I would welcome any suggestions for which new hot hatch or saloon I should consider. My budget is about £16,000. I intend to keep it for a long time & would not consider a manufacturer with a poor reputation for reliability. I would particularly welcome comments from owners of such cars with good & bad points about the cars.
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Colleague at work has Honda Civic Type-R. Very pleased with it. Wears out front tyres quickly however, and difficult to put power down in the wet.
Steve
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Don't buy new, you are wasting your money.
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Very good, Nsar. I actually agree with your comment wholeheartedly. Now perhaps you'd like to offer something constructive to go with it????? ;-)
Fitz - are you averse to a classic? You can get a hell of a lot of car for your money with £16k. A Jag XJ-S springs immediately to mind. Or how about a Porsche 928?
But if you were to go nearly new, I'm sure you can get a Scooby for that money. And I would go nearly new because at least some other poor blighter's taken the huge depreciation hit.
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www.dagenhammotors.co.uk has new Mondeos with 16" (I think, maybe 17") alloys for £10999. Okay, they only have the 1.8 litre engine (125 bhp) but they handle well, have a chain driven motor, zero rust, masses of space and maybe even 3 years' 0% finance hilariously under budget.
If you want to spend more, try a Skoda 1.8t vRS. Even chipped to 220 bhp, it will cost you under £15k discounted from www.ukcarbroker.co.uk and whatever you think of their reputation, the quality and performance are unbeatable for the price. A little more would get you into an Impreza from a supermarket of course.
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Yes Rob, right away sir, sorry to have offended. Audi A3 1.8T - see various comments about coils affecting certain age cars though. You might see an S3 but it'll be higher miles than you might want, especially if you want to keep it a long time
How about a Mini Cooper S, goes like stink, holding value very well, pathetic rear room and boot space though.
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>>Yes Rob, right away sir, sorry to have offended
Don't be daft, Nsar!!!!! I was only mildly taking the whatsit!! Hence the ";-)".
As Dan J said recently, "just joshin' chief!"
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Alright then, anyway, I was only trying to ape the HJ style of posting
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I bought a Civic Type R last week. Fantastic performance and over 30mpg. Read my review here:
www.dooyoo.co.uk/motors/cars/honda_civic_r_type/_r.../
Let us know!
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Fitz,
I have just taken delivery of a 2.0 Mazda6 TS2 with Leather, which was pre-regged in March. I bought it for £16000 (list price was £17800).
It goes round corners like its on rails, is well-built, and the engine is rorty, sporty and torquey.
While I'll admit its not a "hot hatch", I consider it a great value sports-lite car - and its only group 9 insurance. It's a great looker too! Much better than a mondeo...
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Try a newish Golf 4-Motion. I've been so satisfied with its predecessor, my VR6 Highline, that it's the first thing I'd look at if I were trading in. There's an October 2000 one in the Wayside dealership (St Albans) for £15,995 with 30k on the clock. I too like good cars that I can keep for a long time; I kept my Audi 100 for ten years, near the end of which the only thing that needed replacement was a front wheel bearing. The VR6 is now six years old and I have no intention of selling it. It's beginning to show its age in terms of things that wear with time rather than mileage, but has been 100% reliable and immensely enjoyable. Only yesterday did I give it a bit of an "Italian tune-up" run, which reminded me there aren't that many cars to would see it off, especially in a wonderful third gear that gets you from 10 mph to 10 mph squared. I'm far too old to be a boy racer, so its the smooth delivery of power that really satisfies me.
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. . . never mind about that typo, but let me add that my long-term fuel consumption in the VR6 is over 30 mpg and I have seen the trip meter displaying 37 mpg on a gentle countryside run.
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I can safely say that the Golf 4-Motion is a pile of rubbish. A chap at work bought one and thinks it is rubbish, handles like a dog, drinks fuel and isn't a patch on the VR6. He got 10 grand for his 2001 model as a trade in and was just glad to see the back of it.
He has bought a new Seat Leon cupra R and is well pleased.
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I can definately and wholeheartedly recommend the Octavia vRS. Just bought a black 51 plate from a dealer with 6k miles for £12k and it's the absolute business.
I know it's early days for my car but it's such a good all rounder I find it hard to fault. It goes very well indeed and easily manages an average of 35mpg. It handles and stops well (has vented rear discs to boot!!) and for about £400 you can have a 220 - 230bhp conversion. The boot is HUGH, it's well screwed together and I think it looks great especially in Black.
I've got one so maybe I'm biased but I looked at all sorts before making my mind up. If the badge bothers you then fair do's but it seems pointless paying a premium for a VW badge for example.
BTW if looking at a vRS hatchback in a car supermarket then make sure it's got the 17 inch alloys. Some of the cars sourced from the continent are only fitted with 16 inch rims and it does make a big difference to the looks.
Jimmy
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If you remember I recommended the Skoda to you in the first place. I think they are great and I may well buy one. I just wanted to see if anyone could offer me some alternatives before I commit myself. Please let me know in a few weeks time how you are getting on and the plus & minus points. My email address is andrewmidd@ntlworld.com. How is the stereo?.
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Nothing to do with your query, just some general advice - it isn't usually a good idea to display your email address on a public forum like this, as spam-trawling software can pick it up and bury your inbox with an avalanche of unwanted mail. A simple way to get round this is typing your address in plain text, thus: andrewmidd at ntlworld dot com.
Having said all that, I seem to remember a discussion on this site about security which seemed to indicate that this forum has a higher level of protection against all this - anyone remember?
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I seem to remember a discussion on this site about security which seemed to indicate that this forum has a higher level of protection against all this - anyone remember?
you mean this one:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=72...5
and this one
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=98...1
And a more specific explanation from Stephen Khoo here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=7225&m...e
and here
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=9831&m...e
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fitz
Don't buy new and let someone else take the hit. For 16k you have a wide choice of two-year old, sporty vehicles out there. If you must buy new don't buy anything until you have at least driven the Mazda RX8, although you won't be able to own it until about August. At £19995 it is a lot of car and, for a couple of grand more, you can be driving a machine which develops 240ps at from a 1.3litre engine (see www.mazdarx8.co.uk). As it was originally priced to be sold at about 26k you can tell what a lot of motor you will be getting. Whatever you decide don't forget to let the backroom know. Good luck.
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I am surprised nobody has suggested a seat Leon cupra. I have one and think it is brill. You can get a new Cupra for about £14200 (internet dealer) the last time I looked. Not sure about the up-rated cupra R though. Have a look at HJ's test drive, he seems to rate them highly.
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Did you say whether you were looking for something small, medium, or larger? Everybody rates the Civic, but it's a bit hardcore and I wonder if you'll tire of it before 10 years is up - even the Impreza is a bit more cossetting when you're not in the mood for thrills. Don't forget there's a new Golf coming next year, and great though the Octavia is, it's getting a teensy bit old and will depreciate more. No doubt in time there'll be a new Octavia and Leon based on the new Golf and A3 platform, but in the meantime, later this year isn't there a Leon with a new 170 hp 2.0 PD diesel coming out? Only 10hp down on the Octavia, but with loads more torque and 50 mpg? That'll probably still be sought-after in 10 years time, even if the body's changed.
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No one else will recommend this, you'll have problems getting one, but it'll be a choice that turns far & away the most heads...not perhaps a Cooper S or Type R in the handling department but a bit of digging will get you a Renault Coupe...the Avantime (seriously).
Ducks for cover, but still think I'm right :-)
Lee
MINI adventure in progress
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No, no and no.
The Avantime is an orphan for all the right reasons. Odd looks, not as roomy or practical inside as it should be (stereo only operated by a remote, anyone?) and not much cop at anything other than cruising down a sunny autoroute. That it's been canned so early in its life tells you everything you need to know.
Bargain hard enough and there's a faint chance you might get somewhere near £16k. However, if you wait another year you'll probably get one for £6k!
By the way Fitz, haven't you made your mind up yet?
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I do like the Octavia but I agree with you points. A 2 year old one would be better as it will have depreciated. I will try the Seat. I already have a non sporty Seat. To answer your question I do not want a small car. I need 4 seats & a reasonable boot but do not necessarily need a very large car. This rules out the Mini, which is a shame as I have driven a Cooper S & it it excellent to drive.
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Have to say I found the Cooper S to be sluggish and over-rated. Owners will tell you it is a fuel guzzling nightmare as well. When the Cooper S Works version is released, it might perform like the others mentioned here.
Have you considered an older Golf VR6 or the new Peugeot 206 GTi (180bhp, not the 138bhp one)? Free insurance for a year for over 25s with the Pug as well, I believe.
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I'm a big fan of the Audi S3. For your money, you should be able to pick up a 2000V with 30-40k.
Drive one, preferably in the wet, before you choose any other car. You will be impressed with the handling and Audi's build quality.
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