Car musings - £6k

[njr911]

My Octy 245 VRS goes back next month after a trouble free 2 year lease. I've decided to see how much more(less?) fun you can have spending £6k rather than leasing. I can't decide what to spend my money on.

It needs 4 seats as the kids (8 and 6) will travel in it occasionally, though its main use will be 35 minute commute to work, mixture of town/ A road driving.
Requirements are also heated seats, dab and bluetooth or easy add on to the current system. Auto would be a bonus for the town driving.

My current shopping list (I have actual cars available for all these) -

Audi A4 Cabriolet 3.0 V6 TDi (60k miles)
Volvo C30 T5 (50k miles)
Golf GTI Mk5 (80k miles and £1k cheeper than budget)

Thoughts?

[njr911]

Also looked at was a Mini Cooper S (2015 and £4k over budget)

Civic Type R (I've owned one before)

[browna]

mk2 focus ST or MK5 R32 both gonna be over 100k miles for £6k tho.
even a mk8 civic Type R would be.. different, maybe a bit tiresome for commuting.
how about an Infinity G35/37 if you can find one.
or mk7 fiesta ST would be fun.

[Belle427]

Golf Gti, a bit boring but does it all well, the edition 30 is worth stretching to if you fancied modifying it, as it remaps really well up to 300 Bhp and totally transforms the car.

[ZX10R NIN]

3.2 A3 Sportback S Line

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Mondeo Titanium X Sport

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

325i SE

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

3.6 Skoda Superb

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

S4 Convertible

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

Insignia VXR

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Infiniti G37

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

[njr911]

Some great suggestions. I really like the Insignia VXR, or even a Astra VXR. I'm a sucker for the Griffin

[TameRacingDriver]

BMW 130i

Megane 250

Edit: also if you were considering an F56 MINI (as I was) but it was too much, you could try the R53 JCW instead (what I’m going to do instead), but i would imagine the back seats might be the problem there as I’ve heard they are useless.

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Friday 28th February 19:09

[njr911]

TameRacingDriver said:

BMW 130i

Megane 250

Edit: also if you were considering an F56 MINI (as I was) but it was too much, you could try the R53 JCW instead (what I’m going to do instead), but i would imagine the back seats might be the problem there as I’ve heard they are useless.

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Friday 28th February 19:09

130i was top of the lit but there just aren't any about. Megan RS was looked at, not seen many nice ones for £6k

Mini might be a bit small.

Does no ne like the A4 Cab V6 DIEsel idea?

[amagawd]

MrAverage said:

This may be going very soon for £6k

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I may be interested in this!

[Mr Tidy]

njr911 said:

130i was top of the lit but there just aren't any about. Megan RS was looked at, not seen many nice ones for £6k

Mini might be a bit small.

Does no ne like the A4 Cab V6 DIEsel idea?

If you can't find a 130i you could always consider a 330i - which is what I ended up buying because I couldn't find a 130i either, although my budget was a bit lower! But according to BMW it's only 0.2 seconds slower to from 0-62 and I can live with that.

I don't know anything about the A4, but personally I'd go petrol V6 even if only for a better sound-track when the roof is down!

[Liokault]

Mr Tidy said:

njr911 said:

130i was top of the lit but there just aren't any about. Megan RS was looked at, not seen many nice ones for £6k

Mini might be a bit small.

Does no ne like the A4 Cab V6 DIEsel idea?

I had a v6 A4 cab. great car but every small issue cost £300 and everything else cost £1400 (such as the three DMFW it needed in 100k), and the issues came up regularly. Again, loved the car, more than enough room in the back, quite a fun drive but expensive to run.

My last "fun" can was a E93 335i which may be available now at the op's budget. Mine died by fire. Other than that it was cheaper to run (in the 35k miles I had it) than the A4...other than tyres...any even minor pot hole just destroyed tyres on the 19 inch rims (as well as messing up the steering angle sensor, steering alignment and both front tyres on one notable occasion).

[stevekoz]

njr911 said:

130i was top of the lit but there just aren't any about. Megan RS was looked at, not seen many nice ones for £6k

Mini might be a bit small.

Does no ne like the A4 Cab V6 DIEsel idea?

I have owned a 130i and have to say as a daily with 4 seats and despite what it may appear a decent enough boot for the size. It was great. Lot of fun. Character of the engine was just brilliant, made a lovely tone and it felt really quick. Many say its likened to a mini e46 M3 - i would tend to agree if you spend some money on the handling side. Lower Arms. Suspension swap (Birds). Uprated brakes and exhaust (Msport items are good upgrades if you can find a car with them on). Oh and ditch the runflats - they are awful and ruin the handling. Mine was a manual so i can't comment on the auto, but in my e46 the auto was actually quite suited to the car.

They are rare without uber mileage and most are manual, but i did spot these on my travels -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-BMW-1-Series-130i-...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[TameRacingDriver]

Had an auto z4c, I wouldn't have the auto 130 myself. Mine developed a serious fault at about 80k miles and I was advised the solution was a rebuild or replacement box - very big bill. Not before spending £400 on a gearbox service which failed to rectify the issue. I didn't end up fixing it, just sold it and took the loss as I didn't have any more money to sort it.

Plus I think the feel of a manual will be way better than the auto. The auto was ok just for being lazy but it didn't really suit a driver's car. I gave it a chance but would 100% wouldn't have another.

[amagawd]

This price point and requirements is my domain.

My recommendations: MK5 GTI or early E90 330i.

(Have also owned a Type R, 130i and 330d at this price point.)

[Mr Tidy]

I've had two 3.0Si Z4 Coupes, but both had manual boxes. I really don't think an auto would have suited them too well.

Now I have a 55 plate E90 330i as my daily and it's also a manual, although an auto might have been OK in that - just not for me.

I really wouldn't want an auto 130i though!

But the OP has other options - I just hope he finds something that suits his needs.

[TameRacingDriver]

Mr Tidy said:

I've had two 3.0Si Z4 Coupes, but both had manual boxes. I really don't think an auto would have suited them too well.

Now I have a 55 plate E90 330i as my daily and it's also a manual, although an auto might have been OK in that - just not for me.

Don't get me wrong, it was ok when it worked but definitely not the best choice for the car, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone if they can afford the extra (if any) to get a manual car.

The issue for me was that autos were at least 2k cheaper when I was buying but that doesn't seem to be the case now.

[anthonysjb]

Mk7 Fiesta ST, with a remap.