I know.. I know.. Another 'What Car' thread!..

[aruck]

I've had my 07 Reg Focus ST-3 now for 2 years and fancy a change. I am however really struggling to narrow down my options!
Budget is circa £20k although will happily not spend that much. Needs to be under 5 years old so 57 reg onwards. Preferably manual not auto. At the moment I'm only doing £10k miles a year however that could easily change and become £25k so I have to keep that in mind when considering fuel consumption. My Focus is currently doing 25mpg on my normal journey (The combined is meant to be 30mpg) so I wouldn't want to do much less than that.
Obviously I'd like depreciation to be as low as possible and want to keep away from cars that have known potential expensive problems!
I could do with keeping a back seat for occasional passengers so the Cayman is out; As much as I'd like one. Really fancy a 997 but would want a Porsche warranty so starting prices are circa £30k which is beyond my means at present.
I also want something 'special' so no Fords, Vauxhalls or Similar. (Have considered the Focus RS but at £20k they are a lot of money for a Focus and I think just changing to another Focus would get boring quickly)
Also not sure I can stomach switching to a Diesel. Would miss the noise of a good petrol engine too much.

Audi S3 - Recently started noticing these. Not sure I fancied another hatch but that power with 4wd must be good fun.
Audi S5 - Too thirsty unfortunately. The A5's all look a bit slow.
BMW 330i - A little slow but very good mpg so certainly a consideration. Quite like the idea of the metal folding roof.
BMW 335i - Have read that they have reliability issues?
BMW M3 - Would love one but too thirsty
BMW 630/650i - Hard to find a manual. High depreciation.
Scirocco R - Wife has a Scirroco so don't want 2 on the driveway!
EVO / Impreza - Previously has an Impreza. Think I'd like a little more luxury than I assume the current models provide. Also I assume service intervals are still fairly regular.
Mercedes - All seem too slow or too thirsty.

I think I've rambled on enough there. If anyone has carried on this far.. Have I missed anything obvious?

Cheers!

Edited by aruck on Thursday 23 February 13:55

[StottyZr]

A couple more suggestions... BMW 135i and Nissan 370z are very cheap now

[aruck]

StottyZr said:

A couple more suggestions... BMW 135i and Nissan 370z are very cheap now

Really not sure about the 1 series. Keep looking at them but just dont think I like the styling. Also does the 135 have the same engine as the 335? If so does it have reliability issues?
370z I do like but think life would be difficult without a back seat unfortunately. Cheers

[JagJag363]

Audi RS4? Will probably be a high mileage one for under 20k though.

[djfaulkner]

Alfa Giulietta 170BHP?
Some kinda of Volvo? S40 maybe?

[deltashad]

Fuel consumption (urban) 19.9 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 38.2 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 28.5 mpg
0 - 62 mph 6.4 seconds
Top speed 155 mph
Cylinders 6
Valves 24 v
Engine power 272 bhp
Engine torque 258 lbs/ft

[deltashad]

Sorry, its Auto, nice box though

[aruck]

I do like that C350. I imagine it's going to lose a lot in depreciation though? Is it a good auto? I just noticed a CLK 350 Cabrio on autotrader for £15k. Looks quite smart.

Audi RS4 - Very nice but a combined mpg of 20.9 is just too low unfortunately.

Edited by aruck on Thursday 23 February 14:37

[300bhp/ton]

aruck said:

370z I do like but think life would be difficult without a back seat unfortunately. Cheers

To be fair, I'm not sure your op mentions seats.

[300bhp/ton]

aruck said:

I
BMW M3 - Would love one but too thirsty
BMW 650i - Hard to find a manual. High depreciation.

Edited by aruck on Thursday 23 February 13:55

Lol, you dismiss the M3 on fuel thirst, but not the 650i = man logic

[McSam]

M3.

Especially if you already think you'd love one.

A bit more fuel when you're only doing 10k a year in it, not a problem, not given how well it'll hold its value against other cars.

[300bhp/ton]

aruck said:

I've had my 07 Reg Focus ST-3 now for 2 years and fancy a change. I am however really struggling to narrow down my options!
Budget is circa £20k although will happily not spend that much. Needs to be under 5 years old so 57 reg onwards. Preferably manual not auto. At the moment I'm only doing £10k miles a year however that could easily change and become £25k so I have to keep that in mind when considering fuel consumption. My Focus is currently doing 25mpg on my normal journey (The combined is meant to be 30mpg) so I wouldn't want to do much less than that.
Obviously I'd like depreciation to be as low as possible and want to keep away from cars that have known potential expensive problems!
I could do with keeping a back seat for occasional passengers so the Cayman is out; As much as I'd like one. Really fancy a 997 but would want a Porsche warranty so starting prices are circa £30k which is beyond my means at present.
I also want something 'special' so no Fords, Vauxhalls or Similar. (Have considered the Focus RS but at £20k they are a lot of money for a Focus and I think just changing to another Focus would get boring quickly)
Also not sure I can stomach switching to a Diesel. Would miss the noise of a good petrol engine too much.

Audi S3 - Recently started noticing these. Not sure I fancied another hatch but that power with 4wd must be good fun.
Audi S5 - Too thirsty unfortunately. The A5's all look a bit slow.
BMW 330i - A little slow but very good mpg so certainly a consideration. Quite like the idea of the metal folding roof.
BMW 335i - Have read that they have reliability issues?
BMW M3 - Would love one but too thirsty
BMW 630/650i - Hard to find a manual. High depreciation.
Scirocco R - Wife has a Scirroco so don't want 2 on the driveway!
EVO / Impreza - Previously has an Impreza. Think I'd like a little more luxury than I assume the current models provide. Also I assume service intervals are still fairly regular.
Mercedes - All seem too slow or too thirsty.

I think I've rambled on enough there. If anyone has carried on this far.. Have I missed anything obvious?

Cheers!

Edited by aruck on Thursday 23 February 13:55

I guess this will as easy or difficult as you make it tbh.

But from what you are saying you seem to want a lot for a restrictive budget vs requirements.

Is age really such an important factor - really?

All the cars you list are ok, all will plummet value (bar a couple of exceptions) but they all seem like quite normal regular cars tbh.

Curious, you say 25mpg or similar is ok, but then seem to dismiss jumping from 10,000 per year to 25,000 miles a year as though it's nothing.

95 RON
25mpg for 10,000 miles = £2473/year or £207/month
25mpg for 25,000 miles = £6183/year or £515/month

I guess what I'm asking is, how likely is the jump to 25,000 miles a year?

[braddo]

Keep your Focus for a year and in 2013 the answer to your question will be the new Toyobaru twins.

If you can't wait, I would probably go for a 330i. Or save a huge amount on purchase cost and spend it on fuel for a RX8.

[aruck]

300bhp/ton said:

To be fair, I'm not sure your op mentions seats.

"I could do with keeping a back seat for occasional passengers so the Cayman is out"

[aruck]

300bhp/ton said:

Lol, you dismiss the M3 on fuel thirst, but not the 650i = man logic

According to the Statistics the 650 does 26.9mpg whereas the M3 does 22.8.

[aruck]

300bhp/ton said:

I guess this will as easy or difficult as you make it tbh.

But from what you are saying you seem to want a lot for a restrictive budget vs requirements.

Is age really such an important factor - really?

All the cars you list are ok, all will plummet value (bar a couple of exceptions) but they all seem like quite normal regular cars tbh.

Curious, you say 25mpg or similar is ok, but then seem to dismiss jumping from 10,000 per year to 25,000 miles a year as though it's nothing.

95 RON
25mpg for 10,000 miles = £2473/year or £207/month
25mpg for 25,000 miles = £6183/year or £515/month

I guess what I'm asking is, how likely is the jump to 25,000 miles a year?

I work on construction sites which can be local or far away therefore my mileage is variable. At present I am only working on a couple of local sites which is why my mileage is around 10k. In the past it has been as high as 35k a year.

I receive a car allowance from work which require my car to be under 5 years old.

[snorkel sucker]

Looking at your list, I would pick none of them to replace what you have. I'd throw a bit of cash at the ST and get it driving better and handling sweeter.

Also, if you work in construction, why not take their company car option and spend your cash on something more focussed for the weekends? That way you can park the company car on site, put 30k a year on it and not worry about it.

[aruck]

snorkel sucker said:

Looking at your list, I would pick none of them to replace what you have. I'd throw a bit of cash at the ST and get it driving better and handling sweeter.

Also, if you work in construction, why not take their company car option and spend your cash on something more focussed for the weekends? That way you can park the company car on site, put 30k a year on it and not worry about it.

I'm a bit tired of driving the Focus now. It is remapped to c.270bhp so is running well and it does handle well.

I can't bring myself to drive a company car. I have a TVR for sunny day driving but want to enjoy my daily drive too.

[braddo]

The photo in your profile goes to show how massive B-segment cars like the Focus have become!