CTR to 106 GTI?
Discussion
I am moving from rented house to fully fledged mortgage home owning at the end of the year so thinking of ways to save money. I'm not thinking I am going to save thousands, hopefully a good few hundred a year though.
So i was thinking about changing my car from CTR 02 EP3 to a 106 GTI. Obvious savings will be road tax, tyres, petrol (maybe not loads on that) and general running costs for parts etc...
My only worry is going from a bulletproof jap car to an older and liekly to be more flaky 106. Had a look on the classifieds and there is a surprising amount of GTI's about, and quite a few look in good nick.
Peoples thoughts on this?
So i was thinking about changing my car from CTR 02 EP3 to a 106 GTI. Obvious savings will be road tax, tyres, petrol (maybe not loads on that) and general running costs for parts etc...
My only worry is going from a bulletproof jap car to an older and liekly to be more flaky 106. Had a look on the classifieds and there is a surprising amount of GTI's about, and quite a few look in good nick.
Peoples thoughts on this?
If you are just looking to save money, I wouldn't bother. Running costs might be a couple of hundred more over the year on the CTR, but not enough to justify a change in my opinion, especially as the CTR is likely to be more reliable.
Also better the devil you know etc.... always a gamble buying used cars of that age.
However, if you are bored of the CTR and fancy a bit of a change then maybe worth considering.
Also better the devil you know etc.... always a gamble buying used cars of that age.
However, if you are bored of the CTR and fancy a bit of a change then maybe worth considering.
Well not itching for a change at all, just thought with road tax costing me £265 a year, and tyres around £90 a corner, petrol around £240m a month on the civic i might be able to make some savings...
That is the main thing with the civic as you say, i have had it 6 years, its on 140k miles and i know it inside and out. A new old car is like starting from scratch again, but if there were a few issues, after the inital outlay it should be cheaper. Plus i might have some spare cash from sale of the civic compared to the cost of the 106....
That is the main thing with the civic as you say, i have had it 6 years, its on 140k miles and i know it inside and out. A new old car is like starting from scratch again, but if there were a few issues, after the inital outlay it should be cheaper. Plus i might have some spare cash from sale of the civic compared to the cost of the 106....
The VTS and GTi are essentially the same car, I believe the GTi has a thicker rear ARB as standard, but the GTi's image seems to be better than the VTS.
However, as I don't frequent McDonalds doing burnouts, my little VTS is an absolute barrel of laughs for what it cost. I also bought one to reduce my car ownership costs whilst still having some fun. Negatives are the tax, mines an 03 plate so the tax is £270 a year, also the rear beam bearings go, meaning the rear wheels look cambered in to the arches. You can either replace with any disc axle from a scrapyard off a VTR/VTS/GTi, or you can buy a warrantied refurbed unit from IMAxles for around £400. Easy to fit at home, I'm changing mine this weekend, I'll get some pics and start a thread.
Good sides, they're immense fun to throw about, parts are cheap, they're stupidly easy to take apart and fix yourself, there's very little to go wrong, upgrades are cheap and cheerful if you enjoy tinkering. My VTS has 95k on the clock, has a standard manifold, decat and stainless exhaust, and a generic filter that it came with, and I can get 54mpg out of it driving like miss daisy on the motorway. MuZiZZle off here has a track VTS that we took to Donnington earlier this year, which is cammed, and we got 23mpg out of that on track, which is brilliant!
Cheap fun, I say go for it!
However, as I don't frequent McDonalds doing burnouts, my little VTS is an absolute barrel of laughs for what it cost. I also bought one to reduce my car ownership costs whilst still having some fun. Negatives are the tax, mines an 03 plate so the tax is £270 a year, also the rear beam bearings go, meaning the rear wheels look cambered in to the arches. You can either replace with any disc axle from a scrapyard off a VTR/VTS/GTi, or you can buy a warrantied refurbed unit from IMAxles for around £400. Easy to fit at home, I'm changing mine this weekend, I'll get some pics and start a thread.
Good sides, they're immense fun to throw about, parts are cheap, they're stupidly easy to take apart and fix yourself, there's very little to go wrong, upgrades are cheap and cheerful if you enjoy tinkering. My VTS has 95k on the clock, has a standard manifold, decat and stainless exhaust, and a generic filter that it came with, and I can get 54mpg out of it driving like miss daisy on the motorway. MuZiZZle off here has a track VTS that we took to Donnington earlier this year, which is cammed, and we got 23mpg out of that on track, which is brilliant!
Cheap fun, I say go for it!
burger81 said:
Well not itching for a change at all, just thought with road tax costing me £265 a year, and tyres around £90 a corner, petrol around £240m a month on the civic i might be able to make some savings...
That is the main thing with the civic as you say, i have had it 6 years, its on 140k miles and i know it inside and out. A new old car is like starting from scratch again, but if there were a few issues, after the inital outlay it should be cheaper. Plus i might have some spare cash from sale of the civic compared to the cost of the 106....
You would probably save a bit on the tax and insurance, there's nothing in it after that. Tyres for my passat are 90 quid and I have 16" wheels. Petrol, just stay out the vtec and then it will drink like a normal 2l motor That is the main thing with the civic as you say, i have had it 6 years, its on 140k miles and i know it inside and out. A new old car is like starting from scratch again, but if there were a few issues, after the inital outlay it should be cheaper. Plus i might have some spare cash from sale of the civic compared to the cost of the 106....
I had a 106gti for many years. I don't ever recall anything ever going wrong with it. What I do recall is lots of hooning, and the biggest downside that doing a long journey, say bedford to cornwall, was like being in an old metal bin while someone repeatedly beat the sides of it with an iron bar.
I really must update my garage list. The gti was a cracking little motor, only moved on due to the amount of motorway miles I was exposing it to. Used to s
t my mrs up something rotten giving it some beans round the many roundabouts in Milton Keynes.
I really must update my garage list. The gti was a cracking little motor, only moved on due to the amount of motorway miles I was exposing it to. Used to s
t my mrs up something rotten giving it some beans round the many roundabouts in Milton Keynes.burger81 said:
I am moving from rented house to fully fledged mortgage home owning at the end of the year so thinking of ways to save money. I'm not thinking I am going to save thousands, hopefully a good few hundred a year though.
So i was thinking about changing my car from CTR 02 EP3 to a 106 GTI. Obvious savings will be road tax, tyres, petrol (maybe not loads on that) and general running costs for parts etc...
My only worry is going from a bulletproof jap car to an older and liekly to be more flaky 106. Had a look on the classifieds and there is a surprising amount of GTI's about, and quite a few look in good nick.
Peoples thoughts on this?
How about a 106 Rallye S1. They are revvy little 1.3's so even more savings on tax and possibly fuel. So i was thinking about changing my car from CTR 02 EP3 to a 106 GTI. Obvious savings will be road tax, tyres, petrol (maybe not loads on that) and general running costs for parts etc...
My only worry is going from a bulletproof jap car to an older and liekly to be more flaky 106. Had a look on the classifieds and there is a surprising amount of GTI's about, and quite a few look in good nick.
Peoples thoughts on this?
I've had two 106's although both diesels. In general I'd say the oily bits proved quite robust and reliable. Although both were a nightmare with stupid little faults.
LeeThr said:
As long as you look after the 106 and keep on top of the maintenance there bulletproof.
In the event that you manage to buy one that has had this careful treatment prior to you getting it, namely because we're talking about cars that have had at least ten years on the road already. They are tough little cars but I wouldn't say they were Honda-tough, and even if the running gear is in order they are often troubled with minor electrical faults - how much this matters to you I don't know. I've looked at them before, because the idea of a tiny little, rev-happy hatchback does appeal, but it's hard to find a really good 106 GTi for a good price. There are plenty that have been woefully modded and abused and I think your money will go much further with the equivalent Saxo VTS, which doesn't seem to have the added 'badge tax' of the GTi. Just watch out for the rear beams, they are a known weak point on the platform. When I had a Saxo VTR, the suggested remedy was just to go and get a beam off a scrapped car and fit it. Of course, as these cars get older there are probably fewer of them in scrapyards than there were then (many were bent by boy racers driving on the free insurance offer).
Overall, I doubt it will save you a great deal of cash over the Civic, which I would say was the superior car in pretty much every respect. And when you're looking to save cash, better the devil you know...
When I was in the forces I had a 106 GTi and a good friend with a CTR. In terms of real world driving there wasnt much between the 2 from A to B. The CTR felt more manic with the VTEC and noise which is fun but I prefered the way the 106 encouraged you to extract every last rev and tyre tread from it.
I frequently made the 500 mile trip back up to Scotland and a few cross country drives as well as weekly hoons. Only trouble was drivebelt and clutch in the 3 years I had it. Took it from 56000 to 97000. Few choice mods make it a great little car.
My friend spent a lot more on his CTR in terms of running costs.
HTH
I frequently made the 500 mile trip back up to Scotland and a few cross country drives as well as weekly hoons. Only trouble was drivebelt and clutch in the 3 years I had it. Took it from 56000 to 97000. Few choice mods make it a great little car.
My friend spent a lot more on his CTR in terms of running costs.
HTH
300bhp/ton said:
How about a 106 Rallye S1. They are revvy little 1.3's so even more savings on tax and possibly fuel.
I've had two 106's although both diesels. In general I'd say the oily bits proved quite robust and reliable. Although both were a nightmare with stupid little faults.
You really need to buy a good, well looked after S1 and they aren't cheap! I've had two 106's although both diesels. In general I'd say the oily bits proved quite robust and reliable. Although both were a nightmare with stupid little faults.
A cheap S1 will cost a fortune in the long run!
They are however blooming good fun, crap under 5K rpm silly above!. Not the most refined of cars for everyday use mind you.
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