Suggestions/advice needed

[Meerkat88]

I've been reading this forum for quite a while and haven't yet seen anything that is similar to what I am after. I currently drive a BMW 320D (2006), owned for about 6 years, done around 142k miles. It's looking to throw some expensive bills in the near future which would be more than the economical value of the car, so I'm now on the hunt for something newer. Requirements are:

Less than 3 years old (if possible)
Petrol
No leather (I find it very uncomfortable on long journeys)
Can seat 5
Nothing French
Low-ish mileage (I do 16k a year)
Something with a bit of power
MPG wise I'm hoping for around 40
Low-ish insurance
Budget - up to 20k

So far, I've been looking at:

Skoda Octavia VRS
BMW 125i
VW Golf GTI

I'm probably going to go down the route of a bank loan to top up my savings (low APR) to buy outright, ends up cheaper in the long run.

I've been looking around pretty much every week and cannot see anything that fits the bill, hopefully you can throw some curveballs my way to make me think differently?

[Lukas239]

With the best will in the world, youve named almost every 3 year old petrol car there is in that requirement.

You could get anything with the only difficulty being non-leather.

I'd be thinking lexus IS of some sort with the 2.5 hybrid engine.

[Meerkat88]

True, when you look at it from that point I have pretty much named most cars on the market. The hard part is finding one that has a decent engine with no major issues (like the 1.5 TSI from VW that kangaroo's). I do keep on coming back to the VRS as it is excellent value for money, engine + gearbox from a Golf GTI and loads more space. I did look at BMW 3 series in m-sport trim, but they all come in leather (which is quite disappointing as the 1 series m-sport has alcantara trim which is actually quite nice). I had a look at Lexus but I think it might be a bit old for me (i'm only 31).

So feel free to make some more suggestions, I am open to ideas.

[Mr Tidy]

Well you've got 2 VAG cars on your list - maybe add a Seat Leon Cupra too!

[ZX10R NIN]

Infiniti Q50 Executive

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

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