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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[thenortherner]

Cheers.

Still a bit undecided...

£9/10K on a late 2010 FN2 Type R with 30K miles, or around £13K on the Fiesta with maybe 10K or so.

£3K's not a lot more for a car that'll be 5 years younger, and around £600 better on fuel assuming 26 MPG Vs 37 MPG.

[thenortherner]

Thanks all.

Corsa's great VFM on the face of it, although that example doesn't have much kit. Depreciation's likely to be greater and real world MPG is far worse than the ST. Judging by the reviews it seems capable enough, but pretty characterless too. Much prefer its interior though.

Not too won over the Pug but I do like it. Awesome value though. Can't helped me put off by some of the reliability stories of this particular model though. And my guess is it'll depreciate far more than the Fiesta.

The Alfa's not that quick and doesn't do it for me.

And the Astra and Focus would be a little older and out of warranty, not that it's the end of the world, but also have far higher running costs. I reckon they'll take a harder hit in 3 years when it comes to getting rid due to economy and tax bracket too.

The F56 Mini's just in reach but it'd be fairly low on spec. I'm currently driving an F56 SD. Other than the horrendous ride - 18" wheels and RFT - it's OK and goes well enough.

Ref the Seat, I'm probably after something a little more focused I guess. Nice car all the same though.

ATM it's a toss up between a mint FN2 Type R that's done the bulk of its depreciation, well equipped and will likely be reliable enough.

Or spend a bit more and get try for a decent deal on a Fiesta ST. Can't help but like the appeal of a 215 BHP Fiesta and haven't read a bad review of one yet!

Wild card is a Clio 200 (not the current model, but the normally aspirated one. They seem to hold their value though - even the 2010 models are much the same as a Civic Type R, except they've far less kit and more miles than the Honda.

[thenortherner]

daemon said:

thenortherner said:

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.

Is the new Focus ST as bad on fuel as the old one? I had heard it wasnt? My S40 T5 has the 2.5 ST engine in it and it does about 25 - 27 mpg which is quite poor.

It's marginally better from what I've read. Maybe very low 30s on a run. Not enough given trade of between the new one and the character the previous one had.

[thenortherner]

Cheers.

The ride on my MINI with 18" wheels, hard suspension and run flats is absolutely awful - I reckon the ST would feel comfortable compared to this.

Not too sure on the Kia, and from what I've read of the Clio 200 the gears are a bit dim-witted, however the Trophy appears to be much better - shame it's probably a bit out of reach unless there's a deal to be done.

[thenortherner]

I've been doing some sums...

Fuel's based on the 34 MPG for the Ford and 28 MPG for the Civic.

For whatever reason, using a comparison site, the Fiesta is comparatively cheap to insure, even when compared to Clio 200 and Civic Type R, and the quote for £1100 was with a company I'd not heard of. Even more odd is the Mountune 215 model is cheaper to insure than the standard ST-3.

I've not included tyres as the cost'll be very similar.

The Fiesta looks like a no-brainer unless I've got the numbers totally wrong. Residuals are just an estimate but I don't think too far off.

[thenortherner]

gazza5 said:

Isn't 2010 civic about £500 to tax?

I've had a look on the government VED site for a '10 model and it's £275.


£500 would be a shocker!