Another Spec me thread

kaptainmarc

kaptainmarc

kaptainmarc

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Joined
19 Jul 2013
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Location
derby
I am growing ever tired of my car 07 Swift Sport it is just not suited to my journey at all.

I am after a car Ideally ~5k I can stretch to 7 for the right car. I have been in finace since owning my first car so I would consider Finance again if it was worth while but I would Idealy like to buy a car around 5k cash

My commute is 42 miles each way so 82 miles total of which 75 are Duel Carriage way. However i Car share so I sometimes do this journey 1-2 times a week but also some weeks I drive all days as people are often working Abroad.
so petrol or desiel?

I am not fussed if its Hatchback/saloon/truck/monster truck/spaceship/flying saucer.

Previous Cars have been
Mini Cooper 2005 Loved it
Fiesta Zetec S 2010
Astra 1.9D 2007 (what a shed)
Civic Type R 2007 Loved it
Suzuki Swift Sport 2007 Like it for whizzing around in, just not a very comfy 80 mile a day car

I want something thats going to be comfortable.
still have abit of grunt
greater than 35mpg
Not look like a poverty car, I really have a thing against owning poverty Spec cars

I have probally missed all the key points but im tired, What would your reccomendations be?
 
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Ha ha ha. Car sharing in a diesel TT? You will only get one other hairdresser in there on the way to work. Why restrict yourself?

The obvious choices here are either an Octavia or Mondeo. Both would be excellent on the dueller. And as the majority of the drive is on here, the diesel variant should easily net you high 40's / low 50's on the mpg front. And presumably both have enough grunt for it to be not too excruciating.

You could go petrol, of course, but I generally find that any petrol worth having with a bit of grunt wont actually average over 35 mpg (certainly if you actually use that bit of grunt). Sure, people here will harp on about how they can get 40+ mpg out of their 330i's, but they will neglect to tell you it was a one off, over 2 miles, downhill, with a tailwind, at 45 mph. For actual real world driving, you'll be lucky to break more than 30 mpg on average in anything half decent with a petrol engine.

Then you just find a motor with the spec you want. These cars will be harder (although not impossible) to find with leather and stuff. You're better off looking towards BMW / Audi / Merc for these extras, but at a £5k budget, you're then looking at older, higher mileage examples. That being said, you'll struggle to find a decent diesel TT at that budget too, so finance could help here.
 
Could get a decent octavia diesel for 7k.

Failing that I'd go for a focus. whilst you're not hammering the miles annually the daily commute should ensure your engine is getting up to temperature so you shouldn't get any dpf issues should you wind up in a car with one.
 
iaind said:
I hope that was sarcastic!

It's a bit predictable but a Mondeo would be a good fit - good at long journeys, handles well, well equipped as standard, decent engine range

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201504252928893
Click to expand...

Yes it was but it got a bite :)

I was looking at the Mondeos as I do like them. Just unsure if spending the extra few thousand is worth it.


xs2man said:
These cars will be harder (although not impossible) to find with leather and stuff. You're better off looking towards BMW / Audi / Merc for these extras, but at a £5k budget, you're then looking at older, higher mileage examples. That being said, you'll struggle to find a decent diesel TT at that budget too, so finance could help here.
Click to expand...

Really not a fan of BMW's personally
audi/merc I like but it seems a hard task finding a decent model thats not a shed
 
kaptainmarc said:
Yes it was but it got a bite :)

I was looking at the Mondeos as I do like them. Just unsure if spending the extra few thousand is worth it.
Click to expand...

You'd comfortably get an older mk4 for your budget, but wouldnt be as high spec. To fit the "grunty" plus 35mpg you'd need to be in the larger diesels at that age too, which would bring some risks - although would do a lot more than 35mpg.

I don't want to be recommending the car I own as you get lambasted for that around here. But the Octavia already mentioned is what I've just bought - I got a vRS (2.0 Turbo 200bhp, mines remapped to ~250) for £3500. You'd be able to get a newer facelift one for 7k (mines a 56 reg, 86k miles), they're quicker than most things on your previous car list and will do 40mpg on a run. They're not a great spec as standard but there are plenty out there with options fitted which make them a lot nicer. They're a Golf GTi with a bigger boot and a different badge basically.
 
Given the mileage you may do with the car share aspect you may not want a diesel; you might be able to find a decent TSI engined VAG car that will suit, probably newer and with lower miles than the same priced diesel. Will have enough 'grunt' and will achieve decent fuel economy while being better to drive.

[dons flameproof suit awaiting TSI reliability naysayers]
 
Depending on the car, the budget is on the cusp of the TFSI/TSI changeover.

If you're worried about TSI reliability then easy answer is just to buy a TFSI. Other answer is to buy a TSI and fit the revised tensioner
 
Going to be boring and suggest a diesel Toyota Avensis. Big, spacious, quiet, comfortable and quite a nice environment to be in. It's going to be horrible in corners compared to pretty much all of your other cars, but much better at being sat on a dual carriageway for many miles a year. Should be fine for "grunt" if we're comparing it to a suzuki swift sport.
 
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