New car, £5/6k budget.

Associate
Joined
27 Jan 2011
Posts
1,479
I currently own a Skoda Fabia 1.9TDI (no laughing at the back there, it was a reliable economical choice at the time!). Had it for over 4 years and starting to get more troublesome, so I'm thinking of getting something else. Fairly basic requirements:

- do about 10k miles a year
- current car is 100bhp (although it has power loss problems) so around same number of horses would be good.
- only take passengers to the football, otherwise its just me in the car
- live in an area which is quite tough on insurance, so cant be a high insurance group.
- pref. 3-4 years old
- would prefer a dealer as I dont fancy palming my pile of rubbish onto an unsuspecting person directly

Current thinking:

Fiat Grande Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Kia Cee'd
Ford Focus

Not sure what else is out there worth looking at - any ideas peeps? :)
 
If you want something similar size but a little more fun, how about something like a Fiesta ST? (Not sure how bad they are on insurance mind)

Otherwise I agree with Nas, you're looking at something like a Focus, maybe another Skoda like an Octavia or maybe a Seat Leon. I can't see Audi or VW dealers having anything around £6K.

There is always a wildcard suggestion like a Focus ST Mk.I but I can't see those being cheap to insure.
 
Why are you suggesting ST's? He's asking for a normal hatchback with about 100bhp. There is absolutely no point at all in suggesting the sporty variants - he isnt interested in any sort of performance so why pay the costs associated with a sporty variant?
 
Well - I have in the past considered an ST or a VRS (which are now quite cheap to buy). I wouldnt mind something with a bit of punch to it but not if the insurance was excessive (otherwise I'd get an S2000, obviously ;)).

I would imagine only older vehicles in ST/VRS/etc varieties would be around this price mark anyway.
 
[TW]Fox;20567641 said:
Why are you suggesting ST's? He's asking for a normal hatchback with about 100bhp. There is absolutely no point at all in suggesting the sporty variants - he isnt interested in any sort of performance so why pay the costs associated with a sporty variant?

I'm trying to suggest things that aren't silly quick but that have a fun turn of speed. After all, there's nothing to suggest that he specifically wants to avoid this type of car (bar insurance, which i've tried to take into account).

There's certainly no mention of wanting low running costs, and even then a Fiesta ST is hardly going to break the bank.
 
TBH I don't mind the suggestions of a few hot hatches if they fit the criteria (depends on insurance costs really), its another car to look at. Bit stumped for ideas on what else is out there.
 
Well you need to run the insurance quotes and tell us if it's affordable - if so, great. If not, then nothing lost.
 
do you want a skoda fabia in part ex? ;)

How's the Yaris like to own/drive?

I like it (well obviously), so take this with a pinch of salt if you like but my opinion is this.

It does respectable MPG if you care for that sort of thing. I average 39mpg since I got it 6 months ago. Tax is £190 per year.

The ride is comfy, it isn't harsh even though it is the "sports" model with 17" Alloys, but there is some body roll if you do chuck it round a corner. It comes with climate control which is lovely. It also has keyless entry (or Comfort Access). You keys never have to leave your pocket.

I would have preferred leather seats, the boots could be bigger too. With the rear seats at their default position the boot is not that deep and there is a spare wheel/jack etc under the fake boot floor as well. But you do get loads of cabin space. Everyone keep commenting on they are surprised how much room it has inside.

It isn't the fastest thing on the road but fast enough to overtake people, the extra half a litre over the 1.3L model helps I guess.

Cabin noise is very dependant on road surface, at times it can be rather loud if it is rough roads. So sound proofing isn't the best compare to BMW or Audi. I find handling quite responsive (well, compare to say Mini Cooper, Mini One, Peugeot 207 and Fiesta that i've driven). There is also like 6 airbags if you are concern about that kind of thing. It also has traction control, ABS and all that stuff.

But it is my first car and I am very happy with it, service too is cheap, £140 from Toyota dealer near me. Tyres are okay-ish in price, set of 4 conti can be had for £600.
 
Last edited:
I like it (well obviously), so take this with a pinch of salt if you like but my opinion is this.

It does respectable MPG if you care for that sort of thing. I average 39mpg since I got it 6 months ago.

The ride is comfy, it isn't harsh even though it is the "sports" model with 17" Alloys, but there is some body roll if you do chuck it round a corner. It comes with climate control which is lovely. It also has keyless entry (or Comfort Access). You keys never have to leave your pocket.

I would have preferred leather seats, the boots could be bigger too. With the rear seats at their default position the boot is not that deep and there is a spare wheel/jack etc under the fake boot floor as well.

It isn't the fastest thing on the road but fast enough to overtake people, the extra half a litre over the 1.3L model helps I guess.

Cabin noise is very dependant on road surface, at times it can be too loud if it is rough roads. So sound proofing isn't the best compare to BMW or Audi. I find handling quite responsive (well, compare to say Mini Cooper, Mini One, Peugeot 207 and Fiesta that i've driven). There is also like 6 airbags if you are concern about that kind of thing. It also has traction control, ABS and all that stuff.

But it is my first car and I am very happy with it, service too is cheap, £140 from Toyota dealer near me. Tyres are okay-ish in price, set of 4 conti can be had for £600.

Cheers, appreciate it. Might head down to Toyota and see a few in the flesh. Cabin noise can be annoying when you're motorway driving but my journey is pretty much A roads.

I've driven the focus (115hp) before and it went ok, so anything comparable will do me (although if its got more, a bonus I guess). Having driven a 100hp fabia with MAF sensor problems I'd imagine anything else would be quicker :( I guess the only thing that puts me off the focus is I used to manage a fleet a few years back and got fed up of the sight of focuses and golfs!

Will have a look at some insurance quotes tomorrow.
 
Cheers, appreciate it. Might head down to Toyota and see a few in the flesh. Cabin noise can be annoying when you're motorway driving but my journey is pretty much A roads.

I've driven the focus (115hp) before and it went ok, so anything comparable will do me (although if its got more, a bonus I guess). Having driven a 100hp fabia with MAF sensor problems I'd imagine anything else would be quicker :( I guess the only thing that puts me off the focus is I used to manage a fleet a few years back and got fed up of the sight of focuses and golfs!

Will have a look at some insurance quotes tomorrow.

It has 131 bhp (i think, off my head), book figure is 0-60 in 9 seconds but it weight under a tonne.

And I know what you mean about the Focus...part of the reason i didn't want one, because they are everywhere...silly reason i know :p
 
So, insurance :)

Focus 1.6 [115] £475
Fiesta ST £538 (hmmm, less than I was expecting)
Yaris 1.8 VVT £470
Mazda 3 MPS £617

Hmmm, all cheaper than my Fabia!... let's see..

Honda S2000 £1449

oh well...

I guess I'll be really anal and look at petrol costs, but above 4 cant be too bad on 10k miles a year.
 
The MPS is a fairly ridiculous choice really - it will be noticeably more expensive than any of the others to run - it takes expensive tyres, costs £400+ a year to tax, etc etc.
 
I always carry out a wholelife costs approach to my car buying so will see how it compares

*starts work on uber spreadsheet*
 
[TW]Fox;20573254 said:
The MPS is a fairly ridiculous choice really - it will be noticeably more expensive than any of the others to run - it takes expensive tyres, costs £400+ a year to tax, etc etc.

Yes i know, it was a retort to the hot hatch comment :)

I always carry out a wholelife costs approach to my car buying so will see how it compares

*starts work on uber spreadsheet*

The Yaris should be "low" in that regards.
 
Back
Top Bottom