New Car Advice

[Orion21]

I am in the market for a new car and as a long term forum lurker thought I would seek some advice here.

Budget is a bit flexible depending on car, but generally between £20,000 to £30,000. It is my hope that for this I would want:

- New car up to about 2 years old
- Probably prefer manual gears and manual handbrake, and tech that can be switched off if it's intrusive
- Something with a bit of poke about it, so 'warm hatches' or 'hot hatches'
- Would prefer something Focus / Astra sized if possible, but can be flexible

Cars I had in mind include Hyundai I20N, Hyundai I30N (or possibly I30N-line or Kia version), Cupra Leon (and maybe Formentor if that is worth looking at), BMW 128ti, Mazda 3, Ford Fiesta ST and Ford Focus ST. If I can find one, given it was discontinued, I like the idea possibly of a new Hyundai I20N despite it being a size class down from what I am used to.

Grateful for any thoughts on these cars and car suggestions to look at and possibly test drive. Hoping to test drive 5 or 6 cars (at least 2 manual and 2 automatic).

 

[Orion21]

Critical to decision is how are you going to finance the vehicle? Interest rates on nearly new can be crazy, depending on manufacturer new car finance deals can be high! Cars are a depreciating asset so consider leasing if you don’t do too a higher mileage.

I can self finance or use finance of the dealer, whatever gets the best deal with lowest overall price paid factoring in any extras they might through in.

I should probably clarify that for most cars with the exception of the Hyundai I20N I would be looking more at under 1 year old used or up to about 2 years old.

 

[Orion21]

128ti is available as a (poor) automatic only.

I'd consider an i30n as it'll likely still have a good few years warranty. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404098455035

BMW is an outside choice for me, just happened to be one within top end of budget near me and about 6 months old and was another automatic option to test drive.

I like the I30N, probably the one without having test driven it yet that I would have at my first choice except for being conscious that I'd likely to have to get an older one and that it seems to be pretty thirsty on petrol. I'd be planning to run the car as my main car. I20N if I can live the size seemed a compromise to get newer and cheaper running costs. Hyundai also appeal due to warranty of 5 years. Cupra concerns me a bit as they seem to have done poorly in reliability tests (I usually favour Japanese or Korean due to my reliability perceptions), but that might be fixed and mainly relate to the infotainment system.

 

[Orion21]

Can't say I'm a fan of the Golf, think it's too boxy looking, and it'll suffer from the same infotainment issues as the Cupra to some degree I assume. The Cupra I do think looks nice, I have test driven it, the 190bhp version.

If it hadn't been for the new Honda Civic Type R jumping 10k or so in price I'd probably been looking at that as my first choice, not sure I want to be paying about 30k for a 3-4 year old one either. Similar issue with the GR Yaris, they seem to go for about their new price or more in some cases of unused / low mileage / new dealer examples.

I probably should have also said I want a 5 door ideally. I briefly considered Toyota GR86 / Mazda MX-5 type thing but ruled it out as I don't think I could live with it as an only car due to practically in relation to seats and storage / boot space.

**Edit added - Should be test driving the Mazda 3 tomorrow**

 

[Orion21]

Oooh nice with 3 is it?

Was the manual Skyactiv G, no idea on trim level but think most are well enough kitted for what I care about. I was hoping to test the Skyactiv X though as that would be more likely the engine I'd want.

Thought it was good, gears changed nice, prefer the infotainment system having knobs / button control rather than touchscreen that Cupra and VW group cars seem to have. Certainly feels more premium than previous Mazda cars. Main gripe was rear visibility was rubbish.

 

[Orion21]

Is there any reason a car dealer would offer a bigger discount on a car if they preregister it first before selling to me?

Note this car would currently be unregistered but they're offering a bigger discount to preregister it first.

 

[Orion21]

Counts towards their numbers with the manufacturer which can mean bonuses and incentives for staff or the dealership. It'll show as 1 owner on the V5 already so you'll show as the second owner if that bothers you.

They haven't pre-registered it yet as far as I know, so I'm confused as to how it would help their numbers to do that before selling to me?

Unless it allows them to count it twice towards their numbers, once when they pre-register then again when selling on to me.

 

[Orion21]

What did @Orion21 end up deciding on?

If I can still find a suitable new one hoping to get the Hyundai I20N.

After test driving a few cars over the last weeks, I think I'd rather stick with a manual while I still can, that said the autos I drive were good too, just concerned longer term I'd bore of them, they're the fallback option for now.

Trying to decide if things like smart repair (probably not) and gardx (maybe) are worth it that dealers want to add on.

 

[Orion21]

Get them done elsewhere if you're considering them. Then you'll likely pay a lot less and have them done properly.

Is gardx or similar even needed?

I've heard of ceramic protection that sounds better protecting from a detailing outfit but was under the impression gardx wasn't that and likely wouldn't last that long assuming a dealer even properly applies it.

 

[Orion21]

Just to update this thread with the conclusion, I got a Hyundai I20N .

 

[Orion21]

Congratulations on the new ride. What colour did you go for?

White with black roof, which I think makes the white a lot better as I don't usually like white as a colour for cars.