LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

As above, I'm thinking/looking into something a bit more sensible and cheaper to run, so all suggestions are welcome.

Budget £6500 max
3 Door
0-60 time of around 8 seconds
Fairly cheap to run and reliable
MPG 35+
Needs to look a bit sporty
Something I wont be embarrassed to drive


So far I am thinking of:

Suzuki Swift Sport (0-60 8.6 secs + 40MPG)
Audi A3 2-litre FSI (0-60 8.8 secs + 38MPG)
VW Golf 2-litre GT FSI (0-60 8.6 secs + 36MPG)


Anymore suggestions as those are the best I can think of, thanks

Truss

iTrader: (2)

Clio sport 197. That'd be my choice.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Just did some quick researching, looks a nice car, but the MPG is going to be the same as my current car. They're surprisingly cheap though

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

The 197 also eats front tyres like they are going out of fashion.

My suggestion is Honda type r EP3 or Integra.

I'd get the seat cupra r over the audi or golf, it's an Audi s3 with a different badge.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Those suggestions are all pretty bad on fuel and will be no better than my Astra VXR which gets on average 28MPG.

Ideally I'm wanting 35MPG+ and something cheaper to run and a bit more sensible.


I'm currently looking at the Fiesta ST... 147bhp, 0-60 8 secs, and 38MPG. Worth considering?

zip106

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...d-pads/1350507

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Clio 182, get a nice one for £3k and some cash back.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Never thought of the CDTI Astra lol.... probably one of the best choices tbh. 8.3 secs 0-60 and almost 50mpg? Seems like a potential winner.

Richy P1984

Octavia VRS diesel
Cupra (150) diesel

Ant

bmw 330d? obviously thats a coupe but still a good one for the mix

Saxo Boy

Leon FR TDI. I have a 2010 common-rail facelift version and love it. Handles really well, is pretty nippy at gets 50mpg when you drive sensibly.

Truss

iTrader: (2)

Both have terrible transmissions. My brother had an astra CDTi and he had a clutch and box in under 50k miles.
Missus had a grande punto sporting diesel (same box and clutch I believe) and that had a clutch after 40k.

The reason I suggested the clio was that I had use of a mates for a month; it averaged 36 mpg.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

mine would be a bmw 330d skoda vrs tdi golf tdi

jonc

This would be my choice, should tick all of you boxes.
BMW 120d Sport
0-60 - 7.9
mpg - 49.6
CO2 - 152 g/km cheap VED

And it's RWD and tunable

Dave Thornton

How many miles a year do you do?

The reason I ask is that when people are looking to change car to save money, mpg is often the sole focus. Changing to a lower depreciation car might be the answer.

e.g. if you do 20k a year ...
at 35mpg that's 2600L of fuel e.g. £3600
at 30mpg that's 3000L e.g. £4200

You could save £600 in depreciation or combination of servicing/repairs/tyres/insurance very easily.

My own example - I do 8k a year. I could buy a new £20k car that does 50mpg but depreciates by £4k a year over the next 2 years. So that's £4k + £1k in fuel. But my £20k 911 depreciates by £2k and costs £2k in fuel so I am £1000 better off driving a 911 (before servicing/tyres!) - but you get my point?

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

This is the part that always has me in stitches on here, want to save money buy a £3k car then strangely enough, you just saved £3k, and it will depreciate less, simple.

Then there's the diesel brigade, that do less than 10/15k a year and lose a shed load of cash in depreciation, service and repair costs as well as pay more per litre at the pump, to do 60/80 miles more per fill, makes me p!ss myself.

SRSport

Lol to the above. I have never entertained the idea of diesel, even now Im commuting 600 miles round trip at weekends I dont think its worth getting.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Yep and your right not to either, because over a 3yr period you do circa 90,000 miles, which is still 10k below the very old break even point of the petrol equivalent, which figures are pre DPF,DMF, DFS and DHSS and just about any other acronym with a "D" in it faults.

thenewgalaxy

You will never get 38mpg out of one of those Fiesta STs even if you drive sensibly. Expect low to mid 30s at best or less if you lack willpower. I think the same can be said of most sporty cars as it is difficult not to drive them the way the designers intended

I ran a Clio RS200 Cup and averaged 33mpg with a mixture of hard driving and motorway cruises around 80ish. I gather the fuel consumption of them is very similar to the 197 but the front tyres and pads do wear quickly on those cars

My daily driver is currently an R32 Golf which I am managing 27-29mpg out of and don't stick too many miles on. It is a lovely middle ground between our super economical Diesel Fiesta and the Cosworth which is super uneconomical.

There is a lot of choice out there at the moment I'd have a look around and try a few cars before you buy. Some of the Skoda vRS models are very capable indeed...

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for all your suggestions and I've researched all the vehicles. I'm still undecided what to do so could some of you lot give me your thoughts basing it on my situation? I understand what some people are saying about depreciation and will it actually be worth it in general to go through the hassle of changing cars for a bit of saving? If I can save £1200+ a year, then it'll be worth it to me.

Currently:

* 9,000 miles a year.
* Drive an Astra VXR
* Average 29MPG and pay for Tesco Momentum, lets say at £1.38p/litre which is £2,300 in fuel
* £280 tax
* Major service coming up in July £400
* 19 inch performance tyres (rears will need replacing in October MOT time)
* Still on it's original turbo and gearbox at 65,000miles
* Could realistically get £7,500-£7,900 for the car
* Can sell £300 worth of mods



I'm looking at a '57-'08 Golf GT Sport 2.0 TDI for around £7,000 hopefully

* Average 48MPG (easily), lets say £1.34p/litre which is £1300
* £140 tax
* Probably going to be more reliable?
* Won't depreciate as much as my Astra VXR?
* 17 inch tyres

.....and for some reason insurance is about the same price so no saving there

Thanks

SRSport

I can't honesty say that is a good move. Gains in economy if any at 9000 miles will be offset by maintenance. The VW diesel will be less reliable. Higher servicing costs will offset any tax savings. Based on your criterior the VXR is going to be hard to beat as it is.

thenewgalaxy

Nice car and I don't want to put you off as you are always taking a risk on a second hand car, even if it is a Honda or Toyota. Sometimes better the devil you know, warts and all.

I have heard that the 2.0 diesel from VAG group is not an especially reliable unit and people I respect in the trade blame the accountants having too much influence over the engineers. My Golf seems sturdy overall but they all seem to be prone to the odd warning light on the dashboard and also suffer annoying but not usually serious problems.

I have been told that the 1.9 diesel engine is more reliable but that is offset by the fact it is older. I guess it is a little bit like 2.5 vs 2.0 newage in that respect.

Dave Thornton

Depreciation on both cars over the next 3 years is going to be around £1000-£1500 a year, not much of a difference. Be careful with the fuel consumption comparisons - if you drove the Golf like the VXR it won't do 48mpg. Spend some time shopping around for tyres. Overall though, do you want to take the risk of buying an unknown car, or accepting less for yours, all to save £1k max?

SRSport

Considered this? It has 5 doors but for the performance (200bhp) from its 2.0 Turbo petrol engine it has decent MPG. I averaged 40.2mpg on my journey from Kent to Yorkshire. It looks sporty and running costs compared to Japanese cars is good. Reliability is average but if you are considering a VW then this should be within your tolerance, especially if you opt for comfort suspension and manual rather than sporty and auto which has all the issues.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

A3 s-line tdi or as someone has said BMW 1 series hatch

Shaid

I'd say a nice E36 M3 Evo.

Just what you need.

Okay mpg might be a little low but what you save on initial purchase can go on fuel.

Win win for all

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Thanks everyone, I made a thread similar to this on another forum and they're pretty much saying the same thing as you guys are; basically that it's not really worth it based on my milage.

Any money I could potentially save on a diesel could all be swallowed up if something was to go wrong and/or costly servicing costs. It just wouldn't be worth it.

I think that realistically, if I want to really save money, I'm better off just buying a cheap 1.4 litre petrol car for £2-3k, which I don't really want to do.

(That Merc posted above does look good though)

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Or dump the girlfriend.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Go cheap or go home ?

Earlier Golf 1.9 GT TDi and it isn't likely to be costly. My similar car cost £120 to tax and £200 for a service, MOT and new front discs and pads....

I get 49 mpg average, luckily mostly cruising on the M62, the funniest thing is it's as quick as a brand new 2.0 TDi A3, as my neighbour found out, LOL. For a laugh it can be re-map'd to silly levels of torque, but the clutch wouldn't last long....

dunx

Matteeboy

Changing a car to save a bit on fuel is almost always pointless. You get stung selling and buying. Keep the car, enjoy it. For future reference, our 335d is damn quick, not bad on fuel, correct wheel drive and has cost naff all to run over the five years we've had it. Not quite in budget but it won't be long...