What's the best value new car out there right now?
Discussion
What's the best value new car out there right now?
Even something like a mid-spec Focus/Golf seems really expensive to me these days but there must still be some genuine and decent new car bargains out there still. 25000-30000 pounds seems to be the ballpark figure for a modern hot hatch, which seems crazy to me. I've heard the M135i cited as a performance bargain but at the end of the day, it's still a small hatchback albeit with quite a special engine!
I find it difficult to make an argument against Hyundai/Kia these days. Build quality and performance/economy seem on a par with everyone else and you seem to get more kit for your money and a longer warranty too. Not known for making driver's cars but for reliable and comfortable A to B motoring probably difficult to beat (and you can buy something for fun with the money you save)! They used to be easy to dismiss because they looked crap and usually were crap but I think the latest Santa Fe is a fantastic vehicle and some of the Kia models (Rio, Optima, Sportage) are amongst the best-looking cars in their class IMHO!
I'm currently residing in Canada and Nissan have just released the Micra here with a starting price of less than $10000.
http://www.nissan.ca/en/cars/micra?next=header.veh...
Annoyingly, the advertised prices here aren't on the road prices i.e. delivery and taxes (13%) on top but even taking that into account, you're getting a reasonably-sized (albeit fairly basic spec) 5 door hatch with a 109bhp 1.6 petrol engine for about 7500 pounds. If you go with the "sporty" model, you will pay considerably more and get more standard features but essentially the same engineering and the same engine actually (only one engine option)! A new base-model Fiesta or even a Kio Rio/Hyundai Accent is a good $4000 dearer. I hope they do well with the Micra here because used car prices are pretty high(you don't get much used car for $10000) and maybe it will encourage other manufacturers to compete (although small cars haven't traditionally been a big seller here)!
I've always thought the Mazda 2 is pretty good value too.
More driver-focussed cars? Not much really.
Do they still make the Suzuki Swift Sport?
MX5 probably as well? Anything remotely similar is a good deal dearer. My dad picked up a new fully-loaded MX5 CC (albeit with the 1.8 litre engine) for about 21000 pounds last year. That seems like pretty good value for a new open-topped sportscar.
Even something like a mid-spec Focus/Golf seems really expensive to me these days but there must still be some genuine and decent new car bargains out there still. 25000-30000 pounds seems to be the ballpark figure for a modern hot hatch, which seems crazy to me. I've heard the M135i cited as a performance bargain but at the end of the day, it's still a small hatchback albeit with quite a special engine!
I find it difficult to make an argument against Hyundai/Kia these days. Build quality and performance/economy seem on a par with everyone else and you seem to get more kit for your money and a longer warranty too. Not known for making driver's cars but for reliable and comfortable A to B motoring probably difficult to beat (and you can buy something for fun with the money you save)! They used to be easy to dismiss because they looked crap and usually were crap but I think the latest Santa Fe is a fantastic vehicle and some of the Kia models (Rio, Optima, Sportage) are amongst the best-looking cars in their class IMHO!
I'm currently residing in Canada and Nissan have just released the Micra here with a starting price of less than $10000.
http://www.nissan.ca/en/cars/micra?next=header.veh...
Annoyingly, the advertised prices here aren't on the road prices i.e. delivery and taxes (13%) on top but even taking that into account, you're getting a reasonably-sized (albeit fairly basic spec) 5 door hatch with a 109bhp 1.6 petrol engine for about 7500 pounds. If you go with the "sporty" model, you will pay considerably more and get more standard features but essentially the same engineering and the same engine actually (only one engine option)! A new base-model Fiesta or even a Kio Rio/Hyundai Accent is a good $4000 dearer. I hope they do well with the Micra here because used car prices are pretty high(you don't get much used car for $10000) and maybe it will encourage other manufacturers to compete (although small cars haven't traditionally been a big seller here)!
I've always thought the Mazda 2 is pretty good value too.
More driver-focussed cars? Not much really.
Do they still make the Suzuki Swift Sport?
MX5 probably as well? Anything remotely similar is a good deal dearer. My dad picked up a new fully-loaded MX5 CC (albeit with the 1.8 litre engine) for about 21000 pounds last year. That seems like pretty good value for a new open-topped sportscar.
I think the GT86 is too expensive for the power. If itv was MX5 money then yes.
Abarth 500? Good shout.
The Fiesta and Focus I have always found to be poor value compared to most of their mainstream rivals, although they do tend to drive above average. Looked at a new Focus recently and for our budget we could only get the one up from base model, whereas the other cars we looked at, we were looking at top of the range or close to top of the range, with much more features as standard.
The ST models (particularly the Fiesta) look like decent value though. Focus ST quite good value in the UK but ugly and poor reliability I hear? Focus ST in Canada is SUV money!
Abarth 500? Good shout.
The Fiesta and Focus I have always found to be poor value compared to most of their mainstream rivals, although they do tend to drive above average. Looked at a new Focus recently and for our budget we could only get the one up from base model, whereas the other cars we looked at, we were looking at top of the range or close to top of the range, with much more features as standard.
The ST models (particularly the Fiesta) look like decent value though. Focus ST quite good value in the UK but ugly and poor reliability I hear? Focus ST in Canada is SUV money!
Shurv said:
This purely depends upon what you are looking for. New cars today , in real terms, are incredibly cheap when compared to 20 years ago, so they are all bargains,some more than others. I was talking to a customer the other day who'd come into contact with a guy who'd ordered a new Golf R, and ended up at @£43k. That's not cheap or good value IMO, it's only a Golf!! A Suzuki Swift Sport at £12k is great value, as are a lot of the small hatches out there.
That's true but new car prices seem to have rocketed in the last 10 years and are they really that much better? A 10 year old car today still feels quite modern, whereas I agree if you jumped into a 10 year old car in 2004, it would feel noticeably old and probably be missing a lot of modern features.va1o said:
Yep that's very true and something I notice regularly. I think car design/ innovation is beginning to plateau as the main improvements these days seem to be in co2 and mpg.
Certain aspects have got worse too. My wife and I have a new 2014 Toyota Corolla and an old 2004 Chrysler. The Toyota looks more modern and has more kit. It is better on fuel and has a more responsive 7-speed auto gearbox (vs a 4-speeder). However, the ride is atrocious compared to the Chrysler (which I wouldn't say was brilliant)and road noise and engine noise higher in the newer car. Yes, the Chrysler is a V6 rather than a 4 cylinder but other than that, they are a similar size car. I find the seats more comfortable in the Chrysler too! The ride may be partly my fault, as I went for the upgraded 17" rims because they looked really good on the car. It will be interesting to see how it rides on the smaller steel rims and higher profile winter tyres that I have bought to put on it for the winter! kambites said:
Obviously "value" will mean different things to different people, but if you don't count the badge as having any value and ignore resale values (which are heavily badge driven), I rather suspect it'll be something Korean. My parents have just bought a current model Picanto and I was amazed at how solid it feels. I believe you can get one for about £7k?
Doesn't the long warranty actually help residuals on Hyundai/Kia? i.e. you can buy a 3 year old car and still have 2+ years warranty left.Mercury00 said:
I also had a mk1 Sport about five years ago. I like the mk2, it rides noticeably better and is a lot more refined at high speed as it has six gears - it's incredibly comfortable at 60mph for what it is. My only major complaint is that at three weeks old mine is full of rattles, in fact I'm taking the doors apart at the weekend to try and fix it.
Minor complaints: The seat backrest adjustment is one that moves in preset stages rather than having a knob for fine adjustment, and the notches are too far apart for me to be properly comfortable. The radio is crap, although I'm hoping that insulation in the doors when I fix the rattles will address that too.
I'm probably being too harsh on what is a very cheap and great value car. When I actually bother to drive it rather than fannying about with all this other stuff it's pretty damn good!
Oh, one other thing to mention is that pretty much all the reviews I've read in magazines criticise the manufacturers stated mpg and overly optimistic onboard computer. Well I've had 48mpg from mine, now down to 44mpg on this tank as I've started having more fun with it, and those are proper Fuelly figures rather than ones from the onboard computer. Suzuki's claimed mpg is 44mpg combined.
That's good real-world mpg for a sporting car. Unusual for the later version of a car to have a better ride too! My friend's only complaints about his mk1 were that he could do with an extra gear for motorway and the ride was pretty choppy. Other than that he loves it (possibly even more than the Ford Puma that he had before it)! Minor complaints: The seat backrest adjustment is one that moves in preset stages rather than having a knob for fine adjustment, and the notches are too far apart for me to be properly comfortable. The radio is crap, although I'm hoping that insulation in the doors when I fix the rattles will address that too.
I'm probably being too harsh on what is a very cheap and great value car. When I actually bother to drive it rather than fannying about with all this other stuff it's pretty damn good!
Oh, one other thing to mention is that pretty much all the reviews I've read in magazines criticise the manufacturers stated mpg and overly optimistic onboard computer. Well I've had 48mpg from mine, now down to 44mpg on this tank as I've started having more fun with it, and those are proper Fuelly figures rather than ones from the onboard computer. Suzuki's claimed mpg is 44mpg combined.
Spanna said:
Fiesta ST-2 on Drive The Deal:
That's a brand new hot hatch, with Nav and part leather interior, for nearly £3K off list.
You could be right. I would wager that it is 90% as quick as the Focus ST in the real world, 90% as big (saw one parked next to a new Focus the other day and it looked nearly as big), as well as better looking and better handling (so I hear) than the Focus.That's a brand new hot hatch, with Nav and part leather interior, for nearly £3K off list.
I didn`t even consider a Fiesta when we bought our car, as I thought that it would be too cramped with two small children but maybe I should have. Can you get a 5 door version.
Are these still available new?
A "proper" 5 door family 4x4 for mid-spec Focus money? The Jimny is even cheaper but less practical and pretty horrid to drive on the road. The Grand Vitara is pretty decent though and fairly well-equipped. I quite like Suzukis though. They have a simple, honest feel. No soft-touch plastics but the basic engineering feels pretty solid. A lot of new cars have a load of extra features that I don't really need or want but Suzuki just seem to have the essentials and nothing frivolous. Dacia Duster may be cheaper but soon gets expensive if you don't want UN spec?
A "proper" 5 door family 4x4 for mid-spec Focus money? The Jimny is even cheaper but less practical and pretty horrid to drive on the road. The Grand Vitara is pretty decent though and fairly well-equipped. I quite like Suzukis though. They have a simple, honest feel. No soft-touch plastics but the basic engineering feels pretty solid. A lot of new cars have a load of extra features that I don't really need or want but Suzuki just seem to have the essentials and nothing frivolous. Dacia Duster may be cheaper but soon gets expensive if you don't want UN spec?
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 31st July 02:26
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