What car should I buy?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 31 Jul 2011 10:21
What car should I buy? - BabySinclair

Hi all,

We're looking to buy a new car. Currently driving a 1.4 Petrol Peugeot 206, but looking to upgrade. I recently had a BMW 1 Series 2.0 diesel for a month, and loved the drive & power - so ideally looking for something with similar power but that looks a bit nicer than the BMW. We want a 5dr Hatchback.

Our budget is £15-18k - obviously spending less is nice, but willing to spend top end of budget for something special.

Looking at used cars 1-2yrs old, low mileage - or New if the right car is in our budget. Preferably diesel (doing c15k miles a yr, av. journey 30miles a time) but not ruling out petrol. Most recently we've looked at the new Ford Focus Zetec, 1.6 diesel, and have a test drive arranged - just not sure if this is the best way to spend that much money?!

Any advice greatly received, particularly around engine size/fuel combo. Oh yeah - has to be Manual too

Thanks all!

Vicki

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Sun 31 Jul 2011 12:28
What car should I buy? - unthrottled

Audi A3 2.0 TDI SE should fit the bill nicely.

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Sun 31 Jul 2011 15:07
What car should I buy? - jamie745

As decent a motor as the Focus is its not worth spending 15k of your money, you can get a 4-5 year old one for half that. As well as the A3 you could be looking at a good 2.0 Golf GT TDi for about 10-14k just a couple of years old.

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Sun 31 Jul 2011 15:43
What car should I buy? - GazNicki

The Mondeo 2.0 TDCi is a good car too. Anything powered by the 1.9 PD TDi engine will also see you right for years.

But if style is what you want too, then the Titanium-X Mondeo will be right up your street. You'll get a second hand one with decent mileage for that money for sure.

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Sun 31 Jul 2011 16:13
What car should I buy? - jamie745

Only reason i left the Mondeo out was going by mentions of the 1 series i think the OP might find the Mondeo very large. Its bigger than the Scorpio was and isnt far off E Class size.

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Sun 31 Jul 2011 18:56
What car should I buy? - Avant

Hi Vicki - welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure whether your 'upgrade' is to something bigger or just nicer than your 206, but as Jamie sugests above a Golf 2.0 TDI would fit the bill: you'd get a slightly newer one for your budget than you would an Audi A3 with the same engine. A Skoda Octavia is bigger stll but its looks are functional rather than beautiful.

The Focus is a very good car but Fords depreciate fast, so don't buy one new. If you are looking for style, you might be tempted by a Honda Civic: if so, try to resist the temptation as the rearward visibility is so bad as to be dangerous. The same applies to a slightly lesser extent to the Renault Megane and SEAT Leon.

Finally there are plenty of worthy contenders from Japan and Korea - all have merits but their best friends wouldn't call them stylish.

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Mon 1 Aug 2011 09:28
What car should I buy? - daveyjp

If you need a five door hatch because you will be using the rear seats check rear seat legroom. The A3 sportback is far from generous in this department. The new Focus is only just out so you will be paying top dollar, but the old Focus is available with substantial discounts - a colleague picked up a brand new old shape 1.6 diesel for £11k.

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Tue 2 Aug 2011 00:05
What car should I buy? - jamie745

I think a new-old shape (if that makes sense) could be gotten even cheaper in petrol form. If you intend to regularly have people in the back then the original suggestions of A3 and Golf may have to be rethought, they're ok for children and short trips in the rear but not much else.

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Tue 2 Aug 2011 00:33
What car should I buy? - Avant

A Golf isn't too bad for rear legroom - I think about the same as a Focus, and perhaps a bit more than the A3 which probably has thicker seats (the extra money must go somewhere). If more legroom is needed, the Octavia is a good halfway house between Golf/Focus size and the much bigger Mondeo.

Edited by Avant on 02/08/2011 at 00:33

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Tue 2 Aug 2011 00:48
What car should I buy? - jamie745

I was in a 08 plate Mondeo recently, was a taxi, and its not as big in the front as it looks but there is room in the rear, but trying to park it in a town is like trying to park the Moon in your shed. Either that or the cabbie was a rubbish driver.

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Wed 3 Aug 2011 15:18
What car should I buy? - BabySinclair

Thanks for all the advice guys - i'm going to check out some of the suggestions above.

We won't regularly have people in the back, but when we do it'd be for longer trips so i'll definitely try sitting in the back before getting anything

Cheers all!

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Thu 4 Aug 2011 17:54
What car should I buy? - The Purifier
Ho
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Thu 4 Aug 2011 23:32
What car should I buy? - jamie745
Ho

Great post!

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