15K for a car - options - Honda, Ford, BMW

bandit

bandit

bandit

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following on from my lease or not to lease, i think i agree with the general consensus, its better to buy :)

so, i;ve capped my price @ 15K and have been looking at options. I will probably keep the car for 5 years or so, so it needs to be decent. I'll be going on some test drives but thought i would canvas opinion first :)

the requirements are:
  • not a saloon, so a hatchback or estate
  • big enough for a 6ft 2" driver (me) and a full sided adult in the back
  • good drive (no wallowing boring cars please!)
  • going to be on the road a lot 50 miles a day on the M6 and a minimum 25 in town (so 100 miles of stop start :p)
  • enough gadgets to keep me happy so decent stereo, climate etc
  • sat nav heavily preferred (cars been broken into outside my house with people looking for tomtom)
  • 40Mpg plus
  • space for baby and pram

looking around i have a choice, high reg average cars or older, higher mileage premium? Looking on Autotrader there are a couple of options, let me know what you think,

Option 1 Honda Accord Tourer.
reviews are ok, gadgets are good, supposed to hold value a while. Solid car and ok looks. not sure about practicality, the estate apparently has less space then the saloon!

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2007&vehicleRegLetter=57 - 57 Plate with 13K on the clock for £15K. has built in sat nav and loads of other gadgets

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2008&vehicleRegLetter=57 - 57 plate, 9K on the clock, lower spec at £13K


Option 2 Ford Mondeo
apparently a better car to drive. depreciation is horrifying, top spec models dont have satnav as standard so would probably hold out for one with the option. big cars so plenty of space. mostly seem to be 1.8s so probably underpowered for my taste

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2007&vehicleRegLetter=57 2007 57 Reg Titanium X with satnav, 11K on the clock Price: £15K

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2008&vehicleRegLetter=08
10K miles, £14K


Option 3 BMW 5 series tourer
so, a beemer. big car, good drive (the best of the three). solid engineering and depreciation is better then most. 520 or 525 SE are great cars and would have the drive to offset the loss of the gadgets. i would need to go down a couple of regs and accept a higher mileage as well.

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2005&vehicleRegLetter=55
30K on the clock, 2005 55 Reg 525d SE 5dr Touring Auto Tiptronic. £15K

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...icleYearOfManufacture=2004&vehicleRegLetter=S
2004 54 Reg BMW 530d SE with 38K on the clock for £16K





so..which one? I have one in mind, but which would you go for?

any other cars i should consider? insignia, MAzda 6, Volvo?
 
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Take a look at the M-Sport trim rather than SE for the 5 series, as it will have better suspension and other bits. I'm sure Fox can give more details if/when he sees the thread :)

The bimmer is easy choice over the Mondeo (good but boring) and the Accord (again good but boring :p).
 
ok option 3 seems to be the option of choice!

is it really better to get a bmw, even a couple of regs down and higher mileage?
 
I'm after the best bang for buck, brand dont mean a thing without the weight of expertise or capability behind it, hence ford and bmw in my list.

what i'm trying to decide is the balance between reg and mileage for say the ford and BMW, with the honda in between

Drive - fun factor. relaxed but power when needed - BMW wins
  1. BMW
  2. Ford
  3. Accord

economy around town and on the motorway -0 their all close
1 - bmw
1 - for
1 - accord

style - I like the beemer, its agreesive. but it does have an image problem with some right w******s driving them sometimes
1 - BMW
2 - Ford
2 - Accord

gadgets - Honda have loads, standard satnav, bluetooth etc
  1. accord
  2. Ford
  3. bmw

depreciation - beemer holds value, honda aint to bad either
1 - bmw
2 - accord
5 - ford

reg and mileage (reflection of the depreciation!)
  1. ford
  2. accord
  3. bmw

maintenance - hondas are reliable not sure who would be second, beemer or ford? beemer would be more expensive to fix?
1 - Honda
2 - Ford
2 - BMW
 
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You missed off a 'repairs' section. Hondas and Fords are generally very reliable.

iirc Fox has had several things go on his 5 series but hardly anything on his mondeo.

EDIT: The general impression I get from these forums is a BMW comes with with BMW running costs and a mondeo/accord SHOULD be relatively hassle free.
 
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How about
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2008&vehicleRegLetter=08

(there was one for 16k a couple of weeks back at a subaru dealer)

Will drive much better than all of those cars you listed.

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2007&vehicleRegLetter=57
Octavia?

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2006&vehicleRegLetter=06

Lexus (actually have something that will get you to your destination without fail, unlike BMW and Ford, also this may fall into the wallow category)

Personally I would find it hard to dismiss the Subaru, I am not sure why they are so underrated and overlooked.
 
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Just buy option 3, the other 2 are not on the same page, really, they are a league below in terms of quality, ability, fun factor and general lovelyness.
 
jamoor said:
How about
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2008&vehicleRegLetter=08

(there was one for 16k a couple of weeks back at a subaru dealer)

Will drive much better than all of those cars you listed.

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2007&vehicleRegLetter=57
Octavia?

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2006&vehicleRegLetter=06

Lexus (actually have something that will get you to your destination without fail, unlike BMW and Ford, also this may fall into the wallow category)

Personally I would find it hard to dismiss the Subaru, I am not sure why they are so underrated and overlooked.
Click to expand...

That legacy would be an awful buy. Crap interior, heavy depreciation,
It's 2k over budget and has a 2l boxer diesel which is frankly horrid.
 
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