Another what car - £6k budget for family hatch with exciting

[wilbo83]

Title should say ..exciting interior! Before anyony asks, I did use the search function but most what car threads at this budget were for weekend toys or track cars etc so thought I would start this thread...

My fiancé is looking for a car to replace her 2005 Fiesta Flame 1.4. Budget of up to 6k, it needs to have 5 doors and be child friendly (big boot) and she would like it to feel exciting / special inside or in her words “lots of buttons” like my BMW. She doesn’t do a lot of mileage, car is mainly used for a short A road commute and then pottering about town at the weekend. Current thoughts so far are:

Honda Civic – Favourite so far, definitely looks exciting inside but the rear visibility / lack of wiper etc. may be an issue. Huge boot and roomy though.
A3 – She likes these but not sure of the choice within budget yet.
VW Golf / Astra / Focus – All possibly even more boring than the fiesta.
1 Series – For some reason she doesn’t like these, think it’s the long bonnet.

Any recommendations or opinions welcome.

Edited by wilbo83 on Thursday 13th November 08:59

[Lozw86]

BMW 130i would be my suggestion if you can find a reasonable example within your budget

Rear wheel drive, nice straight six motor, good handling, fairly practical

[wilbo83]

Lozw86 said:

BMW 130i would be my suggestion if you can find a reasonable example within your budget

Rear wheel drive, nice straight six motor, good handling, fairly practical

That would certainly be on my shortlist but I don’t think she really needs that much power or is too focused about handling, the current fiesta is only a 1.4. Appreciate it is one of the best all rounders but think that there are more practical / efficient choices for her needs.

[braddo]

Mk5 Golf GTI with the tartan cloth interior.

Alfa 147.

[billzeebub]

Mk V Golf GTi

[wilbo83]

braddo said:

Mk5 Golf GTI with the tartan cloth interior.

Alfa 147.

Funnily enough I saw a 147 this morning and thought "I must show her those and see what she thinks". Should have added that combined mpg of about 38mpg (similar to the fiesta) would also be good, will the mk5 GTI do that?

[anonymous-user]

wilbo83 said:

Should have added that combined mpg of about 38mpg (similar to the fiesta) would also be good, will the mk5 GTI do that?

Er, will it chuff!

[andburg]

a newer fiesta ecoboost in titanium spec would be a good option!

EDIT:

if i was in budget

still got a 1.6 titanium for that money

Edited by andburg on Thursday 13th November 12:44

[wilbo83]

andrewparker said:

Er, will it chuff!

Haha, thought as much. Am guessing that a smaller petrol engine is probably going to be best, 1.6 or 1.8. Hard to not get typical PH car responses on a what car thread. Suprised no one has said MX5 yet!

[LordHaveMurci]

Mk V GTi is pretty economical for it's size, not exactly exciting though.

147 was my 1st thought.

[Frankthered]

The boot on the 147 is pretty small for the size of the car.

You'll also struggle to get 38 mpg unless you go diesel. I got about 36 from my 120 bhp 1.6 TS.

Lovely interior though.

[IanCress]

Volvo C30? Interesting interior with the 'floating' centre console. S40/V50 pretty similar, with added boot space.

I'd probably go with the Civic, just make sure you get one with parking sensors.

Edit: Just seen the 5 door requirement, which rules out the C30.

[djfaulkner]

There's a couple of A3's in budget here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?CarTypeFF=H...
Plus a couple of other choices, Mazada 3MPS, Impreza, RenaultSport 225

Doubt you getting the 38mpg on them though.

[sherman]

C30 is a 3 door. The s40 or V50 would be worth looking at. Petrol only though she would ruin a diesel one.

[wilbo83]

djfaulkner said:

There's a couple of A3's in budget here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?CarTypeFF=H...
Plus a couple of other choices, Mazada 3MPS, Impreza, RenaultSport 225

Doubt you getting the 38mpg on them though.

Yeah, no chance! Again, cars that would be on my shortlist but she isn't exactly a petrolhead and would be driving those to about 25% of their limit!

Couple of suggestions above I hadn't considered, particularly the 147 or the newer fiesta (wasn't aware they were so cheap) so keep them coming.

[ManOpener]

andrewparker said:

wilbo83 said:

Should have added that combined mpg of about 38mpg (similar to the fiesta) would also be good, will the mk5 GTI do that?

Er, will it chuff!

My Leon, which is basically the same as a Mk5 GTI underneath, is averaging about 36mpg on a decent combined motorway, A-road and urban area run. My overall average is closer to 30 but that's because I do a lot of stop-start town driving these days.

I can do about 40mpg driving like miss daisy. If fuel economy (and less power) are a concern, try a GT rather than a GTI.

[IanCress]

As previous owner of a mkII Leon, they've got the most un-interesting interior possible!

[ManOpener]

IanCress said:

As previous owner of a mkII Leon, they've got the most un-interesting interior possible!

I wasn't recommending the Leon! Just commenting that the Mk5 GTI can be fairly economical. I say "can", as a lot of them seem to have common undiagnosed faults (PCV and DV in particular) which ruin the economy.

[boobles]

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

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

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

[wilbo83]

boobles said:

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

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

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

An MPS is never going to achieve the economy, I considered the 6 MPS when I bought an impreza but again, this isn't a car for me. The Civic is a strong contender though, probably the fvaourite as the dash certainly ticks the exciting box and it looks to have plenty of room and storage. I would prefer borrowing that to the 1.4 fiesta.

Going to try and check out a few of the others this weekend though.