Confused. Help me chose my next car...

[TW]Fox;20793252 said:
You cannot and should not ignore this additional dynamic to the ownership costs, especially if your goal is to move to a car that is less expensive.
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Granted there is a higher risk to buying an older car over than keeping my 4 year old ST.

But there is also the chance that the Audi will not break down, or have any issues. And thus would give me £5k in my hand on purchase, and also £100+ a year cheaper to insure, 6mpg better on fuel... not great savings, I will admit, but that's not the reason I am choosing the car.

IF anything were to go wrong, I do have a mechanic family friend who has worked on our cars before.

It's just my honest opinion, I would much rather spend £5-6k on an Audi A4, and be happy with the car I have to drive every day, than spend £2-3k on a Mondeo/Skoda, and get no enjoyment out of it whatsoever, but have a nice thought in my head, oh wait if anything goes wrong it's ok, it won't cost as much as an Audi would.
 
rossk26 said:
My dad owns a Skoda, which is obviously based on the passat. The Skoda is a horrible place to be, and a very horrible drive, on the other hand the passat is a nice place to be, and the drive is much better. I would hardly say a VW is a top end badge either.
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Thats a very strange opinion, but as you say each are entitled to them for me a decent Octavia is easily as nice as a Golf especially when you factor in the warm glow of having a few extra K in the back pocket.

I'd go with fox and put your opinions down as a badge snob not a car enthusiast and like most it pains me to admit Fox is right ;)

Your thread is also quite funny you've asked for suggestions but you've clearly decided that the Audi is the one so the rest of it is a waste of time. Buying an 8 year old 'prestige' car is hardly a great way to save money if you were really keen on topping up the savings that Zetec-S that was linked earlier would have been on your shopping list. You only have to look at the reviews that era of Mondeo recieved to know it's a good car and you'll blend in just as easil in that as you will an A4.

rossk26 said:
It's just my honest opinion, I would much rather spend £5-6k on an Audi A4, and be happy with the car I have to drive every day, than spend £2-3k on a Mondeo/Skoda, and get no enjoyment out of it whatsoever, but have a nice thought in my head, oh wait if anything goes wrong it's ok, it won't cost as much as an Audi would.
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The Audi your looking at is hardly a driving machine, it's just one of many bland executive cars on the market much like the mondeo, 3-Series and some of the Skodas!
 
Granted I have only driven a Passat a few times and a Oct vRS quite a bit but arn't they virtually the same "drive"? They share pretty much everything bar the dash don't they? Certainly the same engine/chassis (model dependent obviously) and I'd bet it's the same suspension, engine map and steering design.

Brand is obviously your most important factor in choice, you can admit it, it's OK.
 
NathWraith said:
Whilst this maybe true for his situation, I have not been so lucky with brand new cars :(
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I think the thing with his situation is the comparison between a Focus and an old BMW/Audi, if it was something like a Fiat vs an old Honda/Toyota it would have course be another story.

I have owned a 14 year old Honda and currently own a 21 year old Toyota and a 16 year old Lexus all of which were/are more reliable than my mothers Rover 75 she owned from new, my fathers Vauxhall Omega he owned from new and the Volvo S80 he replaced it with. However the new Skoda Fabia my mother replaced the 75 with appears so far to be invincible. So I guess the brands/models being compared are more important than the age to an extent.
 
rossk26 said:
I'm not a pessimist of life. So therefore I don't think what if and oh no!!!

Anything could go wrong with my ST at any point! So I can't really validate not buying an Audi/BMW because the repair costs if/when something does go wrong will be higher than Ford repair costs.

I purchase a car based on the fact that's what I want. Regardless of if I need to save money or not. If this was the case I would have never bought my ST. I now want a change, I originally wanted a diesel car of the same value to the ST, so I would save on fuel costs, tax, insurance etc... But it was noted that the engine I was looking into was a known problem.

It was mentioned that I should get a cheaper car, and bag the money from the sale of my ST, I thought that was a cracking idea, and while still wanting an Audi, I looked at what I could get that I liked, and found the the B6 1.8t was going for £5-6k, champion, nice little package for my savings fund.

Now the running costs are similar to my ST, albeit slightly better on fuel and insurance.

Thank you all for your input and ideas.
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I'm not a pessimist either, but if I made a decision to swap a car in order to save money, I'd carry the mentality through to everything in the decision. I'd not make a half arsed decision. i.e. Your 5K of extra savings will soon be eaten into by the increased unreliability and repair costs of a 5-6K prestige car. That's fine, but don't count on saving the full 5K.
 
I'm struggling to find a car I really like for £5k, that will give me what I want.

200bhp
Decent economy
Comfort yet sporty looks

I'm not a badge snob by any stretch, best car I have ever drove (driven a lot) bar my ST was a Peugeot 406.

Surely any Audi/BMW that I buy for £5k, if it has been looked after, and I also look after it, won't be unreliable? Thought they were built to last...
 
rossk26 said:
I'm struggling to find a car I really like for £5k, that will give me what I want.

200bhp
Decent economy
Comfort yet sporty looks

I'm not a badge snob by any stretch, best car I have ever drove (driven a lot) bar my ST was a Peugeot 406.

Surely any Audi/BMW that I buy for £5k, if it has been looked after, and I also look after it, won't be unreliable? Thought they were built to last...
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Someone who is happy to buy an Audi that shares the majority of it's running gear with an equivalent Skoda, yet 'couldn't bring himself to drive a Skoda' and thinks "anyone who buys a Skoda is not a car enthusiast" is pretty much the definition of a badge snob!
 
pcoltrane said:
Someone who is happy to buy an Audi that shares the majority of it's running gear with an equivalent Skoda, yet 'couldn't bring himself to drive a Skoda' and thinks "anyone who buys a Skoda is not a car enthusiast" is pretty much the definition of a badge snob!
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I've already made my point regarding "sharing the same running gear".

Skoda's don't look attractive whereas Audi, VW, even Seat do look good.
From my experience they drive horribly compared to their "shared running gear" bothers.
 
Muffin` said:
Civic Type-R, Accord Type-R

But it doesn't have any toys. Air Con was an option, and one you defiantly want, you need to compromise on something
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Looked at accords, but they don't appeal to me very much. I do like the civics, and they are powerful enough for what I want. But I like the torque from my ST, and prefer that style of power delivery over the high revving VTEC.
 
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