First Post - What 2nd Car for Caterham Driver
Discussion
Long time browser - first time poster, be gentle!
My dilemma is this. I've driven a 120bhp Caterham as my only car for over 3 years, doing about 40k in that time (currently doing circa 13k p/a).
I have a 40 miles per day commute, cross country, so 80% of the time, the Caterham is the perfect weapon for the job - don't get stuck behind OAPs and lorrys, ever! I also do a 200 mile round trip up the motorway about once or twice a month.
However, I'm almost 25 now and have odd jobs to do on the house (I can fit a christmas tree in a Caterham, but try to get a sheet of plasterboard in!!), so I'm looking for a 2nd car to use for the Tesco run, occasionally moving things round bigger than my passenger seat, and to use when the weather is REALLY bad/I fancy a more relaxed drive to work.
I have a budget of £3k ish, max. and have looked at everything from 1.5 dCi Clio's to Focus ST170's. I'm thinking against a diesel as I'd probably only do 5000 miles in it per year, and I'd like something with enough power to overtake comfortably on country lanes.
So I'm airing towards a Corolla T-Sport - which get terrible reviews for their handling, but great engine. I'm not too bothered about the handling, in fact I'd quite like something a bit softer as a contrast to the Caterham, but will it be a real let down? What are they like to live with? I'm guessing excellent reliability, I want a no hassle car as I don't want to spend time fixing it when I could be spending that money on the toy car! What about real world mpg? I get about 33-37 depending how I drive at the moment.
Thoughts please?!
My dilemma is this. I've driven a 120bhp Caterham as my only car for over 3 years, doing about 40k in that time (currently doing circa 13k p/a).
I have a 40 miles per day commute, cross country, so 80% of the time, the Caterham is the perfect weapon for the job - don't get stuck behind OAPs and lorrys, ever! I also do a 200 mile round trip up the motorway about once or twice a month.
However, I'm almost 25 now and have odd jobs to do on the house (I can fit a christmas tree in a Caterham, but try to get a sheet of plasterboard in!!), so I'm looking for a 2nd car to use for the Tesco run, occasionally moving things round bigger than my passenger seat, and to use when the weather is REALLY bad/I fancy a more relaxed drive to work.
I have a budget of £3k ish, max. and have looked at everything from 1.5 dCi Clio's to Focus ST170's. I'm thinking against a diesel as I'd probably only do 5000 miles in it per year, and I'd like something with enough power to overtake comfortably on country lanes.
So I'm airing towards a Corolla T-Sport - which get terrible reviews for their handling, but great engine. I'm not too bothered about the handling, in fact I'd quite like something a bit softer as a contrast to the Caterham, but will it be a real let down? What are they like to live with? I'm guessing excellent reliability, I want a no hassle car as I don't want to spend time fixing it when I could be spending that money on the toy car! What about real world mpg? I get about 33-37 depending how I drive at the moment.
Thoughts please?!
Doesn't really have to be total opposite to the Caterham - and it's definitely going to be a manual - drive Auto's at work and hate them.
Mainly it has to be about to do 30+mpg in the real world, the more the better obviously, be powerful enough to not drive me mad on Warwickshire country lanes where everybody drives at 45mph (I'd just end up never using it if it wasnt), and be reliable. Doesn't need to be a big car, just big enough to lay back seats down and get a useable boot.
The Volvo's look an interesting idea... not sure the powerful ones will achieve the mpg I want though - guess that's why I was thinking slightly smaller cars - less weight to drag around...
Didnt think I'd get a decent legacy in that price range, off to spend next half an hour browsing those!
Mainly it has to be about to do 30+mpg in the real world, the more the better obviously, be powerful enough to not drive me mad on Warwickshire country lanes where everybody drives at 45mph (I'd just end up never using it if it wasnt), and be reliable. Doesn't need to be a big car, just big enough to lay back seats down and get a useable boot.
The Volvo's look an interesting idea... not sure the powerful ones will achieve the mpg I want though - guess that's why I was thinking slightly smaller cars - less weight to drag around...
Didnt think I'd get a decent legacy in that price range, off to spend next half an hour browsing those!
CampDavid said:
Bonefish Blues said:
Tight budget for a Leggy, but a good one for a 9-5 Aero of either estate or saloon persuasion.
Auction the place for these I'd wager. What dealer in their right mind will want to pop one on their forcourt at the moment?
I was going to suggest a Civic Type R instead of the Corolla, but, as good as they are, the engine isn't very relaxed so you may not find it that much less "hectic" than your Caterham at times.
A couple of other suggestions of the hot hatch variety would be a Seat Leon Cupra R, or perhaps a Skoda Octavia VRs Estate/Hatch. Both have a decent engine which is ok economy wise and with their torquey delivery would mean more relaxed driving for you, but with plenty of overtaking urge.
Or perhaps an Audi S4 avant (an early one)
A couple of other suggestions of the hot hatch variety would be a Seat Leon Cupra R, or perhaps a Skoda Octavia VRs Estate/Hatch. Both have a decent engine which is ok economy wise and with their torquey delivery would mean more relaxed driving for you, but with plenty of overtaking urge.
Or perhaps an Audi S4 avant (an early one)
My daily is a Fiat Panda 100HP, which is:
a) just practical enough for dog/tip trips/transporting a few people
b) does 36 mpg (ish)
c) very hard of ride but fun in the corners
d) small for parking
e) probably attainable for 3k for an older one
I'm not sure I could run my R500 as a daily driver - fair play to all the Caterham owners on here that run one as an only car!!
a) just practical enough for dog/tip trips/transporting a few people
b) does 36 mpg (ish)
c) very hard of ride but fun in the corners
d) small for parking
e) probably attainable for 3k for an older one
I'm not sure I could run my R500 as a daily driver - fair play to all the Caterham owners on here that run one as an only car!!
4motion Golf - nice V6, some come with heated leather interior which is lovely, 30MPG is available driving steadily.
4motion Bora - same as Golf but even more anonymous.
ZR160 - plenty available for less than budget, fairly quick and when you're done with it put the engine in the Caterham
Satria GTi - it may be Malaysian, but with 'Handling by Lotus' and a Mitsubishi engine it makes a decent little hatch. Cheap ones around now, too.
10/10 for using the Caterham as a daily.
4motion Bora - same as Golf but even more anonymous.
ZR160 - plenty available for less than budget, fairly quick and when you're done with it put the engine in the Caterham
Satria GTi - it may be Malaysian, but with 'Handling by Lotus' and a Mitsubishi engine it makes a decent little hatch. Cheap ones around now, too.
10/10 for using the Caterham as a daily.
As mentioned above, Merc/BMW/Volve estate would do the job.
However, in answer to your first post, I have never driven a Corolla T-sport, however a colleague had one (the 190bhp one) and it was rather fast. In fact it wasn't that much slower than the BMW 130i (265bhp) I had at the time.
He loved it, but then he was old.
However, in answer to your first post, I have never driven a Corolla T-sport, however a colleague had one (the 190bhp one) and it was rather fast. In fact it wasn't that much slower than the BMW 130i (265bhp) I had at the time.
He loved it, but then he was old.
james_tigerwoods said:
Not going to be nicked. Check.
Practical. Check.
Comedy. Check.
That really tickled me.Practical. Check.
Comedy. Check.
My wifes run around is a clio 1.5dci,i hate it but can't argue with 50 odd mpg and £30 tax,plus we can leave it anywhere and its worth so little i don't de value it by servicing it myself.
I ran a Leon Cupra for a while,that was a decent car.
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