I need a new car! Help?

[PhilUK]

Hi. At about 11am two sts got into my 2014 ST and nicked it. I looked out of my window at the noise of a high revving car going by and it was mine. I know I'm not getting it back, I've accepted it. Thieves got my CBR a few years ago which was recovered, then some other sts tried to get my Street Triple three times, breaking my garage door three times and 2 steering locks in the process and now they've finally got my spotless ST so now I'm done with nicer, more expensive sporty cars.

If I could get your help on a new car I'd be very grateful. A sleeper would be nice, petrol or diesel, estate or 4x4 style is preferred due to family requirements. Leather seats would be a bonus.

£5000+/- would be my budget.

Thanks.

[white_goodman]

Sorry to hear that. I ran one of these as my daily for nearly 3 years and parked it on the street. Never any issues with people trying to steal it. Fast, comfortable, fairly practical, reliable, a blast to drive, if a little heavy on gas. Best car that I've owned. Mine happened to be Mica Blue which I ended up really loving but initially, I was looking for something a bit stealthier looking like this. I'd go with a "Blobeye" beacuse I think they look a lot better than the earlier "Bugeye" but still the more reliable 2 litre engine compared to the 2.5 in later models.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[PhilUK]

white_goodman said:

Sorry to hear that. I ran one of these as my daily for nearly 3 years and parked it on the street. Never any issues with people trying to steal it. Fast, comfortable, fairly practical, reliable, a blast to drive, if a little heavy on gas. Best car that I've owned. Mine happened to be Mica Blue which I ended up really loving but initially, I was looking for something a bit stealthier looking like this. I'd go with a "Blobeye" beacuse I think they look a lot better than the earlier "Bugeye" but still the more reliable 2 litre engine compared to the 2.5 in later models.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thanks. I'll keep my eye on it. Might be a bit thirsty for my liking. I was putting £60 in my ST every week, doing about 160 miles mostly town driving. It was crap on petrol. Think I want to keep some of my cash now!

[white_goodman]

PhilUK said:

Thanks. I'll keep my eye on it. Might be a bit thirsty for my liking. I was putting £60 in my ST every week, doing about 160 miles mostly town driving. It was crap on petrol. Think I want to keep some of my cash now!

Yes, not the best around town. Probably low 20s and maybe 30mpg on a motorway run. I reckon I could get 250 miles on a tank but normally bottled it and filled up around about the 200 mile mark. In that case, I would suggest Skoda Octavia vRS? Cheap, massive boot for family duties, still a pretty nice car and better on fuel. The internet suggests that they are more reliable than the VW/SEAT equivalent and you wouldn't be completely giving up but being a Skoda, not that likely to get stolen.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

mk1 if you want to go even cheaper.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[PhilUK]

white_goodman said:

Yes, not the best around town. Probably low 20s and maybe 30mpg on a motorway run. I reckon I could get 250 miles on a tank but normally bottled it and filled up around about the 200 mile mark. In that case, I would suggest Skoda Octavia vRS? Cheap, massive boot for family duties, still a pretty nice car and better on fuel. The internet suggests that they are more reliable than the VW/SEAT equivalent and you wouldn't be completely giving up but being a Skoda, not that likely to get stolen.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

mk1 if you want to go even cheaper.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Feel like giving up mate. My insurance looks like it's going up like £300 too as a result. 1.4 Golf is near the £1K mark. What?

[white_goodman]

PhilUK said:

Feel like giving up mate. My insurance looks like it's going up like £300 too as a result. 1.4 Golf is near the £1K mark. What?

That's too bad, although try avoiding the popular "obvious" cars. A 1.4 Golf may not get stolen or get you into trouble but it will be fairly desirable to a young driver, so statistically probably gets crashed more than something like an Octavia vRS (which might actually be cheaper for you to insure)! My E30 325i and Corrado VR6 were a lot cheaper to insure than my Astra 1.4 and 205 GTi for example. How about a Rover, they can't be to expensive to insure (and owning a Rover 75, especially a Tourer would still be a guilty pleasure of mine)?

If it's any consolation after getting rid of my WRX five years ago, buying a house, having another child and owning a succession of boring, white goods cars, I have recaptured my love of driving in my R56 MINI Cooper! 122bhp is not much to write home about these days but it's still light, fairly torquey and has fantastic handling whilst having been very economical, cheap to run and reliable in the 18 months or so that I have owned it. Some days I would love to have the 200bhp+ shove of the WRX back and the amazing AWD system but the MINI reminds me of my early days of driving my Fiat Cinquecento Sporting and 1.6 Peugeot 205 GTi and it's a much more refined and better built car. Not a very practical family car for you but I'm just trying to make the point that sometimes you can find enjoyment in the most unlikely cars. After selling the WRX, I ran a really scabby W202 Mercedes-Benz C250TD Estate for a few months as a stopgap that I bought for 700 pounds and got a surprising amount of enjoyment out of that. Not as exciting or nearly as fast as the WRX but just about enough power, a fantastic, supple ride and balance RWD handling. It was a good deal more comfortable, spacious and practical than the WRX too. Selling my WRX was the hardest thing that I've had to do in terms of getting rid of a car but in the long-term things haven't worked out too bad, although I hope to own something with that level of performance or greater again one day.

Edited by white_goodman on Friday 4th May 22:50