Car Brands.Which one to choose?

imprint

Looking to buy my first NEW (2010) car. I was looking at a city run-around, i have a fair amount to play with, so if you could help me out what would you go with in my situation?

EPM

Clios are really good value at the moment and pretty reliable despite what many say.

Mr Benevolent

Need more details. Diesel/Petrol? Manual/Auto? Saloon/Hatch? Small/Medium? Budget?In the absence of all that information, I'd go with a new Ford Focus or Fiesta. None of the brands above are reliable enough to be worth buying brand new. Audi and VW are exactly the same cars, you'd be a chump to pay a premium for a Polo or Golf (A1 or A3).

If it's just a runaround I'd buy Asian, Ford or Renault.

bladespin

VW polo, great first car, avoid the others, they're overpriced and not really the best cars to learn in (get something wrong and it can be expensive).

imprint

Mini

im thinking more along the lines of what brand i should go with at the moment before i think of models. trying to look at what brand to trust for my first new car!!!

Mr Benevolent

imprint wrote: »

im thinking more along the lines of what brand i should go with at the moment before i think of models. trying to look at what brand to trust for my first new car!!!

The brands you mentioned above have generally poor reliability in the long run.

Atomic Pineapple

imprint wrote: »

im thinking more along the lines of what brand i should go with at the moment before i think of models. trying to look at what brand to trust for my first new car!!!

Why!? A brand doesn't automatically mean a car that fits your requirements, looking at models makes much more sense.

And anyway from the brands in your poll, Audi and VW are both from the VAG stable so are practically the same and BMW own Mini! :rolleyes:

Cionád

Surely you should look at the options which suit your needs rather than a marque?

City run around could be:
Ford Ka
Fiat 500
Toyota Aygo

And a little bigger:
SEAT Ibiza
VW Polo
Skoda Fabia
Citroen DS3
Ford Fiesta

Fizman

I'd go for the new Polo myself as well. Good looking little car. In saying that, there are a few lookers out there amongst the new hatches (Megane coupe being one).

Ardennes1944

Mini

grande punto!

imprint

Mini

yeah i kno what your sayin, dont want to end up with a birds car though..... saw the Audi a1 the new one and i liked the look, surely audi are reliable in the long run? would have thought they would have been the safest as well....

pajo1981

I reckon a honda would you to a tee.

cantdecide

How long will you keep it for? This is critical.

In reality, a new supermini is a riduculously common sight in this country. I'd buy a reasonably priced 3 year old family hatch. They are FAR better value than all the heavily taxed, expensive superminis even if you can't have that new car smell.

My advice is that while you live in this country, you need a minimum Golf/ Focus sized car. I know a woman who thinks she needs a Ka because she works/ parks in the city. The 20 mile commute to the city means nothing to her:rolleyes:

PS- I didn't vote cos the poll won't help you to teh correct decision.

MetzgerMeister

You might consider the Hyundai i30. 7 year warranty and a lovely car.

Johnboy1951

City run about or occasional jaunts ...... I would buy the Skoda Fabia ..... petrol or diesel as suits .... my own preference would be for diesel ...

bladespin

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

City run about or occasional jaunts ...... I would buy the Skoda Fabia ..... petrol or diesel as suits .... my own preference would be for diesel ...

Don't use a diesel as a city car, even with the occasional jaunt, if you're not opening them up regularly you'll have problems.

Idleater

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

grande punto!

Alfa MiTo

Or Opel Corsa/Grande Punto. All 3 are the same underneath.

Fiat 500 would by my choice for pure "city" car.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Gotta say, I absolutely LOVE my VW Polo - cracking wee car.

johnos1984

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Gotta say, I absolutely LOVE my VW Polo - cracking wee car.

I've just handed back the keys to one after having it as a rental for a week.

Nice car, easy to drive and never gave any trouble as regards handling/speed.........as they say the fastest car is a rental

However what i would say is avoid the 1.2l engine and get something bigger with a good spec. All the car you will need in a great package but get a stronger engine

johnos1984

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

grande punto

The new EVO is a nice car from what I've seen.

On top of that if it goes wrong (all of those German brands will go wrong and more so than the Punto) it will be a hell of a lot cheaper to fix.

You could even afford a Punto Essesse

sollar

We have a big obsession in this country with german cars. I was on holidays recently and all i seen was french cars (and it wasn't france) and they looked great but i suppose everything does in the sun.

I think you could look at Peugeot's, Citroens, Fords too, I really like the ford focus's, i wouldn't rule out mazda either.

But when all's said and done if i had the money now i'd be getting a 2010 VW Golf.

johnos1984

sollar wrote: »

But when all's said and done if i had the money now i'd be getting a 2010 VW Golf.

I really would urge people to consider a higher spec Polo over the Golf having had one for a week.

I was very impressed with it and unless you really need more space I think with a bigger engine it would be a great car. Its not small either......but then again most small cars aren't nowadays

spank_inferno

The Alfa Mito or the VW polo (wasnt that european car of the year?)

Zubeneschamali

imprint wrote: »

dont want to end up with a birds car though

That's the Suzuki Swift ruled out, then.

Zubeneschamali

johnos1984 wrote: »

I was very impressed with it and unless you really need more space I think with a bigger engine it would be a great car.

They don't do a bigger petrol, do they?

I think it's just the 1.2 with a turbo.

johnos1984

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

They don't do a bigger petrol, do they?

I think it's just the 1.2 with a turbo.

The one I had was just a base 1.2l with no TURDO fitted.

If its not a 3 cylinder I'd imagine it would be fine but ideally I'd prefer it with the 1.4tsi engine. It would certainly be a great car then.

The 3 cylinder is gutless and unrefined and it let the car down as the rest of the package was there if a little bland

But as everyone knows all they need to supply Ireland with is a baseline model

EDIT: Just checked the VW website, Ireland gets a 1.2l TSI (4 cylinder) as its biggest petrol engine while the UK gets a 1.4l and a 1.4l TSI. The car is nice but needs more power than a boggo spec 1.2l 3 cylinder

mickdw

If you plan to change car again after warranty period, well vw will stand you reasonable well in terms of holding its value.
If you plan to keep the car outside warranty, I would avoid all of the above. A better option would maybe be a ford focus or fiesta. Less possibility of an expensive repair IMO.

Zubeneschamali

mickdw wrote: »

If you plan to keep the car outside warranty, I would avoid all of the above.

Is there something horrible I haven't heard about Minis reliability? I've an 06 Cooper, and I don't see the issue: no turbos, DMFs, DPFs or other obvious weak points.

I know some earlier ones had a weak gearbox, but that's sorted now.

positron

Honda

Zubeneschamali

positron wrote: »

Honda

Bless you.