Golf /A3/C30

miller82

Hey Folks,

Looking at getting a new car.

The three i am drawn towards are the golf, the A3 and the c30.
The budget is ideally 6-8.5k, but could possibly look at going slightly higher.
I'm far from a petrol head, but so far i have made the following additional wish lists based on looking at various car sites in that price range
year 2007-2009
mileage - less than 85000
NCT at least one yer.

Sound right ???

In terms of the three cars :
Golf : have a serious horn for the 1.4 GT - anyone any views on these versions ?
is the 1.4 comfortline a bit sluggish ?
would be happy enough with a 1.6 , ideally 3 dorr, but plenty of 5 doors out there.
A3 - hard to get in that range and seem over priced versus the golf
C30 - a bit like marmite for people, but i like them. would love an r-design. they are hard to come by in general and don't know anyone that has or had one. anyone any thoughts on them ?

slight side-note - I am trying to trade/sell my old wagon :
98D honda civic coupe
no NCT
well looked after though
sun roof
alloys
115,000 miles on the clock
what could i expect for it ?

Sooo.... just wondering if people more in the know would think i'm on the right path track here in terms of my expectations and what I am aiming a couple of evenings during the week and weekends.



would love to hear any thoughts

noelf

With only 115000 km on your civic i think you should nct it and if no problems keep it ..

miller82

typo

115,000 miles :P

to be honest if it passed i probably would keep it even with that mileage, but fairly sure its goosed on exhaust, shocks and tyres

bazz26

Interior of the C30 is alot smaller than the A3 or Golf. The C30 also has 2 individual rear seats rather than a conventional bench.

A3 and Golf are pretty much the same car underneath the different styling. Standard 1.4 80bhp engine in the Golf is a woefully sluggish. 1.4 TSi with 122bhp is rare enough but worth finding in either the Golf or A3. Golf 1.4 Tsi twin charger 140bhp or 170bhp are troublesome and best avoided.

What about a 3dr Honda Civic:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201510231495955/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201509231385757/

1.8 engine has 140bhp and they are great on fuel and uber reliable. 3dr is very smart looking and a 08 only costs €390 to tax.

miller82

bazz26 wrote: »

Interior of the C30 is alot smaller than the A3 or Golf. The C30 also has 2 individual rear seats rather than a conventional bench.

A3 and Golf are pretty much the same car underneath the different styling. Standard 1.4 80bhp engine in the Golf is a woefully sluggish. 1.4 TSi with 122bhp is rare enough but worth finding in either the Golf or A3. Golf 1.4 Tsi twin charger 140bhp or 170bhp are troublesome and best avoided.

What about a 3dr Honda Civic:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201510231495955/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201509231385757/

1.8 engine has 140bhp and they are great on fuel and uber reliable. 3dr is very smart looking and a 08 only costs €390 to tax.

Thanks for all the info, appreciate it.

The inside size of the c30 wouldnt bother me too much.
Thanks for the pointers on the golfs.

I cant figure out if i love or hate those civics

also..... have you heard much of the 1.4 GT ??

bazz26

That model Civic's styling is either love it or hate it alright but to be fair the two examples I posted are not showing it in the best light.

I think they look way nicer in red:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201505230613376/

miller82

have you heard much of the golf 1.4 GT ??

bazz26

The GT started out as a warm version of the GTi with 3 versions of the 1.4 TSi engine - 122bhp, 140bhp and 170bhp. The 140bhp and 170bhp versions were both super and turbo charged but these engines are troublesome and best avoided imo. The 122bhp version is very rare.

Then VW introduced the GT as a trim level on the Golf and fitted it with the old underpowered 1.4 litre 80bhp engine.

miller82

bazz26 wrote: »

The GT started out as a warm version of the GTi with 3 versions of the 1.4 TSi engine - 122bhp, 140bhp and 170bhp. The 140bhp and 170bhp versions were both super and turbo charged but these engines are troublesome and best avoided imo. The 122bhp version is very rare.

Then VW introduced the GT as a trim level on the Golf and fitted it with the old underpowered 1.4 litre 80bhp engine.

hhhmmm, not overly encouraging in terms of the golfs. thanks again

bazz26

If you can find a decent spec 122bhp TSi then it's worth looking at but they are scarce. The same engine was in the A3 from about 2008 onwards but you will pay more for an A3.

A few here:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Golf/GOLF-GT/201451229542178/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Golf/GOLF-GT/201510231605790/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Golf/GT-1.4/61914059597711070/

miller82

bazz26 wrote: »

If you can find a decent spec 122bhp TSi then it's worth looking at but they are scarce. The same engine was in the A3 from about 2008 onwards but you will pay more for an A3.

A few here:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Golf/GOLF-GT/201451229542178/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Golf/GOLF-GT/201510231605790/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Golf/GT-1.4/61914059597711070/

Cheers for all the info bazz. great help.

opening up to the idea of a three door civic now and moving away from the GT golf as it will more than likely cost close to 10k.

A3 - probably wont happen due to budget/value/price
Golf - would love to find a three door 1.6 comfortline or possibly 5 door. probably still no most likely due to sheer volume in the country
Civic - 3 door - hard to find the 3 doors and they seem to hold their value, which is good and bad obviously, but certainly on the table now
c30- hard to come by but definitely still an option

bazz26

Kia Procee'd is within budget too:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/pro_ceed/1.4-EX/74714096595411070/

colm_mcm

bazz26 wrote: »

Interior of the C30 is alot smaller than the A3 or Golf. The C30 also has 2 individual rear seats rather than a conventional bench.

A3 and Golf are pretty much the same car underneath the different styling. Standard 1.4 80bhp engine in the Golf is a woefully sluggish. 1.4 TSi with 122bhp is rare enough but worth finding in either the Golf or A3. Golf 1.4 Tsi twin charger 140bhp or 170bhp are troublesome and best avoided.

What about a 3dr Honda Civic:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201510231495955/
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8-TYPE/201509231385757/


1.8 engine has 140bhp and they are great on fuel and uber reliable. 3dr is very smart looking and a 08 only costs €390 to tax.

3 door civics cost more to tax on emissions than 5 doors - €570

miller82

anyone any thoughts/experience of the c30 r-design 1.8 /2007 ?

Thanks in advance

bazz26

The C30 uses the Ford Focus platform and most of it's engines too. If the 1.8 is the 1.8f then it's the flexi fuel version which can use both regular unleaded petrol and/or bi ethanol (bi ethanol is no long sold in the Republic).

Down sides to the flexi fuel engine is that they are fair thirsty which was grand when cheap bi ethanol used to be available, and they need to be serviced every 10,000km. You would want to be buying the car very cheap these days to offset the higher fuel consumption and more frequent servicing imo.