What new car?

Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2002
Posts
6,553
Location
Essex, innit?
I've finally decided that I need to get a new car.

I'm a property consultant in London, so don't really use a car that much.

When I do use it however, I can do some fairly hefty mileage. i.e. I drive around the country. But that is maybe once a month. other than that I use a car for short trips to the shops and local site visits. I use my current car maybe once a week, if that.

As a student I had a Peugeot 205 GTI.

When I got my first job, I bought a new Renault Laguna 2.0 Sport from Belgium as I thought I would look flash. I put about 2,000 miles on the clock in six months (including driving it back from Belgium) and decided it was a waste of money and sold it!

I traded it in for a P reg Renault Clio. I've never maintained the Clio in about 5 years. The wing mirror is hanging off. The radio doesn't work. The engine blew up last year because I never replaced the fan belt when they told me to. The window handle and sun roof is broken. it is scratched and dented to buggery and cost me £400 (well the rebuilt engine was) :) In fact, the tow bar I had put on it for towing my motocross bike cost more than the car itself! The bike itself costs about 8x the car!

As you can probably tell, cars are not important to me. They get me from A to B. But now that I've progressed in my carreer, and certainly earn enough to own something slightly more decent that my current heap, it's starting to be a little embarrassing. I sometimes pick up clients and have to go to meeting etc.

So, anyway. I need a new car.

The budget is approx. £6,000 as I just can't bring myself to spend much more. My missus has actually dictated this as I originally only wanted to spend £2,000 max!! :o

Criteria are:
1. I'd like something manly.
2. Presentable.
3. Economic - diesel or even LPG
4. I'd quite like a 4x4 pickup, but she's not so keen.

Recommendations form colleagues so far are:
- Mitsubishi L200 - really really liked this but she wasn't so keen.
- VW Bora - looks OK.

Any suggestions?
 
If you dont do much milage then have a diesel isnt really worth it.

What about a mondeo?
YOu should be able to get a good one of those for 6k :)
 
willd58 said:
Your buying the car, not your missus, buy the car for you, not for her.

Do you have any idea how many problems women can cause you when don't include them over a major purchase such as a car, i would take her input because if she don't like what you buy everytime you go out to use the car she will be picking fault or saying "i would have got one of those" after a while you will want to throttle her..........

Been in that situation, never again!
 
Seat Toledo?

Bland but less so than the Bora IMO and it's basically a Bora underneath

Better to drive than the Bora and the V5 engine is nice (although probably a little heavy on fuel if you want a diesel)
 
Barry Smalley said:
Not in a serious relationship? ;) :D
Or in the wrong one? If it was MY car then I'd buy what I wanted. Piggy is just going to have to live with me owning a pink corsa :p
 
as you do not use the car much and do not like looking after them how about putting the money to one side and use it to hire something(special?) for when you do really need it.No tax,no insurance,no maintenance and drive it like you stole it,could be a win,win situation.
Just an alternate thought
 
Dont get a L200

They are poop, really.

Maybe a nice Audi A6 or Bora as said before.

Also consider a Mitsubishi Galant 2.5v6 or 2.0 Sport... they look awsome.

galant_01
 
I love all the keyboard warriors.. "Shut up byotch, get back in that kitchen and make me some pies"...

I bet they are all "Yes love, No love, how high do you want me to jump love?" at home.. or single.. whichever..

Saying that, if I was the only person driving the car, The only considerations would be running costs, i.e. not spending 80% of our disposable income on myself, and perhaps the fact I have 2 kids, a 2 seater would, to me, be too selfish..

Back OT, I think you are abit all over the place with the criteria/considerations, no 4x4 is good on fuel, a diesel bora Vs L200 is 60MPG Vs 30 Mpg

You could go old barge, 520/520 Beemer, Audi A6 2.7T
Sports cars Clio 172/VX Coupe Turbo
Jap stuff, Celica ST205 GT4..

if you don't do many miles, then as Fox will point out, the diesel will not save you money.. unless you want the diesel ease of driving..
 
I am not sure the more expensive running costs of a BMW 5 Series or an Audi A6 would be worth it for somebody who freely admits that to him, a car is a way of getting from A to B. they *do* cost more to run than other stuff for the same money and they will be quite a bit older. For some of us, this sacrafice is worth it, but I would have thought it is not for the original poster.

Something more mainstream would be a better idea. Obviously I second the Mondeo recommendation but if thats not your bag and you've considered a VW Bora then allow me to recommend a Seat Toledo?

It's like a VW Bora, but it says 'Seat' on the front and so it costs less and you'll get a newer car for your money. They are also loaded with kit in the higher trim levels and you can get the decent 1.9 TDI PD diesel engines in them, as well as the reasonable 1.8T and 2.3 V5 petrol engines.

Diesel is, as Dandle says, worth it only if you prefer the driving style. As a purely financial point, it isn't worth the extra.
 
Desmo said:
Or in the wrong one? If it was MY car then I'd buy what I wanted. Piggy is just going to have to live with me owning a pink corsa :p

If you want a pink car my dear you get yourself a pink car ..


Just don't expect me to go anywhere near it :p
 
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