code10

OK all I need some guidence.

I need to buy my wife a new car. I ve just sold her Seat Ibiza Gti and need to replace it with a 5dr car as she is 7 weeks away from delivering our first born.

I have a budget of £10k

It needs to have 5 doors and a large boot.
She wants a 'grown up' car that doesnt get ignored at junctions.
It must have some go - she just had a Gti
She hates ford
It must be 2 years old or newer
it must have less than 20,000 miles

The best I have come up with is a 2002 Vectra 2.2 Sri for about £10,300 what can you do??

GCollier

Was in a similar situation recently, and bought my wife a skoda octavia 1.8T estate. Car was 2 years old, metallic silver, had 13k miles, one-owner, nice kit such as full-leather, heated seats, climate, CD etc, and in mint condition. Cost was £9700 from a skoda main dealer.

Gary.

code10

I have tried skoda but she wont see past the name....

All Talk

How about a 307, looks the part and they're hugely practical for little ones, they're quite tall and it saves loads of back effort putting car seats in a nd out .. how old do I sound.. but not a MPV !!!

I've got a 2 year old and this is what my wife wants - I can't argue with her logic.

Simon.

PS, not sure if they do the quick ones with 5 doors ?

T Gardemeister

How about a Saab 9-5 estate or Volvo V70? Good for protecting the little ones. Well, as I couldn't suggest a Skoda (it's already been turned down) I thought I'd go for something Scandinavian.

carl

Have you considered that you may be able to get a new car on import for £10k, i.e. the sort of thing that would cost £12-13k here?

Not sure I understand your requirements really. We've got two kids (11 and 9) and my wife drives them around in a Pug 206CC (tiny seats in the back). It's fine as they don't usually go far -- for longer journeys we use the Scoob.

code10

The requirement is such that she gets a 'family' car and then I can get somthing totally impratical for my next car....

I cant give her my car (Alfa 156) as the boot is too small to get pushchairs etc in and she says she doesnt like reversing in it(backed up by her reversing into a neighbours parked BMW coupe last year - "I didnt see it in those stupid shaped mirrors")

I have looked at the new cars option but not so much at imported ones.... I'll have a look into that. Any good web sites anyone can suggest?

carl

Litchfield Imports www.litimports.co.uk
Broadspeed www.broadspeed.co.uk
You can usually get better prices if you go direct -- there's a list of dealers for various manufacturers at www.truro.swinternet.co.uk

Bearing in mind that you can get a 'family car' for £1000 if necessary, have you thought about running three cars? I'm about to do so (CC + Scoob + cheap diesel) and hopefully upgrade to CC + TVR + cheap diesel when funds permit. Has the advantage that if one of the cars packs up then you're not stranded. If the 'decidedly impractical' car packs up expensively (as some are wont to do), you don't have to get it fixed straight away.

[Edited by carl - 2/20/2003 2:46:21 PM]

Merc_Cosworth

Almost any current Mercedes range will be within budget.

Also applies to BMWs,

Recommend Audi A6 2.4 Tiptronic personally. Lovely drive

Dracoro

Merc_cosworth

not gonna get a merc/bmw or audi for that sort of money.

MGJohn

Do please put an an MGZS120 or 180 on her shopping list and better still, get her to drive one. Both available in 5 door form which my other half wanted for similar "girly" reasons ... loves driving the car. MGZeds rapidly gaining street cred following admirable efforts in BTCC. Nice to drive and will show a clear pair of wheels to many highly regarded road cars on both straights and twiddly bits. Jason Plato said it's the best FWD car he'd tried when it first appeared two years ago ..... even that most anti-FWD "Tiffany Dell" also had favourable comments about the car which must have been like extracting good teeth for him ...

Good discounts are available on new () and pre-reg ones too. Plenty used ones available (all less than 2 years old obviously) well within that price bracket and remember ALL those prices are negotiable if no p/x involved.

Interested? Have a look at this lot:

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/cars_search.asp?modelexact=1&make=MG&min_pr=&postc ode=gl4+4xf&source=0&model=ZS&max_pr=&sort=3&varia nt=&mileage=&miles=1500&keywords=&agerange=&max_re cords=50&search.x=43&search.y=11

AND remember, I doesn't have to be foreign to be good .....

MattW

Seat Leon Cupra 1.8T

Brendan Hughes

I'm trying to get a RAV4 and a Caterham. Not sure if you can get a 2 yr old one in your budget though.

R.B

We are expecting our 1st baby in 8-9 weeks so we were in your position a few mths ago.

We brought a brand new 307 for £10995 from motorpoint derby.

Its has loads of room its strong and just the job

R.B

code10

Thanks for your replies guys.

Regarding running 3 cars - I already do! I have a westfield for sunny days

I still want somthing sporty 2 door with a roof for my next daily commute tho.

We have looked at the 307 - its a nice car but all that falls in our budget is the 1.6 petrol which she felt was a bit slow.

Regarding MGZS 180 - my mate has one - nice to drive but styling and interior leaves me a bit cold.

Regarding the Seat Leon 1.8t - she had a Seat before and altho they are great cars the dealers local to me leave a little to be desired - infact outside of the scooby dealers I have never experianced good customer service from a dealership!

Anyone have any other thoughts? (I know this is hard thats why I asked for help!)

carl

I think the problem is that with your constraints (<2 years old, <20k miles, needs a bit of 'go') you'll only be able to get:
a) something in the same class as the Ibiza you've just sold, e.g. Ibiza Cupra
b) a 'rep vehicle' that depreciates rapidly (like the Vectra SRi you mentioned, or a Mondeo)

You could get something bigger than the Ibiza, but it's unlikely to be a hot version as you've discovered.

Unfortunately, although Maseratis depreciate quickly they don't go from £60k->£10k in 2 years and 20k miles

Thought about a Citroen Xsara VTS? They were chucking out new ones for around £10k at places like jamjar around 12 months ago.

Diablo

If she wants 5 doors and some substance, go for a soft roader - TOYOTA RAV4, Honda CRV or HRV

Great build quality, reliability and dealer service you would not believe.

Won't be as quick as the GTI, but not far behind. Had a 96 (p) plate 3door RAV4 that was quicker 0 to 60 than the comparable Golf gti (mk3) of the time.

D

All Talk

Just found a top of range 2.0GLX 307 for £10,700 from all-vehicles.co.uk.

Would that be quick enough, maybe enough room in the price to get it nearer the £10k

Don't buy a Vectra, you know you'll regret it !!

Jeff Wiltshire

2nd hand 2lt Accord ?

From Autotrader....

02(51) HONDA ACCORD VTEC SE 2.0 Litre engine,
5 door, Hatchback, Midnight Blue, 10006 miles, ABS Brakes, Sunroof, Alloy Wheels, Central Locking, Alarm, Driver's Airbag, Multiple Airbags, Power Steering, Mileage Verified, Immobiliser, Cruise Control, Climate Control, Electric Windows £9375

[Edited by Jeff Wiltshire - 2/21/2003 10:15:43 AM]