Short issue! - Page 1 - Car Buying

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Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Monday 6th May 2019

Hey all,

Im looking to get a new car soon. I need a 4 or 5 door car for short journeys. The main issue that i have is that i dont have much space to park, so the car needs to be less than 4.4 meters long. This seems to rule out lots of nice estates and saloons! I would like something that is cheap to run, but not something too dull or slow. The Alfa Guilietta and Mazda 3 2.0 have both caught my eye?

My budget changes from day to day ha ha. Somewhere between £3k and £6k. The more i spend on this, the less i can spend on another toy that I am after!

Also, my current car is worth more, would a dealer part ex, but give me cash?

30,528 posts

154 months

Monday 6th May 2019

I'd say the Giulietta is the one to go for especially in Veloce form:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Monday 6th May 2019

Thanks. Yes they do look good. Anything else spring to mind in case I dont like it when i go and view a couple?

30,528 posts

154 months

Monday 6th May 2019

Lukas239

463 posts

125 months

Monday 6th May 2019

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say the 1.6T Focus 150 in the best spec you can get:

Any reason not to go for the 1.6T 180 over the 150? Want sure if the ecoboost engines still set light to themselves.

Dift

1,682 posts

256 months

Monday 6th May 2019

N18 R55 MINI Clubman S.

4 door little estate and a lot of fun

GreatGranny

9,519 posts

255 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019

Carsearcher said:

Also, my current car is worth more, would a dealer part ex, but give me cash?

he would just give you trade value on your car so you will lose out twice in affect.

Can you not sell your present car privately?

30,528 posts

154 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019

Lukas239 said:

Any reason not to go for the 1.6T 180 over the 150? Want sure if the ecoboost engines still set light to themselves.

Nope i couldn't find a 180 in the OP's budget, the 1.6T hasn't had any major issues, there have been a few reports that some 1.6T's suffered the same water pipe issues that 1.0T did but that hasn't been the case with the ones I've supplied.

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019

Sorry for the delay, pistonheads wouldnt allow me to post! Thanks for all the ideas, please keep them coming if you think of any others?

I hope that I like the Alfa, as im not so keen on the others. I do like the astra gtc, but i need 4 or 5 doors.

Any thoughts on a car that could easily take a roof box?

30,528 posts

154 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019

All of the above can take a roof box, they did do the 5 door Astra in 1.6T form:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Wednesday 8th May 2019

Ah, well taking a roofbox might be very useful.

What are peoples thoughts about the Mazda 3 2.0 sport? Might be a good option if I want to only spend £4k?

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Wednesday 8th May 2019

I see quite a few cars with the vw 1.4 tsi engine, is this the unreliable one? Would a skoda fabia 1.4 dsg be reliable to own?

30,528 posts

154 months

Wednesday 8th May 2019

Carsearcher said:

Ah, well taking a roofbox might be very useful.

What are peoples thoughts about the Mazda 3 2.0 sport? Might be a good option if I want to only spend £4k?

The Mazda is a decent car & at 4k you can get a good one but I'd be buying the first Giulietta (I think it was 4k) I listed over the Mazda but if that's gone then one of these will be fine.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Wednesday 8th May 2019

I do like the look of the Alfa, hopefully there is enough height in the back for child seats as the roofline is quite low.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

137 months

Thursday 9th May 2019

The roof isnt very high on these so you may struggle with a child seat in the back.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

137 months

Sunday 12th May 2019

Carsearcher said:

I see quite a few cars with the vw 1.4 tsi engine, is this the unreliable one? Would a skoda fabia 1.4 dsg be reliable to own?

I think that these are the engines that go pop quiet easily. Im not sure that the dsg boxes are that reliable either.

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Sunday 12th May 2019

Yes i think the reliability isnt very good. A swift sport would be good, but they are over my budget. Idealy i would like to spend just £4k

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Sunday 19th May 2019

If I up the budget a bit I could maybe get the auto alfa. Has anyone got experience of these?

nmd87

839 posts

219 months

Monday 20th May 2019

Carsearcher said:

If I up the budget a bit I could maybe get the auto alfa. Has anyone got experience of these?

I had a 1.4 Multiair TCT from 2015-2018. I got rid of it after we had our first child, as it was quite impractical as a family car.

What do you want to know?

Original Poster

21 posts

88 months

Monday 20th May 2019

nmd87 said:

I had a 1.4 Multiair TCT from 2015-2018. I got rid of it after we had our first child, as it was quite impractical as a family car.

What do you want to know?

Well I have a 7 year old and a 1 year old. i dont need to carry much stuff so the space should be ok as long as the roof line is high enough for todays huge childrens car seats!

How did you find the tct box? I had a mk5 golf gti dsg, that box was ok but could be a little jerky, it also needed servicing from time to time, im also not sure that they are totally reliable.

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