£12k, What would you do?

[Mancsi]

Hello, Long time lurker and I don't post much but I'm after some advise from the PH collective

As the title says I have around £12,000 to spend. I only do about 4-5000 miles a year commuting to work and currently have a Skoda Citigo which I had to get quickly after getting thrown over a taxi bonnet and getting my motorbike written off. It's perfect for the job but I just don't like it and fancy something nicer. I also want something comfy that can cope with the rubbish roads that I use and a decent radio as mine is crap

The thing is do I go for something like this Mazda

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210251...

Or this Astra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209139...

I'm not a fan of unreliable cars as I have no mechanical ability whatsoever and need to be at work everyday so that's why I'm thinking to go new as possible.

Or with only doing 15 miles a day should I go for something like this

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209240...

Completely against everything I've just said but nevermind

I know this is Pistonheads so the V8 is the one to go for but all opinions welcome

[Stallzy]

The Astra is maybe not bad, but people may recommend the GTC versions instead, or at least I've had them recommended to me in my thread.

Not sure whether it's a weird shadow or if the steering wheel on that Astra is looking pretty messy for 33k miles / 3 years old.

Check out the suggestions given in my thread "Not driven for 3 years - second car advice", and "£13,000 warm/hot hatch" both on the second page of this section because there's quite a few suggestions in those and they'll probably get repeated here. Maybe you're willing to go for something bigger size though and not after something as "warm" in terms of the sport department.

The Mazda CX-3 also seems like quite a bit of car for the money perhaps, but to get it in the 12k budget then there's definitely a compromise at 60k miles for its age.

Perhaps also look at a Focus ST-Line or Titanium model which has all the goodies like heated seats, cruise control, various assist tech if you're into that, and also the Sync 3 system which is much better than that on the MK7/7.5 Fiestas. (It does have its faults though from what I've seen very rarely)

KIA Picanto GT-Line S or a Hyundai i30 may also be a solid shout.

Hope this helps, and I'll try and check back and see how you get on with your search because I'm doing mine as well. I don't mind something that's a bit of a project but reliability is still important as I'm not really mechnical either and looking for something myself that I can get back into driving with which isn't going to throw huge repair bills or cause dangerous situations because I haven't driven in a while, but want something fun and maybe not common on the roads. Might have to leave that until a couple more years though and get something more plain.

[ChrisH72]

Hmmmm, the fact that you are considering something like that Jag suggests that you really want something more interesting than the Mazda or Vauxhall.

For 12k I'm sure you can get a nice, reliable car that will easily cope with your daily use and be fun too.

If you can post the kind of things you would really like in a car you'll get lots of great suggestions. My guess is it will be somewhere in between a Vauxhall Astra and a V8 Jag!

[Super Sonic]

Accord type R. You should get a cl7 for that (the k20 engine version, 2003 onwards)

[Stallzy]

Super Sonic said:

Accord type R. You should get a cl7 for that (the k20 engine version, 2003 onwards)

I've never heard of that before but not sure they're particularly common and would probably be a bit of a headache to own if anything needs sorting compared to a more mainstream brand / model. That being said, Honda, especially a k20 is probably right up there in reliability

[fflump]

Something like an Audi S3 or Audi TTS with the 2.0 TFSI engine may be a decent balance between premium feel, decent drive, and not insane running costs. A 330i or 135i if you prefer RWD.

[journeymanpro]

Golf gti edition 35.

[Mancsi]

Thanks for the replies so far

You're right about the difference in a V8 jag and an Astra is pretty big and there's so many cars in between, I spend quite a bit of time on Auto trader going round in circles.

The car will be parked on the road overnight so something not too tempting for the scrotes to nick is also a factor.

I'm more leaning towards comfort than cornering ability and I do like a heated seat but I don't want that to lead me down the boring route

[Al U]

If you do go for an Astra, get one in Elite Nav spec.

[Super Sonic]

Stallzy said:

I've never heard of that before but not sure they're particularly common and would probably be a bit of a headache to own if anything needs sorting compared to a more mainstream brand / model. That being said, Honda, especially a k20 is probably right up there in reliability

Shouldn't be that difficult, the engine is basically the same as the CTR, and the body is the same as the normal Accord, so I imagine most spares would be reasonably easy to find, it's just finding a cl7 in the first place. There is also the ch1 of course...

[cheesejunkie]

11k hookers and coke, 1k on an Astra.

It won’t be boring.

More seriously some good suggestions. As much as the golf is recommended you’ll get more focus or Astra for your money.

12k used to be roughly what we budgeted for cars years ago. Browsing about it gets you surprisingly less these days unfortunately. My mechanic would say go for the Mazda. But he’s an ex Subaru dealer and will always recommend Japanese even though he makes most of his money fixing German diesels these days.

[Pickled Piper]

journeymanpro said:

Golf gti edition 35.

Not sure what an Edition 35 is. However, I would go for the newest Golf Gti my money would buy.

[A500leroy]

Berlingo van (helps carrying bikes..)

[Hippea]

Super Sonic said:

Accord type R. You should get a cl7 for that (the k20 engine version, 2003 onwards)

Great shout, love these. Finding one will be hard, pre covid these, DC5s etc were plenty full, they’ve all seemed to have disappeared

[VS02]

Pickled Piper said:

Not sure what an Edition 35 is. However, I would go for the newest Golf Gti my money would buy.

For 12k, you could just about get into a slightly leggy MK7 GTI (2013) with around 75k

[cheesejunkie]

Hippea said:

Super Sonic said:

Accord type R. You should get a cl7 for that (the k20 engine version, 2003 onwards)

Great shout, love these. Finding one will be hard, pre covid these, DC5s etc were plenty full, they’ve all seemed to have disappeared

I bought an ED30 but that was years ago, I didn’t really realise there was an ed35 but I suppose it’s obvious and I sort of knew it in the back if my head without giving it much thought.

I’d take the Honda any day.

[ZX10R NIN]

Mancsi said:

Hello, Long time lurker and I don't post much but I'm after some advise from the PH collective

As the title says I have around £12,000 to spend. I only do about 4-5000 miles a year commuting to work and currently have a Skoda Citigo which I had to get quickly after getting thrown over a taxi bonnet and getting my motorbike written off. It's perfect for the job but I just don't like it and fancy something nicer. I also want something comfy that can cope with the rubbish roads that I use and a decent radio as mine is crap

The thing is do I go for something like this Mazda

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210251...

Or this Astra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209139...

I'm not a fan of unreliable cars as I have no mechanical ability whatsoever and need to be at work everyday so that's why I'm thinking to go new as possible.

Or with only doing 15 miles a day should I go for something like this

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209240...

Completely against everything I've just said but nevermind

I know this is Pistonheads so the V8 is the one to go for but all opinions welcome

If you want to be sensible the the 1.6T GTC Astra Limited Edition is a good pick:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210261...

But the full fat VXR is where my money would go, as you can get a good one for your budget it's also a nice place to be when you're not going 10/10ths:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209079...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210261...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211031...

If you want a reliable simple to maintain V8 (by a local specialist ) then the Mercedes 5.5 E500 coupe in my bias opinon is a great place to be.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206237...

[Mancsi]

Thanks ZX10, I've seen that E500 before on my travels around auto trader and I do love that shape of Merc.

[bmwmike]

I'm rattling around in one of those astras with the 1.0t engine and it's great. I think it rides just as well as the 5 series I had before. Bit light on tech though but that's just the model we've got. The 1.0 is more reliable than the 1.4t from what I've heard.

Edit cheap to run and no tax either.

Edited by bmwmike on Tuesday 13th December 10:25

[Krikkit]

Get the Jag