Shall i buy this car?

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:00

My current car is a 2003 1.2 16v corsa sxi 30k miles. Had it from new, nothing wrong with it really just getting bored of it and to be honest im not impressed by the economy of the car. Filling it up with £35 worth of petrol i get back 300 miles which 75% of that driving is doing 50-60mph. So whats that 35mpg.... rubbish.

So i fancie a change....

I think i could get £3500-4000max for my car after selling my car i could stretch to spending £10k maybe 11k if its worth it.

My only choice so far, and i think its a good choice is the new fiesta zetec s.
I personally think they look very nice, and the interior is alright. Ive heard their not the fastest things in the world but they drive hand handle excellent.

Searching online ive found a 1.6 16v zetec s for £9100 BRAND NEW or a 1.6 turbo diesel for £10100.
Think ill be tempted more with the turbo diesel which is quoted to return 65mpg combined!
Ive also found another good deal 2006/06 pre reg 1.6 turbo diesel with climate pack for £9500

The major selling point for me is the insurance groups of the car. Petrol is 7 and diesel is 6. Tax is very cheap aswell £50 for the diesel for a year.

For a 20 year old like these are ideal.

Any other recommendations? What do you lot think about the zetec s?

Luke15 · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:06

Very nice car tbh.

The diesels are good for what they do.

Scottland · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:09

Fabia vRS would be a better deal IMO

=Mac= · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:10

That will lose money as badly as your corsa did, especially seen as you are buying it from new.

Plus, spending £9k because of "poor fuel economy" isnt going to save you any money.

mac

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:13

Scottland said:
Fabia vRS would be a better deal IMO

Nice but i dont want a 5 door tbh

mk1_salami · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:17

Buy a 2-3 year old Clio 172/182 and spend the money you will loose on depreciaton, on insurance! :cool:

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:18

=Mac= said:
That will lose money as badly as your corsa did, especially seen as you are buying it from new.

Plus, spending £9k because of "poor fuel economy" isnt going to save you any money.

mac

paid £8k for my corsa.(saving me £2000) spent £0 on repairing mechanical faults. If i get £4k, i would have lost just over £1k each year which is not as bad as some new cars.

Cant see why a zetec s will depreciate badly.... most 17-24 year olds would love to have one. And buying a diesel will hold its value even more imo.

Well im currently spending £140 a month in petrol. If i can lower this to £80-100 a month on diesel thats a saving of nearly £3000 over 4 years.

makes sence to me....

Adam · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:19

mk1_salami said:
Buy a 2-3 year old Clio 172/182 and spend the money you will loose on depreciaton, on insurance!

Sounds like his primary concern is fuel economy, a 172/182 will return about 32mpg so hardly ideal.

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:22

mk1_salami said:
Buy a 2-3 year old Clio 172/182 and spend the money you will loose on depreciaton, on insurance!

i would love to have one, but insurance will kill me, ive had quotes of £2000+.

IMO the diesel zetec s will be the ideal compramise.

- group insurance 6
- 65mpg
- good looks
- 3 years warrenty
- cheap running costs (£50tax etc etc)
- fun to drive, nippy good handling etc
- and in my opinion i could sell it in 4 years time for £5000 easily.

Loosing £5000 in 4 years on a new car aint that bad to be honest is it?

I dont even mind going 2nd hand? what about a 2000/2001 golf gt-tdi, could i pick 1 up for £7000-8000 with the money left over for insurance?

Scottland · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:25

If you're wanting to change car only to save money on fuel, then it is a bit of a false economy. If however you want to change anyway (which sounds like the case) then fair enough, you might aswell swap it for something that's more efficient.

But, also bear in mind that you could spend less on a petrol model that would be more efficient than a 1.2 Corsa, but not quite as efficient as a diesel.

Shame about the vRS, they're a great car for what they are but they do only do 5dr ones.

You sound like you quite like the Fiesta, and it's quite a nice car (1.6 TDCi is a little slow, but not that bad as it's a small car). I'd imagine something like a Focus would be more comfortable though. If you are keen on something Fiesta size, then the Ibiza TDi PD Sport might be worth a look too, looks a lot fresher IMO.

Morba · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:25

personally i would have thought you would have not liked taking the hit of the depreciation on 1 new car, let alone be looking at another!

atleast look at some 2nd hand cars of what you want. will save you loads.

spaz · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:26

I'd say budget wise you could maybe stretch to a ST, insurance might not be too bad (grp 13) but fuel economy probably will be (I average about 30mpg).

However spending more money to save money seems a bit topsy-turvy, if you want a new(ish) car then I'd look for pre-reg or 6/12month old examples so the biggest hit in depreciation is gone.

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:33

spaz said:
I'd say budget wise you could maybe stretch to a ST, insurance might not be too bad (grp 13) but fuel economy probably will be (I average about 30mpg).

However spending more money to save money seems a bit topsy-turvy, if you want a new(ish) car then I'd look for pre-reg or 6/12month old examples so the biggest hit in depreciation is gone.

Yes i would love an ST, i could live with the fuel economy being at 30mpg for a 2.0, but again you talking £2000 for insurance.

The prices ive quoted for the zetec s are online prices (imports with full uk spec) so im already saving £2000-2500 on the list price.

I have looked at 6/12 month old zetec s's and they generally go for between £8000 for 1 year old and upto £9500 for a few months old.

I would prefer a brand new for not much more money.

Boycie · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:43

I'm a corsa C driver (Yes i know they aren't the best cars in the world

) and i've also driven the fiesta Zetec not the S and in terms of driving experience i would say the fiesta wins hands down, having driven both i would have gone for the fiesta in the first place.

spaz · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:48

dean_ham said:
Yes i would love an ST, i could live with the fuel economy being at 30mpg for a 2.0, but again you talking £2000 for insurance.

The prices ive quoted for the zetec s are online prices (imports with full uk spec) so im already saving £2000-2500 on the list price.

I have looked at 6/12 month old zetec s's and they generally go for between £8000 for 1 year old and upto £9500 for a few months old.

I would prefer a brand new for not much more money.

Fair enough

Out of the two then I would go for the petrol Zetec S as it is £1000 cheaper and unless you're doing silly mileage it will be a long time until you recoup that money back with the diesel and come resale time it will be a lot less than £1000 difference between the two.

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:51

spaz said:
Fair enough

Out of the two then I would go for the petrol Zetec S as it is £1000 cheaper and unless you're doing silly mileage it will be a long time until you recoup that money back with the diesel and come resale time it will be a lot less than £1000 difference between the two.

yea i take your point, thing is ive been told the 1.6 zetec is terrible on petrol. official figures state 41mpg but its more like 35mpg.

Best bet now would be for me to take one for a test drive and read what people think of their zetec s's.

Anyone got one?

Kitchster_uk · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:07

dean_ham said:
yea i take your point, thing is ive been told the 1.6 zetec is terrible on petrol. official figures state 41mpg but its more like 35mpg.

Best bet now would be for me to take one for a test drive and read what people think of their zetec s's.

Anyone got one?

35 mpg? Bad? I managed 26 to the gallon this month in the MX-5 - a massive increase from the average of 21 I get!!!

dean_ham said:
Cant see why a zetec s will depreciate badly.... most 17-24 year olds would love to have one. And buying a diesel will hold its value even more imo.

Have to pull you up on that one. I'm 25 and certainly the Fiesta Zetec S never entered my skull as a reasonable thought. Having said that, my advice would be to work out how much money you save between a 25-30mpg motor and a 40-45mpg car. My annual saving would be around £1000 and then add on the cost of insurance, for me bing around the £290 mark (Mitsi 3000GT is 775fc and a regular mondeo 1.8 is around the 480 mark) so I buy a better, faster, but slightly older car for a few grand less, increasing the 'smiles per mile' and adding the 'hooning' factor

jamoor · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:09

Imports will probbably lose more money, see if you can find a uk one,

dean_ham · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:23

Kitchster_uk said:
35 mpg? Bad? I managed 26 to the gallon this month in the MX-5 - a massive increase from the average of 21 I get!!!

Have to pull you up on that one. I'm 25 and certainly the Fiesta Zetec S never entered my skull as a reasonable thought. Having said that, my advice would be to work out how much money you save between a 25-30mpg motor and a 40-45mpg car. My annual saving would be around £1000 and then add on the cost of insurance, for me bing around the £290 mark (Mitsi 3000GT is 775fc and a regular mondeo 1.8 is around the 480 mark) so I buy a better, faster, but slightly older car for a few grand less, increasing the 'smiles per mile' and adding the 'hooning' factor

Whatever tickles your fancie, a hairdressers mx5 has never entered my skull aswell.

Personally id prefer to buy newer and more refined rather than spend all my free time under the bonnet of an old car.

Kappa · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:28

they're very nice, be weary though, you sure if you buy it brand new you're not gonna get the facelift one? I prefer the looks of the older one, but the new one is growing on me.