[Paul B]

My money is on Paul getting an Octavia Estate

Actually, we're now considering a 2nd, 'warm' hatch rather than ditching the 3-series. This is a combination of work, dog and generally living in a more rural area. Suzuki Swift Sport (Mk1) is favoured.

Twingo 133 - discounted as insurance is nuts compared to others
500 Abarth - silly money and really tiny boot due to shape
Panda 100hp - Nat hates them with a passion
C2 Loeb - horror stories of long waiting times for standard parts
Suzuki Swift Sport - seem favoured by saner people and are thus cheap to ensure. Evo seem to love them?

[tomtom]

My money is on Paul getting an Octavia Estate

Actually, we're now considering a 2nd, 'warm' hatch rather than ditching the 3-series. This is a combination of work, dog and generally living in a more rural area. Suzuki Swift Sport (Mk1) is favoured.

Twingo 133 - discounted as insurance is nuts compared to others
500 Abarth - silly money and really tiny boot due to shape
Panda 100hp - Nat hates them with a passion
C2 Loeb - horror stories of long waiting times for standard parts
Suzuki Swift Sport - seem favoured by saner people and are thus cheap to ensure. Evo seem to love them?

Wild card to throw into the mix - you can pick up bargain basement Seat Toledo V5's... which are (allegedly) alot of fun for the £££

[Fiend]

A3 2.0 tdi 170bhp 

[Mike Tyson]

My money is on Paul getting an Octavia Estate

Actually, we're now considering a 2nd, 'warm' hatch rather than ditching the 3-series. This is a combination of work, dog and generally living in a more rural area. Suzuki Swift Sport (Mk1) is favoured.

Twingo 133 - discounted as insurance is nuts compared to others
500 Abarth - silly money and really tiny boot due to shape
Panda 100hp - Nat hates them with a passion
C2 Loeb - horror stories of long waiting times for standard parts
Suzuki Swift Sport - seem favoured by saner people and are thus cheap to ensure. Evo seem to love them?

Wild card to throw into the mix - you can pick up bargain basement Seat Toledo V5's... which are (allegedly) alot of fun for the £££

This is possibly the best statement I've ever heard on UKB, well said that man!

I owned one for 4 years, massively specced interior and creature comforts. V5 engine is super grunty, and makes a beautiful sound reminiscent of the old Audi rally cars.

I miss it so much, I check Autotrader every day for them. And I'm very close to buying a Mk4 Golf V5 in fact.

I'd advise getting the 170bhp model over the 150bhp one as well.

[tomtom]

Think I was reminded by being behind a Romanian V5 Passat at the lights the other day...

On a similar note I had a 2 day job delivering cars once - and one was one of the first VR6 Corrado's... Suspect they have 'classic' status nowadays...

[Mike Tyson]

I was doing a job in Ripon earlier in the year, and parked up at the house was a pristine Corrado Vr6 Storm! It was immaculate, and he had owned it from new.

I've managed to talk myself out of getting a Mk4 Golf 4motion...... just.

[Mike Tyson]

If you decide against the Tolly, this is the next best option:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35705864

[dontfollowme]

Seat Leon Cupra? Old shape - should be cheaper than the R to insure.

[lagerstarfish]

If you decide against the Tolly, this is the next best option:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35705864

plenty of room in there for a pair of boots and a beer towel

[tomtom]

I was doing a job in Ripon earlier in the year, and parked up at the house was a pristine Corrado Vr6 Storm! It was immaculate, and he had owned it from new.

I've managed to talk myself out of getting a Mk4 Golf 4motion...... just.

I think FallingDown of this parish bought a mk5 4motion tdi that looked like a rare but decent option..

Super smooth that low angle compact V6 in the corrado.

[sxrxg]

Have you considered a Mazda 2 Sport? Lots about second hand, drive is meant to be decent. Evo magazine had one in a group test with a panda 100hp, 500 arbarth, fiesta montone, and colt ralliart and it seemed to hold its own.

Sent from my ZTE A2016 using Tapatalk

[Paul B]

Seat Leon Cupra? Old shape - should be cheaper than the R to insure.

These are too big (inc. the Toledo) for a 2nd car on our street. The swift is on the big side of things here.

Mazda 2 sport

Hold its own or win? Suzuki seems to be favoured by Evo for a long-term car rather than the immediate fun of the Twingo (which is meant to feel a bit harsh on real roads). Nat hates the 100hp or I'd get one as they're just really cheap and although I despise them initially, after a week in a hire car 1.2 I love them.

My house to Malham - 25 minutes!

[Paul B]

Well, the 3-series shook (and I mean shook) its way back from France (and over the 198k mile mark) but is clearly not too healthy. We've found a good looking '08 vRS estate (CR TDI) with 80k miles on the clock.

What are people's opinions on buying at that mileage? Is it in the middle of 'turbo/clutch/DMF' failure territory? It hasn't had the big VAG service either but that will form part of negotiations.

[tomtom]

Cam belt would be ringing in my ears at that mileage... I'd suggest that could be part of the negotiations... Otherwise they last really well - RobL (rarely posts - but I could link you via FB if you like) has had one into the mid 100k's I think - no major probs, other than wheel bearings (rear) iirc

[Steve R]

the big VAG service

I know it's pathetic but I always find this acronym pretty funny

[tomtom]

the big VAG service

I know it's pathetic but I always find this acronym pretty funny

Got friends who have worked in VAG garages and they all take the piss out of the name too

[Paul B]

If anyone cares I finally plumped for a Mini Cooper D (2012, 44k miles, London 12 Edtn) and came very close buying a 2013 Suzuki Swift sport. The MKII SS was much better than the MK1 which I drove but it just lacked refinement and at higher speeds the cab noise would've been wearing (m/way). Fuel economy stats (and Fuelly) suggested 30mpg for the SS and nearer 45mpg in the real world for the Mini.

Both have completely useless boots but the Mini has lots of toys (Nav, Dab, Bluetooth etc.), will have a higher residual value if we've got it wrong (it's now for Nat to commute to a new job and we don't fully understand her required mileage) and given it's a diesel it has less chance of being misfueled (having now had diesels for >10 years).

An added bonus was the tax: £0

One thing missing from the car is the Mini Mobility Pack (it hasn't got run flats); can anyone recommend a tyre repair kit (is 'slime' and a compressor adequate?).

[James Malloch]

I'm in the market for a new car (budget circa £4k), something that will hopefully last 3/4 years which is our planned time to go on a big trip (post my gf's PhD).

Just wondering if anyone has any idea if it's worth going for something from a main dealer or not?

The best car I've owned (though it still required work) was from a main dealer and it's still going strong with it's new owner now I have sold it.

I definitely paid a premium for it, but I'm unsure if in general they have better second hand vehicles, or if they just shine them up well.

Any thoughts?

[Coops_13]

I definitely paid a premium for it, but I'm unsure if in general they have better second hand vehicles, or if they just shine them up well.

Any thoughts?

i bought mine from a dealer, spent 40% of its value on work in six months had it checked out by a mechanic as well ☹️️

[Fultonius]

If you have 4k to put on it, maybe get one for £3k and put the £1k in the bank for inevitable breakdowns?

[Paul B]

Dealers vary IMO. Your best bet is to drive a number of cars in the same model to see if you can identify differences and look everywhere (under, in, behind, remove any engine cover etc.) for obvious signs of issues. Googling a buyers guide for the car in question is also useful. I'd also look at the MOT history checker on the Gov website and then try and link it with service history (especially items on the last MOT). Try and buy with your head too as my least reliable car (an 04 320d M Sport Touring with ALL the toys) was bought despite having nagging doubts about it at the time (but I liked it).

I recently took a Mini Cooper S for a test-drive (from a large main dealer in Skipton). I returned it with white smoke billowing from the front (due to I think a sticking calliper). It didn't give me confidence that they'd done a thorough service of the trade-in before putting it up for sale; there seems to be a mentality of "see what the customer picks up" and "fix anything tragically wrong" but that's about it.

Likewise with third party dealers I've found that some do very little and others seem to pride themselves on the quality of their stock. If every other car on the forecourt looks like a gem then I'd wager then one you're looking at probably isn't a lemon.

I'm not sure what size of car you're looking at but I'd expect main dealers would have very little in the 4k price range (?). Older cars, or high(er) mileage cars get passed on to smaller 3rd party dealerships or even auctions instead. For another example I spoke to our local Honda dealership about being interested in Civic Type R/S and a few weeks later I got a call telling me they had one in stock. When I went to view it, it was on the ramps and I never made it back there. I rang up about a month later to find they'd moved it on (about 5 miles away) and it'd dropped ~1.5K in price!

[dave]

Word up peeps, our '04 Passat 1.9 TDi is on 130k and starting to get an annoying amount of niggly things that need looking at (leccy windows, central locking, brake pad sensor, stereo, rh drivers side suspension clanking and the mystery phantom clutch thing I had this winter). Due to MOT start of Sept so thinking of maybe ditching it for something newer and ideally with better eco credentials, despite the fact I've loved having it, only cost us £2.5k and it has full leather interior and very comfy on longer drives.

Anyone had any direct experience of the affordable end of hybrids and/or plug-in hybrids?  We don't do massive amount of mileage (probably average or slightly below), my commute is about 5 minutes drive, but we do do decent drives length for family hols (scotland, alps, font etc) and climbing trips to wales/lakes/northumberland, so needs to be comfy. I'm hoping that pattern of use might fit a plug-in quite well, i.e. could do most of our normal day-to-day driving around town and local crags on zero petrol.

Really want to be a decent size which seems to cut down the options a lot. A Prius type of size might just be big enough, but maybe not. The Mitsubishi outlander PHEv looks good on paper. Ideally I'd have a second hand 2016 Passat GTE but I don't have £30K to burn.

Other option is just to plump for a few year old Passat again, and wait for the range on affordable EVs to catch up. BUT almost all the decent sized VWs out there second hand all seem to be diesel, and I do feel that really I maybe should be moving away from diesel now.

[tomtom]

Outlander is designed to foil the mpg test cycle. Just about every 'real day' use review shows them to have shocking MPG once the juice runs out.

I'd say for you're requisites (I've been looking for myself btw) its either a Prius, Prius+ or an Auris Estate.

Prius+ is basically a higher roof and longer prius - worse MPG - more room. Auris estate has the same drive train ~ I think ~ but in an estate size. You see quite a few Ubers with these so they must be alright.. though all the reviews say they're very uninspiring..

There are a couple of Lexi... CT200 and CT300 (I think) - the 200 has the same running gear as a prius, but its a lexus. Might be a wee bit small but worth a look? 300 has a larger engine (2.5?) and is more of a saloon - doesnt get as good reviews.

Have a look at the lease hire deals though - you can get a Hyundai iQuonic (I've probably spelt that wrong) for < £200 a month... (about 1.5G deposit then £200 a month for 2 years then give it back)...

There are alot of new hybrid/plug in hybrids coming along right now (Kia Niro - the Hyundai unpronounceable - Mini Countryman - BMW 2 series active tourer - that new Toyota space ship thing etc...) and I'm waiting a year or two until these trickle into the 2nd hand market and half their new price etc.. 

[dave]

Outlander is designed to foil the mpg test cycle. Just about every 'real day' use review shows them to have shocking MPG once the juice runs out. 

Shocking as is worse than any normal 2.0L petrol SUV? There seems to be a lot of them around though, so they must be doing something right.

That Ioniq (as in the bond) looks OK, might be big enough.

Had a look at the leasing deals, seems a good option if you're hell bent on having a brand new car (we're not) and willing to pay the premium. It remains an option though, not sure the Mrs is that keen on it. Horror stories of huge fees for minor scrapes and wear & tear when you hand them back put me off. Or exceeding the mileage.

I think there is a decent sized Vauxhall plug-in but doesn't review too hot. Ideally be nice to stick with a jap or boche motor.

[tommytwotone]

Outlander is designed to foil the mpg test cycle. Just about every 'real day' use review shows them to have shocking MPG once the juice runs out. 

Shocking as is worse than any normal 2.0L petrol SUV? There seems to be a lot of them around though, so they must be doing something right.

That Ioniq (as in the bond) looks OK, might be big enough.

Had a look at the leasing deals, seems a good option if you're hell bent on having a brand new car (we're not) and willing to pay the premium. It remains an option though, not sure the Mrs is that keen on it. Horror stories of huge fees for minor scrapes and wear & tear when you hand them back put me off. Or exceeding the mileage.

I think there is a decent sized Vauxhall plug-in but doesn't review too hot. Ideally be nice to stick with a jap or boche motor.

I'd thought exactly the same thing about cars - our use pattern would be ideal for a full electric (I think we do max 1 100 mile plus journey a year) but a) they're unfeasibly pricey and b) with no off-road parking plugging in becomes problematic.


You're right on lease hire deals - sister-in-law has two cars (albeit heavily discounted through work) but the numbers just don't stack up for me compared to (say) a 3-year old motor of exactly the same shape / model / condition and that's before you factor in the add-ons when you hand it back. She smashed a wing mirror on her Xsara Picasso minibus thing and had to fork out £700 to get it fixed privately.


If I was hell bent on something modern I'd just scout an 18-month to 3 yr old approved second hand model, stick a private plate on it and no-one's any the wiser.


Given clampdown on diesels is imminent but not in immediate future I'd be tempted to go down the standard Passat / Octavia / Exeo TDI route, sweat it and wait for the hybrid tech to become more affordable / well known.