Reasonably new car for about £10,000

death_looms

death_looms

death_looms

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Hi, 1st time in the motors forum :)

I'm looking a large car, comfortable, reasonably nippy (easy to 90, not bothered past that). Current thoughts are Vauxhall Insignia (fav so far), Ford Mondeo, VW Passat, BMW 3 series.

Starting the test driving on saturday. Anybody have any advice or opinions? Will listen to all advice (except style, I can manage that myself ;).

Also, would prefer diesel over petrol, but not fussed really.

tvm,

David
 
Well the BMW 3 series is a fair bit smaller than the others for a start. I'm not sure what you consider to be "reasonably nippy" either or "reasonably new" ...so you'll have to elaborate a bit. And why would you prefer diesel to petrol ? ...what sort of running costs do you find acceptable etc ?
 
Let's put this in perspective,

I currently drive a 1998 1.0 corsa B, in classic faded pink. Reasonably nippy is any car that has a enough power that it doesn't feel sluggish or take an age to get up to cruising speed, reasonably new is hopefully < 5 years. Diesel preference isn't a big deal, just prefer to have the power without having to drop and floor it!

Any help?
 
Save 5k and get a 5k petrol Mondeo, it will seem like a Bentley.
 
If you are looking for a serious upgrade then even £5000 is enough.

Similar to you, I have a crap car (1.0 micra) and the work 118hp 1.9tdci vectras feel quick.

You could buy almost anything and be happy with the performance:).

EDIT: Diamandmark just said exactly what I did:p.
 
The original budget was £5000, but decided that a newer lower milage car would be a better buy, get a nicer car, hopefully get a couple of g's in 4-5 years time if it's not that old.

Oh and cheers for all the advice, diddnt expect it so quickly!
 
So for £5000, the mondeo is the car to to for then? What should I be looking for? (ps, live in northern ireland, so I can't get any cars on the mainland :(
 
Are cars not much more expensive in NI?

Mondeo - Look for a petrol with FSH, don't be put off by higher mileage for the age as most will have spend the miles sitting on the motorway at 80mph not wearing much.
 
death_looms said:
Diesel preference isn't a big deal, just prefer to have the power without having to drop and floor it!
Click to expand...

To be honest if you are cruising in your average diesel and you want 'the power' you still need to drop a cog otherwise you get that delay waiting for the turbo etc etc.
 
Not that ive ever tried it, but surely waiting for the turbo takes less time than dropping a gear? It's less effort, definitely.

Saying that, motors is obviously having an effect on me (damn you, fox) - was driving a company skoda Octavia 2.0 tdi today and found myself being annoyed by the noise. I used to be such a diesel fanboy too.
 
iaind said:
Not that ive ever tried it, but surely waiting for the turbo takes less time than dropping a gear? It's less effort, definitely.
Click to expand...

Dropping a gear puts you right into the power band. I noticed this on Saturday when I drove DRZ's Alfa - I was deliberately doing diesel things like accelerating in 4th on a wave of torque only to find nothing really happened so I had to use 3rd :p

Saying that, motors is obviously having an effect on me (damn you, fox) - was driving a company skoda Octavia 2.0 tdi today and found myself being annoyed by the noise. I used to be such a diesel fanboy too.
Click to expand...

:D :D :D :D :D
 
A petrol Mondeo sounds like a good bet to me, I wouldn't spend £10k if I were you, not coming from where you are ...having said that, if you really want to you could do worse than that Mondeo 2.5T Titanium, but then I would argue you can do better too, by spending less on an ST220 ...and then we start getting all silly since you are coming from a 1 litre Corsa, so as you pointed out yourself, almost anything will feel fast by comparison so there is no point at all in getting a 200bhp+ car ...with associated costs.

However, if you were going to spend £10k, the Skoda Octavia VRS is worth a good look I think. But I'd say spend £5k and get the newest and best 2.0 litre Mondeo, Mazda 6 or whatever similar car takes your fancy that you can. The MK3 Mondeo is a very good car though, it's not special or all that interesting, but it's popular for a reason.
 
Good advice guys, appreciate you taking the time to offer up suggestions. And Moeks, you're right, absolutely no point in over 200bhp!

Haven't had a chance to go to ford yet, but I'll be there soon! Also even the budget is so high, I'm not going to pay a lot more for insurance just for a slightly better car. Got quotes form confused earlier (ringing my insurance company tomorrow) for the insignia (seeing as it's the only one I've got time to get down to drive yet), just over £700 fully comp (23 btw). Seems quite good given the corsa is £550!

I suppose the best thing to do now is get about and look at both the £5000 and £10000 brackets, and see what's out there. I'd rather buy from a dealer, at least get some kind of warranty. Yes, I am a wuss.

Finally, finance. I know the dealer finances are to be avoided at all costs, what would be the cheapest way to finance a car?
 
I dont see the point in taking out a loan etc to buy an everyday car like an Insignia. I mean if cars were your passion and you really wanted that dream Elise or something, or if you particularly wanted something from a car that a car less than £10k just didnt offer then go for it but.. you can get perfectly decent generic stuff without taking on a loan so why bother?

£5-6k Mondeo or something will be a great car, especially coming from a 1 litre hatchback.
 
A decent rate on an unsecured personal loan. But at less than 7500 the rates are quite poor at the moment
 
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