Sporty Car for a 23 year old, A what car? Ignore if you wish

[Sparticate]

Hi all,

I know this a what car thread

I am really stuck however!

Basically I have had enough of boring daily drivers, I would like something a bit exciting.

I did test drive a Fabia vRS and loved it, fully comp insurance is also around £470. Reports of 1L of oil per 600 miles has ruined it and put me off Apparently it's being pulled sometime this year due to the large amount of warranty claims over this issue. The Seat Ibiza FR is also the same car so that's out.

I wouldn't touch anything French I am afraid. Ironically a 08 plate MX5 comes in at around £450. the practicality, or rather the lack of, is a issue.

Everything else I have thought of is either insurance heavy (north of 1k) or tax heavy (north of £250 a year)At the moment it looks like I will be getting a ~6 year old fiesta ST, the insurance is about £550 but the tax is a bit heavy (£200).

Are there any cars I haven't thought of?

Any thoughts/help appreciated.

[mattshiz]

The practicality has of an mx5 has never been an issue for me as I have no children. Its taken me and one other on numerous european camping trips and will fit the weekly shop as long as your not obese. It also has the added advantage that I'm never the designated driver to the pub!

Infinite headroom is also a plus when lugging the christmas tree home/to the tip!

[ocrx8]

What's your budget? I'd say go for a two-seater whilst you have the opportunity...

[northwest monkey]

ocrx8 said:

What's your budget? I'd say go for a two-seater whilst you have the opportunity...

Yeah this - what about a Z3 or Z4 as an alternative?

[Sparticate]

My budget is around 8k

I already have a 2 seater as it is, my 1964 Sprite is rather fun in that regard!.

My car history on the daily front has been rather boring though:

1.0 Nissan Micra
1.0 Vauxhall Corsa
1.2 Ford Fiesta
1.4TDI Ford Fiesta
1.6Econetic Diesel Ford Fiesta

[ManOpener]

Mk3 MR2? Cheap to buy, cheap to run, fun and reasonably practical for a 2-seater?

-E

Arse, didn't see your requirements. As you were...

[northwest monkey]

Sparticate said:

My budget is around 8k

Here you go - something a bit different

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

[folos]

Don't know what your budget is but i'm 23 and i've got a golfR32, had one since I was 21. Paid £750 on insurance this year, might not be the sportiest car out there but by god does it sound good - even more so with a milltek!

That budget will get you a fairly decent MK5 or a mint MK4. I've got a MK5 myself, on an 06 but was registered a few days before the tax band went up so it's around £280!

Clio 197/200 will be within budget too, i'd recommend one of those way way above an ST. I nearly bought an ST but test drove a 197 and it was worlds apart, I almost regret selling it for an R32 but the noise makes up for it

Edited by folos on Wednesday 8th January 22:46

Edited by folos on Wednesday 8th January 22:46

[interloper]

Sparticate said:

I did test drive a Fabia vRS and loved it, fully comp insurance is also around £470. Reports of 1L of oil per 600 miles has ruined it and put me off

You do realise a lot of performance cars use some oil between services? Maybe a more usual figure was 1ltr per 1000 miles but you still need to check on a regular basis. Not exactly a chore, just normal routine really?

[Sparticate]

I do expect some oil usage as part of the course with a performance car.

It was more the reaction of the service manager when I asked about the issue, he seemed to get very cagey?

[ahenners]

interloper said:

You do realise a lot of performance cars use some oil between services? Maybe a more usual figure was 1ltr per 1000 miles but you still need to check on a regular basis. Not exactly a chore, just normal routine really?

The VAG 1.4 tsi turbo & supercharged engine is notorious for high oil consumption and not very reliable. People have needed engine replacements after 20000 miles etc. Others have needed replaced piston rings etc. but most dealers just say the oil use is normal.

I went to buy one back in 2011 and like OP, I was aware of the issues. Went to my local Seat dealer who had an Ibiza Cupra on the forecourt outside. When I asked if I could test drive it, the salesman told me that it they couldn't move it, because they had to borrow a part from the engine to fix a customer's Ibiza Cupra. Figured that was enough to put me off and bought a Ford the same day which hasn't skipped a beat in nearly 3 years now.

As for a car suggestion, 8k should get you a nice E46 3 series coupe 3.0 petrol if insurance isn't too bad?

Edited by ahenners on Wednesday 8th January 23:14

[kiethton]

Civic Type R? Like this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

My insurance (although a modified EP3 shape) was £600 at 23 with all accidents, points etc declared


don't get too hung up on tax, the £280 most hot hatches are is 3 tanks of petrol in most normal cars

[Sparticate]

kiethton said:

Civic Type R?

My insurance (although a modified EP3 shape) was £600 at 23 with all accidents, points etc declared


don't get too hung up on tax, the £280 most hot hatches are is 3 tanks of petrol in most normal cars

The civic type r came in at around £800 for me?

[sjg]

Sparticate said:

I did test drive a Fabia vRS and loved it, fully comp insurance is also around £470. Reports of 1L of oil per 600 miles has ruined it and put me off Apparently it's being pulled sometime this year due to the large amount of warranty claims over this issue. The Seat Ibiza FR is also the same car so that's out.

They're not all like that, but on the forums you only really hear about people with issues. I suspect too that some people are mis-reading the level (according to the manual it should be done a few minutes after running the engine) and over-filling, which gets burned off. Mine has had about 2.5 litres of oil in topups over 35000 miles.

I don't doubt that some have had problems, or even that the engine is more prone to it than others, but it's hardly a universal thing. The standard 3 year warranty can be extended, or get a third party one for peace of mind.

As it happens, I'll be offloading mine soon (new lease is on the way in a couple of weeks) for about your budget so do get in touch if you're still interested in a Fabia vRS. Still in warranty until September...

[kiethton]

Sparticate said:

kiethton said:

Civic Type R?

My insurance (although a modified EP3 shape) was £600 at 23 with all accidents, points etc declared


don't get too hung up on tax, the £280 most hot hatches are is 3 tanks of petrol in most normal cars

The civic type r came in at around £800 for me?

Have you tried adding an accident free/points free parent or 2?

Postcode can have an effect but mine isn't that good - BR6 and it all worked out

Try flux and modify it slightly - just an exhaust is enough as modified policies are cheaper (for me anyway)

[shielsy]

i insured an FD RX7 for under £500 at 23. you can get a very nice example for well under budget, and they are a damn sight more fun than a fiesta st.

[Blayney]

I've spent months looking in the same ball park OP.

Feel the same about the ibiza/fabia. Can you stretch to a DS3 dsport? I've also looked at mito 155 and cloverleafs and the related abarth puntos.

[MacD1]

Try an Audi S3, low millage example come in at around 5k which will leave a little more in your pocket for insurance

[Sparticate]

An S3 comes in at around £700 on a quick scrape, my current insurers won't cover me so I would need to swap.

There wasn't any low mile examples close to me at a reasonable cost though

[hoppo4.2]

it really depends what you want from that car. at 24 I bought a tvr cerb,upgraged from a chim.
insurance was less than half of the cost of the m3 that replaced it. the cerb was my only car. I used it every day to pop to the shops or visit family hundreds of miles away.

however I was always prepared to fix it my self if it broke as I couldn't afford the specialist bills.
it only had one major problem which was a warn cam shaft.

the only real cost was fuel!!!!!!

but it was so special an experience far more so than anything else I've had.

If I still had the budget to spend id love another however they do appear to have shot up in value in the last few years.

I guess im saying maybe look a bit out of the norm few year old warm hatch.