Bye bye GTI

[DVWR]

I’ve been following piston heads for a few years, and got very into it during all this lock down. I’ve been loving trawling the readers car/shed of the week sections especially.

The time has come for me to ask for some of the collective wisdom of the community to be shared.

My beloved MK5 GTI has been sadly taken from me. Crashed into while stationery, it is of course, a write off


I knew I needed to change it at some point. It used a decent amount of fuel, and I’m doing 15-20k per year now. The £300 road tax is a stinger as well. But I’d have rather changed it when I wanted to.

So, now, the question today is what should I replace it with?

I’ve been on auto trader for hours trying to find something but nothing seems quite right.

My criteria:
- strict £7k budget
- Auto
- 40mpg+
- 5 doors, at least as big as a golf
- Won’t let me down with decent mileage for 2-3yrs
- Refined at motorway speeds
- Somehow interesting - fast/rare/looks - I’ve got a 19 plate insignia as a hire at the moment. It’s a great car. It gets me to work perfectly. But it’s so dull, I don’t feel anything for it, and I can’t live with that!
- I’m thinking diesel, but not too fussed.

Maybe an Alfa Giulietta, but the autos are rare.
Also thought about a 330d estate, but It looks like it will be 13 years old minimum.

I’m interested to see what you all come up with, looks like you’ve got a few weeks before I’ll be allowed out to buy anything anyway.

[anonymous-user]

Fiesta ST?

Edit: forget that, only has 3 doors, only thing I can think of is another Golf.

Or a cheap Monaro!

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 1st April 17:27

[A500leroy]

mazda 3 mps ( focus st in disguise..)

[CubanPete]

You'll get a late e91 LCI (2010-2012) 330d with sensible miles for £7k.

Look at the 325d too as it is the same engine.

[TurboBlue]

VW Polo GTI DSG 1.4

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

Renault Clio GT Line 1.2 EDC

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

[ecksjay]

TurboBlue said:

VW Polo GTI DSG 1.4

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

Renault Clio GT Line 1.2 EDC

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

"at least as as big as a golf".

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the 2.2d Mondeo in Titanium X Sport will tick your boxes now it won't be hot hatch levels of feedback but they're up there & are the best fwd steer in class.

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

2.0d

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

Here's my leftfield pick:

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

[TurboBlue]

ecksjay said:

TurboBlue said:

VW Polo GTI DSG 1.4

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

Renault Clio GT Line 1.2 EDC

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

"at least as as big as a golf".

for info:

Mk V Golf
Wheelbase : 257.8 cm
Length : 421.6 cm
Width : 175.9 cm
Height : 146.6 cm
Boot : 350L

Clio GT
Wheelbase : 258.9 cm
Length : 407.7 cm
Width : 173.2 cm
Height :144.1 cm
Boot : 300L

So, the Clio has a longer wheelbase, so more room for passengers but is slightly smaller overall so has a smaller boot.

Edit: if it must be Golf sized, you can have the 1.4 litre engine and DSG box in a Golf too:

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

Edited by TurboBlue on Wednesday 1st April 21:51

[Mr Tidy]

Given that your Golf will be sorely missed, what about a Seat Leon Cupra or Skoda Octavia VRs of some description?

You ought to feel at home in those!

[Betts88]

With your criteria, for me, the answer is Octavia VRS 184/190ps with DSG or even the Superb. Hopefully they are in budget. The Octavia is great and very frugal and coming from a GTI I think you would appreciate the frills of the VRS.

[DoubleD]

DVWR said:

My criteria:
- Auto
- 5 doors, at least as big as a golf

These 2 points seem to have been missed by a few on here so far.

A Skoda VRS DSG was the first thing that came to my mind. Although it does fail on the interesting rare side.