New car, £5/6k budget.

piggeh

piggeh

piggeh

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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? :)
 
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.
 
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.
 
Raymond Lin said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
I always carry out a wholelife costs approach to my car buying so will see how it compares

*starts work on uber spreadsheet*
 
Had a test drive of Focus this morning, 1.6 engine. Very nice car overall, nice engine, for some reason the door armrests I find look really naff and it quite annoyed me :p

Anyway the dealer wanted £7k which is a bit more than I want to spend so was really doing it to see what the car is like generally. Came back home to find some up north, very similar mileage/reg/spec, for a grand less. Just thinking whether to drive up or just to deal with it over email (reputable dealership) and take a risk in buying one without seeing it, or wait for one locally to be offered for less. Dealer wasnt in a haggling mood (although I wasnt too bothered about doing so as I only really went to test drive it).
 
So far have had a drive of:

Peugeot 308 (08 reg) - nice car, pretty good engine. I get those nagging voices in the back of my head with anything french though. Although I do prefer the look of it to the focus.

Focus 1.6 - nice car, would imagine 1.8 is even better. Might go and see a 1.8 tomorrow evening.

Tempted to look at:

Kia Cee'd - Like the facelift model but might be a year too young for my price range.

Fiesta ST - had a look at one in a forecourt this morning. Good looking cars. I might keep it on the backburner and see if the thought takes hold..

Mulling over whether a Skoda Octavia VRS is worth looking at, as they're nice cars and great engines, but - it's also a Skoda :p Having lived with a Skoda badge for 5 years I'm sort of tired of driving a marque with an 'old man' reputation.
 
Seen a Focus Titanium 1.6 but 70k miles on the clock. I guess being 3 years old it's been a lease car (eg 3 year 25k a year mileage lease). Would you be put off with the high mileage or consider it if all service history is documented and all done at the correct mileages?

It's £4.5k so about a grand less than a Zetec with 40k miles
 
Last few days I've been to Kent, North London, Surrey etc, looking at cars. Amazing the state of most of them given they're 3 years old :/ Went to Buckinghamshire week before. Spent a small fortune in time & fuel so far.

Almost tempted to keep the fabia at this rate.
 
Any thoughts on the following:

Seat Ibiza 1.4 SE 58 reg - look quite nice, will see one in the flesh tomorrow.
Suzuki Swift 1.6 VVT Sport - Decent? Interior looks a bit crap.

Seen one of each available locally and with decent mileages. Ibiza only has 18k miles and looks like its in great condition. Guessing it might just have end of manufactuer warranty.
 
I really cant stand cheap interiors, guess I'll rule it out then.

Was reading the thread on Civics, might have a look at those, EX spec looks pretty darn swish.
 
Had a look at a car tonight. Never ceases to amaze me, attitude of some dealers. Dealer went off to phone his boss to see how much they could offer part exchange. I hear him on the phone chatting away from where I was sitting. The dealer mentions to boss that the car is in the book for between £800-1100, but that it has a service light on (otherwise condition commensurate with age).

So 5 minutes later, he comes out and offers £400 part exchange. Lol.

It was a useful conversation anyway as I know now the book value the dealers are going from xD and will just use the trick to turn the service indicator light off..

Said dealer also apologised when I got there for advertising the car at the wrong price (was advertised for £5,950). They say it should be on for £7,450 but as a gesture of goodwill they'll sell it for £6,500. How generous.
 
newcar.jpg


Just shelled out on this :D Pick it up during the week or next Saturday. Took it for a nice test drive, enjoyable car to drive. Decided to heck with practicality of 5 doors, rarely have more than 2 in the car anyway!
 
As in the tyres? Not sure.

The only A-road I do most days is the 50mph section of the A3, probably similar to what your mate was doing.

I actually quite liked the interior, it's not the soft touch plastic they have in some cars but having looked at a lot of cars recently it certainly holds its own, quality wise.

Couple more pics (all from the dealer's website)

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newcar3.jpg


newcar4f.jpg


newcar5.jpg
 
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danza said:
Looks nice.

The interior looks nice (no quirkiness like the Yaris or Twingo for instance, which is one major reason why I went for a Swift) and is very functional, just as you say - not the highest quality materials. However, all cars at this end of the size scale apart from the MINI and more recently the A1, have skimped on interior to keep sale price at a minimum. But then you get a lot more elsewhere with the Swift. Does yours have the false floor in the boot that you can store stuff in and put things on top of?

Mine rattled a bit, but that's not too big an issue. I actually rather miss it. :(

Oh, and the ashtray is removable and actually should live in the little compartment behind the handbrake.
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I'm wondering what I've missed now! Didn't check the boot out to such an extent! Will have a look once I get it :) Have to say the keyless start is a bit quirky - rather than have a button to start it they've just exchanged the key slot for a plastic knob to turn it on.

Not a fan of the MINI anyway, took some driving lessons in one and they always seemed a bit of a novelty for novelty's sake (putting speedo in the middle for example).

I have option to part ex my Fabia, so going to place that on ebay during the week and if it goes for more than the part exchange value offered, will be a few more quids in :) Quite nice to have the chance to flog it privately with a car lined up to replace.
 
danza said:
Good stuff. Not sure the boot floor thing wasn't a later addition, so yours might not have it?

I could happily live with all the things I've mentioned against the Swift in this thread, but there was one thing that I didn't get on with the car - the pedals. They're very, very light coming from my Civic Type R, but then the cars are at opposite ends of the scale in that respect. I've never driven a car with such a heavy clutch before or since owning my Civic, or with such progressive feeling brakes. The Swift was a bit all or nothing and very light to operate in comparison, but I did get used to it when driving it on a frequent basis. I did find it very easy to stall though.

The keyless start and entry is great though. It takes a little getting used to, and almost seems to play up sometimes, but that's more likely me forgetting how to use it properly than anything. I tried to keyless enter/start my Civic on numerous occasions, and even left it with the key in the ignition a couple of times outside work after using the Swift! I must've absent-mindedly got out the Civic, pressed where the little rubber button is on the Swift door handle, and though 'there, that's all nice and locked now'. :D

The most fun I ever had driving a car was in my Swift around various twisty bits near to home. The Civic is much faster, but just doesn't go round bends the same at all. Steering in the Swift feels brilliant too, and is really confidence-inspiring. I found the driving position very good too. I did have to have the seat all the way back and down, but then I am 6'3" tall! The seats are quite good too, although I put a bit of weight on in the couple of years I had ine and found the bolsters a little snug sometimes :o.

Oh, and one ohter interseting thing with the Swift Sport is it will actually drift quite well for a FWD car (turning off TC and planting ones foot on roundabouts is a good way of doing this). One final thign I liked about the Swift was the engine note/exhaust note. It has that weird whizzy whooooooooooooooop sound under heavy acceleration like an old Mini, and a lovely burble for only a 1.6.
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Cheers man, looking forward to it even more now :) The clutch pedal felt fine for me but then I'm going from a Fabia diesel to Swift so probably the other end of the spectrum from you!

Out of all the cars I've looked at it was really the only one which I actually felt excited about, and I think it's good to get something which I'll look forward to driving rather than something that might bore me senseless.

Will have to watch my weight, maybe extra motivation to lose a stone xD
 
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