The £35k nearly new ‘do it all’ fast family car?

The £35k nearly new ‘do it all’ fast family car?

Author
Discussion

Olivera

7,150 posts

239 months

Tuesday 23rd January 2018
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Nearly new or even pre-registered 340i would be my choice, or a similarly big engined 3 series touring.

fatjon

2,206 posts

213 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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AppleJuice said:
fatjon said:
A8L 4.2

Nice V8 petrol, 6.6 seconds to 60, remarkably chuckable for a massive car and 34+ MPG on a run. The 3.0 one is a fair bit slower and not massively better on fuel.

Even the most basic spec has pretty much everything you ask for. The LWB version is like a gentleman's club in the back (you will need to find your own lap dancers though). That budget will pick you up a 2013 D4 3.0 TFSI or a 2003+ D3 4.2.
FTFY
Hmm, not sure where you are getting your numbers from but way off, it gives a Focus RS a reasonable run for its money:

http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/audi/a8/saloon/1...

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/audi/a8/first...

One at Ipswitch Audi now 2106 plate with 16k miles for 35k. But granted, if the OP doesn't want diesel not going to help him much really is it.


fatjon

2,206 posts

213 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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w8pmc said:
fatjon said:
A8L 4.2 TDI

Nice V8 diesel, 4.7 seconds to 60, remarkably chuckable for a massive car and 34+ MPG. The 3.0 one is a fair bit slower and not massively better on fuel.

Even the most basic spec has pretty much everything you ask for. The LWB version is like a gentleman's club in the back (you will need to find your own lap dancers though). That budget will pick you up a 2015 or 2016 low mileage one with some warranty left on it.

Had two and covered 100k plus without problems. Will be buying one of the new model when some other sucker has lost the first 40k on it and when Audi get their arses into gear and bring out the new models with the decent engines rather than the choice of two 6 pots initially on offer.
That fair bit slower being a gargantuan 1 second to 62 & not massively better on fuel being about 10+mpg. Hey ho, at least you get to say you've got a V8, albeit a dieselsmilesmile
Jesus, did I hit a nerve?

PaulConst

Original Poster:

29 posts

93 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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Thanks for all your feedback.

Right now I'm looking seriously at a Golf R Mk 7.5 Estate at the £30k mark ideally with leather, pano and Pretoria's in Indium grey.

Not found one yet as they are over £40k list with those options and if registered after April '17 means £450 pa tax as opposed to £190 rolleyes





Edited by PaulConst on Thursday 25th January 11:29

p1stonhead

25,549 posts

167 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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PaulConst said:
Thanks for all your feedback.

Right now I'm looking seriously at a Golf R Mk 7.5 at the £30k mark ideally with leather, pano and Pretoria's in Indium grey.

Not found one yet as they are over £40k list with those options and if registered after April '17 means £450 pa tax as opposed to £190 rolleyes
How about a club sport s OP?

Not sure if better than an ‘R’ though.

http://www.romansinternational.com/car/1464/volksw...


PaulConst

Original Poster:

29 posts

93 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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p1stonhead said:
How about a club sport s OP?

Not sure if better than an ‘R’ though.

http://www.romansinternational.com/car/1464/volksw...
Post now edited as it's the estate I'm after due to child crap carrying duties.

That's said, the lack of a back seat on the CS does make the boot considerably more spacious!


Edited by PaulConst on Thursday 25th January 11:33


Edited by PaulConst on Thursday 25th January 11:34

liner33

10,691 posts

202 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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PaulConst said:
Thanks for all your feedback.

Right now I'm looking seriously at a Golf R Mk 7.5 at the £30k mark ideally with leather, pano and Pretoria's in Indium grey.

Not found one yet as they are over £40k list with those options and if registered after April '17 means £450 pa tax as opposed to £190 rolleyes
Is it really going to be big enough? Two kids and associated paraphernalia especially with baby? I find my Octavia Estate a bit small occasionally with one teenager and thats a tad bigger than the Golf Est

Jim AK

4,029 posts

124 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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liner33 said:
Is it really going to be big enough? Two kids and associated paraphernalia especially with baby? I find my Octavia Estate a bit small occasionally with one teenager and thats a tad bigger than the Golf Est
We always seemed to need most of the space in a V70!

BigGriff540

250 posts

142 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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Another one for the Golf R Estate.

Whilst I was reading your requirements it popped into my head and then you mention it in your post.

I am planning on getting one due to all points already mentioned.

sjg

7,452 posts

265 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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The Golf estate boot is huge, and unlike in the R hatch there's no space lost as the rear diff and spare wheel well aren't trying to use the same space.

You can keep the boot floor in it's default high position and have loads of space to stash things underneath (about 3" above the spare wheel) and a flatter transition with the seats down, or you can remove all the supporting plastic and drop it right down (same level as the wells on either side) for extra load height.



Ours are 3 and under 1 (so going away means travel cot, pushchair, high chair, etc) and there was always plenty of room.

Edited by sjg on Thursday 25th January 15:58

w8pmc

3,345 posts

238 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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fatjon said:
Jesus, did I hit a nerve?
God no, just correcting your errorssmile

CSLchappie

436 posts

204 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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Olivera said:
Nearly new or even pre-registered 340i would be my choice, or a similarly big engined 3 series touring.
Ditto, that's what I did, pre-reg 340i touring specced up to £48k, got it for £31k with 60 miles on the clock (54 of those were racked up delivering it from one dealer to another) My step son has just done the same, picked up a pre-reg 340i saloon for a smidge over 30k from a main dealer.

richatnort

3,026 posts

131 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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CSLchappie said:
Olivera said:
Nearly new or even pre-registered 340i would be my choice, or a similarly big engined 3 series touring.
Ditto, that's what I did, pre-reg 340i touring specced up to £48k, got it for £31k with 60 miles on the clock (54 of those were racked up delivering it from one dealer to another) My step son has just done the same, picked up a pre-reg 340i saloon for a smidge over 30k from a main dealer.
Did you buy outright or were you able get it on a finance agreement?

RammyMP

6,776 posts

153 months

Thursday 25th January 2018
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HJMS123 said:
richatnort said:
For me it was a lot to do with the look of it. I didn't find access any harder than the S4 in terms of getting into the back as i was able to put my feet in first to get in and found the head height and space behind me fine for moving around. I have to admit i probably didn't give it as much thought as i should of maybe when it comes to kids as i don't have one yet but i'd be interested your thoughts when you go see it.

Have you looked at the 3 series touring and 4 series gran coupe? I think i'm going to push the button on the 4 series gran coupe this weekend as i found you got a lot of what i was wanting standard on the 4 series compared to the 3 and the practical side didn't seem to be an issue either and they seem to be holding their value fairly well at the moment ( nearly new are around 31-34k but if you buy new bmw are offering around 11k discount on the car bringing it to around 35 depending on your options). I am also looking at financing via PCP and BMW is coming out way better than Audi's are
IMO the 4 series grand coupe is more practical as the boot hatch opening is way more user and child 'cr@p' friendly ... surprised the 340i was mentioned twice before the 440i smile

OP ... 440i gran coupe gets my vote
Gets my vote too.

CSLchappie

436 posts

204 months

Friday 26th January 2018
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richatnort said:
Did you buy outright or were you able get it on a finance agreement?
In my case, finance to get the 2k BMW contribution, but it was promptly paid off.

PaulConst

Original Poster:

29 posts

93 months

Friday 26th January 2018
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Love the idea of the 440i GT and good deals too but trying to avoid RWD due to slipply roads and an inclined drive making for snow chaos.

Leon FR estate just turned-up as a work hire car for me for the next few days. Could be an interesting lead to a Cupra.....?

PaulConst

Original Poster:

29 posts

93 months

Wednesday 14th February 2018
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So, after a lot of deliberation and coming extremely close to pushing the button on a £33k Mk 7.5 Lapiz blue, pre-reg Golf R Estate with leather, pano and the Pretoria's which formed my ideal spec I could not get past the £500 p.a. bill I would be incurring because that car with that spec was (just) over the £40k registered after April '17 government stealth tax.

Finding a Mk 7.5 R with the spec registered before last April is like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack and I'm really not keen to compromise on my options

Then, I did another search for an S4 Avant which I had put further down my shortlist and came up with this.



Registered Jan '17 so £220 tax, 10,500 miles, £36k with pano, privacy, leather, 19's, virtual cockpit, B&O, hill hold, Matrix LED's, sport diff, adaptive damping (£53k new before discount)

With my pitiful 7k miles pa I've calculated the 20mpg of the S4 versus say 30mpg for the Golf R is £640 difference - half of that is covered by not paying the extra tax. Maths Win!

OK, at this stage my deposit is down and I've yet to test drive and finalise the deal on Saturday but I doubt the drive will be a disappointment for what I want

Right decision? Only time will tell but thanks again for all your help. Looking at all those suggestions was an essential part of the process


Edited by PaulConst on Wednesday 14th February 13:23

richatnort

3,026 posts

131 months

Wednesday 14th February 2018
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Congrats on the purchase Paul looks a great looking car and i'm glad i suggested the S4 to you.

I too purchased my next car which i'll create a reader thread for but I was young and foolish and decided to buy a new bmw and it be over 40k so i'm going to be paying £450 road tax from next year.

ilikejam

1,089 posts

116 months

Wednesday 14th February 2018
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Great choice Paul. The B9 Avant is ideal as a family wagon. They're deceptively long as they're based on the Q7 platform so are a couple of inches longer than a Q5. Lovely interior too.

ZX10R NIN

27,618 posts

125 months

Wednesday 14th February 2018
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Nice choice OP.