1er or Giulietta or...? - Page 1 - Car Buying

BUG4LIFE

Original Poster

2,417 posts

239 months

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Friday 2nd February 2018

My OH was set on a Mk7 Golf 1.4 but for one reason or another I'm exploring other options again!

So, budget is under £13k. Must be a 5 door hatch big enough to carry 1 kid and all their stuff [though I wouldn't rule out a 4 door saloon], under 5 years old with less than 40k[ish] miles on the clock. Oh, and have more performance than a 2007 MINI Cooper!

She would prefer to buy from an 'official' dealer, due to at least 1 year warranty but I'm trying to convince her that if a great private buy popped up, we should consider it.

I've had a quick look online at the usual places and I've spotted quite a few 4/5 year old BMW 116's. Performance doesn't seem to bad I guess, but if we could bag a 118 even better. I posted a while ago about the back seat space in a 1-series, so I know it's a bit more restrictive than front-wheel-drive competitors.

Other other car that seems to pop up quite often was the 1.4 Alfa Giulietta. I think these look great and certainly has more performance than the 116. We do have an Alfa dealer quite near but god knows how good they are.

I think a MINI Countryman Cooper S should be on our list but the OH isn't a fan and thinks it's be too small [boot etc].

Anyone think of anything else? Anything smaller than a Golf sized car will be to small, so Polo's/Fiesta's are off the list. My outside 4 door bet was the previous gen Lexus IS250.

Cheers.

davek_964

10,571 posts

196 months

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Friday 2nd February 2018

BUG4LIFE said:

Other other car that seems to pop up quite often was the 1.4 Alfa Giulietta. I think these look great and certainly has more performance than the 116. We do have an Alfa dealer quite near but god knows how good they are.

Can't comment on that model of car, but if you like the look of them then do some research and don't be too scared off by the Alfa "reputation".

I bought my first Alfa almost a year ago - 2007 Spider. Apart from some repeated roof issues - which did have me considering an accident with a can of petrol and a lighter (but seem to be resolved now) - it's been great. For a 10 year old car, everything works perfectly, it seems pretty solid and it has style which many cars lack.

The odd thing has broken in the time I've owned it (e.g. window regulator) but that kind of thing happens in any car (in fact, I've had it happen on two other cars over the last 5 years). I've been very impressed with it, and definitely wouldn't rule out other Alfa's in future.

nunpuncher

3,647 posts

146 months

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Friday 2nd February 2018

I got rid of my 1 series because it was too cramped. The boot isn't actually the issue as its fairly deep. The problem is the actual interior space is rubbish. I'm 6ft and probably not as powerfully built as most of the company directors on here but the drivers seating area is very narrow and I often found I had to have the seat forward for my son (who was only 3 then) to sit behind me without his little stumpy legs hitting my seat. It's so cramped he could even kick the centre console armrest between the front seats. Funnily enough, when the 1 series went in for its first service they gave me a countryman as a courtesy car. it was massive inside by comparison.

I've since had an S3, Golf R and Cupra and all have far more space inside than the 1 series (the 4wd cars did have smaller boots). I know you're not looking for a fast one but it might be worth looking at some of the lower powered leons. The plus point is that they generally have pretty decent spec. Also worth looking at a Volvo V40 and Lexus CT if you fancy something a bit different from a Ford Focus.

BUG4LIFE

Original Poster

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Friday 2nd February 2018

nunpuncher said:

I got rid of my 1 series because it was too cramped. The boot isn't actually the issue as its fairly deep. The problem is the actual interior space is rubbish. I'm 6ft and probably not as powerfully built as most of the company directors on here but the drivers seating area is very narrow and I often found I had to have the seat forward for my son (who was only 3 then) to sit behind me without his little stumpy legs hitting my seat. It's so cramped he could even kick the centre console armrest between the front seats. Funnily enough, when the 1 series went in for its first service they gave me a countryman as a courtesy car. it was massive inside by comparison.

I've since had an S3, Golf R and Cupra and all have far more space inside than the 1 series (the 4wd cars did have smaller boots). I know you're not looking for a fast one but it might be worth looking at some of the lower powered leons. The plus point is that they generally have pretty decent spec. Also worth looking at a Volvo V40 and Lexus CT if you fancy something a bit different from a Ford Focus.

I'm 6'6" so most normal size cars have space issues, for people sat behind me!

I read on the Autocar website that the 1er only has marginally less rear leg room than the Alfa [but maybe the Alfa is smaller than competitors too]?

Leon's weren't really showing up on my search - think I'll look again as I like the Leon. My OH does like the Volvo so as long as it's got an engine that makes it faster then her old Cooper, than we'd put one on the maybe list. Not sure the Lexus is at the 13k price point just yet but I believe they are slooooow!

I need to get her to like the Countryman smile

urquattroGus

2,010 posts

211 months

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Friday 2nd February 2018

6 months ago we were looking for something similar.

Found the Alfa a bit crap to drive and unrefined, off the pace. And that's from someone who has two Alfa's.

A high spec Focus is a good car, but we ended up with a nice 1 year old Volvo V40.

1 year old, 10,000 miles, all the toys and a high spec for £15200 (Full leather, sat nav, 190bhp euro 6 diesel)

The V40 is a nice car to live with and offers better value than the germans whilst still feeling somewhat premium.

I preferred it as an all round proposition to the 1 series and Golf VFM and spec wise...

Edited by urquattroGus on Friday 2nd February 17:09

ZX10R NIN

29,890 posts

146 months

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Friday 2nd February 2018