Next car dilemma
Discussion
Hi all, lease Kia going back in the next few months so starting to ponder the next step. In two minds, outlined below:
1) Import a car like an F30 3 series from Japan. My logic for this is they’re cheaper than they are over here, and better specced. Obviously import fees etc may render this less cost effective, so would appreciate some pointers on this if anyone’s done it? Also the car won’t have DAB or UK maps (CarPlay means I’m less fussed about maps, but would like DAB). I’ve got some ideas about which import agents to use should I go down this route.
2) Buy a car over here. Would appreciate some suggestions. My budget would likely be £10k tops, with the following requirements:
Must be petrol (nowhere to charge an electric car so they’re out)
Must have heated seats and xenon/LED lights.
Must have CarPlay or the ability to easily retrofit it.
Auto would be preferred (I have quite a stop start commute).”
Good ride, my old ST-Line Fiesta was unbearable at times.
Memory seats would be nice (they’ve been a godsend on my M3 when others drive it)
Work car park can be quite tight, so 5 series sized things may be out.
Doesn’t need to be a rocket ship (my 150bhp/250nm 1.5T Kia is perfectly fine) but not a total slug either.
Car doesn’t go back until September but always good to start looking early. Thanks all!
1) Import a car like an F30 3 series from Japan. My logic for this is they’re cheaper than they are over here, and better specced. Obviously import fees etc may render this less cost effective, so would appreciate some pointers on this if anyone’s done it? Also the car won’t have DAB or UK maps (CarPlay means I’m less fussed about maps, but would like DAB). I’ve got some ideas about which import agents to use should I go down this route.
2) Buy a car over here. Would appreciate some suggestions. My budget would likely be £10k tops, with the following requirements:
Must be petrol (nowhere to charge an electric car so they’re out)
Must have heated seats and xenon/LED lights.
Must have CarPlay or the ability to easily retrofit it.
Auto would be preferred (I have quite a stop start commute).”
Good ride, my old ST-Line Fiesta was unbearable at times.
Memory seats would be nice (they’ve been a godsend on my M3 when others drive it)
Work car park can be quite tight, so 5 series sized things may be out.
Doesn’t need to be a rocket ship (my 150bhp/250nm 1.5T Kia is perfectly fine) but not a total slug either.
Car doesn’t go back until September but always good to start looking early. Thanks all!
dtulip8 said:
Hi all, lease Kia going back in the next few months so starting to ponder the next step. In two minds, outlined below:
1) Import a car like an F30 3 series from Japan. My logic for this is they’re cheaper than they are over here, and better specced. Obviously import fees etc may render this less cost effective, so would appreciate some pointers on this if anyone’s done it? Also the car won’t have DAB or UK maps (CarPlay means I’m less fussed about maps, but would like DAB). I’ve got some ideas about which import agents to use should I go down this route.
2) Buy a car over here. Would appreciate some suggestions. My budget would likely be £10k tops, with the following requirements:
Must be petrol (nowhere to charge an electric car so they’re out)
Must have heated seats and xenon/LED lights.
Must have CarPlay or the ability to easily retrofit it.
Auto would be preferred (I have quite a stop start commute).”
Good ride, my old ST-Line Fiesta was unbearable at times.
Memory seats would be nice (they’ve been a godsend on my M3 when others drive it)
Work car park can be quite tight, so 5 series sized things may be out.
Doesn’t need to be a rocket ship (my 150bhp/250nm 1.5T Kia is perfectly fine) but not a total slug either.
Car doesn’t go back until September but always good to start looking early. Thanks all!
Previous gen Insignia SRI in 2.0t form pretty much ticks every box but it doesn't have memory seats:1) Import a car like an F30 3 series from Japan. My logic for this is they’re cheaper than they are over here, and better specced. Obviously import fees etc may render this less cost effective, so would appreciate some pointers on this if anyone’s done it? Also the car won’t have DAB or UK maps (CarPlay means I’m less fussed about maps, but would like DAB). I’ve got some ideas about which import agents to use should I go down this route.
2) Buy a car over here. Would appreciate some suggestions. My budget would likely be £10k tops, with the following requirements:
Must be petrol (nowhere to charge an electric car so they’re out)
Must have heated seats and xenon/LED lights.
Must have CarPlay or the ability to easily retrofit it.
Auto would be preferred (I have quite a stop start commute).”
Good ride, my old ST-Line Fiesta was unbearable at times.
Memory seats would be nice (they’ve been a godsend on my M3 when others drive it)
Work car park can be quite tight, so 5 series sized things may be out.
Doesn’t need to be a rocket ship (my 150bhp/250nm 1.5T Kia is perfectly fine) but not a total slug either.
Car doesn’t go back until September but always good to start looking early. Thanks all!
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505021...
Last gen 1.5T SRI VX Line but you're still missing the seats:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504081...
Infiniti Q50:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505042...
E250cgi:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502189...
1.5T Mondeo Tiranium:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503290...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504251...
Hybrid:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411206...
Vignale:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503099...
2.0T:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504191...
GS250:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502088...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502028...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504161...
If you don't mind leftfield & higher running costs then this Genesis will have everything you're looking for & more
but it doesn't really hit your brief:https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502108...
Kia Optima h:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503069...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411236...
Some interesting options there. Mondeo and Insignia I do like but could be issues with size, same with that Hyundai Genesis which is a really cool car! Just searching makes me realise how crap the UK car market is now, seems a petrol, auto with less than 100k miles and half decent spec is impossible to find at 10k. Any manual suggestions they might hit my other criteria?
So narrowed down to a shortlist of potential options, thoughts on all would be appreciated. Gone for some manual options as looking tricky to find decent autos in budget. All meet the LED or xenon headlights/CarPlay/heated seats and fairly sprightly criteria as a minimum:
MK8 Fiesta in either 1.0 MHEV or 1.5 ST flavour (had a 1.0 MK8 before, would go for a non-MHEV one if the spec is right and budget for wetbelt)
MK3 Focus 1.5 Titanium X or Mk3 ST (can stretch to a 1.0 MK4 as well)
2017ish Seat Leon (found some 1.4 TSI DSG's but I think these are the dodgy dry clutch DSG's?)
Kia ProCeed 1.6 GT or newer shape 1.4 T-GDI
All depends on what I can find in budget with the right spec really. The Fords I like as I've had various before, I feel the specs are good. Kia is familiar as it's what I'm in now, Seat looks really good too. I've sacked off looking at BMW's and the like, too many horror stories on reliability for the non B coded 4 pots, 6 pots are out of budget and a lot of poorly specced (small iDrive, halogen lights, non heated seats etc) for the budget. I can get newer and nicer specced with the non-"premium" brands like Ford and Kia.
MK8 Fiesta in either 1.0 MHEV or 1.5 ST flavour (had a 1.0 MK8 before, would go for a non-MHEV one if the spec is right and budget for wetbelt)
MK3 Focus 1.5 Titanium X or Mk3 ST (can stretch to a 1.0 MK4 as well)
2017ish Seat Leon (found some 1.4 TSI DSG's but I think these are the dodgy dry clutch DSG's?)
Kia ProCeed 1.6 GT or newer shape 1.4 T-GDI
All depends on what I can find in budget with the right spec really. The Fords I like as I've had various before, I feel the specs are good. Kia is familiar as it's what I'm in now, Seat looks really good too. I've sacked off looking at BMW's and the like, too many horror stories on reliability for the non B coded 4 pots, 6 pots are out of budget and a lot of poorly specced (small iDrive, halogen lights, non heated seats etc) for the budget. I can get newer and nicer specced with the non-"premium" brands like Ford and Kia.
dtulip8 said:
So narrowed down to a shortlist of potential options, thoughts on all would be appreciated. Gone for some manual options as looking tricky to find decent autos in budget. All meet the LED or xenon headlights/CarPlay/heated seats and fairly sprightly criteria as a minimum:
MK8 Fiesta in either 1.0 MHEV or 1.5 ST flavour (had a 1.0 MK8 before, would go for a non-MHEV one if the spec is right and budget for wetbelt)
MK3 Focus 1.5 Titanium X or Mk3 ST (can stretch to a 1.0 MK4 as well)
2017ish Seat Leon (found some 1.4 TSI DSG's but I think these are the dodgy dry clutch DSG's?)
Kia ProCeed 1.6 GT or newer shape 1.4 T-GDI
All depends on what I can find in budget with the right spec really. The Fords I like as I've had various before, I feel the specs are good. Kia is familiar as it's what I'm in now, Seat looks really good too. I've sacked off looking at BMW's and the like, too many horror stories on reliability for the non B coded 4 pots, 6 pots are out of budget and a lot of poorly specced (small iDrive, halogen lights, non heated seats etc) for the budget. I can get newer and nicer specced with the non-"premium" brands like Ford and Kia.
1.6T Astra Elite:MK8 Fiesta in either 1.0 MHEV or 1.5 ST flavour (had a 1.0 MK8 before, would go for a non-MHEV one if the spec is right and budget for wetbelt)
MK3 Focus 1.5 Titanium X or Mk3 ST (can stretch to a 1.0 MK4 as well)
2017ish Seat Leon (found some 1.4 TSI DSG's but I think these are the dodgy dry clutch DSG's?)
Kia ProCeed 1.6 GT or newer shape 1.4 T-GDI
All depends on what I can find in budget with the right spec really. The Fords I like as I've had various before, I feel the specs are good. Kia is familiar as it's what I'm in now, Seat looks really good too. I've sacked off looking at BMW's and the like, too many horror stories on reliability for the non B coded 4 pots, 6 pots are out of budget and a lot of poorly specced (small iDrive, halogen lights, non heated seats etc) for the budget. I can get newer and nicer specced with the non-"premium" brands like Ford and Kia.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505162...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505021...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504301...
Focus Vignale:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504030...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505122...
Megane GT Nav:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401135...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504181...
The ProCeed GT is a very good car but hard to find.
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