Cost of ‘upgrading’
Discussion
ChrisH72 said:
That would be my ideal really.
Unfortunately my wife has zero interest in cars. She likes to buy them brand new and keep until they break down. The Hyundai was ex demo and cost just over 10k back in 2016. I have pointed out to her that an equivalent car now would be double the price. She also favours easy to drive, high driving position, likes SUVs obviously. If she was a car person it’d work well for her to have the fiesta but she wouldn’t want it. I’d say she would be better off in a 5dr city car like a picanto next time which she’ll be able to afford nearly new.
Fair enough, all about compromise in these circumstances. Perhaps best with a decent hot hatch that will do the family gig as well as the fun stuff which will allow you to get the use out of it. Unfortunately my wife has zero interest in cars. She likes to buy them brand new and keep until they break down. The Hyundai was ex demo and cost just over 10k back in 2016. I have pointed out to her that an equivalent car now would be double the price. She also favours easy to drive, high driving position, likes SUVs obviously. If she was a car person it’d work well for her to have the fiesta but she wouldn’t want it. I’d say she would be better off in a 5dr city car like a picanto next time which she’ll be able to afford nearly new.
I would look at the following, some may creep the budget up but can't be that far away,
Megane RS 280 Cup
Hyundai i30N
FK2 Civic Type R
Leon Cupra 300
M140i - simply for the glorious B58 unit, but personally wouldn't be my choice out of the above.
ChrisH72 said:
Hmm priorities...
At the moment we use my wife's Hyundai mpv for family journeys and holidays. It's very dependable but as you can imagine slow and dull to drive. I use my ST3 for work mid week and cover very few miles. We do all fit in the Fiesta but it's a hassle being 3dr and the fidgety ride would be a pain on long journeys so we just don't bother. In some ways this works well as it keeps my costs and mileage down but on the other hand I'm not getting much use out of the nicer car.
If we keep this set up a Megane could work. I do like them but as you say it'll be a fair bit older than the Ford and I'm not sure it offers much better, just a different make. I could also go down the GT86 route as that would do the very occasional journey with 3 of us and be a different experience to the ST.
Going 5dr means we would use my car more. A bigger hatch with more settled ride could be used for a week away and longer journeys to visit my dad (110 miles) which we will be doing more as he gets older. This way I get to spend more time driving something I enjoy. When we use my wife's car I drive 99% of the time anyway.
So I guess 5dr practicality is high on the list. Newer and lower miles would be preferable in terms of reliability if using it more too.
I'd say the 308 is the pick as it works on more levels & is still a very sweet steer, so you can mix the usage between you & your OH's car.At the moment we use my wife's Hyundai mpv for family journeys and holidays. It's very dependable but as you can imagine slow and dull to drive. I use my ST3 for work mid week and cover very few miles. We do all fit in the Fiesta but it's a hassle being 3dr and the fidgety ride would be a pain on long journeys so we just don't bother. In some ways this works well as it keeps my costs and mileage down but on the other hand I'm not getting much use out of the nicer car.
If we keep this set up a Megane could work. I do like them but as you say it'll be a fair bit older than the Ford and I'm not sure it offers much better, just a different make. I could also go down the GT86 route as that would do the very occasional journey with 3 of us and be a different experience to the ST.
Going 5dr means we would use my car more. A bigger hatch with more settled ride could be used for a week away and longer journeys to visit my dad (110 miles) which we will be doing more as he gets older. This way I get to spend more time driving something I enjoy. When we use my wife's car I drive 99% of the time anyway.
So I guess 5dr practicality is high on the list. Newer and lower miles would be preferable in terms of reliability if using it more too.
Yes it does look a good option. Weird pricing looking at examples on AT. A couple of 2015/16 cars under 12k and seemingly the same for 15k plus. I do notice a few are sat around 40-50k miles and one even shows an advisory on brake discs on the paperwork so caution necessary.
The other obvious one I weirdly missed is the mk3 Focus ST facelift. Possibly not that exciting going from a Ford to a Ford but I do quite like them.
Plenty of time yet to be tempted by budget creep options too as technically I can afford it but am just a bit tight!!
The other obvious one I weirdly missed is the mk3 Focus ST facelift. Possibly not that exciting going from a Ford to a Ford but I do quite like them.
Plenty of time yet to be tempted by budget creep options too as technically I can afford it but am just a bit tight!!
I am in a similar boat - wife has Vitara for family duties, I have V60II in fancy pants spec with loads of options for my work which I used to do 30k miles/year and got a decent car allowance for. Now we do precious little work miles, they slashed our car allowance right down so I want to down size to a hot hatch with a similar budget, maybe a smidge higher.
I looked at those exact 2 fiestas this morning I think, and I think it is worth noting that mrrp of the fiesta did jump up between the two generations (prior to any covid price fluctuations) so this could account for some of the difference in price.
I made a little spreadsheet with most hot hatches from 2018 onwards and took the 3 cheapest main dealer prices on AT and averaged them out. The Abarth 595 was the only one cheaper than the Fiesta ST I'm afraid. (unless you can't the previous generation 208GTi, which I think finished in 2017/18?)
The Mini hatch JCW was a smidge above the fiesta ST at approx £18k, so may be worth a look too.
I looked at those exact 2 fiestas this morning I think, and I think it is worth noting that mrrp of the fiesta did jump up between the two generations (prior to any covid price fluctuations) so this could account for some of the difference in price.
I made a little spreadsheet with most hot hatches from 2018 onwards and took the 3 cheapest main dealer prices on AT and averaged them out. The Abarth 595 was the only one cheaper than the Fiesta ST I'm afraid. (unless you can't the previous generation 208GTi, which I think finished in 2017/18?)
The Mini hatch JCW was a smidge above the fiesta ST at approx £18k, so may be worth a look too.
The mk8 fiesta ST would work for me as a 5dr because it does address the issues of practicality and also ride comfort which I hear is an improvement on the mk7. I’m sure the boot is big enough for what I need too although it would require clever packing for a week away with the family.
I can appreciate why it’s a more expensive car than the mk7 but the fact is it would cost double what I’d get for my 2017 ST3 mk7 to get into a 2018 ST3 mk8 5 door which is ridiculous. Especially when a Focus ST3 and also a 308GTi are cheaper and belong to the class above.
If I was considering a Fiesta ST now and had never owned one I would be buying a mk7 and saving some cash.
Neither the Mini or the 595 work for me. I’ve looked at them as fun cars but I’d say my current car is probably better. And if I was looking at 3dr I’d just get the Megane.
I can appreciate why it’s a more expensive car than the mk7 but the fact is it would cost double what I’d get for my 2017 ST3 mk7 to get into a 2018 ST3 mk8 5 door which is ridiculous. Especially when a Focus ST3 and also a 308GTi are cheaper and belong to the class above.
If I was considering a Fiesta ST now and had never owned one I would be buying a mk7 and saving some cash.
Neither the Mini or the 595 work for me. I’ve looked at them as fun cars but I’d say my current car is probably better. And if I was looking at 3dr I’d just get the Megane.
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