£10k to spend, what to get?
Discussion
I've had my fair share of decent cars and feel like it's time to get a little more 'sensible'. My last E46 M3 cost me an absolute fortune to maintain and I could really do without the kick in the nuts every time anything goes wrong!
My daily commute is only around 10 miles (there and back), but most weekends I do about 200 miles on average, rarely (5-6 times a year) I'll do about a 500-1000 mile trip somewhere.
Trying to find a car that's suitable for my needs without really breaking the bank. I'm 25 so would rather avoid some of the more 'old man' type cars.
I fell in love with the Passat CC for it's looks and practicality, it seems like a great all rounder but at £10k I seem to be scraping at the bottom of the pan a bit for my liking.
Also liking the newer shaped Octavia VRS, but again they're nearer £12-13k for a nice one.
At the moment I'm considering:
Passat CC (lower end diesel or a petrol which nearly always seem to be cheaper.)
Octavia VRS (Older model, with the 'sadder' looking headlights circa 07-08.)
BMW 525D (A little worried about ball-breaking repair costs again.)
Seat Leon FR (Not overly in love with them, but decent value which would leave me with a fair bit spare.)
Audi A4 S-Line (Boring, but decent VFM and retain value well.)
Open to any suggestions anyone might have for my requirements, looking to purchase in the next couple of weeks ideally.
My daily commute is only around 10 miles (there and back), but most weekends I do about 200 miles on average, rarely (5-6 times a year) I'll do about a 500-1000 mile trip somewhere.
Trying to find a car that's suitable for my needs without really breaking the bank. I'm 25 so would rather avoid some of the more 'old man' type cars.
I fell in love with the Passat CC for it's looks and practicality, it seems like a great all rounder but at £10k I seem to be scraping at the bottom of the pan a bit for my liking.
Also liking the newer shaped Octavia VRS, but again they're nearer £12-13k for a nice one.
At the moment I'm considering:
Passat CC (lower end diesel or a petrol which nearly always seem to be cheaper.)
Octavia VRS (Older model, with the 'sadder' looking headlights circa 07-08.)
BMW 525D (A little worried about ball-breaking repair costs again.)
Seat Leon FR (Not overly in love with them, but decent value which would leave me with a fair bit spare.)
Audi A4 S-Line (Boring, but decent VFM and retain value well.)
Open to any suggestions anyone might have for my requirements, looking to purchase in the next couple of weeks ideally.
9-3 does seem good VFM, never been keen on the looks of Saab's and I'm not entirely sure why! I might have to give one a shot with a test drive I think.
My understanding with CTR's is they're pretty dire economy on longer journeys? Also heard they're pretty boring until the vtec comes to play. What sort of MPG would you expect on a long drive?
My understanding with CTR's is they're pretty dire economy on longer journeys? Also heard they're pretty boring until the vtec comes to play. What sort of MPG would you expect on a long drive?
bildo said:
Also liking the newer shaped Octavia VRS, but again they're nearer £12-13k for a nice one.
I've got an Octavia vRS on a 56 plate, now worth a shade over £4k and I bought it from a Skoda dealer in early 2010 for a shade over £8k.I really like mine... but assuming you're going for the pre-facelift ones (with the squarer/older headlights), £12k is an awful lot for one.
The main feedback I'd give you is that it's reasonably reliable to own and handles tidily but most of the extra weight/length compared to a Golf GTi sits behnd the rear axle. You do feel that extra weight but if you don't mind the badge, you can get a very tidy car for less than your budget. Second hand Skodas that aren't owned by plod seem to live a gentler life than their Seat/VW equivalents, from my search a couple of years ago anyway.
I've tried a CTR as suggested above. Beautiful gearshift and while the engine's not up there with Honda's finest efforts it's a nicer thing to play with than most of its stablemates. For a 3 door it's very practical, though you do have to live with a very harsh ride. Try one over a couple of speed bumps as well as a B Road if you're considering one and that'll tell you if you could live with it.
You'll get a 335i for £10k. It will be pre face lift, but won't be horrendous to run. It certainly won't bring up bills that would dwarf bills that the other car's you mention might throw up. Our leased Passat CCs are lovely, but thank God they're on a maintained contract... Personally I'd get the best E39 530i Sport I could get, spend £1000 or so getting it up together and pocket the change. That's only because I don't think anything south of £15-20k is currently a greater all round package than a good E39, even it's odd looking successor, but I appreciate that it is now a bit long in the tooth for some.
Edited by sparks_E39 on Friday 29th November 17:35
bildo said:
My understanding with CTR's is they're pretty dire economy on longer journeys? Also heard they're pretty boring until the vtec comes to play. What sort of MPG would you expect on a long drive?
You could see 35mpg on a long run easily. The car is perfectly fine out of vtec, I ran an ep3 for 5 years and still have an Integra now (dc2). Ride quality wise avoid the GT spec 19' alloys.If your looking to avoid big bills I'd be very careful venturing into the world of modern diesels especially on short journeys (DPF issues etc)
A 330i might also be worth looking at, no turbo's to worry about.
Cheers,
C
Great feedback guys, knew this would be a good place to ask!
bleary - I'm pretty sure I'm looking at the same shape as the one you have, had found a nice 08 one for about £8k with fairly low mileage. It's the diesel one though, no idea whether diesel/petrol would be better for what I want?
I reckon I could get around the badge, does make me wonder if a Golf or something would be better as I don't need THAT much room, more the comfort of driving a larger car on long journeys.
CTR sounds similar to my old Leon Cupra R, worst car I've owned to date so I think I'll avoid it!
Practicality isn't really THAT much of an issue, the thought of a large comfy car for the motorways is nice though.
Boot space and rear doors are irrelevant, 2 seaters aren't really ideal though.
Would consider driving dynamics or image depending how good it was either way.
No limit on size.
Soft tops are an option, but not necessarily preferred. Appreciate your time, thank you.
sparks - Will look into 335i, but can't imagine the 10 mile trip each day would go down too well economy-wise? What's wrong with the Passat's regarding maintenance?
bleary - I'm pretty sure I'm looking at the same shape as the one you have, had found a nice 08 one for about £8k with fairly low mileage. It's the diesel one though, no idea whether diesel/petrol would be better for what I want?
I reckon I could get around the badge, does make me wonder if a Golf or something would be better as I don't need THAT much room, more the comfort of driving a larger car on long journeys.
CTR sounds similar to my old Leon Cupra R, worst car I've owned to date so I think I'll avoid it!
Practicality isn't really THAT much of an issue, the thought of a large comfy car for the motorways is nice though.
Boot space and rear doors are irrelevant, 2 seaters aren't really ideal though.
Would consider driving dynamics or image depending how good it was either way.
No limit on size.
Soft tops are an option, but not necessarily preferred. Appreciate your time, thank you.
sparks - Will look into 335i, but can't imagine the 10 mile trip each day would go down too well economy-wise? What's wrong with the Passat's regarding maintenance?
bildo said:
9-3 does seem good VFM, never been keen on the looks of Saab's and I'm not entirely sure why! I might have to give one a shot with a test drive I think.
My understanding with CTR's is they're pretty dire economy on longer journeys? Also heard they're pretty boring until the vtec comes to play. What sort of MPG would you expect on a long drive?
Yeah the 9-3 is good, we had one for a few days as a hire car, was really nippy and had a very smooth power delivery. We had the auto and the pick up was brilliantMy understanding with CTR's is they're pretty dire economy on longer journeys? Also heard they're pretty boring until the vtec comes to play. What sort of MPG would you expect on a long drive?
bildo said:
Great feedback guys, knew this would be a good place to ask!
bleary - I'm pretty sure I'm looking at the same shape as the one you have, had found a nice 08 one for about £8k with fairly low mileage. It's the diesel one though, no idea whether diesel/petrol would be better for what I want?
I reckon I could get around the badge, does make me wonder if a Golf or something would be better as I don't need THAT much room, more the comfort of driving a larger car on long journeys.
Mine's petrol and indicated 34-36mpg/real world 33-34mpg is reasonable at motorway speeds. 40mpg is just possible but you have to drive like Miss Daisy.bleary - I'm pretty sure I'm looking at the same shape as the one you have, had found a nice 08 one for about £8k with fairly low mileage. It's the diesel one though, no idea whether diesel/petrol would be better for what I want?
I reckon I could get around the badge, does make me wonder if a Golf or something would be better as I don't need THAT much room, more the comfort of driving a larger car on long journeys.
The diesel is pricier to buy and service, and the nose is a lot heavier so it's not as much fun around the twisties. It's a personal thing but I think I'd only consider diesel if I were regularly doing 20,000 miles a year or more.
If you're looking at 2008 year, the petrol ones should have had their cambelts done (every 4 years or 80,000 miles). Better still if the water pump was done at the same time. If not, factor in about £500.
To be honest, it's not much comfier in there than it is in a Golf, which is still fine on a long journey. I thought of it as a £13k Golf with a £5k discount and room for my bicycle. Just as well- it's moved most of my life (one bootful at a time!) between Bristol and Cambridge last year. I think it's a good compromise between load lugger/motorway cruiser and plaything in the twisties, but you'll notice the understeer and lack of steering feel if you're coming from an E46 M3! Not very brisk either, but 7-and-a-bit to 60mph is swift enough to be nice, for me anyway. I wouldn't bother with DSG; some would disagree.
While I talk about the extra weight, it's only 50kg or so and if you didn't drive them back to back and someone covered the badges/trim, I think you'd struggle to tell the difference between a Seat FR/Golf GTi/Octavia vRS to drive.
One thing I'm a little worried about is whether values on later models will tumble a little as examples of Mk3 models come onto the market in a couple of years. Now I'm driving a £4-5k car it doesn't worry me much... but I might if I were dropping £8-10k on a newer one.
Mk 2 Focus ST? Boots on those things are massive and the depreciation is already hitting from the Mk3's, so you might get a lot for your money. Those 5 pots are similarly thirsty to the CTR's 4 pot though, expect low 30's mpg. (Not that I've driven one for long- any ST owners want to chip in/correct me here?)
Hmm... A Giulietta Cloverleaf is out of your reach, but what about a 1.4 MultiAir? Still sub 8 seconds 0-60, some mags review it as more fun than the Cloverleaf... I've sat in one but not driven one though so I can't comment from behind the wheel. But it'd be a left field choice and there'd be a few design niggles (are you tall?).
Edited by blearyeyedboy on Friday 29th November 18:38
Don't think I like the 9-3 enough inside or out to get one to be honest, I might consider test driving one though as I see them mentioned a lot so I must be missing something!
I could deal with doing mid-30's with petrol I think.
Agree with you on the 20k subject, I think I'll be doing around that but certainly not an awful lot over.
See the positives behind the space now to be honest, and the fact they're cheaper than a Golf is always a positive when you get the rarity factor on top.
I do like the thought of it being an all-rounder, which is what I'm after really. The E46 M3 was just too quick and I was at license losing speeds before I could really enjoy the car which got boring quickly. DSG does have it's appeal, but to be honest the older ones seem very rare with DSG, and the newer ones seem very rare without DSG!
I'm currently driving a Yaris T-Sport (was my daily driver when I had the M3) such a great car, cost me a battery in maintenance in 2 years! I could deal with keeping it but sadly it's just not up to the 500-1000 mile journeys, drives me mad. When you mentioned the 1.4 Giulietta it rung the same sound in my ears, would really like a larger engine for cruising to be honest.
Never liked ST's, one of the few cars I couldn't even give consideration I'm afraid!
I could deal with doing mid-30's with petrol I think.
Agree with you on the 20k subject, I think I'll be doing around that but certainly not an awful lot over.
See the positives behind the space now to be honest, and the fact they're cheaper than a Golf is always a positive when you get the rarity factor on top.
I do like the thought of it being an all-rounder, which is what I'm after really. The E46 M3 was just too quick and I was at license losing speeds before I could really enjoy the car which got boring quickly. DSG does have it's appeal, but to be honest the older ones seem very rare with DSG, and the newer ones seem very rare without DSG!
I'm currently driving a Yaris T-Sport (was my daily driver when I had the M3) such a great car, cost me a battery in maintenance in 2 years! I could deal with keeping it but sadly it's just not up to the 500-1000 mile journeys, drives me mad. When you mentioned the 1.4 Giulietta it rung the same sound in my ears, would really like a larger engine for cruising to be honest.
Never liked ST's, one of the few cars I couldn't even give consideration I'm afraid!
blearyeyedboy said:
Not that I'm trying hard to talk you out of a vRS 
, I think they're great cars and have an honest charm, what you see is what you get etc.
Loads on Briskoda about pros/cons of DSG. Unfortunately you can't have Maxidot without it unless you retrofit it.
I do like that about them to be honest, I do find the interior a little 'plain' and would miss the classiness I wanted from a CC., I think they're great cars and have an honest charm, what you see is what you get etc.Loads on Briskoda about pros/cons of DSG. Unfortunately you can't have Maxidot without it unless you retrofit it.
330i's mentioned earlier have caught my eye, but I can't help but be concerned about high running costs?
bildo said:
I do like that about them to be honest, I do find the interior a little 'plain' and would miss the classiness I wanted from a CC.
This is true. Some of it's down to taste but little touches make the higher branches of the VAG tree a nicer place to sit. Some will scoff at the thought of "imagine" but little things keep some people happy (or not) on a 10 mile round trip to work. For me, the extra cost wasn't worth that; to some people it is.Let me put it another way: I've looked at newer Sciroccos/Golfs/Leons as potential replacements for mine last year and all of them are just too similar to justify spending extra on a very similar product. I had to abandon my car buying plans for a couple of years (and spent the money on a wedding instead!
) but I was sorely tempted by things that were just a little less practical and just a little quicker. If I could swap my car plus £6k and buy what I wanted (bearing in mind my requirements are a little different!) I'd find it quite tricky- a lot of nice low mileage BMW E9x's come at just a little more money and £12k gets you to the bottom end of the Megane 250 market...
But of course, if you start playing that game there's always something that costs a little more than you want and I'm sure I'd be looking wistfully at £14k cars if I had £12k! If I didn't need the practicality I'd be looking at BMW Z4 coupés.
blearyeyedboy said:
This is true. Some of it's down to taste but little touches make the higher branches of the VAG tree a nicer place to sit. Some will scoff at the thought of "imagine" but little things keep some people happy (or not) on a 10 mile round trip to work. For me, the extra cost wasn't worth that; to some people it is.
Let me put it another way: I've looked at newer Sciroccos/Golfs/Leons as potential replacements for mine last year and all of them are just too similar to justify spending extra on a very similar product. I had to abandon my car buying plans for a couple of years (and spent the money on a wedding instead! ) but I was sorely tempted by things that were just a little less practical and just a little quicker.
If I could swap my car plus £6k and buy what I wanted (bearing in mind my requirements are a little different!) I'd find it quite tricky- a lot of nice low mileage BMW E9x's come at just a little more money and £12k gets you to the bottom end of the Megane 250 market... But of course, if you start playing that game there's always something that costs a little more than you want and I'm sure I'd be looking wistfully at £14k cars if I had £12k!
If I didn't need the practicality I'd be looking at BMW Z4 coupés.
Completely get what you mean about the extra cost factor, I am one for comfort/toys/nice interior but I'm not so much one for going poverty spec and buying the cheapest one on the market (for obvious reasons!) It's always gutting when you finally see the car you want in the right price bracket and when you scroll down it's a Cat C or something! I guess I should stop looking at them haha.Let me put it another way: I've looked at newer Sciroccos/Golfs/Leons as potential replacements for mine last year and all of them are just too similar to justify spending extra on a very similar product. I had to abandon my car buying plans for a couple of years (and spent the money on a wedding instead!
) but I was sorely tempted by things that were just a little less practical and just a little quicker. If I could swap my car plus £6k and buy what I wanted (bearing in mind my requirements are a little different!) I'd find it quite tricky- a lot of nice low mileage BMW E9x's come at just a little more money and £12k gets you to the bottom end of the Megane 250 market...
But of course, if you start playing that game there's always something that costs a little more than you want and I'm sure I'd be looking wistfully at £14k cars if I had £12k! If I didn't need the practicality I'd be looking at BMW Z4 coupés.
I have been looking at FN2's and 3/5 series overnight. Like you say, the £12-14k bracket unlocks a whole realm of opportunities but I think I'd then be staring big depreciation in the face too.
Problem with something like a Z4 is I need someone in the back sometimes, I am considering getting an MX5 for a weekend blapper though as there's been a certain something missing since the M3's departure.
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