£7K spend - Anything better than a Focus Mk2.5?

Caporegime
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You can get some fantastic cars for 3-4k once you hit 7k+ you are in the realms of nice but unrealistic to insure cars. Basically you will end up buying a much newer lower mileage car that will depreciate without giving you much or anything over a 2004 ish car.

The very earliest (new shape) focus'/astras must be falling into that price bracket now even the low mile high trim types. Will give you 4 cracking years of service to rack up some NCB then you can fish out 7-8k for something with balls ;)
For a "normal" car, I can't see the point of getting a newer, facelift Focus.

Find an early pre-facelift in good condition, in the trim you want, put ~£2-3k back in your pocket and be done with it.
Yep Im thinking on the same track now, especially as Id like to have something far better in the near future when Im not so constrained by insurance. Due to my location though it does seem that Astras are far more likely to turn up in the spec I want too, so will keep an eye on both (far more likely to get Vauxhall parts/servicing done cheaper too) - the nice A3/350z can wait :p. I do have access to a E46 318i, its just that its on its last legs as I expect will be a large bill sooner rather than later - it does give me a cushion of time to find the replacement, Id like to keep it but its got a blooming tape deck :p
As a point of reference ...when I was out shopping for cars the other day ...when I bought the Volvo, I couldn't help but notice how cheap the Vauxhall Vectras are now, ex fleet cars, so 1 keeper and FSH, you can buy on with an '08 plate for less than £6k ...'07 cars were under £5k ...even the higher specced ones were hardly any more ...same was true of the estates ...and they are cavernous.

Now I think the Vectra was crap personally, I don't like it one little bit ..but for the age and condition of the car and the sheer amount of metal you get ...I can't help but think they do represent rather good value if you just want something to lug people and or stuff around in. Also, as much as I dislike those cars, if you are just sitting on a motorway or cruising around at normal speeds, they are quite softly sprung so rather comfortable.

I simply can't believe I just pointed someone in an odd sort of way to the late Vectra ...I must be sick or something :o ...but still I saw quite a few '08 plate cars that looked in good order and would have had FSH for between £5-£6k ...that's cheap for a car so new of that type.
I know its been done to death but thats a decent mondeo plus change ;)
Vectra/Mondeo for me seems too big a car for me at this time - though Ive never been in either though - I guess they would be compared to a 3 series...

EDIT: I guess the titles wrong again now though - after a £4/5k car now :p

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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Associate
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I agree with some of the others. Save the money and get a nice 05 Focus for 4-5k. Should be able to get at least 1.6 Zetec with lowish mileage for that. We got exactly that 18 months ago for not much more.

I can't imagine insurance on even that sort of Focus will be cheap for you though (well not what i'd term cheap). We have only 1.5 years NCB (as we haven't owned our own car for a long time till now), but we've had licenses for 15+ years with no endorsements and we still have to pay £850 a year to insure a 55 plate 1.6 Zetec.
 
Soldato
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Yep Im thinking on the same track now, especially as Id like to have something far better in the near future when Im not so constrained by insurance. Due to my location though it does seem that Astras are far more likely to turn up in the spec I want too, so will keep an eye on both (far more likely to get Vauxhall parts/servicing done cheaper too) - the nice A3/350z can wait :p. I do have access to a E46 318i, its just that its on its last legs as I expect will be a large bill sooner rather than later - it does give me a cushion of time to find the replacement, Id like to keep it but its got a blooming tape deck :p


Vectra/Mondeo for me seems too big a car for me at this time - though Ive never been in either though - I guess they would be compared to a 3 series...

EDIT: I guess the titles wrong again now though - after a £4/5k car now :p

ps3ud0 :cool:

My money would be on a mk3 mondeo of some description, much better car than the focus and id hazard a guess that it would be cheaper to insure as well?
 
Soldato
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Vectra/Mondeo for me seems too big a car for me at this time - though Ive never been in either though - I guess they would be compared to a 3 series...

More like a 5 series in size terms to be honest, certainly the new Mondeos are. The 3 series is quite compact.
 
Caporegime
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Actually meant 5 series - just had 3 on my mind - as I said though, slightly too big a car than I want to start off with. I need to really try one though I guess, just think Id 'enjoy' a smaller car because of the self-limited engine options I have.

Now to wait for the perfect examples to flood in - just checking Autotrader regularly and theres an auction place in Bedford Ill be keeping my eye on. Gonna avoid private on my first car just to cover myself...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 

Imy

Imy

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Have you considered the MK1 focus?

My Mk1 focus was relatively cheap to insure. £700 ish for 10 months with no NCB - 2 litre petrol engine. That went down significantly after the 1st year too. You can probably pick up a good one, low mileage etc for around £3.5k. It was my first car and I'd recommend it to anyone as a first car. It's been fun, reliable, practical and imo looks better than the mk2.
 
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Have you considered the MK1 focus?

My Mk1 focus was relatively cheap to insure. £700 ish for 10 months with no NCB - 2 litre petrol engine. That went down significantly after the 1st year too. You can probably pick up a good one, low mileage etc for around £3.5k. It was my first car and I'd recommend it to anyone as a first car. It's been fun, reliable, practical and imo looks better than the mk2.

The OP is unsure about stepping down to a pre-facelift Focus, and you're recommending a MK1?

You can pick up a MK2 for not a lot more than £3.5k.

The MK2 is better in every conceivable way.
 
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Better? Other than purchase price for a first car...... oh and driving dynamics although that will have probably been cancelled out by now by the age of the cars and wear on suspension parts when you compare a mk1 to a mk2.

Imy was suggesting spending £3.5k on a MK1. I paid less than £5k for my MK2 ~9 months ago!

As for driving dynamics, the MK2 retains the same responsive drive as the MK1 but generally improves upon it IMO.
 
Caporegime
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Hi Guys,

Sorry missed the replies since my last post, but it does lead me to my next question. As Ive got a reduced budget of say £5k, I think thats narrowed it down to a Focus Titanium or Astra Elite - common so likely to find something that I want in that price range too.

What I want to understand is if I should just restrict myself to particular generations/engines/trim so have a few basic questions:

1) Ive discounted the Focus Mk1 purely on age (sub 2004) is this a bad thing to do - is the Mk2, as a generalisation, the better car? As I said before Im not overly keen on the Mk2 shape but considering the budget, beggers cant be choosers, if it gets me a better car. I know this is going to be peoples opinions and a very tidy Mk1 will always be nicer than the average Mk2, but please appreciate the likelhood of finding that difference in my price range - Im under the assumption I could find a nice Mk2 quite easily...
1b) Ive also heard of a Mk2.1 - whats that?

2) Going to engines, Ive already understood that for the Mk1 Focus to avoid the 1.8L, so to me I can only get the 1.6L - whats that like? Cant do 2L cos of insurance. Does this follow with the Mk2 - I cant find details on this (prefer a 1.8L really) so any experience would be appreciated.

3) With the Astra I definitely dont see any reason to go beyond the Mk5, its not the greatest car but will do me well and seems to be inherently cheaper than a comparable Focus anyway. What engines should I look out for - again looking between a 1.6/1.8L Petrol...

4) Finally am I wanting too much when it comes to trim? Id like a nice interior as thats what Ill appreciate most, and naively expecting things like my phone to play through the CD player etc - 2004 is a long time ago so the manus may not have AUX capabilities as standard (LOL Im not expecting iPhone/iPod connectivity!!! :p). Gone for Elite/Titanium on purpose rather than the Sportier trims to manage insurance, honestly I dont care if it looks faster...

Thanks again for any direction/comment

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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