New car advice

[jlwhitworth1]

Hello all, I'm a newbie here so please be gentle.

In the next month or so I will be looking to get rid of my 08' Megane RS 175 (currently running 200bhp and 345lb ft) which has been a great car over the past couple of years. A new job opportunity has given me the opportunity to look at buying a new toy for myself but I cannot for the life of me narrow down my options.

I do like my cars and would love a petrol but I will be doing around 300 to 400 miles per week, thus I am tempted towards diesel.

I suppose the main priorities are comfort and power with reasonable economy; got abit fed up with the stiff ride of the megane but don't want anything less powerful

Oh and I have around £15k to 17k to spend.

I appreciate that I haven't narrowed it down a lot but I am really open to suggestions and would like to know what you guys would be looking at if you were in a similar position to myself? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, Jake

[vtecyo]

335D M sport coupe?

[jlwhitworth1]

Definitely crossed my mind but I've heard the servicing costs are horrendous for them???

[TREMAiNE]

Octavia VRS Diesel?

[eddrevhen]

Those new 2 litre cooper s' are meant to be good on juice (50mpg?) and look the part aswell... If you're into a hot hatch? Or is it defo the ship juice you are after?

[jlwhitworth1]

The only thing with the octy vrs are the looks, I much prefer the newer model which is much out of my price range. The advantage is that they are such good value for money and could probably save a couple of grand from my budget.

[Debaser]

With your mileage I'd be looking at a petrol car. Probably something German and RWD.

[jlwhitworth1]

eddrevhen said:

Those new 2 litre cooper s' are meant to be good on juice (50mpg?) and look the part aswell... If you're into a hot hatch? Or is it defo the ship juice you are after?

I would probably prefer a petrol to be honest as I miss the sound and rev range amongst other things but it's the economy that is a killer. I could probably justify 35 to 40 mpg if needs be but would struggle to find reasoning with anything lower.

I do like the cooper s but aren't they 20k +.?

[jlwhitworth1]

Debaser said:

With your mileage I'd be looking at a petrol car. Probably something German and RWD.

It could be abit more than this depending on job requirements and travelling to various projects,but this is probably the norm.

[Mr Tom]

eddrevhen said:

Those new 2 litre cooper s' are meant to be good on juice (50mpg?) and look the part aswell... If you're into a hot hatch? Or is it defo the ship juice you are after?

Mum has one of those albeit a roadster. Don't get me started on why she wanted a diesel, but it is fast(ish) and she gets 52mpg on her hilly stop start B road commute of about 15miles a day and 60odd on a motorway run. So all in all not bad. The worst thing is you don't get the pop and bang noise of the petrol cooper s. What about a 123d?

[sebhaque]

I would assume with that sort of mileage you'd be running around on motorways, am I right? Petrol cars aren't too far behind diesels (well, diesels that are made with performance as a factor) on long runs.

That said, since you've not specified 2 doors/back seats etc, your budget will get you a lovely S2 Lotus Elise or a Vauxhall VX220 Turbo. Both cars are pretty frugal since they don't weigh much and have relatively small engines. 40mpg on the motorway was achieveable out of my old Turbo.

As a left-field suggestion, your budget would also buy you something like a classic Mini with a Honda VTEC conversion. You've got the reliability and frugality of your standard Civic VTEC engine (arguably increased due to the lower car weight) and incredible fun driving a little Mini with a big ol' lump in the front.

[anonymous-user]

jlwhitworth1 said:

Hello all, I'm a newbie here so please be gentle.

In the next month or so I will be looking to get rid of my 08' Megane RS 175 (currently running 200bhp and 345lb ft) which has been a great car over the past couple of years. A new job opportunity has given me the opportunity to look at buying a new toy for myself but I cannot for the life of me narrow down my options.

I do like my cars and would love a petrol but I will be doing around 300 to 400 miles per week, thus I am tempted towards diesel.

I suppose the main priorities are comfort and power with reasonable economy; got abit fed up with the stiff ride of the megane but don't want anything less powerful

Oh and I have around £15k to 17k to spend.

I appreciate that I haven't narrowed it down a lot but I am really open to suggestions and would like to know what you guys would be looking at if you were in a similar position to myself? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, Jake

Hi mate and welcome

Not sure if you want to go for a car the same age as your Megane but the following is a good motor and a bit different

This one has low miles which is getting harder to find.

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

[jlwhitworth1]

Mr Tom said:

Mum has one of those albeit a roadster. Don't get me started on why she wanted a diesel, but it is fast(ish) and she gets 52mpg on her hilly stop start B road commute of about 15miles a day and 60odd on a motorway run. So all in all not bad. The worst thing is you don't get the pop and bang noise of the petrol cooper s. What about a 123d?

Probably 70% motorway miles. 123d coupe is another I've considered. My friend has a hatch and absolutely swears by it!

[eddrevhen]

I think they start at about 18k but yeh very easy to spec up and go over 20k! We were looking at them the other week but the misses decided to go for an abarth 595 instead!