An absolute mess of a 'What Car?' thread
Discussion
First, I apologise for this ramble of a post, but when it comes to car buying, the only time I have ever been decisive was when the Golf R got part ex'd for a VW California Ocean shortly after the pandemic started.
Current cars: Me - the aforementioned California. I love it and wanted one for a decade so when the pandemic came along, had a real f**k it, why not moment and there no regrets there. Wife: Has a Suzuki Swift Sport hybrid, which I steered her towards as a fun little option to borrow and break up the monotony.
So why the need for something else? Well, I live in Kent and work in south London (inside current ULEZ) where I'm in the office two days a week. I use the California but it's not what the car was built for, it's terrible on fuel and I don't like putting s
tty miles on our holiday vehicle. There's the Swift option, but my wife and I work different days in the office I'm not keen on the Cali being left in a quiet station car park if my wife used to get to work.
Options: The sensible me thinks a £5k Smart Car would do the job. The even more sensible me thinks just get the train, but I did that for a few years and it was a pain in the arse, plus the station isn't walkable and cycling is risky on the roads where we are.
The car lover in me thinks a £10k hatch could be a bit of fun and the car lover in me thinks a £20k hatch or sports car would be even more fun.
Thanks to some inheritance from a great aunt, those options wouldn't require any finance. Sensible stuff has been taken care of and I can have that amount for fun.
The absolute idiot in me thinks that money would make a hell of a deposit on something silly, but I already have finance on the California and don't want to start stretching myself having recently paid some things off and got some things done to house - the usual sort of sensible stuff.
Prior the Cali, I've had: Golf R, Mk3 Focus RS, Golf GTI PP, GT86, Scirocco TSI, Polo GTI, Clio 172, Lupo GTI, Punto GT Turbo and a Beetle 1303s. A mixed bag.
Stuff I like the idea of: New Jimny, Panda 4x4, Mini JCW, GR Yaris (probably on HP), Abarth 595 (but now having tried one, this is out), Clio 197/200, Up GTI, Audi S1, another GT86, Seat Leon Cupra (not the Cupra-branded one), Cayman. Probably more I have forgotten, but ULEZ is a factor re driving to work.
Can anyone help with staging an intervention?
Current cars: Me - the aforementioned California. I love it and wanted one for a decade so when the pandemic came along, had a real f**k it, why not moment and there no regrets there. Wife: Has a Suzuki Swift Sport hybrid, which I steered her towards as a fun little option to borrow and break up the monotony.
So why the need for something else? Well, I live in Kent and work in south London (inside current ULEZ) where I'm in the office two days a week. I use the California but it's not what the car was built for, it's terrible on fuel and I don't like putting s
tty miles on our holiday vehicle. There's the Swift option, but my wife and I work different days in the office I'm not keen on the Cali being left in a quiet station car park if my wife used to get to work. Options: The sensible me thinks a £5k Smart Car would do the job. The even more sensible me thinks just get the train, but I did that for a few years and it was a pain in the arse, plus the station isn't walkable and cycling is risky on the roads where we are.
The car lover in me thinks a £10k hatch could be a bit of fun and the car lover in me thinks a £20k hatch or sports car would be even more fun.
Thanks to some inheritance from a great aunt, those options wouldn't require any finance. Sensible stuff has been taken care of and I can have that amount for fun.
The absolute idiot in me thinks that money would make a hell of a deposit on something silly, but I already have finance on the California and don't want to start stretching myself having recently paid some things off and got some things done to house - the usual sort of sensible stuff.
Prior the Cali, I've had: Golf R, Mk3 Focus RS, Golf GTI PP, GT86, Scirocco TSI, Polo GTI, Clio 172, Lupo GTI, Punto GT Turbo and a Beetle 1303s. A mixed bag.
Stuff I like the idea of: New Jimny, Panda 4x4, Mini JCW, GR Yaris (probably on HP), Abarth 595 (but now having tried one, this is out), Clio 197/200, Up GTI, Audi S1, another GT86, Seat Leon Cupra (not the Cupra-branded one), Cayman. Probably more I have forgotten, but ULEZ is a factor re driving to work.
Can anyone help with staging an intervention?
Somewhere in the middle of your two price options is a nice Mini Cooper S. Get one with a few creature comforts and sensible alloys (and ditch runflat tyres if it comes with them) and it's a decent commuting car, inexpensive to run, yet fun to live with. Not quite as fun as a JCW, sure, but cheaper, great fun still, plenty fast enough, and probably easier to find a Cooper S with the options you want... and you won't have to borrow much money.
It's also the sort of car you can leave in any car park without fear, as it's small enough to fit into spaces, and common enough to not attract unwanted attention.
It's also the sort of car you can leave in any car park without fear, as it's small enough to fit into spaces, and common enough to not attract unwanted attention.
StuTheGrouch said:
What is the drive to work like? Is it slow moving through busy traffic?
Would the car be parked in a secure office car park?
Exactly those conditions. Would the car be parked in a secure office car park?
I have a parking space at work, which is in a secure car park. I'm reluctant to get the train again because that space will be given to someone else if I no longer use it.
I had a M135i and now have a C63S coupe, both epic cars but in slow moving South London traffic they are just a car and you would do just as well in the 1.5/2.0 petrol versions and save a small fortune in running costs. If you have something nice it will end up in the same place as the California, expensive to buy, expensive to leave in a station car park, expensive to fuel.
I will whisper this quietly and deny all knowledge if called out on it but I have access to a Toyota Corolla Hybrid estate which I have been using for my rubbish commuter journeys when needed. It sips fuel, the seats a re comfortable and I don't care about where I leave it so it's just an appliance which keeps the C63S special for the weekends or the odd trip to the office when it needs to be special.
If you want to go for a fun drive at the weekend? Maybe the faster versions are worth the extra outlay but by the time the weekend comes you might be sick of driving it.
I will whisper this quietly and deny all knowledge if called out on it but I have access to a Toyota Corolla Hybrid estate which I have been using for my rubbish commuter journeys when needed. It sips fuel, the seats a re comfortable and I don't care about where I leave it so it's just an appliance which keeps the C63S special for the weekends or the odd trip to the office when it needs to be special.
If you want to go for a fun drive at the weekend? Maybe the faster versions are worth the extra outlay but by the time the weekend comes you might be sick of driving it.
I know that drive & I normally take the motorbike BUT I reckon an auto hot hatch could be a great pick at which point I'd say take a good look at the Clio RS220 Trophy:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304166...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304076...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304166...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304076...
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