Oh no! Another Spec me thread!

m4cc45 · 2 Oct 2009 at 09:41

Hi,

Just had my old car wrote off after a guy decided the break and the accelerator were too similar and accelerated into my parked car!

That leaves me around 3K to spend on a new car (EDIT: insurance is already taken care of so 3 to 3.5k to spend).

Ideally I'd like just a standard 4 door car. The only additional feature I have to have is Air Con which is pretty standard now-a-days.

Any ideas? Or is it the usual Mondeo? If such any advice on what to look for when viewing?

Cheers,

M.

Ricochet J · 2 Oct 2009 at 09:58

What do you do? How many miles do you cover? What sort of roads do you drive on? Auto or manual?

m4cc45 · 2 Oct 2009 at 11:18

Ideally:

Manual Drive
Cover around 12k to 13k milage a year. Mainly motorway or 50MPH roads. Commuting into work is mainly 50MPH road and around 10miles each way (so average is around 22 miles as I have to pick up the mrs at night).
I use pool cars for anything work related.

M.

bledd · 2 Oct 2009 at 11:28

Focus/Mondeo..

What was your old car?

Saytan · 2 Oct 2009 at 11:29

2.0 petrol mondeo. might as well go for Ghia-X trim if you can find one

m4cc45 · 2 Oct 2009 at 11:48

Old car was an Octavia Estate 1.9SLX Diesel - it was an old pool car. I had it around 12 months and never had a problem with it and, according to the onboard computer, could get around 55MPG to and from work. Obviously not looking for that but something around 40MPG would good.

M.

P.S. Not bothered about having an estate either - I'd prefer a standard car.

m4cc45 · 2 Oct 2009 at 18:04

Any other suggestions?

mjt · 2 Oct 2009 at 18:23

depends what you're looking for really..
mondeos can be a bit boring

look at Saabs; 9-3, 9-5. a lot of car for the money and they usually come well equipped

if you liked the octavia, you could always get a vRS. they seem to fetch ~£3k..

Saytan · 2 Oct 2009 at 19:41

mjt said:
depends what you're looking for really..
mondeos can be a bit boring

look at Saabs; 9-3, 9-5. a lot of car for the money and they usually come well equipped

if mondeos are boring, then a tarted up vectra isnt going to be interesting...

mjt · 2 Oct 2009 at 20:12

Saytan said:
if mondeos are boring, then a tarted up vectra isnt going to be interesting...

140bhp NA vs ~200bhp turbo

hmm..

m4cc45 · 3 Oct 2009 at 16:13

Thanks.

Does anyone have any views on the Lexus IS200 ? Particularly in relation to running costs?

Thanks again.

M.

classicVin · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:35

golf mk4 tdi ?

m4cc45 · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:42

I wouldn't rule them out. I had a Golf before and it was great. May be a little small for what I'm looking for but it's certainly a consideration and one to add to the list on Autotrader!

M.

mjt · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:45

don't get a golf 4 tdi

they're overpriced and you're not doing high enough mileage to warrant a diesel so don't waste your time

m4cc45 · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:46

Other suggestions then?

Currently looking at:

Mondeo
Lexus IS 200
Passatt

mjt · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:47

yes, saabs (9-3, 9-5)
octavia vRS..

m4cc45 · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:48

Hmm Saabs... worth a look I suppose - can't seem to find any good Octavia VRS's in the Gloucester region though...

mjt · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:49

travel then. why limit yourself to a small radius?
obviously there's no point in driving to john o'groats, but be realistic

m4cc45 · 3 Oct 2009 at 18:51

Trying 30 miles around Gloucester at the moment - travellings fine as long as you know you are going to get the car and drive back otherwise it becomes a bit of a mare as all of my mates are in the Stoke region and the Mrs doesn't drive it becomes a PITA to get anywhere and then collect something.

russ0r · 3 Oct 2009 at 19:08

Leon 1.8T, Toledo 1.8T or V5 if you're not too fussed about fuel consumption.
Neither of these nor the Octavia vRS or Saabs will get to 40mpg though, you'll be lucky to get 35mpg out of any of them.