Dracoro

On behalf of a mate.

Budget, £12 to £15k

less than 3 years old
economical to run/good fuel economy (so probably diesel)
reliable
4 seats/doors

Cars at the £12k end as well as the £15k end please.

Let's have it

Dark Blue Mark

I will ignore all your critera apart from cost and tell you to buy an R33 GTR

Saw one for the first time in a while today - one of those cars that actually scare you when it appears in the rear view mirror

But on a serious note, Octavia RS? Im sure the Octavia posse will be on here before long

MB

Iwan

Skoda Fabia VRS. Change out of £12k for a brand new one, allegedly a great engine and not a bad car overall (VAG - basically a VW Polo / Seat Ibiza)

I nearly bought one but thought it was a bit boring inside. Does 60-odd mpg...

Edcase

skoda vrs (turbo diesel)
passat tdi pd 130 (got one, its amazing)
audi a4 1.9tdi (better image than the passat but prefer the passats drive)

mervil

iTrader: (5)

If you ignore the economical bit for a second AND the 4door requirement how about one of these?

Integra DC-5 yours for 15k

Reffro

Skoda Superb....

Better than a Passat, simply because it is a Passat, but with more of everything, more room, more equipment, lots of nice touches in the cabin, same engines, same economy, but also less to buy second hand.

Choice of the range is the Superb 1.9 TDi 130 Comfort. My mate who I introduced to one in January just had a salesman at his local dealer asking him if he wanted to sell his car, they were trying to buy these cars, as they have customers waiting for good used examples.

Edcase

whats wrong with a passat!??

scooby944

what about a Seat Leon TDI Cupra

Reffro

Edcase, there is nothing wrong with the Passat, my parents have a 1.9 TDi 130 SE Tiptronic, and they and I highly rate the car. But having driven it back to back with the Skoda, I think the Skoda is a much better car.

For a start the longer wheel base is great for passengers, I am 6ft3in and 20+ stone and with the driver's seat adjusted for me, I can still sit in the rear behind myself as it were and my knees will not touch the rear of the front seat. I prefer the instruments in the Skoda too, the Passat blue and red is good, but I prefer the watch dials in the Skoda. I like the ambient lighting in the Skoda at night, plus the lighting for the door handles and the puddle lights under the wing mirrors when you open the car doors. All standard on the Skoda, and not available on the Passat. I also like the standard CD autochanger, umbrella, rear parking sensors, 16-inch alloys (which with the wider tyres make a difference), cruise control etc etc which are all standard. At the time my parents bought the Passat (20 months ago) all these were options. It may have changed for the new cars as the Passat is on run-out, as very importantly, it is due to be changed at the end of this/beginning of next year.

I'm not saying the Passat is a bad car, far from it, its an excellent car in 130 TDi form, but the Skoda Superb is at the same time, a better car, and a better used buy.

Jamescsti

My old man has the Skoda Superb 130 TDi as well and it's a really good car for everyday use and motorway driving, not sporty at all but very comfy and loads of room, i'm 6ft4 and have loads of room in the back of it

Edcase

Hmmm, I just bought a 130 tdi Passat and having come from the scoob I have to say I am bowled over with it. Sure the novelty will wear off but really really pleased. The Superb wasn't even on my radar tbh? Not sure why as I did my research, although I doubt I would have got a bargain like I did for the Passat I ended up with

Reffro

That's one reason why I mentioned the Superb here. Its not on many people's radar, and that's real shame because it is a very good car.

Its only been on sale for two years. I was helping a friend buy a company car at the time, she drove all the competition and chose the Superb over everything else, as she thought it was the best car. Another mate who the sales chap asked if he wanted to sell was similar. I was helping look for a used car, I found a Superb close to me, he wasn't convinced but we went to have a look, took a drive in it, and that was it. He bought it an hour later once the partex value for his Golf was sorted.

As for great deals, there aren't that many ex-fleet cars out there, but my mate who bought his in January, it was 14months old showing 14k miles at the time, it cost him £11995 vs a list price of £17700, which I think is brilliant value.

LoneGranger

4 seats bu tnot doors - GTI6 with LAD Motorsport conversion - 33mpg and210 bhp + 6 spd, aircon, leather and best handling hothatch + great sound + less than £10k!!

Edcase

LOL, just looked at some pics of it....it IS just a Passat isn't it

Even the interior is near identical!

Looks a good car, no chance of getting a 130 PD tdi for what I got the Passat for tho....

Vec

If it's 4 door, and diesel, then you can't really see past zee Germans.

You could get a decent Audi A4 TDi 110/Passat TDi 130 for around that age and price. A little older, and he might be able to stretch to a BMW 330d.

Almost new/new, you are going to be looking at the new Astra 5dr 2.0 16v Diesel. Or even a pre reg Vectra SRi 2.2 Diesel.

Also a Mazda 6 just to be a little different.

bugeyes

I've just bought a 10month old VRS and early impressions are good. Build quality is excellent, torque (228lbft) give massive 2nd and 3rd gear acceleration (although it quickly tails off), handling is ok, std spec is good - a/c, traction, cd etc. Quality mods seem readily available (see briskoda site) - AMD, Jabba, Revo to 185bhp/300lbft for £500 and I'm sure much improvement to the handling can be achieved.

Stephen