A3 S Tronic, GTC or Golf.....

[Bradyx10]

New to the forum folks! My beloved Pug GTi has given up.

I've a £5000ish budget and have a shortlist of:

Audi A3 2.0 Tdi 170 Sport 3dr S Tronic (2007) with 52K

GTC 2012 2.0 CDTi 16v SRi with 38K (at £5500 not sure if this is to good to be true)

Volkswagen Golf 2.0 SE TDI 5d 109 BHP (2009) £5300

Any advice or knowledge that may help me choose?

Cheers

[va1o]

If you stretch the budget a tiny bit and don't mind something that's done a few miles, you could get yourself a Mk7 Golf 2.0 TDI 150PS or a Leon of similar age with the same engine. The MQB chassis really moved the game forward and they feel significantly more modern than the older Golf/ A3. Wouldn't even look at the Astra myself!

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


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

[Bradyx10]

Appreciate the links! I plan to put a good 80-100k miles on the new vehicle in the next 5 years. Could be a stretch on that Seat and Golf? Or would regular home servicing and under coats keep them ticking?

[LuS1fer]

Why diesel? Prices are falling off them now.

Buy a Type R and enjoy driving. Moder5n hot hatches will do way better mpg tha they did in days of yore.

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

[Bradyx10]

Very tempted by that Civic! Not sure I'd get another 100,000 miles out of it though? My old man has a remapped Type S and there's just not enough cockpit space for my 6ft 4" legs, I guess it would be a similar story in the Type R?

[ZX10R NIN]

For me it would be the Astra all them will handle in a similar manner so I'd be going for that, just not in yellow.

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

Or I'd take a look at the Alfa Giulietta in 140/170bhp Veloce trim:

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

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

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

[LuS1fer]

Bradyx10 said:

Very tempted by that Civic! Not sure I'd get another 100,000 miles out of it though? My old man has a remapped Type S and there's just not enough cockpit space for my 6ft 4" legs, I guess it would be a similar story in the Type R?

Fifth Gear reckon nothing goes wrong and there are plenty for sale around 150k on the clock.

[aka_kerrly]

LuS1fer said:

Fifth Gear reckon nothing goes wrong and there are plenty for sale around 150k on the clock.

on the K20 owners club site there are examples of Ep3 Civics/CRVs that are pushing clear of 200k miles an.

i agree with your logic, better to have a great example of a petrol car that only has a relatively small amount of depreciation left than any generic diesel hatch which could see its value and any fuel savings wiped out in an instant by new tax rules or any one of DpF/Egr/injector /fuel pump failures.

[LuS1fer]

I couldn't believe Fifth Gear reviewing the 2005 Golf GTI saying VW recommend changing the fuel pump every 20k miles. WTF? Buy a Honda.

[toastyhamster]

Some relevance, shoved my GTD thru oil change service and MOT yesterday at 60k. Cambelt due, meh, Asked garage about diesel golf issues (previously burnt on Audi failures), only thing they could think of was leccy issues in the tailgates in the mk7s, generally rest of it fairly solid. 100k should be ok, have to say following my 3.0 A4 Avant experience it's been nice just paying for consumables. Yeh it's the same group, I know!

[aka_kerrly]

LuS1fer said:

I couldn't believe Fifth Gear reviewing the 2005 Golf GTI saying VW recommend changing the fuel pump every 20k miles. WTF? Buy a Honda.

Must be FUEL FILTER every 20k which is perfectly acceptable to me and would be changed approximately every 2 years - hardly a big deal.

To be fair though, 6 months ago I was looking at mk5 Golf GTIs in the £3-5k budget range where I found there is a massive gap between the best and worst but sadly the pricing doesn't always reflect this. In the end after looking at a few I bought a Civic Type R for half of my original Golf budget and it's the best car buying decision I've made in a while!!!!

[FlatToTheMat]

ZX10R NIN said:

For me it would be the Astra all them will handle in a similar manner so I'd be going for that, just not in yellow.

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

Or I'd take a look at the Alfa Giulietta in 140/170bhp Veloce trim:

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

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

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

Blimey, for 4 year old cars with little mileage they are very cheap! That Astra looks great and the reviews have been very kind to them. I dont historically like Vauxhalls one bit but for the money id put up with i reckon

[LuS1fer]

aka_kerrly said:

Must be FUEL FILTER every 20k which is perfectly acceptable to me and would be changed approximately every 2 years - hardly a big deal.

To be fair though, 6 months ago I was looking at mk5 Golf GTIs in the £3-5k budget range where I found there is a massive gap between the best and worst but sadly the pricing doesn't always reflect this. In the end after looking at a few I bought a Civic Type R for half of my original Golf budget and it's the best car buying decision I've made in a while!!!!

No, a fuel filter is a service item in all cars. I looked it up and it's the fuel pump cam follower.

https://www.micksgarage.com/blog/golf-gti-buying-g...

[Bradyx10]

Some interesting advice from all! Much appreciated!

Can I ask why the Civic R has been such a good buy? Any prone faults?

[Willy Nilly]

Bradyx10 said:

Some interesting advice from all! Much appreciated!

Can I ask why the Civic R has been such a good buy? Any prone faults?

I think the ride on the Civic may be an issue.

Going from a VW to a Honda was a revelation for me.

[ZX10R NIN]

If you're talking Hot Hatches then I'd be going for a Focus in ST-3 spec as they're a great car & for your budget OP I'd say they're hard to beat:

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

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

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

The bargain hot hatch is the Leon Cupra:

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

Some decent compromise cars (between age & power) are these:

1.4T Giulietta Veloce

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

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

1.6T Astra SRI

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

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

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

Leon FR

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

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

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