good bet for the OP's requirements. A good condition puma would probably be fine as well.

[chriswood_7]

I would go for a Seat Leon. Either way with the 1.8 20VT, whether it be a Seat/Audi/VW your getting a cracking engine.

I recently bought a Seat Ibiza FR with the 1.8 20VT engine. For such a small car with 150BHP it is certainly fun to drive, but averagely I get 36mpg (say 170ish miles out of £20) which for a car thats only done 1400 miles aint bad! So it depends on how much your wanting to spend running it? Have you thought of a performance diesel?

It all depends on your specific requirements as to what to buy, but personally if your sick of having crap cars then dont buy a newer crap car, if you follow. Also, I wouldnt worry about warm up times. Unless you rev it alot when its cold it wont make the slightest difference. The same goes for any car! You could buy a 3litre V6 and providing it is treat carefully when still warming it will last as long if not longer than a little 1.2ltr "city car" engine

[daniel_owen_uk]

Lovely Leon on autotrader 18000 miles 2003, only thing is it's Cat D repaired, as far as I understand that's bodywork damaged to point that insurer decided it wasn't worth fixing.

What would be most people opinions on this? It has FSH

I have a test drive of Leon Cupra on Friday, one I am test driving probably isn't one I would be incredibly interested, unless they could knock the price down 7k with 51k miles.

[5lab]

Lovely Leon on autotrader 18000 miles 2003, only thing is it's Cat D repaired, as far as I understand that's bodywork damaged to point that insurer decided it wasn't worth fixing.

What would be most people opinions on this? It has FSH

I have a test drive of Leon Cupra on Friday, one I am test driving probably isn't one I would be incredibly interested, unless they could knock the price down 7k with 51k miles.

get it independantly inspected. it should have some documentation as to what had happened to it. and it'll also not keep its value as well, otherwise, a good way to buy a car.

[daniel_owen_uk]

Gonna ring up tonight and find out damage and inspection policy (it's private but can't imagine them saying no to an independent inspection).

Just had an insurance quote for £600 which compared to what I have been seeing is ****ing fantastic.

If I wanted it inspecting, what would be people's recommendation? Derka (or however it's spelt) are AA's people want £200