What sporty £3k 5-door hatch?
Discussion
I'm looking for a more practical replacement for my wife's Fiat 500 due to a new baby. Must be 5 doors, big boot but not bigger than Golf/Focus size, air con desirable, safe (not expecting 5-star NCAP though and passenger airbag not essential as option to put baby seat in the front), reasonable to run (35-40mpg?) and insure. We're looking at a budget up to £3k, although if its closer to £2k all the better. As she will be trading down to a considerably older car, she would like something a little bit zippy and not too run-of-the mill. Unfortunately most sporty hatches are 3 door only.
I have considered the following:
MG ZR 1.4 (VVC too expensive to insure)
Alfa Romeo 147 (not very economical I would imagine but cheap and desirable)
Peugeot 206/306 HDi (not that sporty but cheap to run, although not sure about the reliability of older diesels)
mk3/mk4 Golf GTi (I used to own a mk4 2.0 GTi which was a nice enough car but an awful engine and lots of electrical problems. Would I be better off with a simpler, tidy mk3? My Corrado VR6 didn't have so many electical problems, parts were just really expensive compared to the equivalent Golf and it was starting to rust around the rear arches. 8v or 16v? Is the 8v the same engine as in my mk4? If so probably one to avoid!)
Any thoughts on any of those and have I overlooked anything better in my price range? She doesn't want a Focus by the way!
I have considered the following:
MG ZR 1.4 (VVC too expensive to insure)
Alfa Romeo 147 (not very economical I would imagine but cheap and desirable)
Peugeot 206/306 HDi (not that sporty but cheap to run, although not sure about the reliability of older diesels)
mk3/mk4 Golf GTi (I used to own a mk4 2.0 GTi which was a nice enough car but an awful engine and lots of electrical problems. Would I be better off with a simpler, tidy mk3? My Corrado VR6 didn't have so many electical problems, parts were just really expensive compared to the equivalent Golf and it was starting to rust around the rear arches. 8v or 16v? Is the 8v the same engine as in my mk4? If so probably one to avoid!)
Any thoughts on any of those and have I overlooked anything better in my price range? She doesn't want a Focus by the way!
Some good suggestions there. Didn't realise the Fabia vRS was in budget. Do they have any potentially expensive DPF/DMF issues? Would love a 156 but we already have an Impreza WRX Estate as our main car which is kind of a similar size. My wife doesn't like driving it unfortunately and can't really afford to replace both cars. Hence why I was thinking about a slightly smaller 147.
white_goodman said:
Some good suggestions there. Didn't realise the Fabia vRS was in budget. Do they have any potentially expensive DPF/DMF issues? Would love a 156 but we already have an Impreza WRX Estate as our main car which is kind of a similar size. My wife doesn't like driving it unfortunately and can't really afford to replace both cars. Hence why I was thinking about a slightly smaller 147.
It's the old PD engine... so not really. It has it's own issues, but they're not too bad afaik, and these engines can go on forever.You could also look at the Octavia VRS. 1.8T petrol, same as the Golf, but bigger boot and better equipped as standard.
I recently sold my facelift MG ZS 1.6 for £1500. 55K miles and the HG had just been done.
Not a bad lookin car, handles well and is pretty nippy. The boot was big enough to fit a pushchair and plenty of shopping in.
Had a MK4 Golf 1.8T before that. Found it a bit thirsty, but it had been remapped which might explain that, the boost gets addictive. Wasn't as reliable for me as the ZS, but was a decent all rounder.
Before that I had a
Not a bad lookin car, handles well and is pretty nippy. The boot was big enough to fit a pushchair and plenty of shopping in.
Had a MK4 Golf 1.8T before that. Found it a bit thirsty, but it had been remapped which might explain that, the boost gets addictive. Wasn't as reliable for me as the ZS, but was a decent all rounder.
Before that I had a
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