€10k- Out of ideas for sporty car

cantdecide

With maintenance and repairs for my ‘cheap’ cars averaging €55/ week (!) for the last two years it’s time to come up with another plan. I’m going to try to borrow €10k and buy a used car if I can so I can get ahead for once. I’m sick of being penniless while trying to maintain and improve heaps of junk.

It must be;
1. Practical (4+ doors), speccy and comfortable yet,
2. Sporty. Pride of ownership is crucial
3. Require nothing more than routine maintenance for the foreseeable future (or something like 12 months anyway).
4. Have a decent warranty if at all possible.
5. It must be a good, clean, low mileage example for the budget.
6. It must be future proof from a tax point of view (ie like a low emitting diesel). I don’t want to worry about being screwed because it’s a 6 pot petrol because,
7. I want hold onto it for several years (which is unusual for me- I average 1.4 cars per year!).


I’m not fussed about performance, fuel consumption or road tax (within reason). I will really only use it for a short commute. I don’t have kids or any of that nonsense.

Eg, I’ve seen a ’06 Passat DSG 2.0tdi sport with low mileage and FSH which has taken my fancy. I would consider 5 door hatches but in particular, I have a hard spot for estates.

Atomic Pineapple

cantdecide wrote: »

Eg, I’ve seen a ’06 Passat DSG 2.0tdi sport with low mileage and FSH which has taken my fancy. I would consider 5 door hatches but in particular, I have a hard spot for estates.

I'm confused, you mention a sporty car in the title and then post a Passat as a consideration?

Shane732

draffodx wrote: »

I'm confused, you mention a sporty car in the title and then post a Passat as a consideration?

The Passat is almost as sporty looking as the Gran Turismo...

cadaliac

Well if you are looking for a car that won't cost you much in repairs (or a warranty for 12 months) you better just forget about the whole Passat thing.
Seriously, forget about it. It will break you.

Zubeneschamali

Something like this BMW 320d Touring?

Lord Derpington

cantdecide wrote: »

I would consider 5 door hatches but in particular, I have a hard spot for estates.

I think you mean soft spot a hard spot is something different altogether.....

What about something like this



A4 Avant, example

thirtythirty

How about a new-style Civic?

The 1.8 i-vtec averages 35mpg (55ish on motorways), 155g Co2, 140bhp.
Servicing is cheap, especially since you don't need OEM parts, and honda's are known for their reliability. Plus decent residuals.

They come pretty high spec interior - ES version i think has MP3 and bluetooth as standard, leather seats etc. GIANT boot, and it doesn't seem to be dating in terms of looks really...

e.g.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/1.8-EX-S/201046200227592/advert?channel=CARS

or

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/1.8I-SE-/201102200821951/advert?channel=CARS

colm_mcm

draffodx wrote: »

I'm confused, you mention a sporty car in the title and then post a Passat as a consideration?

GAA is a sport too :-)

um7y1h83ge06nx

I reckon if you were thinking of a Passat, go for an Octavia VRS TDI instead.

I'm looking at the same sort of thing and was thinking of a Honda Accord 2.0 Petrol (Or you could look at the 2.2 Diesel).

Another car on my list is the Celica Sport (190bhp), but the number of doors means that's not suitable for you.

cantdecide

greenfly wrote: »

...a hard spot is something different altogether...

What's a pun between friends

greenfly wrote: »

...What about something like this A4 Avant...

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Something like this BMW 320d Touring?

I've considered both but they would have to be in S line of mTech spec, respectively or they just won't float my boat.

cadaliac wrote: »

Well if you are looking for a car that won't cost you much in repairs (or a warranty for 12 months) you better just forget about the whole Passat thing.
Seriously, forget about it. It will break you.

That bad?

spottyelephant wrote: »

...How about a new-style Civic?...

Been looking at a couple of those online. That black one looks class.

Andrea Tight Peddle wrote: »

I reckon if you were thinking of a Passat, go for an Octavia VRS TDI...I'm looking at a Honda Accord 2.0 Petrol (Or you could look at the 2.2 Diesel)...

Both of those cars seem to still command a premium. Alsi, any example I look at seem to have some achilles heel like being over-modded or migh mileage...

stevenmu

What about an RX8? You'd get a very good one for that price. They've four doors with genuinely usable back seats, and a good sized boot. They're comfortable with a good spec: heated electric leather seats, auto climate control, Bose in dash 6 CD changer with good speakers and subwoofer, 18" alloys, Xenons, electric sunroof all standard.

They're pretty quick, 231bhp. Rear wheel drive with tons of grip and fantastic handling, a real joy to drive. And accelerating up to 9000+ RPM in second gear brings a huge smile every time.

They're not bad maintenance wise, you have to check the oil every few weeks, and top it up a little every so often, the rotary engine uses a little oil in the combustion cycle so it's by design. Other than that they need spark plugs and coils every 30,000 miles or so and not a lot else.

They're not great on fuel though, you'll probably get ~18-20 mpg, so not good if you do a lot of miles.

A bit sportier than a Passat though. They look stunning (imho, looks are very subjective), and definitely something to take a bit of pride in.

thirtythirty

stevenmu wrote: »

What about an RX8? You'd get a very good one for that price. They've four doors with genuinely usable back seats, and a good sized boot. They're comfortable with a good spec: heated electric leather seats, auto climate control, Bose in dash 6 CD changer with good speakers and subwoofer, 18" alloys, Xenons, electric sunroof all standard.

They're pretty quick, 231bhp. Rear wheel drive with tons of grip and fantastic handling, a real joy to drive. And accelerating up to 9000+ RPM in second gear brings a huge smile every time.

They're not bad maintenance wise, you have to check the oil every few weeks, and top it up a little every so often, the rotary engine uses a little oil in the combustion cycle so it's by design. Other than that they need spark plugs and coils every 30,000 miles or so and not a lot else.

They're not great on fuel though, you'll probably get ~18-20 mpg, so not good if you do a lot of miles.

A bit sportier than a Passat though. They look stunning (imho, looks are very subjective), and definitely something to take a bit of pride in.

I changed my RX8 for a Civic literally last week. Absolutely loved the RX, but I'm gonna be doing a lot of driving this year and the fuel was just gonna be too much tbh. Plus, didn't wanna rack up huge mileage on the rotary and risk problems.

OP, as far as the RX goes, I had mine for 2 1/2 years and never had any real costs outside of normal servicing. But, that was because of lots of little continual maintanence on my part and minding the engine. The car is one of the best in Ireland, but if reliability is a big aspect of your decision, you'd need to be prepared to really look after it yourself. One concern about the RX is in 2013 when Road Tax is reviewed, whether or not they extend emissions based charges down to 2000 or 2001...

The Civic obv doesn't perform as well as the RX, and the ride is higher and lighter, but it's still excellent IMO. The interior is just as nice, and the (almost) guaranteed reliability is a major plus.

Treehouse72

stevenmu wrote: »

What about an RX8? You'd get a very good one for that price.

etc...

I did a lot of research on the RX-8 a few months ago and came to the conclusion that for most normal, non-enthusiast drivers it is a slightly risky route to go down.

For starters you don't want a pre-2005 model because the '03 and '04 ones had numerous problems. That in itself thins the field of available Rex's.

Second, I know it may be overstated somewhat, but the rotary engine does seem to need more care and attention than most normal drivers (i.e. non-petrolheads) would be prepared to put into it. Certainly, when I thought about quickly popping out for a pint of milk the whole issue with flooding the engine (the requirement to start and stop the engine warm) did bother me a bit - not ideal for a quick run to Spar and back.

Third, you really can't put that much mileage onto them if you ever want to re-sell it because most that are for sale - for some reason - have very modest mileage. Like, 30k - 50k. If you get one today with that on the clock and put 20k onto it in a year or two you end up with a noticeably higher mileage than the competition and might find it hard to sell.

Fourth, you might need specialist maintenance.

Funfair

spottyelephant wrote: »

How about a new-style Civic?

The 1.8 i-vtec averages 35mpg (55ish on motorways), 155g Co2, 140bhp.
Servicing is cheap, especially since you don't need OEM parts, and honda's are known for their reliability. Plus decent residuals.

They come pretty high spec interior - ES version i think has MP3 and bluetooth as standard, leather seats etc. GIANT boot, and it doesn't seem to be dating in terms of looks really...

e.g.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/1.8-EX-S/201046200227592/advert?channel=CARS

or

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/1.8I-SE-/201102200821951/advert?channel=CARS

That second car ticks all the boxes bar the waranty

good find spotty..

qz

You want a sporty car but not a performance car? Oxymoron?

cantdecide

draffodx wrote: »

I'm confused, you mention a sporty car in the title and then post a Passat as a consideration?

qz wrote: »

You want a sporty car but not a performance car? Oxymoron?

I mean a car with sports suspension, sizeable alloys, semi-bucket seats and similar appointments. ie sporty. Mtech beemers, s-line audis, avantgarde mercs. I thought it was obvious what I meant. Sorry.

keithclancy

Funfair wrote: »

That second car ticks all the boxes bar the waranty

good find spotty..

Ugh .. christ .. f*cking state of that civic .

Atomic Pineapple

cantdecide wrote: »

I mean a car with sports suspension, sizeable alloys, semi-bucket seats and similar appointments. ie sporty. Mtech beemers, s-line audis, avantgarde mercs. I thought it was obvious what I meant. Sorry.

Sorry but thats a car that looks nice, not a car thats sporty to me!

colm_mcm

I think that civic looks great, lovely wheels and cream interior.

OP, negotiate a few hundred off and use it for an aa inspection and mapfre warranty.

Funfair

keithclancy wrote: »

Ugh .. christ .. f*cking state of that civic .

lol your having a laugh

thirtythirty

Funfair wrote: »

lol your having a laugh

Probably an Octavia driver

Tea 1000

If you want to keep it reliable, then I'd suggest you look at the petrol VRS rather than the diesel one. It's a little quicker, quieter, nicer power delivery, more reliable and cheaper to buy.
But if you want a really decent sports saloon, wait another few months and you may find a Mazda 6 MPS.

zac8

colm_mcm wrote: »

I think that civic looks great, lovely wheels and cream interior.

OP, negotiate a few hundred off and use it for an aa inspection and mapfre warranty.

In this market you've got to be looking to get at least a grand off that.