Early Life Crisis Car?...

BloodlessDawn

BloodlessDawn

BloodlessDawn

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5 Jul 2012
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I currently drive a VW Golf MkIV 1.4. It belongs to my ex and she's finally moving out (thank god). So now this single man needs a car! I know there are a million other threads of a similar vein out there... but opinions change every day - so I'm intrigued.

Is there such thing as a car which is "cool", nippy enough to impress, and still practical? (Boot space, 5 doors, & decent MPG). It also has to get me to work every morning. None of this "don't want to start today" crap... Haha.

Budget: £1.5k

Age 22, so insurance is a bit of an issue still (unfortunately).

Early thought is a VW Golf MkIV 1.8T... But opinions on these seem to be mixed, and what kinda MPG can I realistically expect? Lastly, good resale value would be nice! I don't plan on hanging onto it forever unless I really love it, as I should have even more cash when I move out, and a bigger / better car will be on the table.
 
Is there such thing as a car which is "cool", nippy enough to impress, and still practical? (Boot space, 5 doors, & decent MPG). It also has to get me to work every morning. None of this "don't want to start today" crap... Haha.
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You're gonna struggle for 1.5k, as far as I can think, nothing in that price range is cool, and if it is, it's only because it's quirky and old.
Also everything in there is prone to having problems as the less you pay for the car, the more you pay in repairs generally. If I was you, I'd forget cool, and probably nippy as well, and go for something like a honda accord or ford focus.
 
For £1.5k you'll struggle. Normally, I'd say get an MR2: you can get a decent one for £1k and they're a lot of fun, but although they've got some boot space, they've only got two seats.
 
Ive had a number of dogs in my car ownership history, tatty rattly and all that, but I havent had a car thats failed to not start on me! I didnt thinks cars were like that anymore:p

At £1500 reliability is the key so something jap should fit the bill, and generally avoid diesels at this price point. You can go prestige at this level, but costs will cripple you, you can get some cool stuff like MX5/MR2 but they dont fit the practicality bill.

Might be worth looking at old Octavia's or Leon's, they will have high mileage at the price point.
 
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As said 1.5k isn't a lot of money. O the plus side Vw do hold there value well. Hence most that you can probably afford haven't been looked after that well.

Id also say the insurance should be a lot more than £300 per anum. If it isn't id be interested to know the company and the cover level lol.
 
[TW]Fox;25851713 said:
Err it will.cost more than 300 quid at 22. Not outrageous money but rather more than 300 quid.
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Ah whoops I clicked the wrong golf on my quote. A 1.8T GTI is £550 with Admiral, and my current insurer TheInsuranceLine has consistantly undercut them by a big margin, but it's not easy to get a new quote online with them if you are a current customer... will see if I can do it out of curiosity. Their website is currently down... I will do it as soon as I can, but I just renewed my MX5 with them on a standard policy for £298. Hilariously their renewal quote was £478 and I said I could get it cheaper elsewhere so they took almost £200 off the price, silly really.

£400 for a 1.8T GTI if you remove my TS10 and accidents, with 4 NCB via Admiral... £300 wasn't *that* far off.
 
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Hxc said:
Ah whoops I clicked the wrong golf on my quote. A 1.8T GTI is £550 with Admiral, and my current insurer TheInsuranceLine has consistantly undercut them by a big margin, but it's not easy to get a new quote online with them if you are a current customer... will see if I can do it out of curiosity. Their website is currently down... I will do it as soon as I can, but I just renewed my MX5 with them on a standard policy for £298. Hilariously their renewal quote was £478 and I said I could get it cheaper elsewhere so they took almost £200 off the price, silly really.

£400 for a 1.8T GTI if you remove my TS10 and accidents, with 4 NCB via Admiral... £300 wasn't *that* far off.
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You must live in a Narnia to get quotes like that :p

Manchester postcodes means I get fleeced and I'm 30 with 9years ncb.
 
If you need cheaper insurance and better MPG go for the Mk4 GT TDI 150... they usually hover around 170-175hp standard and you will get 50mpg...but it is a diesel.

I am not all that impressed by VW 1.8t's, my passat version got around 28mpg and all 3 of my mothers audi tt's with that engine (150, 150, 163) get around 30mpg average. Not great for a 1.8 4cylinder engine! Her A3 1.8tfsi only gets 33mpg too.

But then for your budget the only other car I would look at is a mk4 2.8v6 which gets around 30mpg as well but has 220hp, 4wd, generally comes with full spec, and makes a lovely noise


Can pick them up in your budget all day long.
 
Don't expect 30mpg from the 4motion unless you don't do 'proper' town driving. You'll get 30mpg on a motorway run sticking to 70mph, 35mpg at nearer 60mph.
Depending on your definition of town driving expect 20-30mpg.
 
ndaar said:
So whats the quote if you include your ts10 and accidents? :P
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£550 for a Golf GTI with Admiral. I would expect my current insurer to be cheaper than that as they are about £200 cheaper for my MX5 (£298).

I can get insured on practically anything bar an S2000 for under £1k, most things around £600-800.

Can't wait for my ruddy TS10 to go away.

I live in Clifton, Bristol, which is a pretty nice area for about half the year and Norwich area for when I am not at uni.

Less confusing lookup of quotes
22, 4NCB, TS10, 1 fault, 1 non fault accident, 1992 MX5 - £298
22, 4NCB, TS10, 1 fault, 1 non fault accident, MkIV Golf GTI 1.8T - £548
22, 4NCB MkIV Golf GTI 1.8T - £401
 
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Nippy enough to impress who. Anyone into cars isn't going to be impressed by anything you can afford. So give up on trying to impress people.

From my limited life experience, girls don't really care about cars. They only notice badges and colours. You can't afford a nice BMW or Merc.

Buy a car for you.
 
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