Advice on what make and model to look for

ILikeBananas

Hi,

I'm at the early stages of looking for a second-hand car. I'm trying to determine the make and models that suit my needs best but I don’t know much about cars.

• I do low mileage - mostly commuting within a city. 40k miles in the last 6 years.
• Single - no children. Rarely carry passengers or any loads larger than a bag of shopping.
• Looking for something 2012 or newer.
• Planning on going to the UK
• Preference is for getting a higher spec model rather than a higher class model
• Currently driving an old 1.4L Focus that struggles when accelerating going up hills – would like something with more power
• Overall Budget is around €12k

Just from idle browsing, BMW 1 series and Audi A3 have caught my eye but would be grateful for any suggestions.

JC01

ILikeBananas wrote: »

Hi,

I'm at the early stages of looking for a second-hand car. I'm trying to determine the make and models that suit my needs best but I don’t know much about cars.

• I do low mileage - mostly commuting within a city. 40k miles in the last 6 years.
• Single - no children. Rarely carry passengers or any loads larger than a bag of shopping.
• Looking for something 2012 or newer.
• Planning on going to the UK
• Preference is for getting a higher spec model rather than a higher class model
• Currently driving an old 1.4L Focus that struggles when accelerating going up hills – would like something with more power
• Overall Budget is around €12k

Just from idle browsing, BMW 1 series and Audi A3 have caught my eye but would be grateful for any suggestions.

Have you any preferences at all?
With that budget there's a lot of selection but you should decide what you simply must have for starters to narrow down the search.

Petrol/diesel? I'd highly recommend petrol given your driving but that immediately narrows down your selection a lot.

Manual/auto?
Hatchback/coupe/saloon/crossover?

"Prestige" brand like Audi bmw Merc or is the car more important than the badge to you?

Something "ordinary" or do you want something a bit unique?

How important is performance? You say you want more power but that could be anything from a BMW 318d repmobile to a hot hatch with 300bhp.

Answer those questions and you'll be well on your way to picking your own ideal car and at least then people on here can make suggestions.

ILikeBananas

JC01 wrote: »

Have you any preferences at all?
With that budget there's a lot of selection but you should decide what you simply must have for starters to narrow down the search.

Petrol/diesel? I'd highly recommend petrol given your driving but that immediately narrows down your selection a lot.

Manual/auto?
Hatchback/coupe/saloon/crossover?

"Prestige" brand like Audi bmw Merc or is the car more important than the badge to you?

Something "ordinary" or do you want something a bit unique?

How important is performance? You say you want more power but that could be anything from a BMW 318d repmobile to a hot hatch with 300bhp.

Answer those questions and you'll be well on your way to picking your own ideal car and at least then people on here can make suggestions.

Thanks very much, that's a great response. To answer your questions in order:

Petrol

Manual

Hatchback or coupe

If I can find something that looks good and performs well then the brand name is not important at all, especially if it's inflating the price for no reason other than snobbery.

Ordinary or unique: no strong preference either way.

Performance: Not hugely important. I just want to be able to overtake other vehicles when I'm driving up hills without it being an ordeal.

bazz26

Audi A3:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201809110384488?postcode=pr02aa&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&maximum-badge-engine-size=1.4&advertising-location=at_cars&seller-type=trade&make=AUDI&model=A3&fuel-type=Petrol&year-to=2013&minimum-badge-engine-size=1.4&year-from=2013&sort=price-asc&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1

Philb76

Seat Leon 1.2tsi stylish spacious economical they are a great car almost doing diesel mileage and so refined u can't tell they are running

Lantus

Surely an EV like a leaf should be a serious contender? Your low mileage and city driving make it ideal. Automatic so an easy city drive, almost zero fuel costs and well spec'd.

gwalk

Philb76 wrote: »

Seat Leon 1.2tsi stylish spacious economical they are a great car almost doing diesel mileage and so refined u can't tell they are running

I have one, would definitely recommend

ILikeBananas

Philb76 wrote: »

Seat Leon 1.2tsi stylish spacious economical they are a great car almost doing diesel mileage and so refined u can't tell they are running

That's something that I hadn't considered. I see that they have a lot of the same parts as VW which is something that I wasn't aware of.

Lantus wrote: »

Surely an EV like a leaf should be a serious contender? Your low mileage and city driving make it ideal. Automatic so an easy city drive, almost zero fuel costs and well spec'd.

I agree that an electric would probably suit me but I want to give it a few more years to give the technology time to mature before I go for one. My plan is buy electric, the car after next.

Lantus

ILikeBananas wrote:

I agree that an electric would probably suit me but I want to give it a few more years to give the technology time to mature before I go for one. My plan is buy electric, the car after next.

Mature into what?

Lantus

Lantus wrote: »

Mature into what?

Here we go :rolleyes:

OP, what have you looked aside from the BMW 1 and Audi A3?

pah

Not everyone's cup of tea but ...


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804306038574


VRT €2200, that's 10k all in

1.6 petrol manual 150bhp €270 road tax

ILikeBananas

JayZeus wrote: »

Here we go :rolleyes:

OP, what have you looked aside from the BMW 1 and Audi A3?

I'm veering towards a VW Scirocco at the moment. I really like the look of them. They appear to be reliable (barring a timing belt issue with the 1.4L petrols). I realise that they have been discontinued but it seems that a lot of the parts are common to Golfs so there probably won't be too many issues on that front. They appear to be rather sparse on the inside but I don't mind that too much (especially considering my current car).

pah wrote: »

Not everyone's cup of tea but ...


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804306038574


VRT €2200, that's 10k all in

1.6 petrol manual 150bhp €270 road tax

That's an impressive set of numbers alright. That high bhp / low tax bracket is especially nice. I just don't like the look of it though unfortunately. Same goes for the SEAT Leon that was recommended above. There's nothing wrong with either of them - just a personal preference.

ewj1978

So no kids and petrol..

I'd be getting looking at a MX5 or a BMW Z4. Might as well live a little.

pah

ewj1978 wrote: »

So no kids and petrol..

I'd be getting looking at a MX5 or a BMW Z4. Might as well live a little.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mazda-rx8-r3-for-sale-only-673-tax/19643960

I'd be going to have a look at this

OP if you like the Scirocco nice spec here if you can push the budget out a bit.

MarkN

Golf GTI?