Help me decide on a new car

Princey

Princey

Princey

Soldato
Joined
26 Apr 2003
Posts
5,746
Location
West Midlands
I’ve been driving around in a 2002 Focus Ghia 1.8TDCi with 140,000 miles on the clock for the past 6 months after running out of money keeping the Monaro VXR going, which went in September. I had owned it for 2 years so I wasn’t that gutted when it went.

Things are much better now, I’ve cleared debts and I’ll have enough money to buy a new car at the end of March so I’m starting my search now as it'll take several weeks to decide what I want, then to find what trim level/engine I want and then find a decent example of the chosen car in the spec I want.

A few musts,

  • Under 60,000 ideally as I’ll be doing upwards of 20,000 miles per year and plan on keeping the car for 3 years.
  • Combined fuel economy of 30+ MPG and a highway figure of around 40MPG
  • Under 4 years old
  • Had the option to include Sat Nav, Climate, Xenons and Auto Lights and Wipers
  • Top end of my budget is £15,000

Some of the cars I’ve been looking at with a keen eye are,

Megane RS250

sacarfan-megane-rs-250-02_zpsdb224b281_zps61568725.jpg


Pros
  • Fast
  • Looks fantastic
  • Quite easy to find with some spec under £15,000
  • One of the best handling FWD cars
  • Cheap to run bar tires and brakes
Cons
  • Build quality will be below the BMW and Golf
  • Large wheels may impact ride quality

BMW 13xi

2006106_bmw_130i_main_zps9adff7fb.jpg


Pros
  • Fast
  • Very easy to find in a high spec under £15,000
  • German build quality
  • Nicely balanced RWD chassis
Cons
  • Most expensive to run?
  • A little boring to look at
  • Hard ride?

Astra VXR

vauxhall-astra-vxr-2007-1-1024x768_zps77d2b2821_zps72159177.jpg


Pros
  • Fast
  • Cheap to buy and cheap to run
  • Easily moddable to handle 'decently'
  • Looks fantastic
Cons
  • At stock it’s the weakest of the 4
  • Build quality is below the others
  • Hard to find any with any spec what so ever
  • Owned by rude boys so equally hard to find an unmolested example
  • I've already owned a fully modded one for two years

Golf GTi

vw-golf-hatchback-petrol_8806434_zpsa35079041_zpscc155d15.jpg


Pros
  • The best all rounder of the 4
  • Quick
  • Well built
  • Easy to find with a high spec
  • Plenty of power and handling upgrades
  • Relatively cheap to run
Cons
  • A bit boring in the looks department
  • A bit too sensible maybe?

I looked at the Focus ST but I think it'd be too thirsty especially if my mileage increased.
I'd really appreciate some feedback from owners of these cars, I know we have several owners for each of the cars. What things should I look out for when buying? What other options can you think of?
 
How firm is the requirement for 40mpg on a run? I don't think any of these cars would do 40mpg on a run to be honest. :p Golf probably closest at ~35mpg?

I think the rest are too compromised in the ride for 20k miles a year. I'd pick the golf out of the 3.
 
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Would a 335i not fall into budget?

Fast, comfortable, better built than the Renault, decent looking, can remap easily for more power, easy to find with decent spec?

All of the above in comparison to stuff like the Astra and Megane.
 
^ :D:D

Well eliminate the VXR, you've had one before and can't really go back to something soo average owned by knuckleheads for the most part.
 
Peerzy said:
Would a 335i not fall into budget?

Fast, comfortable, better built than the Renault, decent looking, can remap easily for more power, easy to find with decent spec?

All of the above in comparison to stuff like the Astra and Megane.
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Sorry, good shout, to be fair I had no idea these were down to this price level yet. Seems quite easy to get a high spec one under 60,000 for that important BMW warranty.
 
Princey said:
Sorry, good shout, to be fair I had no idea these were down to this price level yet. Seems quite easy to get a high spec one under 60,000 for that important BMW warranty.
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I know when I looked 18 months ago it was possible to just about get a dodgy one for £14k-£15k so assume that now you can pick up a decent one for about that.

Even a 335D might be in budget if you wanted extra black smoke and torkz.
 
Peerzy said:
I know when I looked 18 months ago it was possible to just about get a dodgy one for £14k-£15k so assume that now you can pick up a decent one for about that.

Even a 335D might be in budget if you wanted extra black smoke and torkz.
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Looking quickly on Auto Trader it seems my budget seems to get a 2006-2007 car, I feel that may be too old considering I plan to keep it for 3 years, it'd be close to 10 years old.
 
Princey said:
Looking quickly on Auto Trader it seems my budget seems to get a 2006-2007 car, I feel that may be too old considering I plan to keep it for 3 years, it'd be close to 10 years old.
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My impression is that it's a buyers market on the 335i and you should be able to get a fair bit knocked off as not many people want a large engined petrol car.

Fox got a really good deal on his I remember but still had to take a 4 figure hit after 6 weeks to get it sold.
 
Not sure why the first thing you do after getting out of debt is take on a load more to buy an expensive car but there we go. I think I would go for a Golf at the lower end of the budget to reduce the risk of the same thing happening all over again.
 
Personally I would stick to a German made car since they depreciate less than others. I'm an Audi fan so would go for the 3 door S3 :p
I like the Astra but they feel so cheap. I have a normal 1.6 atm and the interior is no different to that of the VXR.

I'm toying with £15k myself atm, im waiting for an Audi A5 I can afford to show up on the trade auctions. One came up for 32k miles S Line 2.0L Petrol 20" alloys but its just a little more than £15k which is above my budget. Shame as that can sell for £18k private ;(
 
[TW]Fox;23570302 said:
Not sure why the first thing you do after getting out of debt is take on a load more to buy an expensive car but there we go. I think I would go for a Golf at the lower end of the budget to reduce the risk of the same thing happening all over again.
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I know you're an accountant or whatever but try and leave it at work...

But for your information I was running two cars and I had a share in an aircraft, my monthly out goings were just too much so I've sold my share in the plane and the Monaro and I'll be running one car. This will be massively cheaper so there is no reason to assume running a single 3 series BMW will cripple me. The debt was the finance on the Monaro.
 
Be lucky to get a 2009 335 for under 15k. Not sure how its massively cheaper to run than a Monaro and a diesel focus either but there we go.

I still think a 10k Golf is the best bet but it would mean going older than the requirements.

Infact it would seem only the Renault is easily within budget at the required age and mileage.
 
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[TW]Fox;23570452 said:
Be lucky to get a 2009 335 for under 15k. Not sure how its massively cheaper to run than a Monaro and a diesel focus either but there we go.

I still think a 10k Golf is the best bet but it would mean going older than the requirements.

Infact it would seem only the Renault is easily within budget at the required age and mileage.
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Well I won't be paying 2x Tax, 2x MOT, 2x Insurance, 2x Servicing, 2x Tyres and no finance payments and no commitment to hangering and maintaining an aircraft either so the savings are substantial.
 
Upwards of 20k a year in a car like this is going to cost big money, especially when you consider you will take most of these cars over the 100k barrier. You rarely used the Monaro, are you sure doing big miles in cars like this will be 'significantly' cheaper than the previous setup of weekend car and diesel focus?

A set of tyres on a 335 for example is a grand e your rears won't even be lasting a year.

As for your savings, not having to do 2 Mot? Wow that's 30 quid a year saved. Not having to tax the focus diesel? Wow another 160 quid a year. Big money savings.

As for tyre savings, there are none. You can only drive one car at once and tyres on a focus are cheaper. Your tyre bill will increase.

If you don't need finance this time then you managed to go from debt to a positive bank balance of 15k in less than 6 months. You are obviously pretty well off so why even mention things like saving 30 quid a year on not doing 2 mots? its trivial money! Why so hung up on mpg?

If low running costs matter none of the cars are a good idea, buy something else. If low running costs don't matter then drop some of your criteria and buy something you really want.

At the moment your criteria seem at odds with what you seem to want to achieve.
 
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Is the general advice on this forum not:

Do not buy something at the top end of your budget and leave nothing for repairs/running costs, i.e a 33x?

Out of your list I would probably go for the Golf.
 
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