i30 or Astra - New car

heathersonline

Hi all,

Can anyone give any opinions on the following. Friend is currently driving a 07 passat which is in excellent condition. He's looking to buy a brand new car and trade the passat (mind is made up, no chance of him keeping the passat).

He's gotten the choice down to two cars.

1.4l petrol Opel Astra hatchback
1.4l petrol Hyundai i30.

Both cars are brand new and only €200 in the difference after trade in (Opel are offering a great trade in price but the car is registered to the garage meaning he will be the second owner. This doesn't bother him)

Question is, which would you go or? Both are new models and look really well, have very efficient engines etc. I'm thinking the Opel from a resale perspective but there may not be that much in the difference, especially since he plans to keep it for 5 years or so. Opel have agreed to match hyundai's 5 year warranty which is a big selling point for him also.

Car will most likely e bought on Monday so would welcome any thoughts or advise?

MetzgerMeister

Garages are not registered in the VLC as being an owner of the car so your friend will be the first owner.

Tea 1000

I'd go with the Astra, I think the new i30 is a bit of an "almost there" design.

heathersonline

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Garages are not registered in the VLC as being an owner of the car so your friend will be the first owner.

Interesting, the sales guy seemed to e thinking they'd be shown as a registered owner.

MetzgerMeister

heathersonline wrote: »

Interesting, the sales guy seemed to e thinking they'd be shown as a registered owner.

I read it on here somewhere before that this is not the case.

road_high

No fan of the Passat myself but it seems a bit of a come-down to either of these. As you say he's mind is made up

heathersonline

road_high wrote: »

No fan of the Passat myself but it seems a bit of a come-down to either of these. As you say he's mind is made up

The passat is a 1.6 petrol and I agree these cars would not be as good as it but he doesn't need that size of a car any more so wants something smaller, both engine and space wise.

MuppetCheck

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Garages are not registered in the VLC as being an owner of the car so your friend will be the first owner.

My father ordered a new car that the garage demo'd for a discount and he's going to be the second owner.

Terrontress

They register it in the name of a garage employee to meet their sales targets. The amount they get in bonus for meeting their target is greater than the loss incurred in registering them.

heathersonline

Thanks for the above so far. Any opinion on what's a better car to go for? Engine, safety & resale wise

MetzgerMeister

MuppetCheck wrote: »

My father ordered a new car that the garage demo'd for a discount and he's going to be the second owner.

In that case, what I read must have been in relation to cars that weren't used as demos so.

corkcity

bought my car this week 2012 astra gtc .car was registered to the actual garage with no previous owners .is it right i will be the second owner

JohnBoy26

The Hyundai I30 without a shadow of a doubt would be my choice.

MetzgerMeister

As MuppetCheck clarified, if the car was used by the dealer as a demo, then it is registered to them and they are the first owner. If it's just a car for sale that has delivery miles on it, then the customer is the first owner.

If it was my money, I'd be going for the i30 and not only because of the 5 years warranty but because I prefer the look if it to the Astra. That's not to say that the astra is a bad car, far from it but that's just me

heathersonline

Have there been any early issues with either car does anyone know? He only does small mileage so I've steered him clear of the Diesel. If there's no issues with either I think I'll advise him to go with the Hyundai as well, it's a good looking car. Both warranties are the same Although hyundai are also offering 5 years AA cover as well as the warranty

Matthewjohn

I would also pick the i30 because of the 5 year warranty.You also said you don't think the Hyundai's resale value would be quite as good as the Opel's I would think that the Hyundai in a few years time would be better than the Opel.

MetzgerMeister

You say your friend is buying a brand new car so there would be very little to go wrong with either. They are both well into their lives now, with the astra being on the market for longer but the i30 is a very well put together car and they have a good reliability record. Also, good work on telling your friend that he/she doesn't need a diesel

heathersonline

Matthewjohn wrote: »

I would also pick the i30 because of the 5 year warranty.You also said you don't think the Hyundai's resale value would be quite as good as the Opel's I would think that the Hyundai in a few years time would be better than the Opel.

When the Opel dealer got wind he'd been to Hyundai he immediatly offered to match their warranty. I think both are around the 100bhp mark as well. Suppose it's just down to his personal preference at this stage. The interiors in both seem quite similar but it looks like there's more kit as standard in the Hyundai (bluetooth anyway)

bazz26

OP, afaik the Astra just got a mid life very small facelift along with the launch of the saloon model, is this the one the Opel dealer is selling you or the pre facelift model? What is the spec like on both models? I would imagine the spec on the i30 would be slightly higher especially if both are entry level models. Has he looked at the Kia Ceed, its the sister car of the i30 and basically the same underneath? The Ceed has a 7 year warranty too. The Ford Focus 1.0 litre EcoBoost might be worth a look at too.

My uncle bought a new shape Astra 1.4 back in early 2010 and while it was a grand car he found it very underpowered and eventually traded it. The turbo version has a good bit more go in it but costs a bit more to buy than the standard 1.4 litre.

colm_mcm

I find the salesman just adding extra warranty on a bit odd.

If the car is registered to the garage, taxed and sold again, then that's two owners on the book.

MuppetCheck

Isn't there a 5 year warranty on Opels now anyway?

JohnBoy26

Even if the Opel comes with a five year warranty id still go with the Hyundai. Now im not saying the astra is a bad car or anything but the I30 is just a much nicer car imo.

heathersonline

I'm gnna try get him to check out the focus tomorrow before he makes his decision. Not sure what the price difference will be but shouldn't be huge I hope

MuppetCheck

heathersonline wrote: »

I'm gnna try get him to check out the focus tomorrow before he makes his decision. Not sure what the price difference will be but shouldn't be huge I hope

I like fords a lot...but the current focus is awful in anything but the high spec models, and the interior is a step down in quality from the mark 2. In saying that it's very solid and pretty quiet inside, and I think the ride quality is exceptionally good on rough roads for its class.

If it was my money and I wanted something to do the job it would be a kia ceed. My father bought one recently and apart from not being much fun to drive its very hard to fault.

Bpmull

I'd go for the Opel I just prefer the look of the new astra. Both are fairly reliable cars with the same warranty. There is not much between them. The i30 is a nice car too though.

JohnBoy26

MuppetCheck wrote: »

I like fords a lot...but the current focus is awful in anything but the high spec models, and the interior is a step down in quality from the mark 2. In saying that it's very solid and pretty quiet inside, and I think the ride quality is exceptionally good on rough roads for its class.

If it was my money and I wanted something to do the job it would be a kia ceed. My father bought one recently and apart from not being much fun to drive its very hard to fault.

Those are really good cars and are the same car mechanically as the I30.

As for the new focus, the hatchback is quiet ugly imo but the saloon isn't too bad looking. I'd have the cee'd or the I30 over one any day though.