Help me chose from this list of cars

rossk26

rossk26

rossk26

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Joined
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North East of England
I'm still struggling with what car to chose next when I sell the ST. The plan is to get something cheaper, and pocket the difference to put towards a house deposit. Ideally I'd like about £5k in my pocket to make selling the ST worthwhile. So my budget is £3-4k

I want something reliable that won't ever go wrong, and if it did wouldn't cost a fortune to fix. Just so I don't cry myself to sleep I need all aspects of running costs to be cheaper than the ST. Otherwise I'll just regret selling and quickly forget the £5k that disappeared into my savings.

I've always liked bigger cars, as they tend to have much nicer interiors and are generally more comfortable and have less road noise. I want something with refinement, no knocks and bangs and rattles.

The list of cars I'm considering and like:

Mazda 3 Sport Saloon - Value for money, reliable, nice looks, lots of kit. But maybe a bit bland?


Honda Accord Type S - Nice looks, excellent interior, with toys, comfortable, reliable. Too old man? Big car, small engine?

Others I've considered:
BMW 3**ci - Always loved the E46 coupe, lovely looks, nice interior. But probably lacks the reliability and cheap to fix criteria required.

Civic Type R EP3 - Really like hot hatches, and the EP3 is probably the class leader in my budget. But not sure if I want something like that again, will it disappoint? I'll struggle to find an unmolested example? Crashy ride? Loud?

Or should I just be sensible and get a Mondeo Ghia X? - Horrible looks, dull drive, old mans car. But very reliable, excellent value for money, cheap to fix. And more money in my back pocket...

I need guidance OCUK! Please knock on the head any terrible cars I've listed and add any you think would tick all the boxes too.
 
Accord will give You most of that, not a bad car to chuck around for its size either.

Bit boring mind

E46 will give you niggling troubles, cheap to sort if your handy but an annoyance all the same, every time I get through my to do list I notice another little issue. Maybe only 100 a time to sort but in6 months I've probably spent a grand on mine that I'll never see back..and that was starting from a good base. OK most of what I've done you could leave... But it would annoy you
 
Yeh the niggling troubles is what puts me off, along with any repair bills it will likely throw up. Ideally I'd be wanting the 6 pot engine. So even more expensive to run.

A slightly boring car won't bother me too much, I think a good interior would keep me happy, with some nice toys too, which the Accord has. I just don't think I could live with the looks of a Mondeo, despite it being the ideal car.

Rybo89 said:
This thread is depressing.
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Haha don't I know :( I'll be devastated to sell up.

However at the same time, the ST is just not getting used properly.
 
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Really depends what you want, if you think you are going to get annoyed by having a Mondeo and end up buying something different in 3 months time then its a pointless proposition. But if it is all about saving money and you will put up with it then go for the Mondeo.

Personally I'd go for the CTR, I could live with the harsh ride and would only be a bit of a sidestep from your ST performance/drive wise. Won't be particularly economical esp if you drive with a heavy foot however - but probably not something you'd end up wanting to change because its boring 3 months down the line
 
My old car was a mazda 3 sport so I'd choose that out of your list. I bought mine on ~145k and sold it on ~163k and I never had to do anything to it whatsoever - it was completely reliable.

They're based on a MK2 focus so handle very well for what they are, but you do have to really rev the engine to get the best out of it. Needless to say, after a Focus ST it's going to feel very very slow.

On the plus side, if you drive like a granny the MPG is pretty good (you can get 40-45 on a run, my average was 27), and they're extremely well spec'd if you get a facelift model.

Overall though, I can't help thinking it's a massive downgrade for not much of a saving.
 
Just buy whatever maximises the amount of cash you get back, it's likely anything in that list will bore you after a while so you might as well stick with whatever's cheapest to put the most cash back in your pocket.
 
Janesy B said:
Just buy whatever maximises the amount of cash you get back, it's likely anything in that list will bore you after a while so you might as well stick with whatever's cheapest to put the most cash back in your pocket.
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That's what I thought too, so the Mondeo was my initial train of thought. But then I think I'd get annoyed with it within a few months. I like to turn back when I've parked the car and be able to look at it from any angle and still admire the cars looks. I just can't do that with the Mondeo. The interior is lovely (once the wood effect has been replaced).

But then I think I'd probably rather spend another £1k to get something like an Accord which is far better looking, a better interior, and probably slightly better to drive. Oh and it's not another Ford (I've only ever had Ford's).
 
Janesy B said:
Just buy whatever maximises the amount of cash you get back, it's likely anything in that list will bore you after a while so you might as well stick with whatever's cheapest to put the most cash back in your pocket.
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This would be what I would do. Something to tide you over until you have enough to buy something that isn't a bottom-of-the-price-range dog.
 
The more I look at the spec list on that Mondeo, the more appealing it becomes.

Also just ran an insurance quote too, and £264 fully comp is nice! Tyres are more expensive than the ST's which is odd...
 
rossk26 said:
Yeh the niggling troubles is what puts me off, along with any repair bills it will likely throw up. Ideally I'd be wanting the 6 pot engine. So even more expensive to run.

.
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Not really actually, the core engine is brilliant, 230ish bhp, nice linear power delivery, nic noise and 30ish mpg on a journey that seen low 40s from a 180 bhp ctdi civic, can't really complain about that
 
rodenal said:
Not really actually, the core engine is brilliant, 230ish bhp, nice linear power delivery, nic noise and 30ish mpg on a journey that seen low 40s from a 180 bhp ctdi civic, can't really complain about that
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MPG doesn't bother me that much with the low mileage I do. But I'd like to keep insurance, tyres, and especially repair bills down.

Need a car that is extremely reliable as about 70% of my wages is going straight into savings each month.
 
I understand, hence why I don't think it's the car for you, but the basic Gubbins of it are the best bit its everything bolted on that is the annoyance

Honestly the accord is a far nicer all round car than the Mondeo, go look at one. Mazda 3 could t be a bad buy either really
 
rossk26 said:
MPG doesn't bother me that much with the low mileage I do. But I'd like to keep insurance, tyres, and especially repair bills down.

Need a car that is extremely reliable as about 70% of my wages is going straight into savings each month.
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MPG doesn't bother you? And you want cheap insurance? This is screaming ST220 which i know you have looked into.

Tyre's are the same price as the Focus ST, repair bill will be the same again i guess.

Try a ST220 and see how you feel? Pick a good one up for £3k, rare as hell, looks good, Awesome V6 (even if it is the wrong way) and you keep the fun factor there.

EDIT: O and you will be able to join the ST220/Derv ST Thread :)
 
I'm looking at buying an EP3 mate, their is a few clean examples on Auto Trader.
As you know will all Honda's the engines are bomb proof! I recently posted a thread like this and people seem to be favouring the EP3 for me, one member said it was the most reliable car he ever had and that it was a lot of fun. EP3 is within your budget and it wont disappoint mate
 
I did read your post & thought about it for a little while but I just can't get over selling the ST, Sorry. :p
 
Fair enough, i don't blame you tbh, ST's are amazing

i really did want one but insurance quotes led me astray. Its horrible only being 21 as car insurance prices are ridiculous and i seem to be limited to what cars i can own.
 
4T5 said:
I did read your post & thought about it for a little while but I just can't get over selling the ST, Sorry. :p
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Same here tbh. I absolutely love mine, there's no way I could sell it for any of the cars on that list. :p
 
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