Golf GTI Skoda CitiGo. Wise move?
Discussion
Jimi.K. said:
I believe there's a saying along the lines of "the cheapest car to run is the one you've already got"
People love justifying a new car purchase because a new one will do 5mpg more or cost them £100 a year less to tax, but unless your current car is unreliable or horrendously uneconomical (neither of which seem to apply here) you'll almost certainly be financially better off keeping it. I suspect a citigo will feel like a bit of a step down in comfort and refinement compared to your golf as well.
Perhaps correct but the Golf is gone and felt it was slightly wasted on me. Was doing c.250 miles a week on a low mileage car in not very enjoyable traffic parking in a car park then coming out and finding a new ding or mark which was pis$ing me off. Gutted as it is a cracking low mileage Mk5, 3 door, manual. Few issues but nothing major. Was needing brakes all round pretty soon but was putting £30 fuel in and getting 150 miles.People love justifying a new car purchase because a new one will do 5mpg more or cost them £100 a year less to tax, but unless your current car is unreliable or horrendously uneconomical (neither of which seem to apply here) you'll almost certainly be financially better off keeping it. I suspect a citigo will feel like a bit of a step down in comfort and refinement compared to your golf as well.
I am pleased with what I got for it being a private sale, I was top end of the market in the price range. Anyway HOPING to get a lot more MPG's, not see money going out on road tax every month and not be fussed with small marks, condition and for it to be worthwhile.... I thought buying your first place/flat was supposed to be fun!
I sold an Edition 30 GTi (which I found boring and souless but my wife loved) and bought a s
tigo in an attempt to be sensible (had something silly in the garage). It lasted 3 months. Hateful gutless engine with a tiny fuel tank, dangerously slow if you came up behind an idiot in an audi doing 40 on a sliproad and an awful, awful condensation problem (which they all have apparently). Hated it.
I replaced it with a Mk 7 Fiesta ST, which I only sold last year to pay for some building work. I want another one!
tigo in an attempt to be sensible (had something silly in the garage). It lasted 3 months. Hateful gutless engine with a tiny fuel tank, dangerously slow if you came up behind an idiot in an audi doing 40 on a sliproad and an awful, awful condensation problem (which they all have apparently). Hated it. I replaced it with a Mk 7 Fiesta ST, which I only sold last year to pay for some building work. I want another one!
OP, based on what you have outlined as your requirements:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Panda TwinAir, £0 road tax and interesting engine with decent spec.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Citroen C1 1.2, new shape so a nicer spec
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Seat Mii i-tech, as you mentioned a CitiGo, same car underneath
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
And an actual CitiGo!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Panda TwinAir, £0 road tax and interesting engine with decent spec.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Citroen C1 1.2, new shape so a nicer spec
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Seat Mii i-tech, as you mentioned a CitiGo, same car underneath
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
And an actual CitiGo!
More great shouts, Fiat Panda 100hp seems good but seem scarce with low miles.
Keep looking at the Volvo C30 one at the moment one up at £4,200 1.6 eDRIVE, 52k miles, private sale in R Design spec. 2010. Seems a lot of car for the money, would like to think I could possibly get a few hundred off. Seems timing belt done recently too. Not sure if going off piste slightly and if a diesel is a good idea however....
Keep looking at the Volvo C30 one at the moment one up at £4,200 1.6 eDRIVE, 52k miles, private sale in R Design spec. 2010. Seems a lot of car for the money, would like to think I could possibly get a few hundred off. Seems timing belt done recently too. Not sure if going off piste slightly and if a diesel is a good idea however....
BREMBOV6 said:
More great shouts, Fiat Panda 100hp seems good but seem scarce with low miles.
Keep looking at the Volvo C30 one at the moment one up at £4,200 1.6 eDRIVE, 52k miles, private sale in R Design spec. 2010. Seems a lot of car for the money, would like to think I could possibly get a few hundred off. Seems timing belt done recently too. Not sure if going off piste slightly and if a diesel is a good idea however....
Checking MOT above Volvo has done almost 16k miles in a year not a turn off I don't think
Keep looking at the Volvo C30 one at the moment one up at £4,200 1.6 eDRIVE, 52k miles, private sale in R Design spec. 2010. Seems a lot of car for the money, would like to think I could possibly get a few hundred off. Seems timing belt done recently too. Not sure if going off piste slightly and if a diesel is a good idea however....
Checking MOT above Volvo has done almost 16k miles in a year not a turn off I don't think
Having now sold the Golf, I would be looking to get something that minimise depreciation. Buying privately in the £0-5k range is probably a reasonably safe place, assuming you now pick wisely.
I say this because I suspect that you could suffer a relapse into the condition of a true petrolhead. The more boring your next car, the greater the chance of this happening I say.
Personally, I recommend you now get something that is at least a bit special to you - perhaps a little project; something that you might enjoy spending a little time and effort to bring it up to scratch.
As food for thought: there are several other VAG models that share the 2.0 TFSI drivetrain, which are also a fair bit cheaper than the Mk5 GTI. I'm currently smoking around in a nicely spec'd 2007 A3 2.0T, which expect cost me at least 50% less than you sold your GTI for.
Yes, something like this will take more cash to run, but once near-zero depreciation is taken into account you will probably find it costs the same or less than some of your other ideas...
I say this because I suspect that you could suffer a relapse into the condition of a true petrolhead. The more boring your next car, the greater the chance of this happening I say.
Personally, I recommend you now get something that is at least a bit special to you - perhaps a little project; something that you might enjoy spending a little time and effort to bring it up to scratch.
As food for thought: there are several other VAG models that share the 2.0 TFSI drivetrain, which are also a fair bit cheaper than the Mk5 GTI. I'm currently smoking around in a nicely spec'd 2007 A3 2.0T, which expect cost me at least 50% less than you sold your GTI for.
Yes, something like this will take more cash to run, but once near-zero depreciation is taken into account you will probably find it costs the same or less than some of your other ideas...
Should have kept hold of the Golf perhaps if for depreciation.
Couple more cars that I have come across and welcome thoughts!
Ford Puma 1.7 imagine rust may well be an issue and road tax £100+ but its up for £500! 65k miles, 8 months MOT.
VW Passat 2010 2.0 TDI in R Line spec with 70k miles good service history up at £4,200
VW Polo 1.2 TSI (105PS) 50k miles up at £4,000
All private sales but all fall outside £30 road tax but think seems good car for the money....
Couple more cars that I have come across and welcome thoughts!
Ford Puma 1.7 imagine rust may well be an issue and road tax £100+ but its up for £500! 65k miles, 8 months MOT.
VW Passat 2010 2.0 TDI in R Line spec with 70k miles good service history up at £4,200
VW Polo 1.2 TSI (105PS) 50k miles up at £4,000
All private sales but all fall outside £30 road tax but think seems good car for the money....
Those are three quite different cars! I think this depends on what your priorities are.
The Polo should give the greatest chance of lower running costs, although - as definitely will be the case with the other two - this depends on what the condition of the car really is. I would allow some budget for repairs and maintenance as there's always a reason for someone deciding to sell...and especially the Puma.
Happily, as I said earlier, all three should see little depreciation.
The Polo should give the greatest chance of lower running costs, although - as definitely will be the case with the other two - this depends on what the condition of the car really is. I would allow some budget for repairs and maintenance as there's always a reason for someone deciding to sell...and especially the Puma.
Happily, as I said earlier, all three should see little depreciation.
id say test drive a swift sport or a twingo 133, for the limited miles you do a small super fun car is defo the way to go, very minimal extra costs to a more mundane small city car. and gonna be newer and cheaper to run that the old gti. I was sold on my swift sport after the first roundabout on the test drive.
What's with the £30 tax obsession?
You'll spend more in tax filling the car up once (maybe twice depending on the cars tank)
My rough maths indicate that:
57.95 pence per litre is tax
+ 20% vat on the total in fuel. Roughly £1.20 a litre.
1.20-20% = 96p - 57.95 = 38p.
1.20 x 45 (litres) = £54
38p x 45 = £17.10 in raw fuel costs.
£54 - £17.10 = £36.90.
2 tanks of fuel are more than a years tax, at £30.
You'll spend more in tax filling the car up once (maybe twice depending on the cars tank)
My rough maths indicate that:
57.95 pence per litre is tax
+ 20% vat on the total in fuel. Roughly £1.20 a litre.
1.20-20% = 96p - 57.95 = 38p.
1.20 x 45 (litres) = £54
38p x 45 = £17.10 in raw fuel costs.
£54 - £17.10 = £36.90.
2 tanks of fuel are more than a years tax, at £30.
Blanchimont said:
What's with the £30 tax obsession?
You'll spend more in tax filling the car up once (maybe twice depending on the cars tank)
My rough maths indicate that:
57.95 pence per litre is tax
+ 20% vat on the total in fuel. Roughly £1.20 a litre.
1.20-20% = 96p - 57.95 = 38p.
1.20 x 45 (litres) = £54
38p x 45 = £17.10 in raw fuel costs.
£54 - £17.10 = £36.90.
2 tanks of fuel are more than a years tax, at £30.
Not sure I follow. Instead of paying £30 a month on road tax I will potentially pay £30 a year....appreciate tax on fuel but not much I can do about that.You'll spend more in tax filling the car up once (maybe twice depending on the cars tank)
My rough maths indicate that:
57.95 pence per litre is tax
+ 20% vat on the total in fuel. Roughly £1.20 a litre.
1.20-20% = 96p - 57.95 = 38p.
1.20 x 45 (litres) = £54
38p x 45 = £17.10 in raw fuel costs.
£54 - £17.10 = £36.90.
2 tanks of fuel are more than a years tax, at £30.
White Fiat Panda 100HP I'm going to try and look at, in white, dealer and just below 60k miles.
Looked at a VW Up! at the weekend, up at £4,300 at main VW dealership, 44k miles. Was close to going for it but just not sure, more nippy than I thought.
Got messed about buy a guy on Gumtree, was a nice spec Yaris, 64 plate low mileage up at £4k mark asked the general questions HPI clear etc turned up and it had a replacement service book with what I believe to be his writing inside then on the V5 'salvaged vehicle' total time waster. Light on the dash which was the 'tyre pressure' full of cr@p
Keeping an eye out for a Twingo 133 too
Feirny said:
Got my 133 on Saturday, feels like a slower mini 182, absolute riot.
Enjoy! sounds good, is this the facelift?....let me know what its like on fuel!I was possibly going to have a look at a Mini Cooper 2007, 1.6 but not sure running costs will be noticeable cheaper than that of the Golf. Looks a very clean car, with nice low mileage (30k mark)
BREMBOV6 said:
Enjoy! sounds good, is this the facelift?....let me know what its like on fuel!
I was possibly going to have a look at a Mini Cooper 2007, 1.6 but not sure running costs will be noticeable cheaper than that of the Golf. Looks a very clean car, with nice low mileage (30k mark)
Nah it's the pre facelift, wanted to spend as little as possible.I was possibly going to have a look at a Mini Cooper 2007, 1.6 but not sure running costs will be noticeable cheaper than that of the Golf. Looks a very clean car, with nice low mileage (30k mark)
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff