Allrounder, mostly for weekends
Discussion
Hi all,
Post got a bit long so TLDR at the beginning:
- post grad student looks for car for 2 years
- mostly to explore the UK on weekends
- total cost of ownership is more important than pure price
- should be comfortable, practical, safe for the fiancé to learn
Background:
I am a postgraduate student with 2 years to go in the south east of the UK. I currently don't have a car, but I'd really like to explore the UK a bit more and I miss the freedom of individual transport.
Basically I'm looking for a decent car that would sit in the parking lot in front of my apartment most of the time (really prefer my bike around town) and would probably be used for longer trips most weekends. I'd like 4 seats so I can take friends/colleagues (also postgrads mostly, so most don't own cars). It should be a comfy place to be in during those trips. I'd occasionally use it to lug things around (bike, ikea run, not necessarily groceries but who knows). I figure maybe 6000 miles a year?
Budget for the first year should be around £9000 max
- including tax
- insurance (highly individual, but I'd reserve £1200 after looking around a bit - I'm 30 and for me it would be much cheaper, but my fiancé is a new driver and I want her to use it too; I have 0 NCD because my car back home was in my dads name - which is fine/not fronting in my country)
- likely maintenance
Automatic would be nice if it is a good one (well serviced DSG, don't have much experience with others).
I've been looking and comparing and reading the forum for weeks now and thinking about buying a Golf MK7 1.6 TDI DSG Estate, ca. 2014 ~ £5000. Around £2000 cheaper than the 1.4 tsi and for the longer trips diesel should be fine. I really like the interior. It's got nice things like radar ACC and is practical enough. Safe as well. I figure when I sell it in 2 years it would have some sort of resale value, given that I wouldn't put that many miles on it, maybe £3000?
I've also looked at Leon, Octavia, Focus, Megane (actually I've driven many Renaults before and don't really want one). I don't have experience with the Japanese brands, except Mazda that my parents always had, but those are a bit more pricey somehow.
A rough calculation for 2 years could look like this (excluding fuel). I'm not sure what happens in 2 years (i.e. if I would stay in the UK or move abroad again, but selling the car on would be realistic even if I switched to a job and stayed, as I'd have more income).
Car ~ 5000
Tax ~ 2 x £20
Insurance year 1 ~ 1200
Insurance year 2 (NCD1) ~ 840
Maintenance ~ 2 x 300?
Rest value after 2 years ~ £3500
Total ~ 4180, roughly 174 per month (just car without insurance 90 per month)
What are some of your thoughts? Does the Diesel make sense or would e.g. the 1.4 tsi have a similar cost due to higher rest value? Buying a cheaper car doesn't seem that big an advantage to me, because the biggest cost is insurance in my situation. An older cheaper car would maybe have higher tax, probably higher insurance (because of the golf's relatively low insurance bracket), but of course wouldn't depreciate that much.
Thanks
Post got a bit long so TLDR at the beginning:
- post grad student looks for car for 2 years
- mostly to explore the UK on weekends
- total cost of ownership is more important than pure price
- should be comfortable, practical, safe for the fiancé to learn
Background:
I am a postgraduate student with 2 years to go in the south east of the UK. I currently don't have a car, but I'd really like to explore the UK a bit more and I miss the freedom of individual transport.
Basically I'm looking for a decent car that would sit in the parking lot in front of my apartment most of the time (really prefer my bike around town) and would probably be used for longer trips most weekends. I'd like 4 seats so I can take friends/colleagues (also postgrads mostly, so most don't own cars). It should be a comfy place to be in during those trips. I'd occasionally use it to lug things around (bike, ikea run, not necessarily groceries but who knows). I figure maybe 6000 miles a year?
Budget for the first year should be around £9000 max
- including tax
- insurance (highly individual, but I'd reserve £1200 after looking around a bit - I'm 30 and for me it would be much cheaper, but my fiancé is a new driver and I want her to use it too; I have 0 NCD because my car back home was in my dads name - which is fine/not fronting in my country)
- likely maintenance
Automatic would be nice if it is a good one (well serviced DSG, don't have much experience with others).
I've been looking and comparing and reading the forum for weeks now and thinking about buying a Golf MK7 1.6 TDI DSG Estate, ca. 2014 ~ £5000. Around £2000 cheaper than the 1.4 tsi and for the longer trips diesel should be fine. I really like the interior. It's got nice things like radar ACC and is practical enough. Safe as well. I figure when I sell it in 2 years it would have some sort of resale value, given that I wouldn't put that many miles on it, maybe £3000?
I've also looked at Leon, Octavia, Focus, Megane (actually I've driven many Renaults before and don't really want one). I don't have experience with the Japanese brands, except Mazda that my parents always had, but those are a bit more pricey somehow.
A rough calculation for 2 years could look like this (excluding fuel). I'm not sure what happens in 2 years (i.e. if I would stay in the UK or move abroad again, but selling the car on would be realistic even if I switched to a job and stayed, as I'd have more income).
Car ~ 5000
Tax ~ 2 x £20
Insurance year 1 ~ 1200
Insurance year 2 (NCD1) ~ 840
Maintenance ~ 2 x 300?
Rest value after 2 years ~ £3500
Total ~ 4180, roughly 174 per month (just car without insurance 90 per month)
What are some of your thoughts? Does the Diesel make sense or would e.g. the 1.4 tsi have a similar cost due to higher rest value? Buying a cheaper car doesn't seem that big an advantage to me, because the biggest cost is insurance in my situation. An older cheaper car would maybe have higher tax, probably higher insurance (because of the golf's relatively low insurance bracket), but of course wouldn't depreciate that much.
Thanks
Edited by thepunter on Friday 9th August 10:42
I'd say don't buy a diesel with that annual mileage also with so few miles I wouldn't worry about an automatic, if you don't mind a manual the the Alfa Giulietta in Veloce trim is the answer:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
If it has to be auto the Lexus IS250 is a very good shout:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
If it has to be auto the Lexus IS250 is a very good shout:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Wow, if I gave that much thought to the financial side about buying a car I probably wouldn't have bought anything!
Do you want to be a quantity surveyor?
As it was and is I generally follow my heart and make the equation work on a wing and a prayer.
Cue, deep joy of impractical fast cars or motorbikes, this is PistonHeads isn't it?
Personally I would go for the fastest, best handling Q car that I can find within a sensible budget.
Do you want to be a quantity surveyor?
As it was and is I generally follow my heart and make the equation work on a wing and a prayer.
Cue, deep joy of impractical fast cars or motorbikes, this is PistonHeads isn't it?
Personally I would go for the fastest, best handling Q car that I can find within a sensible budget.
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