Time for a change I think

kidloco

kidloco

kidloco

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Joined
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Lancashire
Sorry to post yet another spec me thread but I could do with pointing in the right direction as I haven't got a clue what to look at.

Currently I have a focus ST170 (3 door). While it's a OK car to drive I think it's time for a change. My main issues with it are;

  • Fuel economy is terrible, I wouldn't mind if it was a quick car.
  • Tax, it's in quite a high tax bracket so costs around £240 a year
  • Insurance, its group 17 which is high for car that is not quick.
  • Boot space is very poor.
  • I need 2 more doors, whilst I like the look of a 3 door, it's just a bit of a pain day to day.

So I definitely need a bigger car, the car doesn't get used much as I work from home, but when I do its long motorway journeys. So I want a car that can sit on the motorway in quiet comfort, I would also like it to be quite nice inside, solidly built with leather interior if possible. 5 doors and a decent boot is a must. Decent fuel economy and a low tax bracket (under £150 for the year). Oh and reliable.

I'm not to fussed about performance to be honest, I have my bike for that. But I don't want a woefully underpowered shopping trolley either. So far I have been looking at cars like;

  • Audi A4 2.0l diesel
  • VW Passat 2.0 diesel (170)

Now I know there are a lot of diesel haters out there, myself normally included but the modern ones I have driven seem to pretty good, loads of low down grunt, not to vibey and cheap tax etc.

Can anyone else throw a few suggestions into the mix, budget is around 6k but could go a little higher if the right car came up.
 
Oh no its 200 quid to tax? Last thing you want is an old Audi, not that you can get a 2.0 diesel for 6k anyway.

Also unless you get an estate both the cars you want, aside from being unaffordable, are 4 door saloons.

Most fail in a spec me thread for ages.
 
[TW]Fox;17073727 said:
Most fail in a spec me thread for ages.
Click to expand...

Bit harsh - what gave you the impression that was his only problem with it?

While it does sound a bit broken in respect of the mpg, if you wanted something more practical and a bit more economical, I'd be looking at a Mondeo 2.0. Budget would help though
 
yeah, that sounds very broken, ie worse then i got with the s4 and that thing only did 70 for a fraction of a second whilst i accelerated up to 85-90 odd on a motorway

even my mk4, doing quite daft speeds on the cruise control with ac on for a few hours still got 32-33

maybe look into whats wrong with your focus
 
[TW]Fox;17073727 said:
Oh no its 200 quid to tax? Last thing you want is an old Audi, not that you can get a 2.0 diesel for 6k anyway.

Also unless you get an estate both the cars you want, aside from being unaffordable, are 4 door saloons.

Most fail in a spec me thread for ages.
Click to expand...

jees Fox, i sat and read quite a few threads were you give out your opinions to others. Sometimes you have good valid points, others your just a bit of an arse to be honest. I feel this is one of those later ones.

6k will get me a a fairly recent passet and it seems to meet the criteria im after but I was hoping someone could confirm that or maybe suggest a better solution. I didnt honestly expect you to troll around and just **** on my parade quite so soon.

A lesson learned I guess :rolleyes:
 
Howard said:
It's broken. Or your calculations are wrong.
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Nope, calcs are fine. cost around £55 to fill it up, if im on the motorway I can get 300 to a tank. around town more like 230-250.

Its just had a full service, car pulls nice and clean, garage said there is nothing wrong with the car they are just very thirsty.
 
You have told us you want to save 50 quid a year on tax and you have told us you are considering spending 6k on two cars you can't get for 6k. 6k only gets older a4s with the 1.9 litre engine, and It's unlikely there are many 170 variants of the Passat at this money either. Both engines are, contrary to your thoughts, noisey and vibey, the 1.9 particularly so.

Don't join the bun fight that is the cheap used diesel market unless you have too. How many miles do you do?
 
I'm struggling to see the logic behind spending £6k to save £50 a year on tax. It's not like £240 is going to break the bank.

What's your annual mileage? Diesels aren't worth the downsides if its low.
 
My mates ST170 was the same on fuel, really quite bad around town and not that great on long runs either, that and it was quite unreliable. He traded it in for a diesel BMW

Anyway, How about an Accord I-CDTI
 
kidloco said:
Nope, calcs are fine. cost around £55 to fill it up, if im on the motorway I can get 300 to a tank.
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Well no they're clearly not. Assuming an average fuel cost of 117.9p/litre, and you've brimmed the tank in the last fillup, 300 miles at £55 is 46.6 litres, or 29.2MPG.
 
I love the way everyone only picks up certain things in these threads. Sure, the tax savings are minimal, but he clearly wants something more practical and economical.

Why is everyone jumping on the fox bandwagon of "LOL 6k to save 100 quid on tax!!?"...it's fairly obvious that's not the only requirement
 
iaind said:
I love the way everyone only picks up certain things in these threads. Sure, the tax savings are minimal, but he clearly wants something more practical and economical.

Why is everyone jumping on the fox bandwagon of "LOL 6k to save 100 quid on tax!!?"...it's fairly obvious that's not the only requirement
Click to expand...
Because it's number two on the list, whereas practicality is at the bottom.
Therefore one would assume that it seems to be a big issue for the OP.
 
The main reason for the change isnt just to save £50 a year on tax.

I need a bigger car. shoe horning friends and family into the back seats is becoming a major pain in the backside. The boot is pretty pathetic, it cant hold enough for when I go away for breaks etc.

So those are the main reasons for the change but while im changing id thought id use the opportunity to save a bit on the yearly outgoings as well if I can.

Milage varies hugely. I am an IT consultant, im based at home but need to travel to see clients ocassionaly. so some months its a few hundred, others a couple of thousand.
 
So what's your annual mileage?

Either way a petrol Mondeo is probably fine, as you've got the bike for speed thrills.
 
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