Help me pick a car :D

Diagro

Diagro

Diagro

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Joined
3 Jun 2012
Posts
11,250
Hello all!

I'm here asking for advice from the motor section on a car purchase.
I have a small list of things I need from the car and the type of car I would like.

Now some car history, I have only driven two car's...
1. Smart ForFour 1.5 Deisel
2. Renault Megane 1.5 Deisel

Ideally I would like a Diesel but would be swayed to petrol if the MPG was up there.

Now what I'm after is a car that is a bit nippy (60 in 8 Seconds or less), Looks good and feels good to drive.
it needs to meet the following criteria:
  1. Have decent MPG (50+)
  2. Look Sporty
  3. Alloy wheels
  4. Good back support for driver (recovering from a spinal fracture)
  5. Diesel (or petrol if MPG is up there and road tax is not mental)
  6. Reliable, Lowish repair costs (No french crap please, spent 2.8k on Wifes Megane in past 12 months)
  7. Air Con! <- this is a MUST

I did Look at a Toyota MR2 But it was just too low and space was an issue. If I am spending the money I would at least want to take my PC to a Lan in it ;)

I have a Budget of £3000 and cannot go over that as I have a couple hundred left to cover tax and the start of insurance.

Any advice on what car i should be looking for in my area will be appreciated. I am aiming to buy a car soon.. as in the next 10 days.

Many Thanks
Diagro
 
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I think your requirements are going to be rather hard/impossible to meet. You want something that averages over 50mpg and yet does 0-60 in under 8 seconds, for £3k. One of these things will have to change I think.
 
Burn the Missus Megane for starters that will save you another 2k over the next 18 months.
Forget about economy & performance.
Don't buy a Diesel.

Go & Buy a Golf GTi.

With the Evidence put before the court it's the best I can do. :p
 
Any 2.0TDI VAG car should do 0-60 in 8/9 seconds and will get 45+mpg, although there is no car in the world that will get above 35mpg if you're going everywhere at full acceleration.
 
mccarf said:
I think your requirements are going to be rather hard/impossible to meet. You want something that averages over 50mpg and yet does 0-60 in under 8 seconds, for £3k. One of these things will have to change I think.
Click to expand...
Ok well the MPG can move to around 40-50.

One said:
Any 2.0TDI VAG car should do 0-60 in 8/9 seconds and will get 45+mpg, although there is no car in the world that will get above 35mpg if you're going everywhere at full acceleration.
Click to expand...
Yea i get that, i only want the ability to use the accel if required. I stick to the speed limit in most places and dont shoot off for no reason ha.

4T5 said:
Burn the Missus Megane for starters that will save you another 2k over the next 18 months.
Forget about economy & performance.
Don't buy a Diesel.

Go & Buy a Golf GTi.

With the Evidence put before the court it's the best I can do. :p
Click to expand...

The Golf GTi's any good?
 
You do around 153 miles/week average. Using fuel at £1.30 per litre as an example.

A 50mpg car would cost £18.08.
A 30mpg car would cost £30.14.

For the sake of £12 a week, you'll be seriously comprising the options available to you.
 
I already explained this to the guy when he put a ridiculous 45mpg want in another thread.

He was then going to "adjust" the expectation....I guess I just didn't expect it to be adjusted that way!
 
mccarf said:
You do around 153 miles/week average. Using fuel at £1.30 per litre as an example.

A 50mpg car would cost £18.08.
A 30mpg car would cost £30.14.

For the sake of £12 a week, you'll be seriously comprising the options available to you.
Click to expand...

With your math it's a saving of more than £600 per year. Why wouldn't he want to save £600?

Not sure what I would recommend, maybe a fiesta st or similar, or maybe something like a focus. Mk4 golf is another option, not sure you would get a nice mk5 for the budget.
 
Diagro said:
Well tbh I want to make savings where ever possible be it 20 quid a week on fuel or other ways.
It all mounts up
Click to expand...

If you drive in stop start traffic much, a lot of these "50 mpg" cars will not be terribly far off the fuel economy of petrol counterparts, so even that £12 a week becomes smaller.

What bits actually cost £2.8k on your Megane in 12 months? Most modern diesels are extremely complex and can throw up huge bills like these wiping any potential fuel savings out. If you had a simpler N/A petrol car, you might have to spend £12 a week more on fuel but wouldn't really have to chuck silly amounts of money at them like your diesel megane.

As you seem happy with the performance the diesel punto offers, have a look at a 2.0 petrol ford focus. It will offer silly levels of reliability, similar speed to that punto and be a much nicer environment (no dagadag).

Blackhawk47 said:
With your math it's a saving of more than £600 per year. Why wouldn't he want to save £600?

Not sure what I would recommend, maybe a fiesta st or similar, or maybe something like a focus. Mk4 golf is another option, not sure you would get a nice mk5 for the budget.
Click to expand...

Of course, but then saving £600 a year doesn't pair up with this requirement:

Diagro said:
Now what I'm after is a car that is a bit nippy (60 in 8 Seconds or less)
Click to expand...

It also severely limits him in terms of what cars he can pick at his budget.
 
+1 for a Suzuki swift, try get a sport they really are great fun to drive you can get near too 40mpg driving like a ninny I average around 35 on Dual carriage ways going around 65-75mph

I'm biased as I have one but I love it
 
mccarf said:
If you drive in stop start traffic much, a lot of these "50 mpg" cars will not be terribly far off the fuel economy of petrol counterparts, so even that £12 a week becomes smaller.

What bits actually cost £2.8k on your Megane in 12 months? Most modern diesels are extremely complex and can throw up huge bills like these wiping any potential fuel savings out. If you had a simpler N/A petrol car, you might have to spend £12 a week more on fuel but wouldn't really have to chuck silly amounts of money at them like your diesel megane.

As you seem happy with the performance the diesel punto offers, have a look at a 2.0 petrol ford focus. It will offer silly levels of reliability, similar speed to that punto and be a much nicer environment (no dagadag).



Of course, but then saving £600 a year doesn't pair up with this requirement:



It also severely limits him in terms of what cars he can pick at his budget.
Click to expand...

Oh god that megane. ..

New clutch, gearbox, engine mounts, ball joint, all new disks and pads, Abs sensor... list goes on

Am looking at the swifts
 
I had an Insignia SRi Diesel company car for about 4 months, this was suppose to average 60mpg. When i gave it back i bought a Clio 182, I do roughly 12k miles a year, and it cost me roughly £10-15 a week more in fuel.

I'm much happier in the clio and the extra fuel money every week is more than worth the cost. These can be picked up for around £2k in good condition with belts done recently (very important). so the extra £1000 saved would pay for a lot of extra fuel (at 8k a year, probably 3 years against something that would average 50mpg).

For referance i average mid to low 30's generally, but driven economically on motorways and A/B roads it'll return 40mpg easy.
 
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