Opinions please.

jordandy512

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It's time to look for a new car, my 99 Focus Zetec has done me proud for the last 6 years but needs a few quid spending on her. I have pretty much narrowed my choice to an Astra sports hatch sri 1.9cdti (150)xp. The balance of price/looks/performance/economy seem pretty hard to beat. I have had a test drive and was very surprised and impressed. I have driven a couple of new Focus's and have been sadly underwhelmed as I love my Focus and have read that the newer models are an improvement (not in my opinion). Any one have any other suggestions, budget upto £12k, looking at around a 2008.

Thanks

Andy
 
Leon FR, BMW 120, Audi A3 2.0 TDI, Octavia VRs Diesel.

I really like the astra sport hatch, always have. That interior is such a boring place to be though.
 
No real requirements, I do 10k or less per year, mainly traveling to work and back. Would prefer a tdi if I'm honest, I fancy a Focus St, BMW Z4, RX8 or something of that ilk, the Astra gives me some of the performance/looks without the terrible fuel consumption. I do like the Seat etc, just think I would get less car for the cash with them being VW based.

Thanks for the replies so far, will have a little research on some of those suggested.

Andy
 
No real requirements, I do 10k or less per year, mainly traveling to work and back. Would prefer a tdi if I'm honest, I fancy a Focus St, BMW Z4, RX8 or something of that ilk, the Astra gives me some of the performance/looks without the terrible fuel consumption. I do like the Seat etc, just think I would get less car for the cash with them being VW based.
If you're thinking Z4, how about a 986 Boxster (well, how many people in threads like this don't recommend their own car ;))? Should get you into a 2003 (facelift) 2.7 from a decent garage.
 
I think you guys are missing the point, I'm not prepared to put up with 20/25 to the gallon.

Andy
 
I think you guys are missing the point, I'm not prepared to put up with 20/25 to the gallon.

Andy
Ah, I misunderstood your post about RX8, Z4, ST - I thought you were saying that they were options you were considering, not that they were out.

So, you do have requirements for fuel consumption.

The 2.7 Boxster is 28mpg combined (and I can easily get over 30 on the motorway in my 3.2, if I stick to the speed limit).
 
I wanted something similar, went for a Mondeo ST TDCi. I like it and there should be some very good ones around for that money - but they would be the last of the old shape - 155 bhp and you should get 40+ mpg. The new shape titanium ones might be a bit too pricey (and big for that matter!). Personally I thought I was getting more for my money than with a VAG car.
 
How about a Renault Megane 2.0 dCi GT.

150 Bhp 2 litre diesel. A colleague drives on and gets 42mpg with a mix of town and motorways. Isn't the most feather footed eithier.

Although I have no experience with them, maybe a Honda Civic 2.2 i-CDTI.

Quite a few on Autotrader for under £12k although they are around 2007/2008. There are quite a few with 30K or less on the clock as well.
 
The GM 1.9 CDTi is a great engine in 150 bhp guise. I thought it was pretty good when I experienced it.

I just found the Vauxhall interior to be a little badly designed (arm rest extended + handbrake = no go in the Vectra; vanity mirror points at something other than the person looking at it; gear knob plastic surround popped off all the time; seats made of granite ... ), and what was most surprising was the fact that they handled really poorly compared to the Focus.

However, I'm going to take a different approach and not suggest a MKII Focus, even though I drive one. Not for any other reason than you suggest you want a warmish diesel hatch; the Focus 2.0 TDCi is far from this, even though the drive is great.

The Leon FR 2.0 TDI 170 bhp is the one to go for in my opinion - that's what I'd get if I had to have something else tomorrow.
 
corsa vxr

you can check for 0-60 and that etc on Car Facts & Figures | Car Specifications, Dimensions & Performance | Car Specs - Parker's

escort cosworth are very nice cars

didnt think a z4 could do mre then 30mpg

corsa vxr do 35mpg


As above,you'd be surprised at the mileage you can get out of a relatively modern engine.....my S3 is remapped to over 360bhp and will still turn out 30+mpg.

The Escort Cosworth was a great car in it's day,but that day is now long past.

I owned a very highly modified one for some years,but I certainly would NOT recommend even a standard one(assuming you could find one now that hadn't been nicked,thrashed or modified) to anyone,who wasn't fully aware of the costs of owning and running one.

The Leon TDi is an excellent car,and with a remap,will become a very decent car indeed,with better build quality than the Astra as well.

These days,diesels do offer excellent economy and performance.
 
Ok since i own one i'm going to say Z4, Mines only a 2.0 and without hanging around i got 43mpg on the motorway going down to cornwall from the midlands, theres nothing in the 2.5/3.0 and both will return high 30's on the motorway.
 
Unfortunately the majority of my mileage is covered driving to work and back, around 8 miles each way with a quarter of that sat in traffic, motorway mileage is really of little relevance. The Leon is a good shout, over my budget though unfortunately, can't stretch to 12k for a 2007 and there doesn't seem to be many of them about either. i would say that I am getting <30 mpg from my Focus at the moment so I really can't see me getting anywhere near that from something a little warmer.

Andy
 
Unfortunately the majority of my mileage is covered driving to work and back, around 8 miles each way with a quarter of that sat in traffic, motorway mileage is really of little relevance. The Leon is a good shout, over my budget though unfortunately, can't stretch to 12k for a 2007 and there doesn't seem to be many of them about either. i would say that I am getting <30 mpg from my Focus at the moment so I really can't see me getting anywhere near that from something a little warmer.

Andy

The Leon TDI can be had for less than £12k - are you perchance looking at the national used SEAT website? They're badly priced if so.

It'll give you 35-40 mpg or thereabouts on work runs and easily high 40's to 50 on the longer runs.
 
The engine in the astra is a Fiat engine and really needs FSH to be sure of a goodun.

Liam
 
The engine in the astra is a Fiat engine and really needs FSH to be sure of a goodun.

Liam

It was co-developed as an agreement between GM and Fiat, but it seems that the bulk of it is down to Fiat.

And you're now about the 12th person to say about reliability issues - certainly food for thought.
 
With the mileage you have said you do (10k-ish) then why bother with a diesel at all? As you are also stuck in traffic a lot it makes no sense as you wont get the benefits of great MPG that a motorway run will give you. Get yourself the equivilant petrol varient (they are usually cheaper to buy too) or upgrade to something you really want...
 

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