Fiesta ST, Mini JCW, Megane RS. What else?

[Patrick1964]

Looking for a daily driver with usable performance. Must be capable of 30+ mpg when commuting (25 miles of B, A and dual carriageway).
Petrol, manual, mostly reliable. Needs to be able to carry a bike in the boot.
Character essential.
Anything I’ve missed under £18k ?

[Mo28]

Civic Type R
Peugeot 208/ 308 GTI
The Fiesta's older brother, Focus ST
BMW M135i/ M140i

[ChrisH72]

I have a mk7 FST for a daily. It's a great car but with a budget of 18k I'd be looking at the class above.

I30N looks great but would involve a budget creep. Otherwise I think it'd be the 308 gti for me.

[Al U]

I'm in the same boat as you with pretty much the exact same requirements so will be watching this thread with interest. I think it's pretty depressing how little £18k seems to get you these days, which is causing my money to stay firmly in the bank and just living with the use of my wife's car.

I've been looking at JCW's as well but they seem to me to be one of the cars that have really shot up in terms of prices being asked recently and are going to drop hard when there is a bit of a correction, who knows.

Fiesta ST's - have seen a lot of people saying the ride is a bit much for daily driving. I was thinking of going to drive one to see what they are like but the thought of dropping £18k on one just feels a bit of a tough sell.

208/308 Gti - I recently learned that these have the 1.6T Prince engine which is in the R56 Cooper S and having had one of those in the household I wouldn't touch either car with a barge pole now.

[georgeyboy12345]

Some ideas

BMW M135i
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111049...


Alfa Romeo Giulietta TBi
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111129...


Honda Civic Type R
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203043...


Mazda 3 MPS
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201311...


VW Golf GTI - I disagree with those that say these don't have character
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202112...


Peugeot 308 GTi - yes they have a version of the prince engine, but it has been worked on my Peugeot Sport with various upgraded components and have so far not been as problematic as the cooking versions of these engines found in other cars

270
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202182...

250 version - down on power but doesn't have the very expensive Alcon brakes
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111039...

[Patrick1964]

M135 undoubtably fast, but character lacking ? I haven’t tried one, but my impression is of a fast, capable, boring car
Pug - can’t love it I’m afraid
Guilietta Is a good shout, but I can’t see myself spending that much money on one. Are they capable as a performance hatch at 30 plus mpg ?
I’ve have Golfs, but don’t want another.
CTR - I’m 57. I’d look like a complete arse getting out of that ??
Mazda must be a Focus in a dress ?
Thanks - keep them coming please

Edited by Patrick1964 on Sunday 6th March 18:14

Edited by Patrick1964 on Sunday 6th March 18:18

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

Octavia VRS?

[ZX10R NIN]

You have some great options at this price point.

308 GTI PS270 is a great drive & reliable (links to the early Prince engines & those cars reliability is tenuous) especially at your price point:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202142...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203053...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202082...

Astra GTC VXR very good steers that are underrated but that makes them great value too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202122...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109107...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112240...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112010...

If you don't mind something as sharp the M140i is an option:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201121...

[aka_kerrly]

Patrick1964 said:

I’ve have Golfs, but don’t want another.
CTR - I’m 57. I’d look like a complete arse getting out of that ??

At 57 you should be old enough to know that life is too short to give a fk what random people may think about your car or other possessions.

Try the Civic!!!!!

[dontfollowme]

Audi S3?

[ChrisH72]

A civic type r for under £18k will be the older fn2. Depends how you feel about the power delivery and the hard ride but they are still a nice car. One benefit is that the rear seats fold completely flat to give a really large load bay ideal for putting a bike in. I’d want to pay no more than £7k for a 2010 GT which had LSD as standard. It’ll obviously be a lesser car than something costing your max budget but the saving could be useful.

If you don’t like the Pug then maybe stick with the RS Megane, you should be able to get one of the last 275’s from 2016 with cup chassis.

The VXR looks good to me.

Leon Cupra maybe? Similar but not quite the same as your previous Golf.

[aka_kerrly]

ChrisH72 said:

A civic type r for under £18k will be the older fn2.

Depends how you feel about the power delivery and the hard ride but they are still a nice car. One benefit is that the rear seats fold completely flat to give a really large load bay ideal for putting a bike in.

I’d want to pay no more than £7k for a 2010 GT which had LSD as standard. It’ll obviously be a lesser car than something costing your max budget but the saving could be useful.

.

You're not very on the ball with Civic prices.

£18k will get a 2015/16 FK2 Type R that is not a write off and has under 100k on it

no one is selling the 2005-2011 era FN2 Civics for £18k, even the Mugen 200 are nearer £10-12k.

The very best N/A Civic is the Japanese market FD2 , it's just finding one /importing one that makes them a little harder to recommend

[ED209]

ZX10R NIN said:

You have some great options at this price point.

308 GTI PS270 is a great drive & reliable (links to the early Prince engines & those cars reliability is tenuous) especially at your price point:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202142...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203053...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202082...

Astra GTC VXR very good steers that are underrated but that makes them great value too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202122...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109107...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112240...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112010...

If you don't mind something as sharp the M140i is an option:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201121...

I like those Peugeots myself but could not live with the infotainment. Had one as a hire car once and it’s crap. So slow and laggy.

Also the small steering wheel is an acquired taste to. Until yesterday my work car was a 308 estate on a 70 plate. It was absolutely impossible to get a comfortable driving position where you could still see what speed you were doing.

[ChrisH72]

aka_kerrly said:

ChrisH72 said:

A civic type r for under £18k will be the older fn2.

Depends how you feel about the power delivery and the hard ride but they are still a nice car. One benefit is that the rear seats fold completely flat to give a really large load bay ideal for putting a bike in.

I’d want to pay no more than £7k for a 2010 GT which had LSD as standard. It’ll obviously be a lesser car than something costing your max budget but the saving could be useful.

.

You're not very on the ball with Civic prices.

£18k will get a 2015/16 FK2 Type R that is not a write off and has under 100k on it

no one is selling the 2005-2011 era FN2 Civics for £18k, even the Mugen 200 are nearer £10-12k.

The very best N/A Civic is the Japanese market FD2 , it's just finding one /importing one that makes them a little harder to recommend

Ha! Did you even read my post??!

I'd guess OP doesn't want something with 100k miles. There's just one listed on AT I think. The other two under 18k are cat s. Not worth it compared to other cars.

As I said (but will repeat for those who don't read) a tidy 2010 fn2 should be under 7k. But I'd guess the OP wouldn't want one anyway.

[SWoll]

Toyota GT86, possibly a TRD if in budget?

[M.F.D]

Megane RS 250/265/275 Cup

Leon Cupra 290/300/310

GT86

That's where my money would be personally.

[Legacywr]

I had a similar thread last month, I ended up with one of these...

An Abarth Punto, I love it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115281965815?hash=item1...

[Unwize]

Fiesta ST's - have seen a lot of people saying the ride is a bit much for daily driving. I was thinking of going to drive one to see what they are like but the thought of dropping £18k on one just feels a bit of a tough sell.

If you can afford a MK8 the suspension does a very good job of balancing ride quality and handling.

[Orangecurry]

Can you really fit a bike in the back of a Fiesta? Without having to take off both wheels?

And of interest to me - can you actually get a bike in the back of a Megane RS? I'm thinking of the height clearance. Or is it front wheel off and rotate handlebars?