What would you advise?

Dingle_berry

Looking to get a car again (have been heavily on public transport, enough said!)
About 8 years driving experience, variety of cars.
I'd estimate an absolute minimum of 10000Km per year, mostly urban but long motorway trips thrown in too.
I like gadgets but would hate dealing with chronic issues with them. Cruise control is almost essential. As much info in the driver's console as possible like VW and AUDI do (radio station etc by speedometer). I like automatics but don't like them.enough to spend an extra few grand. Lots of cosy parking so a camera would be nice. Rented accommodation to no home charger for electric but if the charge network is enough I'd consider them...
Not many cars I'd say no to.based on design except for passat with that stupid analogue clock, minis or anything with the driver's console in the middle (yaris, prius?)
Budget of about €15K total. Nothing to trade in.

What would ye recommend i look at / test drive?

Nuw

With that budget, I'd strongly consider a Lexus CT200h given your driving (an IS300h might also be an option within budget).

GypsyByName

Toyota Prius! Fuel Efficient, Low Road Tax, Bullet Proof!

Dingle_berry

GypsyByName wrote: »

Toyota Prius! Fuel Efficient, Low Road Tax, Bullet Proof!

You underestimate how much I hate having the speedometer etc in the centre instead of in front of the driver. It's just lazy design, like having fake button cut outs to make it obvious you're missing on some kind of extra.

colm_mcm

IS300h. You’d get one within budget from the UK.

It does have an analogue clock though

Dingle_berry

colm_mcm wrote: »

IS300h. You’d get one within budget from the UK.

It does have an analogue clock though

I'm not mechanically nor financially gifted, is importing actually easy for non trade private buyers?

Had a look at them on carzone, I'd rather the passats outdated clock! 😂

Is there any particular reason there's no recommendations for a golf, astra, a4, c4, i40, megane, ceed etc?
Would the Lexus 300H be cheap to maintain or would the Lexus badge Jack up the price of a service? Would I be confined to creeping along the far left of every motorway forcing lorries and buses to overtake me?

colm_mcm

I just think if you're spending €15k you may as well get something nice!

The Lexus IS cheap to run, cheap to service (same engine as RAV4 hybrid) cheap to tax and inherently very reliable.

Lexus Belfast often have them, and are reputable.


Or just buy a Golf

Dingle_berry

Anything to be aware of with owning a hybrid? E.g. diesel engines are more complex, more expensive to fix as the milage goes up. Do the batteries or electric engine bits need any special TLC?

colm_mcm

Not particularly, you get a 1.year 15k warranty extension every time you get an annual hybrid health check, up to 10 years. There's no extra servicing involved, and the regenerative braking means you don't go through pads /discs as much. Tyre sizes are usually 205/55/16 or 225/45/17 both of which are common cheap sizes.

FirstinLastout

Dingle_berry wrote: »

I hate having the speedometer etc in the centre instead of in front of the driver. It's just lazy design....

Why is this lazy design? Surely going with conventional design layout is the "lazy" design route and kowtowing towards conservative tastes.
The Prius' clocks/dash is not strictly centrally positioned anyway.

Dingle_berry

FirstinLastout wrote: »

Why is this lazy design? Surely going with conventional design layout is the "lazy" design route and kowtowing towards conservative tastes.
The Prius' clocks/dash is not strictly centrally positioned anyway.

It avoids having to reverse the dash for right hand drivers. Just stick as much as you can in the middle, make it digital so it looks "fierce modren"and you've avoided part of a headache!
Putting the instruments in a central display then angling them so that only drivers can see them is worse IMO. Pointless!
I know that there's arguments to the contrary and even something to probably be said for manufacturing efficiency but there's something about it that irritates me, so I doubt I would buy a car that has central instruments.

colm_mcm

Very few cars actually have symmetrical dashes either way even if stuff is in the middle. Even conventional cars share a lot of dash parts between LHD and RHD