New car £2,500 to spend

[beatngu]

I'm thinking about selling my 147, as enjoyable as it is I've found Alfa Romeo's to be very temperamental, not a big deal but can be annoying when you just want a car without the hassle. It also isn't without it's expensive running costs.

So I'm after something else, comfortable, nice interior and no thrills. Just something reliable with 120bhp+, preferably a diesel so I can get the cheap tax costs and lazy power. (Insurance is also cheaper).

I'd want to spend around £2.5 and 3 at a stretch.

I've been looking at the VW Golf diesels (Non GT) which seem overpriced given the age and what you get, and also the 3 series 320d's which seem high mileage at my price.



Cheers

Edited by beatngu on Monday 23 April 19:48

[The Moose]

MX5 (Mk1) is where it's at dude!!

[NSFW]

Octavia VRS?

[ajh38]

What about an Octavia? Pretty much a golf but you don't pay through the nose for it.

[beatngu]

Far too small. I sat in the 'new' MR2 and even that was too small. I've owned the MK2 MR2 which was fine. But the MX5 would be ridiculous. Oh, and I'd like 4 seats.

[Eighteeteewhy]

RX8

[beatngu]

NSFW said:

Octavia VRS?

ajh38 said:

What about an Octavia? Pretty much a golf but you don't pay through the nose for it.

I forget about these. Was just looking at the Fabia's which would be out of my range but I'm going to look at the Octavia's now.

[Rammy76]

I'd normally suggest something like a Passat TDI but since mine is now sat with a blown turbo I won't!

Ironically enough, I'm now relying on an old 1.3 Toyota Corolla I managed to find for £100 out of sheer desperation for transport.

Just be wary of the expense involved when running turbo diesels if they do go wrong.

My one sat feeling sorry for itself and what I'd like to do to it

[beatngu]

Rammy76 said:

I'd normally suggest something like a Passat TDI but since mine is now sat with a blown turbo I won't!

Ironically enough, I'm now relying on an old 1.3 Toyota Corolla I managed to find for £100 out of sheer desperation for transport.

Just be wary of the expense involved when running turbo diesels if they do go wrong.

My one sat feeling sorry for itself and what I'd like to do to it

Thanks. What are the 1.8 Passat's like? I've heard of the repair costs diesels can cost you, I remember looking at the 320d's which seem to have some common vacuum problem to do with oil. Makes me want to play it safe and get a 1.6<.

I've owned a Fiesta 1.25 which is a fantastic little car but a little too small for me.

[bamberwell]

MG ZT 190
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

[Garett]

When I decided a diesel was the way to go I first looked at Golfs and came to the same conclusion as you OP, over priced and don't get much for your money. In the end I decided on one of these.

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=149...

Long running thread on them here too.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Rammy76]

beatngu said:

Thanks. What are the 1.8 Passat's like? I've heard of the repair costs diesels can cost you, I remember looking at the 320d's which seem to have some common vacuum problem to do with oil. Makes me want to play it safe and get a 1.6<.

I've owned a Fiesta 1.25 which is a fantastic little car but a little too small for me.

I'm not sure about the 1.8 petrol Passats to be honest.

To be fair, i've done 70000 trouble free miles in my Passat and I've heard the TDI130 engines do generally last well but at 127000 miles I was hoping mine would've gone on a lot longer without any major bills.

The most reliable cars I've owned were mark 1 Focuses, I had 2 in a row and did over 100000 miles in them both without any trouble at all.

[beatngu]

bamberwell said:

MG ZT 190
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Thank you, although I'm not the biggest fan of Rovers.

Garett said:

When I decided a diesel was the way to go I first looked at Golfs and came to the same conclusion as you OP, over priced and don't get much for your money. In the end I decided on one of these.

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=149...

Long running thread on them here too.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Could be what I'm looking for, I'd imagine insurance is also very cheap on a Volvo.

[beatngu]

What do you guys think of a Seat Leon 110 TDI for £2-2,500? Was only looking because one is down the road from me.

[PaperCut]

beatngu said:

What do you guys think of a Seat Leon 110 TDI for £2-2,500? Was only looking because one is down the road from me.

The Leon is a good car & with that engine will be quite brisk - well enough oomph for overtaking & such like. Nice interior and reliable running gear, yet better to drive than the Golf it's based on IMO.

Not a diesel, but have you considered a Lexus IS200? Very reliable, good interior, cheap to buy, RWD, plenty room, big boot..?

[beatngu]

doogz said:

It's not that they're overpriced, it's that they're diesel. They hold their value much better. At that sort of price, you'd get a much nicer/newer/less mileage/better spec petrol engined car.

That's true, although back in 2006 when I was looking at the GT TDI's they were still £4k+. So yes, they do hold their value.

[beatngu]

PaperCut said:

The Leon is a good car & with that engine will be quite brisk - well enough oomph for overtaking & such like. Nice interior and reliable running gear, yet better to drive than the Golf it's based on IMO.

Not a diesel, but have you considered a Lexus IS200? Very reliable, good interior, cheap to buy, RWD, plenty room, big boot..?

Thanks. Sounds ideal, especially as a remap is always an option which I read improves the MPG. And being less common the insurance is pretty good.

Will give the IS200 a look.

[joe_90]

Clio sport.. nippy, great handling and will do 40mpg..

[beatngu]

Tax is a bit pricey on the Clio and I can imagine it being too small. Lovely cars tho a friend used to have one.

[Beeby]

beatngu said:

What do you guys think of a Seat Leon 110 TDI for £2-2,500? Was only looking because one is down the road from me.

If you're thinking of a Leon then I would also consider a Toledo mark 2. The Toledo is basically the larger saloon version of the Leon and represents much better value for money. They are cheap as chips now. I've had mine for for four years now and it's been a very good car. Mine is the 110 Tdi and has plenty of urge.