Hot hatch wanted - £13K/18 months old - but which one?

[thenortherner]

I've a budget of around £13K and hoping for something to meet the below criteria:

Reasonable levels of kit
35+ MPG easily achievable when taking it easy
Fun to drive
At least 1 year's balance of warranty existing
Decent reliability

I can't help keep coming to the same answer - the Fiesta ST-3. It meets all of the above, a lot kit, great to drive and decent enough pace with the Mountune 215 kit. The downsides are the cabin's being a bit dated and the sat nav's hardly cutting edge. But with the replacement model coming out later this year and an abundance of STs out there, I'm hoping there's a deal to be had.

What do you reckon? Has anyone bought one recently and got a decent deal?

Looked at leasing one, but over 36 months and 15K miles p/a it works out at £8.5K. Even if I were to spent £13K and do similar mileage I'd hope for maybe £6K back in 3 years time.

Also, despite having the cash, has anyone experience of getting one on finance with Ford to drive a better price for the car, then paying off in full without a penalty, or a discount big enough/penalty small enough to make it worth while?

Thanks,

Edited by thenortherner on Sunday 26th March 10:28

[wemorgan]

If the difference between leasing new and buying second hand is only £1500, then leasing seems good value IMHO. A new car with 3yrs hassle free motoring is worth something. If you do want to buy I'd consider spending less and get an older car to make greater savings vs leasing.

[horsemeatscandal]

208 GTI, Corsa VXR, some Abarth derivative, Cooper S, Polo GTI maybe?

Outside of the box, Pro Ceed GT (warranty!) or 13k might even get Clio 220 Trophy which would probably be my choice, or Juke Nismo possibly?

ETA: In hindsight some of those may be rubbish.

Edited by horsemeatscandal on Sunday 26th March 10:43

[clowesy]

Mini R56 JCW? Can be had with way more kit than the Fiesta, just as fun/quick and reliable if you get a facelifted car with the newer engine. Approved used come with 1 year warranty, can be extended to 3 and it's quite easy to negotiate a 3 year TLC pack into the deal to cover your servicing.

[blade7]

You could pick up a brand new Fiesta ST1 from a broker for around £14k. We bought an ST2 from Drive the Deal and used Ford credit to get the contribution. Then paid it off shortly after.

Edited by blade7 on Sunday 26th March 10:50

[thenortherner]

Thanks

I like the Clio Trophy, but definitely seems out of reach given I've got £13K. Next would be the Polo, again it's probably a bit out of reach and bugger all kit on anything just north of my budget.

Ref. the MINI, not a chance for my budget and want of a manufacturer's warranty still in tact.

Fair point over the lease though, I guess for around £50 pm more I'd have a new car. Might look at 2 year old cars which have dropped a little further in price.

[thenortherner]

blade7 said:

You could pick up a brand new Fiesta ST1 from a broker for around £14k. We bought an ST2 from Drive the Deal and used Ford credit to get the contribution. Then paid it off shortly after.

Edited by blade7 on Sunday 26th March 10:50

Thanks. After the ST-3 though because of the kit and a new one would be around £17K I'm guessing. Hoping to do what you've done with the finance to drive a better price on the car, then pay it all off at once.

[horsemeatscandal]

thenortherner said:

Thanks

I like the Clio Trophy, but definitely seems out of reach given I've got £13K. Next would be the Polo, again it's probably a bit out of reach and bugger all kit on anything just north of my budget.

Ref. the MINI, not a chance for my budget and want of a manufacturer's warranty still in tact.

Fair point over the lease though, I guess for around £50 pm more I'd have a new car. Might look at 2 year old cars which have dropped a little further in price.

A quick search on AT shows I was being a bit optimistic. But there is a 2015 Clio Trophy on there for 14k.

[andy43]

Go older, stuff the mpg and buy Japanese, maybe German. You'd get a good low miles 2010-ish civic type R with warranty for well under your budget, and it won't cost 8k to run for three years.

[DoubleD]

Apparently the Polo GTI is the best car ever made.

[thenortherner]

andy43 said:

Go older, stuff the mpg and buy Japanese, maybe German. You'd get a good low miles 2010-ish civic type R with warranty for well under your budget, and it won't cost 8k to run for three years.

Genuinely had been considering one as an option, having owned an EP3. I still think they look fresh, there's loads of kit on the GT model. MPG's horrendous and I'll never likely do better than mid 20s, but need to factor that against the depreciation and the shocking VED too.

[clowesy]

thenortherner said:

Thanks

Ref. the MINI, not a chance for my budget and want of a manufacturer's warranty still in tact.

You could get a used approved post-2013 JCW with the newer and more reliable N18 engine, packed with kit for just north of £13k. It will have a 12 month Mini warranty that can be extended and could very easily negotiate a 3 year service plan in with the deal. I know this, because a mate of mine did this.

[Ahbefive]

I'd rather focus ST over a fiesta. They are much less.....'Junior'. Being a year older really makes no difference.

[thenortherner]

DoubleD said:

Apparently the Polo GTI is the best car ever made.

So I've read on here.

I had the 6R previous model from 2011 onwards and ran it for 3 years. Sounded like a bag of nails when I gave it back.

[thenortherner]

Ahbefive said:

I'd rather focus ST over a fiesta. They are much less.....'Junior'. Being a year older really makes no difference.

The Fiesta seems to be the wheels of choice for the average 20-year-old. I'm in my early 30s and maybe a little bit conscious of that.

The depreciation would be a much bigger hit I'd guess on the Focus and the MPG is terrible, else you're right, 1 year makes no odds.

[rossub]

thenortherner said:

andy43 said:

Go older, stuff the mpg and buy Japanese, maybe German. You'd get a good low miles 2010-ish civic type R with warranty for well under your budget, and it won't cost 8k to run for three years.

Genuinely had been considering one as an option, having owned an EP3. I still think they look fresh, there's loads of kit on the GT model. MPG's horrendous and I'll never likely do better than mid 20s, but need to factor that against the depreciation and the shocking VED too.

I averaged 32-33 mpg in the 2 years I had one. You must do lots of town driving...

[rossub]

thenortherner said:

andy43 said:

Go older, stuff the mpg and buy Japanese, maybe German. You'd get a good low miles 2010-ish civic type R with warranty for well under your budget, and it won't cost 8k to run for three years.

Genuinely had been considering one as an option, having owned an EP3. I still think they look fresh, there's loads of kit on the GT model. MPG's horrendous and I'll never likely do better than mid 20s, but need to factor that against the depreciation and the shocking VED too.

I averaged 32-33 mpg in the 2 years I had one. You must do lots of town driving...

[thenortherner]

rossub said:

I averaged 32-33 mpg in the 2 years I had one. You must do lots of town driving...

I owned it when I was in my 20s and fuel economy was the last thing I cared about, so you can imagine the fuel use. Plus I had the Tegiwa intake and loved the noise. I emptied a full tank driving from Bristol to Manchester once. Great car though, took it on a private track day at the Nurburgring and loved it!

[blade7]

thenortherner said:

Thanks. After the ST-3 though because of the kit and a new one would be around £17K I'm guessing. Hoping to do what you've done with the finance to drive a better price on the car, then pay it all off at once.

ST3 about £16k I think, maybe less with the new one on the way. Quite a few companies are classed as "Ford Partners", we got first 2 services free too.

[gashead1105]

I bought a 15 month old ST3 in Jan 16 for 13k. It had done 11k miles at that point, I've put another 5k on it since, it's my daily station car. I think it's a cracking little car and have no intention of replacing it in the foreseeable future. And I'm almost 35!