Ultimatum

[stedaley]

Oh has decreed we need a new car to bring Down running costs. Been looking for a while and I've come back to ask for some fresh ideas.

Money to play with £5000-£7500

Requiments.

• 35mpg+ current is 25mpg mixed driving.
• generally comfy, and easy to drive with some options and good infortainment.
• seat 4
• can be any size from hatch to suv.
• Generally reliable, I can maintain most things at home.
• auto or manual but preferably manual as to avoid auto issues with higher mileage.
• petrol as I do maybe 200 miles a week.
• any engine size but would like 135hp<

Cars we have considered

Suzuki swift sport - considered a granny car however I like it. Would love to tinker.
Mondeo titan x - built well, but the looks are dreadful and interior looks dated.
Is250 - lovely, but poor running costs.
130i - was set on this for a while, but Insurance killed this off.
Audi q3 - both love the look and feel but higher mileage and diesel
Skoda octavia vrs - probably don't do enough miles for the diesel and the tfsi I've read about can have awful chain issues.
Guiletta veloce 170 - top of the pile today, nicely made, but unsure of how the 1.4tb would cope with higher miles.
St3 focus - poor mpg and insurance costs where I'm living.

Really starting to struggle for alternatives as I need this sorted as the OH loves pushing for me to decide as we both use it for work.

Thanks guys.

[Theguy5]

Honda Civic

Audi A3

[mike9009]

Not the answer but £5k to £7.5k buys an awful lot of petrol.

Mini Cooper S (or Clubman S)
Seat something?


Mike

[stedaley]

Theguy5 said:

Honda Civic

Audi A3

Had considered the type r. I am needing to Test drive one

[stedaley]

mike9009 said:

Not the answer but £5k to £7.5k buys an awful lot of petrol.

Mini Cooper S (or Clubman S)
Seat something?


Mike

Heard a few horror stories from the cooper s engines?

Seat wise, does it not have the same issues as the tfsi golf/Skoda? I'll do abit more research

[RSTurboPaul]

What have you got now?

Could it be converted to LPG for, what, a grand?


Spending £7.5k to save ~£14 a week (200 miles @ 35mpg @ £6/gallon = 5.7gallons for £34, whereas 25mpg = 8 gallons for £48) would mean 'saving' only £713 a year, not including any depreciation, meaning it would take 10+ years to pay back...

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the Alfa ticks the boxes a good amount of poke with a decent bit of space it's very hard to beat at your price point.

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...

[Novexx]

Can really advise on choice, but unless youre running something that's falling to bit's or has a huge engine the Focus ST isn't likley to be more economical.

Apart from the light steering, a few bit's of nasty interior trim & a taste for wheel bearings (complete hub's), the ST is a pretty good car & the 5 pot is an excellent motor, but you pay for that - it simply drinks the fuel. Unlike many modern turbo motors which can be economical, it's pretty hard / impossible in the ST (the noise is addictive which doesn't help either...)

[ZX10R NIN]

The average was around 27mpg for mins & seems to be the average for a 2.5t ST.

[mike9009]

stedaley said:

mike9009 said:

Not the answer but £5k to £7.5k buys an awful lot of petrol.

Mini Cooper S (or Clubman S)
Seat something?


Mike

Heard a few horror stories from the cooper s engines?

Seat wise, does it not have the same issues as the tfsi golf/Skoda? I'll do abit more research

The early ones (from 2007 - 2010ish) do have timing chain issues. Post 2010 I believe they are much better.

I had an early 2007 model for about 6 years. It liked a drink of oil (which I kept a close eye on) but had no other issues.


Mike

[Mr Tidy]

stedaley said:

Oh has decreed we need a new car to bring Down running costs. Been looking for a while and I've come back to ask for some fresh ideas.

Money to play with £5000-£7500

Requiments.

• 35mpg+ current is 25mpg mixed driving.
• generally comfy, and easy to drive with some options and good infortainment.
• seat 4
• can be any size from hatch to suv.
• Generally reliable, I can maintain most things at home.
• auto or manual but preferably manual as to avoid auto issues with higher mileage.
• petrol as I do maybe 200 miles a week.
• any engine size but would like 135hp<

Cars we have considered

Suzuki swift sport - considered a granny car however I like it. Would love to tinker.
Mondeo titan x - built well, but the looks are dreadful and interior looks dated.
Is250 - lovely, but poor running costs.
130i - was set on this for a while, but Insurance killed this off.
Audi q3 - both love the look and feel but higher mileage and diesel
Skoda octavia vrs - probably don't do enough miles for the diesel and the tfsi I've read about can have awful chain issues.
Guiletta veloce 170 - top of the pile today, nicely made, but unsure of how the 1.4tb would cope with higher miles.
St3 focus - poor mpg and insurance costs where I'm living.

Really starting to struggle for alternatives as I need this sorted as the OH loves pushing for me to decide as we both use it for work.

Thanks guys.

Just a thought, but might an early E9* 3 Series 330i work better on the insurance than a 130i?

OK, it's a bit bigger but I bought one a few months ago as 130is were all looking expensive and I love it! Same 3 litre N52 engine as a 130i, or my "weekend" Z4 Coupe!

[Ron99]

mike9009 said:

Not the answer but £5k to £7.5k buys an awful lot of petrol.

Agreed.
The OP wants to 'upgrade' from 25mpg to 35mpg (type of driving unspecified).
He'd need to cover approximately 100k in the 'new' vehicle at 35mpg to recoup the fuel cost of the current vehicle at 25mpg.

[stedaley]

Ron99 said:

Agreed.
The OP wants to 'upgrade' from 25mpg to 35mpg (type of driving unspecified).
He'd need to cover approximately 100k in the 'new' vehicle at 35mpg to recoup the fuel cost of the current vehicle at 25mpg.

It's mainly to have something bigger as well. Cheaper to run, larger, more reliable. And having another car would help.

I do 200 miles a week, mixed motorway/ town driving and its just 35mpg and above tbh!

[ZX10R NIN]

stedaley said:

It's mainly to have something bigger as well. Cheaper to run, larger, more reliable. And having another car would help.

I do 200 miles a week, mixed motorway/ town driving and its just 35mpg and above tbh!

At which point the Alfa or Leon seem to tick the boxes.

[stedaley]

ZX10R NIN said:

At which point the Alfa or Leon seem to tick the boxes.

it does, just was hoping for wild choices that i've never thought of!

[ZX10R NIN]

stedaley said:

it does, just was hoping for wild choices that i've never thought of!

If you can live with two doors then there's the 180 Megane GT Line

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

Kia Pro Ceed GT which will still have some warranty left & out of the three doors it would be this followed by the Megane.

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

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

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

Astra GTC 180 SRI

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

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

SRI 200

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

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

If it has to be four doors the the 1.6T 160 308 in Allure trim is a very good shout:

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

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Monday 3rd June 14:48

[stedaley]

ZX10R NIN said:

If you can live with two doors then there's the 180 Megane GT Line

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

Kia Pro Ceed GT which will still have some warranty left.

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

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

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

Astra GTC 180 SRI

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

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

SRI 200

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

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

Luckily ive actually test driven these 3 (Abit in slightly different spec)

The Proceed looks lovely, but the interiors are awful and plasticy. which is such a shame as it a decent car! the seats are very nice!

with the astra, and megane the engines are decent but really struggle to like the looks and the interior for a modern car. My TT seems leaps and bounds ahead!

[ZX10R NIN]

stedaley said:

Luckily ive actually test driven these 3 (Abit in slightly different spec)

The Proceed looks lovely, but the interiors are awful and plasticy. which is such a shame as it a decent car! the seats are very nice!

with the astra, and megane the engines are decent but really struggle to like the looks and the interior for a modern car. My TT seems leaps and bounds ahead!

The 308?

I agree about the Kia's centre console but I think you'd get over it especially when the rest of the car is very good, also as a side note I'd say it's not much if any worse than the Leon's centre console in terms of being a bit plasticy.

[stedaley]

ZX10R NIN said:

The 308?

I agree about the Kia's centre console but I think you'd get over it especially when the rest of the car is very good.

I was just looking to see if there's anything to do about it but unfortunately I cant see anything!

My brother has a 308! It was actually test driving that, which made me miss my ST3!

I'm thinking changing the spec of what car, to 4/5k but less economical! Lets me sell it to the OH abit more that its cheaper!

Engines that ive looked at and have been intrigued by
N52 3.0 (No issues really and very good performace wise)
M16A 1.6 (Smaller but in smaller cars so pick up well)
EP3/FN2 VTEC

Higher mileage cars would be an option too, have 121k on the current car! it just happens to to be 1.8T Vag so not the best lump for reliability

Edited by stedaley on Monday 3rd June 15:11

[Obee72]

re. the N52 engine, I've had a 130i for a year and just got rid for something bigger. The fuel consumption isn't great but you don't buy those engine'd cars for that. Its the performance and the sound. I've had 36/37 on a run but around town its under 25mpg and if you're having fun, low teens !!!