New Car Time

pepp77

pepp77

pepp77

Soldato
Joined
13 Oct 2008
Posts
5,198
Location
SE London Born and Bred
Sorry I know this gets asked a lot and for that I apologise, but I have just sold my old BMW and am looking to replace it with a hatchback. I have been looking at the Audi A3 2.0TDi on about an 04 plate which fits perfectly into my budget of approx £4.5k-£4.75k and offers a good compromise between performance and economy.

Loads of people have suggested I get a Focus instead but Ive never really been a big fan. I've previously had a Golf before which was okay but not great IMO (it was a 1.6 Mark IV) and my mum has an 11 plate 1.4FSI Golf which is quite fun to drive, however Im not sure Im that into the Mark V which is what I would be looking at.

I've thought about Mondeo and Passats (I know not a hatchback but the boot is huge) and think both are just a tad too big for me, plus the Mondeo just says Taxi to me (sorry to both Mondeo owners and Taxi drivers).

Im not a huge fan of the styling on the Leon, so ruled that out and am definitely not getting a renault, citreon or Peugeot and its not because they are French :) I cant stand the Renault interiors I have seen, the C4 does literally nothing for me and the Peugeots look rubbish since the 306.

So people anything else you think I should consider looking at/general thoughts?

Thanks

ps - Im 34 if that makes a difference :)
 
Thats a very specific budget - £4500-£4750.

I'm not sure I'd want the hassle of an old Audi unless you had sufficient spare cash in reserve to fix it - which I'm guessing from the fact your budget is so specific you don't.

At this money I'd be trying to get something newer, which means a less trendy badge.
 
Sounds like what i am doing now!!!

So confused, even with a £1k bigger budget i am still lost! If you find out then let me know!
 
Echo what Fox says. You need to be careful not to buy into something that's going to just cripple you trying to maintain it.

The reason the Focus is so popular is that it manages to strike a really nice balance in the car world of being reasonable at everything.
 
[TW]Fox;19187465 said:
Thats a very specific budget - £4500-£4750.

I'm not sure I'd want the hassle of an old Audi unless you had sufficient spare cash in reserve to fix it - which I'm guessing from the fact your budget is so specific you don't.

At this money I'd be trying to get something newer, which means a less trendy badge.
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Its 12 months of savings plus the money from selling my BMW which comes to the £4750 figure.

I don't personally see a 7 year old car as old - especially when I've just sold an 11 year old BMW 323i, however I am not rushing into anything and will look at other sensible suggestions that people offer as this is the most I will have spent on a car (the previous highest being £2700 on the BMW when I bought it), so would like to get something I will be happy to keep for say 5 years.

Tute said:
Echo what Fox says. You need to be careful not to buy into something that's going to just cripple you trying to maintain it.

The reason the Focus is so popular is that it manages to strike a really nice balance in the car world of being reasonable at everything.
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I understand that, but the way I see it I could buy the potentially expensive A3 and have no problems, or buy a potentially not expensive other car and have no end of problems. Sometimes you just have to risk it, although I havent completely ruled the focus out as an option - am actually going to look at a 56 plate Zetec for £4.4k tomorrow afternoon.

Hyper said:
Sure you could pick up quite a nice fiesta on that budget.

Cant go wrong with Ford.
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Fiesta is too small for me - I also use my car for work and often have a very full/overflowing boot, so something A3, golf, Focus size is really smallest I want to go.

Appreciate the feedback everyone, thanks.
 
Does it have to be a diesel? What sort of MPG would keep you happy?

I'd look at the Saab 9-5 and Volvo S60. They're not *that* big, and they're very comfortable.
Much nicer place to be than a boring little hatchback ;)
 
mjt said:
Does it have to be a diesel? What sort of MPG would keep you happy?

I'd look at the Saab 9-5 and Volvo S60. They're not *that* big, and they're so comfortable.
Much nicer place to be than a boring little hatchback ;)
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Id say about 40MPG for would be a minimum average, in the BMW I averaged about 28-30MPG and it was too expensive.

Thanks for the suggestions I have had a look at them both and to me they are both too large - both are bigger than the BMW and ideally I wouldnt want anything bigger. However on saying that I do actually prefer both the Saab 9-3 and the S40 over the two you suggested, but again the saab is bigger than the BMW, although the Volvo is a smidge smaller, so even though both are saloons and not my preferred choice I have added both to the list as possible options.
 
I didn't recommend the 9-3 and S40 because I thought the boots would be too small for you.
The S40 saloon also has a rather narrow boot opening, which can be impractical.
That, and the Volvo petrols will average 25MPG and the 2.0D is a bit iffy IME.
 
pepp77 said:
Id say about 40MPG for would be a minimum average, in the BMW I averaged about 28-30MPG and it was too expensive.
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The difference between 30mpg and 40mpg isn't huge and could potentially be cancelled out by your first bill on the Audi.

If things are tight, don't buy old prestige cars. Just get something reliable, decent and less flash. There are loads of great normal cars for £5k.
 
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