€10,000 budget for a small car - which one??!

Mimojo

Hi!

I am absolutely clueless when it comes to cars so any advice would be much appreciated.

I currently drive a 04 Focus, 1.6 Petrol, absolutely love it, but it costs a fortune to run, very hard on petrol, high tax, and annual nct is costing a lot in servicing costs etc. I was doing a lot of driving previously, but moving jobs means that I only drive c.15 miles per day. I drive down the county about once a month c.300 miles round trip, all on motorway.

My first question - Petrol or Diesel? I think for the amount of driving I am doing petrol is the way to go, but would be interested to see what others think.

So I have a budget of €10,000, I have a private buyer for my own car so will be buying a car with no trade in.

I want a small car, my OH is learning to drive so it needs to be something compact. I want low road tax, low running costs and reliable I also much prefer hatchbacks. I am going to have this car for the next few years so want to try to buy as new a car as my budget allows.

So far a lot of people have said to go with a Fiesta, finding there is a vast price difference for them. For a 2012 1.25 Petrol have been quoted 12,900, and in another garage for the exact same car 10,500. I would ideally like a 1.4, but finding them hard to find, a lot of the dealers in particular carry a lot of 1.25's.

I have also found a Kia Rio, 2013 Reg, 1.2 EX, Petrol, for 10,900 which seems to be a really good price. But I know nothing about Kia's so wonder if this would be a good investment?

Have also looked at an Astra, which I really love, but would be a 2011 reg, and also Golfs & Focus's, but again would be looking at a 2010 reg on those for my budget. Also I am trying to focus on smaller cars to suit both me and my OH so think they are out!

Any advice much appreciated.

Shefwedfan

Everyone will say Golf or Kia/Hyundai

Don't listen to them :-)

Go with a bit of luxury and get a 1 series BMW. The road tax is 280, something like the below might suit

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/1-series/used-2008-bmw-1-series-1-6-es-spo-cork-fpa-200814540295533820

Just an idea and a lot nicer than a Ford :-)

Mimojo

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Everyone will say Golf or Kia/Hyundai

Don't listen to them :-)

Go with a bit of luxury and get a 1 series BMW. The road tax is 280, something like the below might suit

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/1-series/used-2008-bmw-1-series-1-6-es-spo-cork-fpa-200814540295533820

Just an idea and a lot nicer than a Ford :-)

Thanks, but ideally I would like to come up to at least a 2010/2011 reg as I will have this car for the next few years. Plus think it would be too big for my OH who is only learning to drive!

Shefwedfan

Mimojo wrote: »

Thanks, but ideally I would like to come up to at least a 2010/2011 reg as I will have this car for the next few years. Plus think it would be too big for my OH who is only learning to drive!

Just an idea, they are same size as Golf. My wife had one and loved it...

I wouldn't be concerned about the reg number. I would prefer an older car if looked after correctly.

Some newer reg car's have had the ass driven off them and will have loads of problems.

1hnr79jr65

Here would be 3 picks based on the criteria you laid out all from SIMI dealers:

1. 2013 (131) Opel Astra, 1.4 petrol, 5 door, €10,900, Tax €270 per year, dealer in Dublin
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/opel/astra/used-2013-131-opel-astra-s-1-4-i-100p-cork-fpa-200914467448205280

2. 2013 (131) Hyndai i20, 1.4 diesel, 5 door, €10,900, Tax not shown but wouldnt imagine more than €280, dealer in Kildare
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/hyundai/i20/used-2013-131-hyundai-i20-1-4-d-class-kildare-fpa-200814549537794510

3. 2013 (131) Peugeot 208, 1.4 diesel, 3 door, €10,995, Tax not shown but wouldnt imagine more than €280, dealer in Wexford
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/peugeot/208/used-2013-131-peugeot-208-1-4-diesel-waterford-fpa-201414570130600711

Depending on your location they would be some of the best choices however it may be worth the trip for the right car.

Personally i would go for the Astra from that list and you should have no issue negotiating down to your budget price while getting a car well up in the years.

Mimojo

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

Here would be 3 picks based on the criteria you laid out all from SIMI dealers:

1. 2013 (131) Opel Astra, 1.4 petrol, 5 door, €10,900, Tax €270 per year, dealer in Dublin
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/opel/astra/used-2013-131-opel-astra-s-1-4-i-100p-cork-fpa-200914467448205280

2. 2013 (131) Hyndai i20, 1.4 diesel, 5 door, €10,900, Tax not shown but wouldnt imagine more than €280, dealer in Kildare
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/hyundai/i20/used-2013-131-hyundai-i20-1-4-d-class-kildare-fpa-200814549537794510

3. 2013 (131) Peugeot 208, 1.4 diesel, 3 door, €10,995, Tax not shown but wouldnt imagine more than €280, dealer in Wexford
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/peugeot/208/used-2013-131-peugeot-208-1-4-diesel-waterford-fpa-201414570130600711

Depending on your location they would be some of the best choices however it may be worth the trip for the right car.

Personally i would go for the Astra from that list and you should have no issue negotiating down to your budget price while getting a car well up in the years.

Thanks a mill for the reply. Im in Kildare, but no problem to travel for a car. Cant believe all are 131 reg's!

A few people have said to stay away from an Astra, however I really like them, they are a step up from the size of a fiesta, and the one I did test drive was really comfie and a nice spec.

1hnr79jr65

Mimojo wrote: »

Thanks a mill for the reply. Im in Kildare, but no problem to travel for a car. Cant believe all are 131 reg's!

A few people have said to stay away from an Astra, however I really like them, they are a step up from the size of a fiesta, and the one I did test drive was really comfie and a nice spec.

A few people i know drive the astra's and never hear of any complaints about them.

They are reletively cheap to maintain and run for the size of car it is and a comfy drive.

Soarer

If you fancy a trip to the UK, you could get a Yaris Hybrid like this.

Yours for a maximum of £7000, which is around €9100.
VRT will be around €600.
A few hundred euro to travel over and back to collect.
Job done.

We did it a few months back on a T-Spirit Yaris Hybrid, and the car's a beauty.

colm_mcm

The 1.4 non turbo petrol Astra is very slow, the car weighs as much as the moon. Fuel economy won't be better than your focus no matter what messing went into getting it into that tax band,

Given the criteria, I'd look for a Kia Rio, Hyundai i20 newer model, or a Yaris hybrid, only issue with the hybrid is it's an auto, so for someone learning to drive, they'd be restricted to an auto licence if they do their test in one.
Fiesta wouldn't be a bad call.


I wouldn't bother with diesels,

Soarer

colm_mcm wrote: »

The 1.4 non turbo petrol Astra is very slow, the car weighs as much as the moon. Fuel economy won't be better than your focus no matter what messing went into getting it into that tax band,

Given the criteria, I'd look for a Kia Rio, Hyundai i20 newer model, or a Yaris hybrid, only issue with the hybrid is it's an auto, so for someone learning to drive, they'd be restricted to an auto licence if they do their test in one.
Fiesta wouldn't be a bad call.


I wouldn't bother with diesels,

Didn't read that part in the OP.

Yeah, auto isn't great for the restrictions. Then again, there's nothing wrong with driving an auto for the rest of your days. Autos are the job.

colm_mcm

They are, but it's still not practical to restrict yourself to only automatics.

Mimojo

Yes I will be sticking with manual with OH learning to drive, he will be sitting the test in the new car.

I am going to test drive a Kia Rio later in the week, at least can rule it in or out then.

On haggling, realistically how much will a garage go down? So far with the Astra I looked at last weekend, it was originally 11,250, and they are down at 10,250 now with a call yesterday, I assume could knock 1,000 off most prices??

colm_mcm

It really depends how they pave priced it. Some price to sell, others build in margin. Best thing to do is compare.

1hnr79jr65

The big thing for haggling with dealers is not having a trade in and not having to setup finance with that dealership.

If all that is already in place then haggling in much easier and depending on the car, price, availability of other cars in same bracket with same/similar specs then you could get anything from 2-8% off in my experience.

bazz26

Dealers love you to finance a car with them as they get a commission from the lending institution for bringing in new business.

Shefwedfan

bazz26 wrote: »

Dealers love you to finance a car with them as they get a commission from the lending institution for bringing in new business.

I would agree, was buying a Passat a few years back and dealer was very up front if I took out finance with them he could do a better deal on the car. I didn't have trade in and was going to finance. It was music to his hears

Mimojo

colm_mcm wrote: »

It really depends how they pave priced it. Some price to sell, others build in margin. Best thing to do is compare.

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

The big thing for haggling with dealers is not having a trade in and not having to setup finance with that dealership.

If all that is already in place then haggling in much easier and depending on the car, price, availability of other cars in same bracket with same/similar specs then you could get anything from 2-8% off in my experience.

bazz26 wrote: »

Dealers love you to finance a car with them as they get a commission from the lending institution for bringing in new business.

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I would agree, was buying a Passat a few years back and dealer was very up front if I took out finance with them he could do a better deal on the car. I didn't have trade in and was going to finance. It was music to his hears

Cheers for the input all.

I wont have a trade in, so just buying upfront, and buying myself so wont be needing finance from them.

The car I am looking at is well priced compared to the same car in other garages. It is in a dealership for another brand of cars, so I am guessing they are eager to get rid of it. Also from the site, it looks like they have had the car since last July so again guessing they would be happy to sell it.

Have done a motor check online on it, and I am the only person to check the car out on that site, ever, so again am thinking I have a bit of haggling room on the price all going well, just not sure how much!