Another recommend me a car thread

Atomic Pineapple

After buying a diesel only 6 months ago to deal with a weekly commute of 600 - 700km from next week circumstances will have changed and I will only have a weekly commute of 100 - 200km.

So I am looking into the possibility of switching back to a petrol.

Previous car was a Ford Focus ST and I currently drive a Ford Focus TDCI to give some context.

I don't mind the Focus TDCI apart from one major thing which is the power delivery. Going back to a petrol car with a relatively nice bit of power and a nice smooth power delivery would be great.

With that in mind here's what I'm looking for:

• While my commute is short I still need it to be reliable enough to start every morning.
• It needs to be relatively modern and comfortable, the TDCI Focus is 2010 but I don't mind going down a few years for a car.
• Only willing to pay high running costs and tax if its something exceptional.
• Needs to be relatively powerful, ideally I'd like something to match the Focus ST I had but realistically I'd be happy with something more powerful than the TDCI (115) and with a nicer power delivery.
• Budget is €12-€14k

A couple of caveats, while a lot of my criteria points to a Golf GTi, they aren't for me, I am aware of their merits but they just don't do it for me, secondly I could pick up a cheap ST these days but that doesn't interest me for some reason so they're out too.

Anything recommendations outside of these welcomed.

JohnBoy26

Honda Civic type r?

Matthewjohn

Astra Opc?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/07-opel-astra-2-0-turbo-opc-nct-1-15/5915280

thecomedian

A BMW 335i?

the cats pajamas

those astras are hansome

DuckSlice

and fast too. i presume they are the opel version of vxr? i remember having a bit of a drag race with one when i had the subaru, i was running 340bhp i dont know what he was running but he wasnt far behind me when we called it a day. lovely car.

jayunot777

I always liked the french hot hatchs, A megane R26 ?..

bazz26

Golf GTi DSG, you should be able to get a decent 07/08 on that budget. Decent performance with relatively modest hot hatch running costs.

thecomedian

bazz26 wrote: »

Golf GTi DSG, you should be able to get a decent 07/08 on that budget. Decent performance with relatively modest hot hatch running costs.

The Op has stated that they don't want a golf though.

bazz26

thecomedian wrote: »

The Op has stated that they don't want a golf though.

Ops, seemed to miss that vital bit on a subconscious level.

Bigus

Sell the focus, buy a cheapie and a nice road bike for the spring and go racing in mondello with the balance.

deckycoop

How about the 170bhp Skoda vrs Octavia. Diesel with a great look and the comfort of cheap running cost

Atomic Pineapple

I might as well keep he Focus if staying with diesel though as its "good enough" for me.

No bikes, I wouldn't know where to begin with one!

bazz26

What about a Mazda RX-8:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Mazda/RX8/RX-8/36813779514045130/

Atomic Pineapple

Nah I guess I should have stated I'm looking for a bit more of a "grown up" type car is that makes sense.

bazz26

BMW E92 325i:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/BMW/3-Series/325-325I/201344219321765/

Atomic Pineapple

More like it but I'd like to try and keep the tax bill under 1k a year unless it's something special I can get for cheap to offset the high tax costs

MadYaker

What do you mean by special?

I don't think special and cheap generally go together. Unless its special, cheap and broken :P

Atomic Pineapple

MadYaker wrote: »

What do you mean by special?

I don't think special and cheap generally go together. Unless its special, cheap and broken :P

This is true, I mean for example if M5's were cheap enough to be under budget with a few K left to cover a year or two of the high tax then that's something I'd be willing to look at, obviously they aren't but thats just an example, so just sticking that in there in case there's a car that has depreciated seriously badly to be within budget but is still a really good sports orientated car that I haven't thought of.

MadYaker

You'd probably get an e39 M5 for your budget. 5.0 V8 and 400bhp. Id definitely consider that special.

toyotaavensis

I get on well with the old avensis. It is a very grown up car. There are days I think about selling it and buying an alfa but that said it the avensis is not the worst car out there.