Economical daily - under £14500

[anonymous-user]

Looking at buying a more economical shopping trolley daily to share with kids and wife, to cut down on fuel costs, 15mpg is a stshow tbh.

Got to have 4 seats or more
Auto preferable or at least a 6spd manual which won’t involve constantly changing gears, please no CVT’s.
Don’t really care about the age as long as it isn’t older than 2014 but I would prefer 66 plate or newer.
Decent equipment as my kids will daily it
No diesels as not long miles 99% of the time but it will be used regularly so nothing too crap like a Hyundai i10 or a Celerio
Cheapish insurance for the youngsters so under group 25 (£2k or less)
Decent enough steer but doesn’t have to be driving nirvana just a nice place to sit
Part Leather or suede at least

I’m thinking BMW 1 series M sport, 2 series, Audi A3, a3 etron, Honda civic, new Seat Ibiza FR SPORT, golf gte, new polo, mini, fiesta st line-x, a class, a1


The a class, a1 seem poor value.
I’m not sure on the 1 series’ looks (f20) but the interior is nice.
The 2 series is a looker but is expensive.
The Ibiza seems excellent value but are rare in DSG form.
Civic I am concerned will depreciate like a stone and the infotainment looks a bit crap
Polo looks to be as dull as dull can be.
Fiesta automatic is crap, and I have a bad leg and my wife can’t drive manual anyway, but that’s not a dealbreaker as she has a hybrid (can’t share that though)
Mini, and a1 seem too small.

So far I am keen on the Golf and the a3, going to get the kids to get some quotes. Not an impulse purchase though, going to wait for the markets and general life to calm down a bit, maybe at the end of the year.

Any other ideas?

Cheers

[LHRFlightman]

I've got the 1.0 Civic SR on a 17 plate.

Spacious, some toys, comfy and quiet. 55mpg over 20,000 miles. Quick enough to keep up with everyday traffic. I've no complaints.

[anonymous-user]

LHRFlightman said:

I've got the 1.0 Civic SR on a 17 plate.

Spacious, some toys, comfy and quiet. 55mpg over 20,000 miles. Quick enough to keep up with everyday traffic. I've no complaints.

Love the looks, 55mpg is appealing, is this the 1.0 vtec turbo?

Thanks

[Slow progress]

I’d also look at an Octavia, Leon and a focus ST line.

Agree the Civic is a great car, depreciation is the issue but you’ll save some on fuel and insurance.

Edited by Slow progress on Saturday 27th June 20:00

[ZX10R NIN]

If you want an A Class for sensible money then look at the Q30 this & the A Class from this era are the same car & share the same interior/drivetrain but due to the lack of badge recognition you can get a 2016 for your budget.

Auto

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Manual

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Megane Signature Nav Auto I think your kids will be happy tooling around in one of these

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Clio Dynamique S Nav Auto

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Manual

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[LHRFlightman]

sleepera6 said:

LHRFlightman said:

I've got the 1.0 Civic SR on a 17 plate.

Spacious, some toys, comfy and quiet. 55mpg over 20,000 miles. Quick enough to keep up with everyday traffic. I've no complaints.

Love the looks, 55mpg is appealing, is this the 1.0 vtec turbo?

Thanks

Yep. Sonic Grey is the colour to go for.

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

If you want an A Class for sensible money then look at the Q30 this & the A Class from this era are the same car & share the same interior/drivetrain but due to the lack of badge recognition you can get a 2016 for your budget.

Knew the Q30 would be mentioned, I am neither a big fan of the A Class or the Q30, my wife and son like them, you can get a variety of them in budget, but not an AMG Line; no problem with me as they look a bit tryhard (the old model).

I like the Megane but surely at 14.5 a brand new Clio could be bought? I read somewhere that the new Clio and Ibiza were now the class picks. Again to be honest, I am not a brand snob really, I like what I like but I am trying to think economically too; I don’t see the Clio and Megane being too good depreciation wise, I would rather lease those but it’s kind of pointless as the kids will be off to uni soon by the time the lease is mid way..... and at lease prices I’m sure better deals could be had... it doesn’t work for me anyway due to the mileage and car park dings. I’ll have a look at Clios now on autotrader anyway, see if I can take one on a test drive along with the Civic.

[anonymous-user]

I like the look of those new Clios and the Civic.
Has anyone got any experience with the new model Clio?

[sawman]

I test drove a new clio yesterday, had 100 hp 1l engine, went pretty well, surprisingly quality feel in cabin. Bit snug in the back. But not bad overall. Also had a go in a citroen c3 which had an unfeasibly long gear shift throw

[Griff74]

I'd be looking at Leon FR's at that price, pref with the 1.8tsi or the 2.0tsi if a facelift one, either the 5 door hatchback or Sport tourer.

[TheAlastair34]

why not a full ev?

maybe like a i3 might have to strech the budget slightly but will be far cheaper to run perfect city shopping car

[anonymous-user]

TheAlastair34 said:

why not a full ev?

maybe like a i3 might have to strech the budget slightly but will be far cheaper to run perfect city shopping car

Love the look of them but there is little charging infrastructure where I am and the home is rented so I don’t want to fit a wallbox (unless they are removable?)

[The Cardinal]

Having found it impossible (twice!) to buy a brand new car during the pandemic, I recently went to the used market and picked up a 2014 A3 to run alongside our van:



It's a 1.4 TFSI model with 140 horses, 185 torques and "cylinder on demand" technology enabling 55mpg on a gentle run... thereby meeting the economical criteria. It cost less than the your budget but was still at the upper end of the market - offset by the fact it's an immaculate 1-owner, full Audi history car sold under the approved used banner, meaning it comes with 2-year warranty.

I'm quite chuffed with it to be honest as it's a really smart car for not a huge amount of money. I'm sure you'd find a similar car without too much effort.

[T6 vanman]

LHRFlightman said:

sleepera6 said:

LHRFlightman said:

I've got the 1.0 Civic SR on a 17 plate.

Spacious, some toys, comfy and quiet. 55mpg over 20,000 miles. Quick enough to keep up with everyday traffic. I've no complaints.

Love the looks, 55mpg is appealing, is this the 1.0 vtec turbo?

Thanks

Yep. Sonic Grey is the colour to go for.

10th Gen CIVIC Auto is a CVT (Granted a bloody good CVT is as wow you'd never know would you CVT)

[Terzo123]

Griff74 said:

I'd be looking at Leon FR's at that price, pref with the 1.8tsi or the 2.0tsi if a facelift one, either the 5 door hatchback or Sport tourer.

The Leon's a great wee car. We bought a 1.4 act FR after leasing an A3 with the same engine for 3 years.

Yesterday I averaged over 50 mpg on a 40 mile motorway run. Generally though we get about 38 mpg with mainly town stop, start driving.
20 quid a year to tax.150 bhp, loads of kit as standard compared to the Audi and Golf, both of which are essentially the same car as the Leon.

There should be loads available within your budget.

[codenamecueball]

If you're paying cash and Golf sized-

18 plate A3 - here

19 plate ceed (£500 over budget, but lesser trims are available) - here

68 plate Ovlov (not sure about insurance on this one i'm afraid) - here

69 plate delivery mileage Astra (wildcard) - here

19 plate Leon with all the toys and DSG, plenty lower spec though - here

(of course I see the thing about at the end of the year just after I do this)

[anonymous-user]

I have roughly narrowed it down to these. It will still be a few months before I buy











The head choice in two parts:

Economics: BMW and Audi
Sensibility: Ibiza, Leon, or Civic. (The Ibiza represents the most kit for the least money, and the newest car, and the Civic won’t ever put a foot wrong)

Heart: BMW (but that’s just perceived, need to go and sit in it first to see if it is actually nice inside or just el cheapo)

The Leon needs to depreciate first though, it’s too new in the spec I want (FR Black edition as it has all the goodies and looks the sportiest)

[anonymous-user]

Sorry to keep this dragging on, but has anyone got any experience driving the new Mazda3 GT sport tech. Love the look of it and although it’s a bit pricey atm I will consider waiting it out for them to get a bit cheaper. They’re going for £18-19k and I want to drop that down.... considerably lol

[Flumpo]

sleepera6 said:

Sorry to keep this dragging on, but has anyone got any experience driving the new Mazda3 GT sport tech. Love the look of it and although it’s a bit pricey atm I will consider waiting it out for them to get a bit cheaper. They’re going for £18-19k and I want to drop that down.... considerably lol

Haven’t driven one but it’s on the list of potentials for my next daily. The only issue I have is with the engines, the active x seems to have little grunt for the 180+bhp. All reviews seem to suggest it’s a bit Short of performance which seems odd for the power. The mpg also doesn’t seem that outstanding for the new tech of compression.
The other engines I think are 10 second plus to 60 so ruled them out.

Only other thing is the gt sport tech is top of the range, do you need the extra bits above the one below? Visually I think the sport looks the same as the gt, it’s just tech that’s added.

I really like the 3 and have considered the 6, but the engines just seem very lacking.

[anonymous-user]

Flumpo said:

Haven’t driven one but it’s on the list of potentials for my next daily. The only issue I have is with the engines, the active x seems to have little grunt for the 180+bhp. All reviews seem to suggest it’s a bit Short of performance which seems odd for the power. The mpg also doesn’t seem that outstanding for the new tech of compression.
The other engines I think are 10 second plus to 60 so ruled them out.

Only other thing is the gt sport tech is top of the range, do you need the extra bits above the one below? Visually I think the sport looks the same as the gt, it’s just tech that’s added.

I really like the 3 and have considered the 6, but the engines just seem very lacking.

You’re right, I wanted the leather and Bose, don’t need the other stuff, maybe I’ll try and find GT Sport, 10seconds to 60 is dog slow, might have to give one a test drive