You have £7000, which hot hatch do you buy?

Friday 7th April 2023

nickfrog said:

bennno said:

indestructible focus said:

Clio 197/200, outstanding handling and still good value.

Challenge is finding one that’s not fallen in to the wrong hands…..

Yes that can be an issue but is it any more an issue than with any performance car that age? I would argue that they probably have a (slightly) more enthusiast following than other older hot hatches so perhaps a little more originality retained.

I’ve looked a few times, of you discount anything not parked on grass outside a council house and try to get one with regular service history it leaves a handful of cars that are very expensive.

Dift

1,623 posts

229 months

Friday 7th April 2023

I've just spent the past 4 months pondering the same question.

~3000 miles pa, and a hot hatch.

I ended up with a low mileage R53, tried a few other cars including the Clio Sports, but there was something about the mini.

It is completely standard and will probably need to stay that way due to the low mileage, but it is great fun.

21,407 posts

219 months

Friday 7th April 2023

bennno said:

I’ve looked a few times, of you discount anything not parked on grass outside a council house and try to get one with regular service history it leaves a handful of cars that are very expensive.

Sorry to hear that. We have a 200 that is unmolested/50k miles/well maintained so that's music to my ears. I know what you mean about the expensive ones but I an not even sure they change hands. I share it with my son but when he wants to move on, probably next year, we would be looking at £8k hopefully.

White-Noise

4,374 posts

250 months

Friday 7th April 2023

nickfrog said:

bennno said:

I’ve looked a few times, of you discount anything not parked on grass outside a council house and try to get one with regular service history it leaves a handful of cars that are very expensive.

Sorry to hear that. We have a 200 that is unmolested/50k miles/well maintained so that's music to my ears. I know what you mean about the expensive ones but I an not even sure they change hands. I share it with my son but when he wants to move on, probably next year, we would be looking at £8k hopefully.

I'm in the same position with mine. Spec dependant I think you will get more than 8! I keep an eye on them as well and it's definitely possible to get into one for under 7 but it's a waiting game and looking on the owners clubs as well as the usual places

21,407 posts

219 months

Friday 7th April 2023

White-Noise said:

I'm in the same position with mine. Spec dependant I think you will get more than 8! I keep an eye on them as well and it's definitely possible to get into one for under 7 but it's a waiting game and looking on the owners clubs as well as the usual places

Good to hear. The car is a non Cup in Silver but in quite an incredible condition with refurbed wheels, window seals+vinyls and all the bits attended to in the last year (discs, pads, tyres, belt+pump, new complete exhaust). Might start it at £8,995 and see what happens.
Bit of thread deflection, sorry.

bennno

11,870 posts

271 months

Friday 7th April 2023

nickfrog said:

Sorry to hear that. We have a 200 that is unmolested/50k miles/well maintained so that's music to my ears. I know what you mean about the expensive ones but I an not even sure they change hands. I share it with my son but when he wants to move on, probably next year, we would be looking at £8k hopefully.

Ping me your details when that time comes.

Xcore

1,347 posts

92 months

Friday 7th April 2023

Do the 197/200s still have the ridiculously expensive cambelt change costs like the mk2s?

21,407 posts

219 months

Friday 7th April 2023

Xcore said:

Do the 197/200s still have the ridiculously expensive cambelt change costs like the mk2s?

Yes it's about £450 with the pump, dephaser and bits every 6 years.

Edited by nickfrog on Friday 7th April 19:13

ZX10R NIN

27,788 posts

127 months

Friday 7th April 2023

Xcore said:

Do the 197/200s still have the ridiculously expensive cambelt change costs like the mk2s?

They're not expensive you want to see the cost of wet belt changes smile

Xcore

1,347 posts

92 months

Friday 7th April 2023

Ah not bad, got a quote for a mk2 and it was around £800 with the dephaser!

Driver101

14,376 posts

123 months

Friday 7th April 2023

nickfrog said:

Xcore said:

Do the 197/200s still have the ridiculously expensive cambelt change costs like the mk2s?

Yes it's about £450 with the pump, dephaser and bits every 6 years.

Edited by nickfrog on Friday 7th April 19:13

I wouldn't consider that expensive.

21,407 posts

219 months

Friday 7th April 2023

Driver101 said:

I wouldn't consider that expensive.

Yes it's not too bad tbf, and that included new oil and coolant too from memory

OldSkoolRS

6,772 posts

181 months

Saturday 8th April 2023

Similar budget to the OP, but it's really just a local runabout to replace a shed Ka I ran for the last year as a stop gap. Trouble is I've got used to the £30 VED and now the jump to £135 or more (actually more now due to the budget increase) seems harder to take given low annual mileage. I keep looking at Abarth 595 since it's essentially the same car underneath as the Ka, but much modified in the Abarth's case. I read about very hard suspension though and as an old fart with a bad back I'm not sure I could live with it day to day. Every time I see/hear one though I start to wonder...

What does strike me though is that £7-8k isn't really buying much these days, given it's 4x what I spent on my Ka, some options are barely any newer or less miles. Every time I think I've found something interesting/a good mix of power and running costs I then find out some 'known issue' that puts me off: Various Fiestas have been on my radar, but the 3 cylinder models seem like a ticking time bomb for example. I wouldn't mind if there was a job that I could do straight after purchase to prevent some known issue, since I'd then maintain it regularly myself (like timing belts, etc) but I guess I'll end up with something more 'tepid' than 'hot', though I'll be interested to see more suggestions and the final outcome for the OP's brother.

ZX10R NIN

27,788 posts

127 months

Saturday 8th April 2023

OldSkoolRS said:

Similar budget to the OP, but it's really just a local runabout to replace a shed Ka I ran for the last year as a stop gap. Trouble is I've got used to the £30 VED and now the jump to £135 or more (actually more now due to the budget increase) seems harder to take given low annual mileage. I keep looking at Abarth 595 since it's essentially the same car underneath as the Ka, but much modified in the Abarth's case. I read about very hard suspension though and as an old fart with a bad back I'm not sure I could live with it day to day. Every time I see/hear one though I start to wonder...

What does strike me though is that £7-8k isn't really buying much these days, given it's 4x what I spent on my Ka, some options are barely any newer or less miles. Every time I think I've found something interesting/a good mix of power and running costs I then find out some 'known issue' that puts me off: Various Fiestas have been on my radar, but the 3 cylinder models seem like a ticking time bomb for example. I wouldn't mind if there was a job that I could do straight after purchase to prevent some known issue, since I'd then maintain it regularly myself (like timing belts, etc) but I guess I'll end up with something more 'tepid' than 'hot', though I'll be interested to see more suggestions and the final outcome for the OP's brother.

Personally I'd live with the extra £9 a month for the tax & get something interesting wink

Truckosaurus

11,521 posts

286 months

Saturday 8th April 2023

ZX10R NIN said:

...
£30 Mazda3 Sport Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301303...
...

This era of Mazda 3 has caught my attention recently. As far as I can tell, they are the newest naturally aspirated (non-hybrid) decent sized engined hatchback/saloon you can buy. (Along with its sister Mazda6)

Also seems like a cheap remap un-detunes the 120bhp output to the 160bhp the engine has in the MX5 (etc.)

OldSkoolRS

6,772 posts

181 months

Saturday 8th April 2023

ZX10R NIN said:

Personally I'd live with the extra £9 a month for the tax & get something interesting wink

or another way to look at it is this, are any of the cars below worth another (once you've taken age spec power etc into consideration) £9 a month.

It's a second car running it on the cheap since I'm retired. We have a low mileage 2016 C200 for longer trips and (eventually) my RS2000 once it's back on the road. I'd just like something a bit newer than the 09 Ka with some of the little niceties I miss from the C200, like remote unlocking (the door lock froze a few times this winter), a boot light when loading my band gear...nothing amazing, but just daft things you miss after a while. Doesn't have to be much faster, though I wouldn't look at anything slower as I do occasionally play gigs that involve a motorway journey.

Mini 1.5 are on my radar, but usually higher mileage as per that advert. The Ka is 63,000 so I have a mental block about buying something with more miles on it for 4 x the price. Found a slightly scruffy Cooper I could fix up (not recorded), which might be worth a look. Definitely not into paying £150 a year (VED increased now?) for a 127,000 mile beige Focus though, speaking as a double Ford owner it's not badge snobbery either.

But then I'm not the OP, just happen to be looking around a similar budget.

AnhBanhBao

177 posts

49 months