help choosing a car.... headache after 3 days of searching

[essexrobb]

hi i wonder if i can grab some advise of some knowledgeable people, i dont really know much about cars. currently have a MG ZR which is on its last legs, head gasket, water pump, etc etc , its losing water now slowly and i was told when the head gasket had gone to get rid of the car.

anyway going to geta newer car as ive had enough of the older cars as i always end up with constant repairs etc.


I've got about 13k to spend on a car... ive narrowed down my search to the following;

GOLF Gti mk5
Seat leon cupra FR
Mazda 3 mps
Volvo S40

I wanted alittle hot hatch thats reliable, it will be my car to and from work (17miles each way), weekends we have a people carrier to take the kids out at the weekend..

been reading all the reviews and all seem good cars, i hoping to get at least 4 years motoring out of it but have a bit of fun with the car aswell...

the mazda 3 seems to be the cheaper car, for the sort of money im spending i can get a 2007 golf gti with about 28k miles for about 13k, whereas the mazda i can get for about 11k with 16k on the clock.

read some reviews which suggest the golf isnt as reliable as once was.... mazda sees to get good reports.

worried about picking a car with 500000miles on it even with FSH, should i be ideally id like to spend less as we moved intoa new house 2 years ago and still need to spend money on the pace, missus not happy that i need another car, but my mg 2 years ago cost £1500.

been looking solidly for days, give myself a headache from it all.

[Bob Fossil]

Civic Type-R (Reliable)
Clio 197 (get a newish one for £13k)?

[Kevin VRs]

An 07 plate Skoda Fabia vRS will set you back £8-9K, is a fun car, but being diesel returns 50mpg as a bonus. The 07 plate are mostly the limited edition which is the vRS blue colour and had a few nice extras over the standard ones. I did over 20K miles in mine in about 16 months, never a problem, sold it at 60K miles. Excellent car for the money.

[scorchio]

hi mate same kind of situation i am in at the moment, and i always come back to the mazda 3 mps(I am after a new shape 3mps). The only downside with the 06-09 mps is the full monty roadtax per year sure its about 400 quid, my mate had a white 58 plate 3mps aero and it goes very well and very good kit as standard, it shares the common platform thats on the focus and the volvo s40. I like the golf gti but just seems a bit too common these days and is always that bit more expensive

[fathomfive]

If you already have a people carrier for weekend work, why not go for something different to a hot hatch?

VX220 / Elise?

That is, if you don't need the space of a hot hatch during the week.

Just a thought.

[STW2010]

essexrobb said:

worried about picking a car with 500000miles on it even with FSH

If you found a car with 500k on the clock I doubt it will even run, let alone be serviced.

In all seriousness, I assume you meant 50k. I don't think you should worry too much about the mileage- if you were just going to and from work your annual mileage is roughly 7k, and if you kept the car for 4 years there should only be 28k miles put on the car, from the work commute. So buy on condition, not mileage. Some cars will have been thrashed to within an inch of their life, not cared for properly yet only have 20k miles on the clock- others may have been well used, but very well looked after and have 50k on the clock.

[essexrobb]

thanks for all the replies, had a renault 5 gt turbo back in the day and it was another car that was always causing me problems and money, so right off the french cars now although i like the megane!

thanks for suggestions on other cars, although i dont need a 5 seater car, it may well come in handy when the other car is in for mot, or servicing etc quite liked the volvo c30 until i realised that there is only 2 seats in the back.

i like the new shape mazda 3 with the bonnet scoop although cant get one for my price range. although i hav got to get out of this thinking about high mileage being a bad thing....

[edo]

If you are worried about bills, just buy one from a main dealer, or one under 3 years old like this one, with warranty remaining:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

2008 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2.0T GTI 5dr Hatchback
Trade Seller: uk cars

27,000 miles, 5 Door Hatchback, White, Petrol, 6 speed Manual. Black Leather seats - heated. Air conditioning. Monza alloys. Full service history - just serviced by VW. Centre arm rest. 6 CD stack. Still under VW Warranty until April 2011. P/ex and finance avaliable. £12,995 ONO.




I had a Mk5 gti. Great cars.

[essexrobb]

see i say i like the mazda but everytime i see a mk5 gti, i think there lovely, white looks good aswell..

going to start looking further down the line with higher mileage but with FSH etc, might not be able to get the mazda 3 like that as the bonnet scooped verson was only released 2010 but can get a gti...

i might be able to chop my MG in at the same time lol!!!!!

Edited by essexrobb on Friday 31st December 17:05

[Jonboy_t]

Not exactly a PH response, but why not go for something cheaper/older/leggier and save a few quid, spend it on the house where you will make money and then when you sell it, use some of the profit you've made to get a £20k car instead of a £13k one.

Sorry..........

[essexrobb]

jonboy_t you sound like my missus lol, that was the idea behind the MG get a cheap car that was realible etc and it cost be £1500 and over the year and half its cost be another £1400!!!!!, could have bought the 3k mg that i wanted but listend to the missus!

[essexrobb]

this is one i did see, a possible contender.... although i like black cars, sort of warmign to the grey as it will be easier to clean etc..
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

[Ian974]

I'd be spending 7k on another type R if it was me. Though on the subject of seats, they only have 4 seats too.

[Steameh]

I had similar thoughts until I bought my current car, I had narrowed it down to Astra VXR, Focus ST, Mk5 GTi, BMW 130i M Sport, Alfa 147 GTA or a Mazda 3 MPS.

I had pretty much decided on either a Focus ST or a Mk V GTi, but I couldn't find a decent one of either locally and then found my current car and I guess the rest is history.

Edited by Steameh on Friday 31st December 17:52

[essexrobb]

should of stopped looking if i can get 2k more i could get a R32 with 25k on the clock.....

want one, want one.

[danneth]

i was in the same boat as you drove a few cars and ended up with a mk1 mazda 3 mps aero

[Chicane-UK]

Friend of mine just spent similar on a two year old Seat Leon Cupra.. just had it remapped to a scarcely believeable 300BHP & 310lb/ft ... took it for a spin and simply couldn't believe how nicely put together it seemed and, with the remap, how staggeringly fast it was.

Very impressive motor!

[98C4S]

All good choices really, I would hold out for the one with the lowest mileage, latest, and FSH - owned by someone who loved their car.

[Gizmo!]

Accord Type-R? Bit bigger than the Civic, same fun...

[Ian Geary]

My father in law had a Mazda 323 - 53 or 54 plate I think.

anyway, it rotted like a peach. Bubbling came up all along the rear mudguards and back of the sills, the boot edge and bonnet edge. Inside the engine bay every component was rusted.

OK, it was poor maintenance on his part, but I was really shocked, having thought most manufacturers cured their rust problems in the 90s (like Fiat) or never had them (VW, Toyotas from experience)

A friend has a 56 RX-8 and again the paint is paper thin, and scratches easily.


Might be worth considering this? but the cars you listed have already lost a lot of money, and will continue to do so in the next few years regardless of condition.

Ian