What car - quickish 5-door hatch for £10k?

[amstrange1]

I'm after some suggestions on what to get as a second car please - it'll be replacing the wife's 1.6 Mazda3. She'll be driving the family barge, so I'll be using the second car for my commute and the Mazda is a bit too mundane!

Criteria I think are:
5-doors
ISOfix rear seats
sub-8s to 60
<£10k

My commute is a 14 mile cross-country journey in the morning, and 22 miles of motorway in the evening - so I'd prefer something that's not too barge-like - nor a buzzbox.

If they were cheap enough the new Polo GTI would interest me, small boosted petrol for decent economy when doddering around, remap potential if the power's not quite enough, and good residuals. Shame that the new Fabia VRS is an utter minger.

[Deerfoot]

BMW 130i appears to fit the bill.

[redtwin]

Golf R32 or GTi
Subaru WRX STi
Focus ST
Audi A3 3.2 or 2.0T

[ajb85]

A good one for £7,000? The remainder in the fuel pot?

[GrumpyTwig]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...

I only looked quickly but you might pick up one with DSG for 10k, maybe too quick?

[amstrange1]

Golf Ed30 is a good shout! I think the R32 is a nice sounding motor, but the GTI much better value for money.

I'll be selling my 350Z to help fund the purchase, so would like to make sure its more family-orientated replacement is still vaguely fun. The original plan was to sell the Datsun for a family barge, and I'd start using her Mazda, but I can't face that - so we'll flog both cars.

What's the Focus ST like on fuel?

[Mastodon2]

Has to be an Impreza WRX STi and some change, surely?

[GenePoolReject13]

Fuel consumption in a Focus ST would be no more then 25mpg average. They will touch 30mpg on a run but only just. Not a bad price to pay for that lovely 5 pot turbo and the noise it produces.

You mentioned the new Polo GTI, have you considered the Fabia VRS? Same car but available with in budget. Must admit, I was out in one yesterday and I was rather impressed. That 1.4 TFSI is an eager little thing and had oodles of power lower down in the revs and the 7 speed DSG was quick to respond to jabs at the throttle.

[T1547]

+1 for 130i. Or 120d if better economy needed.

[traffman]

Ford Focus ST everyday , at least it least it had some sort of design brief...unlike the god awful 1 series breadvan.

[T1547]

Tad chavvy the Focus ST imo..

[amstrange1]

GenePoolReject13 said:

Fuel consumption in a Focus ST would be no more then 25mpg average. They will touch 30mpg on a run but only just. Not a bad price to pay for that lovely 5 pot turbo and the noise it produces.

You mentioned the new Polo GTI, have you considered the Fabia VRS? Same car but available with in budget. Must admit, I was out in one yesterday and I was rather impressed. That 1.4 TFSI is an eager little thing and had oodles of power lower down in the revs and the 7 speed DSG was quick to respond to jabs at the throttle.

Sounds like the ST might be off the cards if that's all it manages, the Datsun does better than that - albeit not by much.

Yep, have considered the Fabia (see first post) and I'm sure it's a decent motor - it just looks a bit spesh. Will see if I can find a local one to have a look at.

[GAjon]

Mazda 3


MPS

[Grovsie26]

E46 M3.

[GM182]

Had a similar requirement recently and went for the 130i.

Very pleased so far. Really quite quick (262 bhp) and rear wheel drive - it feels like a proper sporting car but blends in to the traffic like anything else.

Mine's an M-sport but there are SE spec ones too which I think are a tad softer on the suspension settings

[Pablo68]

Octavia TSi vRS 2009ish. 7 sec 0-60 standard, 5 doors, isofix seats all round. And for £10k you'd get a fully loaded excellent low mileage example

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Edited by Pablo68 on Tuesday 5th March 18:36

[dapearson]

130

[GenePoolReject13]

amstrange1 said:

GenePoolReject13 said:

Fuel consumption in a Focus ST would be no more then 25mpg average. They will touch 30mpg on a run but only just. Not a bad price to pay for that lovely 5 pot turbo and the noise it produces.

You mentioned the new Polo GTI, have you considered the Fabia VRS? Same car but available with in budget. Must admit, I was out in one yesterday and I was rather impressed. That 1.4 TFSI is an eager little thing and had oodles of power lower down in the revs and the 7 speed DSG was quick to respond to jabs at the throttle.

Sounds like the ST might be off the cards if that's all it manages, the Datsun does better than that - albeit not by much.

Yep, have considered the Fabia (see first post) and I'm sure it's a decent motor - it just looks a bit spesh. Will see if I can find a local one to have a look at.

Woops, missed the part where you described it as a minger.

They are a bit colour dependent and still look awkward in the best colour combinations. Well worth a closer look though, I was put off by both the looks and lack of a manual but having driven it my mind has been changed. The DSG box makes sense as its easy and relaxing around town but stick it in sport mode or manual when your in the mood for a hoon, sport mode holding onto the gears all the way up to the 7k rpm redline.

There are plenty of other options to consider in this price bracket though. The leon cupra is a decent steer as is the Octavia VRS. The Focus ST is a great drive, effortless power and a great chassis just poor consumption. RX-8's are available cheap enough to have change for an engine rebuild and a fair amount of fuel.
6 cylinder BMW's should be abundant for less than 10k. 1.8T Audi A3 Perhaps?

Lots of choice.

[Speedy300]

Seat Leon Cupra Mk2 - 5 doors, 240 bhp, 34 mpg.

[Unlight]

I'd recommend a Golf Edition 30, either the DSG or the manual version. I've had a fair few hot hatches (including a MK5 R32) and its by far the best all rounder thats good at everything. Residual values seem to be holding very well also if you're worried about that aspect.