What would I need to spend?

xs2man said:
New Focus RS. Probably wont have the refinement your looking for though, but I can't imagine one of those losing too much value, regardless of how long you hold onto it.

Audi RS3 will have more refinement, but will lose more value over ownership term I would imagine. Or a Golf R (in estate form) will also have the refinement, but will lose more money again.

Of course, these are all cars that will cost proper money, £30k +.

The 5 series is absolutely a great car. And I'd recommend one all day long. But if size is a thing, they aint exactly small. You can get all the fancy surround view to assist with parking, but it wont make the space any bigger.

3 series is okay, but I keep being put of by the interior personally. But that is a relatively rare opinion apparently, held by myself and probably only Fox, doesn't seem to bother anyone else too much. But we are probably both spoiled by alrready owning the F10/F11 now.

The thing is, the BMW's do hit most of your requirements. And if you can find a x35i engined one, it could well be just the car for you. My earlier suggestions were all 4 cylinder (except the RS3 which is a 5 pot).

But they will lose less money over ownership I would think, with the Focus RS probably being the best at holding it's money (going by used Ford RS prices, low mileage original mk2 RS Focus' can go for anywhere from £13-20k+ and probably weren't too much more than that new). Then Audi RS prices usually stay pretty strong too, especially if you keep to RS3's and RS4's, RS6's not quite so much. Golf R's not so much admittedly, but still perform better than GTI's and the like.
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The RS is already sold out for next year and probably well into 2017.

Axeboy said:
At that value id go with a Volvo s80 personally. I still miss mine, never thought id say that!

But, it was super comfy, more reliable than anything else, cheap to run and relatively well kitted (nav is pants). The ride was excellent and it was a nice place to be.

That's where id go. I think I averaged 35mpg on the 2.5 turbo petrol which was revised in 2009 I think. Similar engine to the Focus ST/Mondeo but it came with some decent revisions to economy, response and emissions.

Great value now. Probably 5 to 7k or something.
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I've never seen a car fitted with the 2.5T average 35mpg over a single long distance journey, let alone over the life of the vehicle.
 
Only 0.9s quicker to 60 than the engine thats nearly half the size :eek:

I bet it makes a great noise though
 
Of course...whether it would be worth the significant drop in fuel economy and bigger tax bill though
 
Interesting thread. I'm in a not too desimilar position. Was the Octavia the new model or one as its one of the cars on my shortlist?

My gut feeling is that you're probably right in that if you went straight for something at the top end of your budget you may end up regretting it (my fear too). Okay upgrading slow over the space e of a few years will cost more but you'll stand a better chance of finally having something you're happy with.
 
shadow_boxer said:
Interesting thread. I'm in a not too desimilar position. Was the Octavia the new model or one as its one of the cars on my shortlist?

My gut feeling is that you're probably right in that if you went straight for something at the top end of your budget you may end up regretting it (my fear too). Okay upgrading slow over the space e of a few years will cost more but you'll stand a better chance of finally having something you're happy with.
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Nah it was a Mk2. I handed the Peugeot back to the dealer and took away a cheque for £3500, so spent it on the octavia.

A few months before I got rid of the Peugeot, I was looking at upgrades due to the value and balance meaning I had good equity in it. (Fortunately I decided not to before work changed their policies!) I had looked at the new Octavia, it was what made me think of one when I sold the Peugeot - had a test drive of a Diesel VRS with DSG. Really liked that, although I think I would have had the same complaint about ride comfort over time...... So I'm glad I had my hot hatch phase out the way on a £3500 car and not a £25,000 one :)
 
For a budget of 6k i would consider an auto Lexus IS250 SE-L. Has a decent amount of kit at that spec level and is incredibly reliable. The only slight shortfall regarding your requirements would be the 0-60 really.
 
I've just done a quick search, found some in the 8.5k to 9k. I found some BMW 525d which its most of your needs. MPG claims are 45 mpg and does 0-60 in 7 secs.

There also Audi A4 saloons. The 2.7tdi comes with sat nav, traction control, 44mpg and 0-60 in 7-7.5 secs.
 
Lexus not a bad shout - I had an IS200 previously and it was great.

525d would be an e60 wouldn't it? Are they not a bit pants? At least it would be a 6 pot though?
 
Dont get an E60 for anything like approaching decent money.

This thread lends itself to and has 520d F10 written all over it. As i said before, very economical, good range of options and spec, a great drivers car, fantastic gearbox. Good all round workhorse of a car. You wont beat it in the sector..
 
What Jez said.

Find a nice AUC 520d, should be in budget and not hard to find a perfect spec given how many are out there, I would prefer an approved used car (AUC) a mate has recently bought an AUC 330d and whilst he's had a few issues with it, all were resolved painlessly and without quibble, quite the opposite of what he'd have experienced had he bought it from Bobs auto bargains in auto trader....

Edit:

Whilst I'm not saying "get this one" - it's rather basic spec - but,I looked at it at my local dealers recently, it goes to show what you can get direct from BMW for under £15k

http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/5-Series/...11959-605337725-3497071.aspx?srcmdc=se_na_re_

2010 520d 41k AUC


£17490 gets this,
http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/5-Series/...11959-605398029-3497071.aspx?srcmdc=se_na_si_

50k 2011 with a much better spec.
 
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Well, its the difference between a £15k car and a £5k car.

I know he has the money for either but if a £5k does what he wants it to do, why spend so much more?
 
Axeboy said:
Well, its the difference between a £15k car and a £5k car.

I know he has the money for either but if a £5k does what he wants it to do, why spend so much more?
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Indeed.

Very nice e39 or an equally lovely f10, nice predicament! :)
 
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