Which would you choose?

[RadoVR6]

I'm Looking at getting a new car and have narrowed it down to these 2.
Both would be about 3 years old with under 20k miles and around the £9k mark.
Or any other suggestions?

Thanks

[Muddle238]

Honestly for £9k the options are far wider than either an Astra or a Focus. Personally I'd be looking at Land Rover, Jag, Volvo or Citroen for something quirky like a C6.

[ambuletz]

I would pick a ford (and in this case the focus) over a vauxhall any day, but I probably would not pick that engine. There is a pretty long thread here of people who's engines have gone kaput every 30k miles. get a larger engine or maybe the older 1.6

[Vitorio]

ambuletz said:

I would pick a ford (and in this case the focus) over a vauxhall any day, but I probably would not pick that engine. There is a pretty long thread here of people who's engines have gone kaput every 30k miles. get a larger engine or maybe the older 1.6

That was one particular guy, and i think the end conclusion was that there is a fix (to do with some very weak coolant lines being replaced with a less failure prone alternative)

So just keep an eye on that coolant line, and an ecoboost would be fine.

The NA 1.6 that preceded it would probably be a safer buy overall though, but that is more down to NA vs small turbo downsized engines then anything to do with these specific lumps.

OP, id have the focus out of those two, but as others have said, there are far more interesting choices in your budget range

[RadoVR6]

It is just a car to get to work and back and shopping runs. Most of my commute is in traffic so I don't want anything interesting. Just something economical and easy to drive.

Land Rovers are out and so are Citroens.

Are the ecoboosts that much of a worry?

[Willy Nilly]

Muddle238 said:

Honestly for £9k the options are far wider than either an Astra or a Focus. Personally I'd be looking at Land Rover, Jag, Volvo or Citroen for something quirky like a C6.

How many Land Rovers, Jags or Volvos can you get that are 3 years old with 20,000 miles on them? About none, I would think. None that work, anyway.

[Crafty_]

OP Everyone here will tell you to buy the Ford, PH has a pretty strong anti Vauxhall bias.

Either car is going to do what you want, neither will be significantly better than the other. Buy whichever one gives you the best deal or whichever you like more.

[EV11NED]

I'd be looking at a Mazda 3 or a Honda Civic instead of the Focus or Astra. Bit different and likely to be more reliable.

[Pete-mojsh]

With my work I get rental cars for any business mileage so have driven both, of the two I would take the focus. I didn't know what to expect with it when it when it was delivered but it was an excellent all rounder for that size if hatchback.