Potentially need a new car

Uncle_Gravy said:
It looks bigger than the Fifth Gen Fiesta.



The little panda inside will definitely have a little cry.
Click to expand...

Fiesta Mk5
Length - 3828
Width - 1793
Wheelbase - 2446

Fabia Mk1
Length - 3970
Width - 1890
Wheelbase - 2462

They're both small cars occupying the same class - comparing to a Fiesta of the equivalent age would make the figures even more similar.
 
paradigm said:
Code: 
	Fabia	Fiesta
Length	3970 mm	3924 mm
Width	1890 mm	1912 mm
Height	1451 mm	1464 mm

Massive 46mm shorter for the Fiesta, whilst being 22mm wider and 13mm taller.
Click to expand...

Well look at that, interesting, I've been in both and the Fabia def feels "roomier" weird.

Problem with the Fiesta, Not much power, all engine variants have less than 100bhp, i'll be doing 70ish mph everyday, It'll be like my old 1.2 clio, 70mph at under 4k rpm, As a result consumption was terrible and I dare say a lot of wear and strain on the engine.

I feel really one sided here by keeping going back to the Fabia as like this al mighty car, which it isn't, it has 130bhp capable of 0-60 in 9s, If stats correct capable of 50mpg and £130 a tax.
 
Last edited:
To be clear, when I mention fiesta I am only talking mk7

I wouldn't spend a lot of time in any of the older models, would be amazed if £5k couldn't get you a decent one.

If the comparisons are just because of the fabia vrs time and value now then fair enough

Op if you're looking at anything bigger then imo it's pretty unlikely to actually save anything. If you like the civic buy a 1.8, it'll save you a small amount in fuel but not much else
 
Last edited:
Uncle_Gravy said:
Well look at that, interesting, I've been in both and the Fabia def feels "roomier" weird.

Problem with the Fiesta, Not much power, all engine variants have less than 100bhp, i'll be doing 70ish mph everyday, It'll be like my old 1.2 clio, 70mph at under 4k rpm, As a result consumption was terrible and I dare say a lot of wear and strain on the engine.

I feel really one sided here by keeping going back to the Fabia as like this al mighty car, which it isn't, it has 130bhp capable of 0-60 in 9s, If stats correct capable of 50mpg and £130 a tax.
Click to expand...

The modern turbo-boosted engines feel nothing at all like the Clio you're thinking of. I've no idea how they are rev-wise but they certainly aren't unsuitable for motorway driving.
 
rodenal said:
To be clear, when I mention fiesta I am only talking mk7

I wouldn't spend a lot of time in any of the older models, would be amazed if £5k couldn't get you a decent one.

If the comparisons are just because of the fabia vrs time and value now then fair enough

Op if you're looking at anything bigger then imo it's pretty unlikely to actually save anything. If you like the civic buy a 1.8, it'll save you a small amount in fuel but not much else
Click to expand...

I was just looking around to see what I could get £5k, I just saw it as a modern ish car for 5k that looked alright, but you have brought up great point, its a bigger/heavier car so will potentially drink more fuel, its on bigger wheels than the Fiesta so tyres will cost more, So I have taken your point and do appreciate it.

I did get my generations wrong with the Fiesta, The Mk6 is the last gen and 7th is current, Wiki lied. I was trying to compare the dimensions to the MK6

Would I honestly get a mk7 Fiesta for £5k I do like the shape, think its great looking cars, but again its the whole underpowered engines doing 70mph (Obvs never going to admit on a forum about doing more than 70) Mon to Friday every week.
 
Last edited:
a mk7 zetec s is capable of sitting at 70 rather comfortably (120hp I think); doubt you'd get one for 5k, but its nonetheless a downgrade from almost every angle.
 
Last edited:
Definitely, we paid £7k for a 2012 1.4 last year so I'd expect £5k to be well within the realms of a decent example from around 2009

I'd say avoid the 1.4 if possible, it's pretty agricultural and not very economical given its size. That said if the car is right otherwise it's always worth considering.

The 1.4 or 1.6 feel reasonable enough on motorway - 1.25 isn't great at higher speed but you have to make a compromise somewhere
 
rodenal said:
Definitely, we paid £7k for a 2012 1.4 last year so I'd expect £5k to be well within the realms of a decent example from around 2009

I'd say avoid the 1.4 if possible, it's pretty agricultural and not very economical given its size. That said if the car is right otherwise it's always worth considering.

The 1.4 or 1.6 feel reasonable enough on motorway - 1.25 isn't great at higher speed but you have to make a compromise somewhere
Click to expand...

I'll have to have a little think about it, to me it feels like a great car for city driving, which a tiny portion will happen with the car, with the most part its dually and motorway, That's why I'm leaning towards the Vrs as it has the power to comfortably do that type of driving and as well as have that power it doesn't compromise on efficiency, its pretty much identical.

Servicing will probably be different and tyre's but I doubt it be much in it.

I'll have a look around see what's on offer.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated Diesel or Petrol.
 
I don't think the fabia is a bad car, but it is an old car now. Then again the purchase price would be very low and the engine itself is very reliable.
 
rodenal said:
I don't think the fabia is a bad car, but it is an old car now. Then again the purchase price would be very low and the engine itself is very reliable.
Click to expand...

I'm used to old cars, I've gone from a 2002 clio to a 2003 Honda accord to a 2004 Z4, There's a few nice looking 06 examples going so it'll be the youngest car I've owned :D:D

But jokes aside it seems like a good choice considering what it offers and at that price point, I'm not a diesel person so I don't know what else is available and what else is good.

If I had the cash I'd love to get something like an ecoboost that has something like 130bhp next to nothing tax and same fuel economy as a diesel, but if I had that money to spend on a modern turbo petrol I could quite comfortably run a Z4.
 
Lol at the talk of cars with under 100HP not being comfortable at 70MPH... My 53HP Polo was comfortable at 70MPH, it wasn't that loud either. My new car is actually louder at 70MPH and that has 190HP.

It is all in the gearing and the soundproofing, not in the engine power.
 
Ahh yes, the fabled 'autobahn', otherwise known as a flat, straight bit of British motorway with no cameras and few cars, preferably at night. :p
 
In fairness I completely understand the concern.

It's not a question of whether the car is capable of maintaining 70/80mph - more a case of how much of a pain it becomes when you inevitably have to slow down then match traffic speed etc.

Whilst noticeable, I never find it too bad in the Fiesta (which only has what, 90bhp?) but absolutely hated the 107 for it. The overall power to weight of the two cars can't be all that different, but when you're barely making enough power to move in the first place it obviously has quite an effect.

This is completely exaggerated if you're jumping out of a 230bhp+ car with a straight 6 that will pull reasonably well from lowish speed in higher gears...as the OP will be.
 
True. If someone pulled out in front of me in the Polo which caused me to have to slow from 80 to 50 or so, I'd have to change to the middle lane for a bit to build up speed again, so I didn't annoy the person behind me :p

60 - 80 in 4th took about 12 seconds. :D
 
Not sure I believe changing the car will be worth it as you will inevitably loose money chaining it and you need to factor that in.

You mention 12k per year and driving along at 70. That is 25 miles each way which isn't really high and breaks down to:

Z4 @ 30mpg £7.58 per day.
X @ 50mpg £4.55 per day.

In reality that is £727.20 per day.

Changing your car will not change how much it costs you to park which in reality is making up 50% of your cost per day.

Firstly if money is really that tight, drive at 55/60. It will save you more money than you think and cost you 2-4 minutes in journey time if that.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Not sure I believe changing the car will be worth it as you will inevitably loose money chaining it and you need to factor that in.

You mention 12k per year and driving along at 70. That is 25 miles each way which isn't really high and breaks down to:

Z4 @ 30mpg £7.58 per day.
X @ 50mpg £4.55 per day.

In reality that is £727.20 per day.

Changing your car will not change how much it costs you to park which in reality is making up 50% of your cost per day.

Firstly if money is really that tight, drive at 55/60. It will save you more money than you think and cost you 2-4 minutes in journey time if that.
Click to expand...

Its not just fuel savings, You forget Tax £295 Z4 - Example Vrs £130, Servicing I dare say the fabia will be cheaper again and tyres i'm running 19 inch on the Z4 and we're looking in the £200s a tyre for that.

Its high maintenance cost, I honestly can't fault the MPG figures on the Z4, for a high powered roadster 30+Mpg is bloody good going. Its the rest of it that I never thought about when purchasing it.

If I can sell the car for what I bought it for - £4800 technically I haven't lost that much money if you factor in the interest I have to pay for the car, dw I went with a bank loan so interest is not much more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom