A dilemma, Some help required!

davey101

Hi folks,
I have been going through alot of threads on this forum over the past two weeks and have found them to be a great help in the decision process of buying a car however i still have a dilemma that i cannot solve alone and would be gratefull of some direct advice or informed opinions.
The challenge.... I currently drive a 00 Astra 1.4, which is a grand car for getting from A to B and is fairly reliable its not great on petrol but it is a saloon and with any more than two people in it there is a noticable depletion in power. Currently i do approx 12K a year of mostly short trips. some of the traveling i do requires a fully loaded car and two or three mountain bikes on the bike rack and plenty of hills. now as im sure you can imagine this is when it gets interesting, as the car is just not able for it and is slowly getting the life sucked out of it.
so the dilemma is do i get a diesel that will have the required torque when needed but possibly suffer more due to the lack of mileage? Or get a larger petrol engine? but the thing is im not so sure if a larger petrol engine will suffice. I have been looking at a 1.6 focus or golf, or a 1.6 diesel focus with about €7000 to spend the options are ok with petrol models and high mileage on diesel models. I am basically looking for peoples opinions on here as people i have talked too suggested the likes of A4 tdi or 1.8t, 1.6 Avensis, 320D BMW and 1.8t Passat of which i have an argument against due to size and weight of petrol models and then low milieage being done and high mileage on the cars in my price range. I am starting to favour the Diesel Focus 1.6 unless someone could give the 1.6 petrol a vote of confidence.
Anyway thanks for reading and hopefully something somebody says will help me decide or even eliminate from the list.
Thanks
Dave

impr0v

Just to start this off, I've had two 1.6 petrol Focus's (Focii?) in the past. They were both the older model, in three door. It was the perfect engine for that size of car. In a bigger, 4 or 5 door car, I think it might well be too small. I think that the new model focus is also heavier than the older one. I've driven both the new and old models with a 1.4 petrol engine and both were underpowered, but the new model was woefully so. In short, I doubt that a 1.6 petrol focus will be what you are looking for, but someone who actually drives one at the moment might be better placed to advise you.

davey101

thanks very much for reply and the info, i did think the 1.4 focus would be a bit like the same story with the astra at present and i was also told the older model focus seemed more powerfull than the current model but your right it would be nice to hear from a current model 1.6 focus owner to give thier input. My worry of going to a larger petrol engine "1.8" would be that it would be an alcoholic when it came to petrol as ive never owned a car larger than 1.4 im currently in the dark.
Thanks for your help

Nonoperational

I'd take a standard 1.6 diesel over a standard 1.6 petrol. More drivable.

E39MSport

Hello Davey.

I respect your research and time taking. Kudos.

I drive 'foci' most weeks as renters. I was never fond of Ford but I have to say that the modern Focus uare fine cars. I'd buy one.

The standard petrol is a terror on motorway runs. It screams at 70 mph. Nice about town. The diesel is much much better imo.

I'm sorry but I don't know the engine sizes that Hertz hire out. Go for the diesel.

Good luck.

EPM

If you go for Ghia or Titanium spec in a Focus it will come with a different 1.6 to the LX and Zetec. It's 115 brake as opposed to 99. My father had one and it had plenty of go for the size of car and as petrol engines go was economical. He could easily get mid 40's on a run

R.O.R

Short trips and a diesel don't always go together too well, so you might be better off in a petrol.

I can't remember driving a new model Focus 1.6 petrol, but did drive the older models a few times as rental cars. It was pretty average in my opinion, but worlds better than the 1.4 version.

If you can find any VW/Audi/SEAT/Skoda with the 1.4Tsi engine in budget then that sounds like it would be ideal. Fairly nippy in the Golf/A3 (haven't driven a Skoda version) and will have the extra torque from the Turbo for hills etc, without being too heavy on fuel or Motor Tax.