£5k to 6k practical hatch

Sam098765

Sam098765

Sam098765

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24 Sep 2009
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137
Hi guys,

Been looking recently for a car for my girl friend. Price range in title. We have been looking so far at astra's and found a few good ones for 5.5k. That is 1.6 2005/6 models 40 to 60k miles.

With the budget in mind what would you guys be looking for? We have looked at the focus and don't like it. We would ideally like an astra sized car.

Thanks
 
Why do you not like the Focus? Have you driven both? I found the Astra absolutely terrible, by comparison to my Focus.

£6k will see you in a 1.6 MK5 Golf as an alternative.
 
I have only driven the Astra, found it a very nice drive. The Focus I am taking into account the looks which are not brilliant and the interior. The Focus does not look very sporty.

Would you rate a Golf ahead of the Astra?

Not sure why people see them as being so bad? Be nice to know.
 
Vuaxhall are really barely above the korean tat-vendors.

My mate's mum had one that ate 3 clutches under warranty. She complained constantly about having given up a focus for it.

edit: she has never killed a clutch otherwise in 30 years of driving.
 
Criteria seems to be crying out for a Focus, shame you don't like them.

The outside is a little plain (although it has grown on me over the years) but I thought the inside was much better than the Astra's. Only thing that lets it down IMO is the rubbish radio which could be swapped out for very little cash.
 
Right, where do I start.

In terms of interior, whilst the Focus doesn't have the most exciting interior, it is a much nicer place to be than the Astra, it is higher quality, and simply more comfortable.

Half the dash is painted (badly) in the Astra, and this shows. It also wears quite easily - this was evident on my Grandmother's Astra after she had done just 14,000 miles in it, as well as the various plastic coatings that were peeling and rubbing off.

Then the drive - I drove a few and they all felt 'aged' at 5 years old, where as my 5 year old 1.6 Focus with higher mileage than the Astras I drove still feels as tight as my ST did the day I picked it up. I also felt that all the inputs on the Astra (steering, clutch, accelerator) feel numb and disconnected.

I notice the mention of sporty. A 5 door Astra doesn't look sporty either, but then the Focus does look a little sporty in three door guise. Also, if you're interested in something looking sporty, would you not rather something felt a bit sporty to drive? You do not get this from the Astra, but will get a sense of this from the Focus's excellent (in the context of family hatchbacks) chassis.

There was a thread a few weeks ago where someone was set on an Astra VXR, and he was discounting the Focus ST for similar reasons to you, and I believe he finally test drove one and ended up buying the Focus.

Quite simply, drive one - they are so much better!

On the Astra vs. Golf - there is simply no contest either, the Golf takes it every time.

FWIW, I also drove a 1.6 version of the latest Astra, and still managed to prefer the Focus.
 
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I test drove both a new Focus and a new Astra (well, not the new new one, this was about a year ago), 1.6 TDCi Focus and 1.7 CDTi Astra. The Focus definitely felt like the better car, it handled the corners with a bit more grace when pushed and was a bit nippier.

Saytan said:
Vuaxhall are really barely above the korean tat-vendors.

My mate's mum had one that ate 3 clutches under warranty. She complained constantly about having given up a focus for it.

edit: she has never killed a clutch otherwise in 30 years of driving.
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Don't be so quick to judge on the clutch aspect.

At the time I wasn't planning to buy (wasn't planning on buying new anyway) but I went home and had a wee look around the net - apparently the DMF in the diesel Focus is pretty fragile and costs £900 to replace!

Needless to say, if I ever do get around to buying a Focus it'll probably be a petrol.
 
The car is only really going to get used for about 7,000 miles a year so driving pleasure is not really a big issue. The main things she is looking for is good looks, reliability and easy to drive. That's about it.

There are golf's in the price range but you are looking at more miles and older.
 
So because you only do 7000 miles a year, it doesn't matter if its a bad car?

You do not buy a Vauxhall Astra for reliability, either.

Go drive the Focus, then come back and tell us what you thought.
 
I think much like the advice given to someone off out to look at an Astra VXR - go and test drive cars that appeal to you and also a few that don't (such as the Focus in this case) as you may find the experience of actually driving them changes your mind significantly to just sitting in it and wobbling the steering wheel a bit.
 
Astras have very soggy rubberised feeling steering which completely disconnects you from knowing what the front wheels are doing. The basic car isn't bad - certainly better than Astras of old, but you really could do a lot better. That centre console looks like it was taken from the Sinclair Spectrum.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17923398

You can buy a Golf or A3 for this sort of price, and despite the higher mileage/age, it will still hold its value better than the Astra. You could also buy a C4 for a lot less money.
 
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andrewdodd13 said:
Don't be so quick to judge on the clutch aspect.

At the time I wasn't planning to buy (wasn't planning on buying new anyway) but I went home and had a wee look around the net - apparently the DMF in the diesel Focus is pretty fragile and costs £900 to replace!

Needless to say, if I ever do get around to buying a Focus it'll probably be a petrol.
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she had *three* clutches in the warranty period!

even assuming she went to the limits of the warranty that's ~ 20k per clutch!
 
Toyota Corolla 1.6 SR, full sport body kit and alloy wheels

Honda Civic 1.6 Sport, also comes with body kit and alloy wheels

Both from 04 to 06 and your budget will get excellent examples of both. Corolla has a better kit level, if I remember rightly is has climate control
 
Saytan said:
she had *three* clutches in the warranty period!

even assuming she went to the limits of the warranty that's ~ 20k per clutch!
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And I saw someone who specifically said his clutch lasted 17k miles in the Focus (and Ford wanted £1600 to fix it, somewhere in here).

On the other hand, I know someone with an 04 Astra H at 74k who's still on their first clutch, as is my grandad's Mondeo 02 TDCi at 100k+ miles. Sometimes I really do think it's down to luck.

Oh, another thing the OP may want to look at is a Mazda 3. You'll get a decent one of those in the £5-6k bracket. Some of the petrol engines are rather more thirsty than you would expect, but generally they're bullet proof. At the end of the day, it's just a Focus in disguise (which may or may not be closer to your taste).
 
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The biggest factor in how long a clutch lasts 99% of the time is its application and the user.

My old Derv Cavalier had 110K miles and was still on the original clutch. 100K of that it was owned by my uncle, and spent a lot of its time towing a caravan.

Mechanical sympathy can go a long way, even in extreme applications like towing.
 
If you need something sporty and good looking it simply has to be a Vauxhall Astra. It looks really sporting and awesome, and not at all like a dreary generic plastic hatchback. It's completely right that you should buy a cack car because it looks sporty.

Go for the 1.6 Astra, they are amazing.
 
Saytan said:
Vuaxhall are really barely above the korean tat-vendors.

My mate's mum had one that ate 3 clutches under warranty. She complained constantly about having given up a focus for it.

edit: she has never killed a clutch otherwise in 30 years of driving.
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I dislake Vauxhalls, I dont know why and I cant put my finger on it.

However, that been said I drive Vauxhall Astra's every day at work. They get ragged from cold 24hours a day 7 days a week. In 3 years of working in the police I have never known one to fail on a clutch.

In fact the only serious fault I have known was one with a knocking bottom end, an 07 plate with 130k on the clock.

(lots get pranged due to UNDERSTEER MAN ;) )

OP in that price range I would be looking at higher milage VW golfs or even Bora's.
 
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