Spec me something fun <8k

BinnsY

BinnsY

BinnsY

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Joined
19 May 2009
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Nottingham
Thought it was about time I jumped on the band wagon and started a spec me thread.

Currently I drive a 2.2 Astra Coupe which was purchased more out of necessitey than choice. (I wrote off my 1.5 Yaris t-sport) The car is ok, but I have never really got the same enjoyment out of driving it that I did out of my Yaris before hand. Despite it being quicker in almost every situation.

Unfortunately it is starting to show its age, using rather a lot of oil ever since I bought it, and now it needs its EGR valve replacing as its causing a slight misfire at low revs. As I don't enjoy the car, its realistically worth £1200 at best, and I was wanting to change anyway, I don't really want to sink any more money into it.

So, the criteria. I really want something that is going to keep me happy for at least the next 3 years, and primarally it needs to be fun to drive. I have an absoulte top budget of £8000 (including whatever I can get for the astra as a trade in). I only do around 8000 miles a year and my new job is going to mean I commute into the city center so will quite often spend time stuck in traffic. With this in mind diesels are completley out of the question, as I wouldn't do the mileage to make it worth while. I would like something that would get as close to 40MPG as possible, but as long as it can average above 30MPG its ok. Tax isn't a problem as long as it isnt in the £400+ bracket.

The main car I'm thinking of at the minute is the Renault Twingo 133 as this seems to hit all the boxes and is just coming in inside the budget. I'm not planning to buy for another 2 or 3 months so hopefully they will have dropped just a little bit more by then to make it a closer match. Something like the below would be ideal.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201112382702288

However, I cant help but wonder if it is just a little bit too small, I've stumpled across the 207GTI which seems to be an alright purchase with a decent amount of kit and a lot more power for the same money. It seems like these can be had for quite a bit less money as well. (I've included two links as one has much better pictures).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201119387004857
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201044372234992

Can anyone give any pros / cons to these cars? From what I can gather the 207 is more practical all round but at the expense of being less fun to drive. Are there any obvious cars I'm missing?

To give an idea of insurance, the twingo would be around £700 and the 207 about £1000, if possible I really dont want to go above £1000 on the insurance.

tl;dr

Currently drive an astra 2.2 need something more fun / cheaper to run
considering 207 gti / Twingo 133
open to suggestions / opinions
max budget £8000
Nothing that does less than 30MPG.
 
As much as i like the 197 i have to wonder if its going to be worth the rather large extra money it will cost me to run. Surprisingly the insurance does come in at just under £1000 but its still 300 more than the twingo, its also about 90 a year more to tax. Then by my sums the 7mpg difference over the 8k miles i do would save me another 200ish quid a year. Thats the best part of 50 a month in running costs and the twingo is 2 years newer. Given the driving i will be doing would it not perhaps be overkill?
 
but then again a twingo 133 isn't exactly going to be the definition of fun, is it?
whereas as 197 pretty much is.
If you want to save money get yourself a super tidy 182 for 4-5k.
Will still be more fun than the twingo and the tiny difference in tax/insurance/running costs will be covered for many many years by the initial saving in purchase price.
 
BinnsY said:
As much as i like the 197 i have to wonder if its going to be worth the rather large extra money it will cost me to run. Surprisingly the insurance does come in at just under £1000 but its still 300 more than the twingo, its also about 90 a year more to tax. Then by my sums the 7mpg difference over the 8k miles i do would save me another 200ish quid a year. Thats the best part of 50 a month in running costs and the twingo is 2 years newer. Given the driving i will be doing would it not perhaps be overkill?
Click to expand...

Keep your current car if saving money is your main concern.
 
Is this the same BinnsY from the Rock forums??

You could get a nice civic type R for the money. Insurance will hurt though.
 
I probably should have mentioned that a lot of the money is going to be a gift from family, its probably only going to cost me about 3k to make the switch. My current car is getting to the stage where its going to need large amounts of cash spending on it to keep it road worthy compared to its overall value.

Its not that i dont have the money and saving money overall isnt the main aim. Im simply after something that will keep me smiling without being too over the top in running costs.

I have to say a cheaper 182 probably isnt a bad shout, and is a route i have considered before.
 
139sroberts said:
Is this the same BinnsY from the Rock forums??

You could get a nice civic type R for the money. Insurance will hurt though.
Click to expand...

Thats going back a bit but yes i am :)

The insurance on a type r is painful for me. Your talking 1300+ and there running costs seem quite high as well
 
BinnsY said:
Thats going back a bit but yes i am :)

The insurance on a type r is painful for me. Your talking 1300+ and there running costs seem quite high as well
Click to expand...

I was going back a while! - you gave me some advice on a laptop a few years ago :)

I thought insurance might be a deal breaker...

Lets assess the scope of different approach. Keep your existing car and learn to ride a motorbike! Seriously, this is what I did last year and i haven't looked back :D
 
A twingo really?

I would say go drive one, then drive the Clio. The Clio is much better, the Twingo is a womens car.
 
I used to want a bike, unfortunately i wrote off my yaris by pulling out in front of one. Since then i have been some what put off by them. It wouldnt be right for the daily commute into the city centre either. Far to much insane traffic going in and out of town in rush hour to be on a bike.
 
BinnsY said:
I used to want a bike, unfortunately i wrote off my yaris by pulling out in front of one. Since then i have been some what put off by them. It wouldnt be right for the daily commute into the city centre either. Far to much insane traffic going in and out of town in rush hour to be on a bike.
Click to expand...


hmm arguably a bike would be better! I commute some 100miles to work so I use my car (ibiza 1.4td ecomotive). The bike is for the weekends :)

Just logged into the techpond - can't believe that's still going!
 
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