Moving On 'Swiftly'

[S27MYD]

Hi All,
Back on the forum after a looooong time since I believe I last posted.

Back then (2-3 years ago) I had my 07 FN2 Civic Type R, it was the biggest mistake of my life thus far, taking out a personal loan and laying over the odds I couldnt sell and had to suck up the Part Ex value to the dealer of half of what i paid for just 6m later.

The car i replaced with was my current 2016 Suzuki Swift Sport, an amazing car that served me so well over the last few years, I've enjoyed every minute with the car, and actually got back to just going for drives, something the civic put me off as i was in such a bad financial place.

Fast forward to now, I have an 8 month old and need to part with the swift for two reasons.
1. The boot is tiny, like shoebox tiny, with our buggy in the back nothing else fits, not even a shoebox would lol.
2. We live with my partners mum, and need our own place, so trimming monthly outgoings, the biggest two being the aforementioned personal loan for the FN2 and the monthly payment for the swift.

I now have an amazing job with a company vehicle so I only really drive on the weekends over to family and the odd day out, but the company car can't, for obvious reasons, carry the baby.

Eventually getting onto what im after some advice on

A good all rounder for a budget of £2.5k, something that can carry the baby and the extras a tiny human requires, but also something I can have a bit of fun in (not necessarily the fastest, Swift was fun enough for me).

Now scouring the web to me the best(ish) bet looks either a Golf GTI Mk5 or Skoda Fabia VRs MK2, anything else I may have missed?

To anyone who takes the time to read,
Thanks!

[Demelitia]

Doesn’t the mk2 fabia have a bit of a poor reputation as far as reliability is concerned?
Even just on paper they seem like a bit of a timebomb.
£2.5k doesn’t get you in to much GTI either; they seem a bit leggy at that price range. I’m not sure if you’d find one that was good value for that.

Mk2 Megane renaultsport?
Various different Seat leons vaguely fit your brief.

[mdk1]

The MK 2 Fabia VRS has a few issues, but look into them and find a sorted one and you should be ok, but your budget may be teight.
Have you thought of an Octavia VRS?

[ZX10R NIN]

With a 2.5k budget I'd be looking at warm hatches/rep mobiles rather than a hot hatch & you should be able to get something sensible for your budget:

308 GT 200 these are the ones that come with the forged bottom ends so don't have the same issues as the regular 1.6T

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

2.0T Megane Dynamique 180

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

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

2.0T Leon FR 200 with some haggling you can get one of these with sensible miles

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

1.6T Astra SRI 180

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

Rep Cars:

Lexus IS250 SE 204

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

Budget stretch & some haggling will see you in an Insignia 2.0T SRI 220 decent handling aligned with a nice spacious interior

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

Saab 9-3 Aero

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

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

2.5 Mazda6 Sport this is along the lines of your Swfit

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

[S27MYD]

Demelitia said:

Doesn’t the mk2 fabia have a bit of a poor reputation as far as reliability is concerned?
Even just on paper they seem like a bit of a timebomb.
£2.5k doesn’t get you in to much GTI either; they seem a bit leggy at that price range. I’m not sure if you’d find one that was good value for that.

Mk2 Megane renaultsport?
Various different Seat leons vaguely fit your brief.

Doh! I meant MK1 Fabia, the diesel one, I understand the MK2 was a massive let down on the previous car but i frel i could just about get in an ok (happy to also do a little bit of work) SE Mk1 VRs.
I get the GTI point you make, sorta rule that one out straight away.

Megane might be worth a look, my dad always tried to get me into one as he loves them!
Leons a good shout too, sensible.

[S27MYD]

mdk1 said:

The MK 2 Fabia VRS has a few issues, but look into them and find a sorted one and you should be ok, but your budget may be teight.
Have you thought of an Octavia VRS?

As above I meant Mk1!
Now the Mk2 Octavias look fantastic if they fall into that sort of bracket, a normal Octavia is my fall back for a cheap runner tbh.

[S27MYD]

ZX10R NIN said:

With a 2.5k budget I'd be looking at warm hatches/rep mobiles rather than a hot hatch & you should be able to get something sensible for your budget:

308 GT 200 these are the ones that come with the forged bottom ends so don't have the same issues as the regular 1.6T

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

2.0T Megane Dynamique 180

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

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

2.0T Leon FR 200 with some haggling you can get one of these with sensible miles

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

1.6T Astra SRI 180

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

Rep Cars:

Lexus IS250 SE 204

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

Budget stretch & some haggling will see you in an Insignia 2.0T SRI 220 decent handling aligned with a nice spacious interior

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

Saab 9-3 Aero

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

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

2.5 Mazda6 Sport this is along the lines of your Swfit

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

I agree with the warm hatch, rep point, seems most sensible, gotta say thanks for the time and effort in your suggestions! Some I just never would have considered if im honest, like the look of the Insignia, Mazda and Lexus, Leons seem like they might be a common theme, guess theres more choice than i thought!

[Benbay001]

You can get an FN2 CTR for £2.5k.