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So a double handbrake failure resulting in cooked rear discs on my Renault Migraine has just raised my yearly expenditure on this mechancial joke to £1500. I think it's time to at least consider something new/er.
I don't have much spare income, but more to the point - I can't keep rustling up £500 to repair this one every few months either.
Ironically I love the look of my car, its a 2007 150bhp GT diesel model so has a nice bodykit, big old wheels, twin exit 'zorsts etc, so i've never quite gotten to the point of hating it - even if the best MPG I can manage from it is around 46mpg (after an ECU flash re-map), and it handles like a drunken dinghy.
So before I go down the route of nearly new 2nd hand cars i'm at the point of considering a new car for ease of warranty status - as long as the deal is crackingly good.
I'm thinking 0% finance ideally, good warranty, 50+ MPG essential, with monthly payments as close to £150pcm (or less) as possible.
I should get around £1500-£2000 trade-in for my car as its actually in pretty good shape and currently in good order.
I have no qualms with going a size smaller - ie VW Polo size and shape, but my daily commute is 60 miles all-in so any smaller with one of those tiny 3 cylinder jobbies would probably leave me a bit rattled at the end of the day.
3 doors preferable as I like to be able to get in and out without needing a chiropractor.
I love go-kart type small cars - my faves in the past have been an old austin mini, 205 Gti's, even a Metro GTa, all great fun. Would be splendid if I could recapture a bit of that fun. Used to lust(?) over the Panda 100hp which I think would be perfect in that respect, but alas they stopped making them 5 years ago now so not keen to try my luck with one.
Anyone know of any spiffing bargains to be had currently that come close to my brief?
See what Skoda are doing with the Fabia - the 1.2Tsi is more fun than I thought it would be.
I like the look of the Monte Carlo Fabia - whats the 1.2 Tsi like in real world driving then?
If you want small and fun – a Fiat 500 Abarth?
Way overpriced the 500's are. Plus I dont think I can physically fit inside one, same platform as Panda but oval shaped instead of square.
Look good though.
If you really want an easy life, Hyundai i10. No one will think you are cool because you bought it, but ours was bomb proof and they have 5 years warranty with unlimited mileage. New ones even drive well on the motorway. Dull answer though. Buy an Alfa.
1.2Tsi is nippy - turbo gives it plenty of oomph, driven sensibly the mpg is pretty good, they are comfy and roomy for what they are, I've had a medium sized road bike in the back with seats down and both wheels left on. Wheels in each corner make it like a go kart, but the handling on the standard ones isn't up to the engines abilities.
Our is the 7 speed dsg autobox
We do put winter tyres on when the clocks change, gets a little skittish if you want to pull out of a side road in the wet.
reasonable shout Fopster, does seeem to tick boxes in terms of value. Think if I am to part with 12k Id much prefer to look at my car and think its smart looking though..
Jury is out on that one
From experience of older models, the i20 is nicer than the i10.
But we still got a Fabia!
My local dealer is doing Citroen DS3's for £150 a month so I'm sure these offers are available elsewhere. A friend has had one for a couple of years now and really likes it...
http://www.autoworld.co.uk/citroen/new-car-offers/new-citroen-ds3-offer/
I had a 2011 Fabia Monte Carlo 1.2 Tsi 105 bhp, great little car, plenty of power, nice enough inside and I was getting 48mpg on a long run too. Mine was white with black alloys. Super little car.
Not sure it would be much fun, but how about the Kia Rio?
If your considering the Fabia, have a look at the Seat Ibiza too. I would have thought you can get similar if not better deals. My Wife's got the 2 litre diesel FR which is now my daily car. I commute 80 miles/day in it and it's perfectly comfortable & fun to drive when the opportunity arises.
That Citroen offer looks interesting but its a PCP plan for only 6000 miles a year (8.4p a miles if you go over 6000).
I have a 2012 Fabia Monte Carlo (1.6 tdi, though). Mine's not the top power model, I'd go for that if I bought one again. It's not perfect, the steering is a bit light and the interior quality not up there with the VW Polos of this world but it's big for the segment, and for driving fun has a suspension upgrade from the standard Fabia along with low profile and wider tyres so it's more engaging to drive than similarly powered cars of the size. It's been reliable, though I would by the 1.2tsi in future, and cheap to run. My wife absolutely loves it.
We like it so much we bought a VRS model (the 180hp sporty one, 1.4 tfsi twincharger) and that's also good. If I were spending someone else's money I would have got a Fiesta ST, but this was much cheaper and has similar power. The 7 speed DSG is excellent but you could live without it to save money.
The Monte Carlo gets 50mpg even if you drive like a moron, and on motorway runs will get into the 70s. The VRS gets in the mid 30's.
Ibiza drives a lot better than the Fabia, but my wife is disabled and couldn't get on with the remote radio controls. Fabia feels bigger inside.
That Citroen offer looks interesting but its a PCP plan for only 6000 miles a year (8.4p a miles if you go over 6000).
IME all those sorts of deals are very much negotiable. They are headline rates to get you in.
We have an Ibiza at work - it's nice and does drive better than the Fabia and you can get the seat just about low enough, which you can't in the Fabia. However it's model that's coming up to 8 years old and if you're buying new it feels it. This may mean better deals. It's smaller than the Fabia, too.
Also the radio in the Ibiza is the least intuitive thing in the world, we've had ours for 2 years and it makes me want to kill people.
Have you driven the new ford fiesta? those 3 cylinder 1 litre jobbies can put out 100, 125 or 140 horses depending on what you fancy.
They are pretty nippy! It does fewer revs than my mondeo at 70-80mph and is thus impressively quiet. Also if you drive sensibly you can get 45-47mpg, especially if you are doing motorway miles. It's very comfortable, a world away from the last generation and even in the Zetec you get a DAB radio.
Mazda's take on the Festa, [url= http://www.mazda.co.uk/offers/all-new-mazda2/ ]DEALS HERE[/url] with 0% finance and £500 dealer contribution.Very happy with mine as the Zetec Fiesta was a bit basic compared to the Venture Edition 2 with ansa dealer fit exhaust for the same monthly amount.
In recommend what you got, we got a 100hp, there's a few cherished low mileage ones out there to pick from. Won't have a warranty, but relatively simple, not French, strong normally aspirated engine, less than a ton. For us, it replaced a Porsche and is more economical than our sensible Octavia. Find a nice 100hp, get a test drive, don't use the middle pedal.
Keep reading about how good the new fiesta is, can't get away from the fact that it looks like a small girls car though (apologies to any fans).
I remember seeing a new 100hp in that lovely dark metallic grey pulling up in Soho a few years ago, it was better looking to me than the beemers/porkers etc that were trying their best to steal the limelight.
Cracking little toy car
DS3 (I see @muffin suggested the same). Friend just got one and she haggled hard successfully. I'be had one as a rental and was impressed. Only 3dr though.
slimjim78 - MemberI don't have much spare income
Then buy a proven second hand Japanese car.
Reliability is worth a lot more than a warranty + new car premium.
In eight years of ownership my two Japanese cars have cost me less than £250 in costs above consumables.
9 yr old Honda and 15 yr old Nissan FWIW.
It's typical rather than anecdotal. 💡
We're looking for a new car (albeit an estate)
These offer may interest you,
https://www.stoneacre.co.uk/fuel-and-go
http://www.skoda.co.uk/finance/finance-offers/fabia/pages/default.aspx#Hatch#offer1
Having worked on Skoda's in the past I can say the build quality is excellent considering the price. In Clarkson's words "far too good to be a reasonably priced car".
Shop around and also use carwow.co.uk let the dealers send you offers 🙂
I'm just parting with a fabia 1.2 estate Monte Carlo. Great car, boot is fab for a small car. Lots of spec that I use Bluetooth phone and music, sat nav etc. Good on fuel. Almost the perfect balance. There are some cheap elements to it : rear drum brakes and rear wind down windows!! But liveable compromises.
Coming to the end then of my PCP and there isn't really any equity in it for a deposit on a new one so I got the Skoda dealer to match the online lease deal for a yeti. £2090 down and £109 a month for a almost top spec auto/leather SEL model. Gf did get the top spec 4x4 for £135 a month.
For brand new £24000 cars these were incredible deals if you accept the lease scenario.
The new fabia is a bit more expensive than old but a more premium model. Looks a good buy too. Skoda always doing incentives such as £500 fuel and dealer deposit contributions.
munrobiker - MemberAlso the radio in the Ibiza is the least intuitive thing in the world, we've had ours for 2 years and it makes me want to kill people.
Really?! I was just thinking the other way on the way to work how nice it is to have a simple stereo to use......
Really really, it really bothers me that you don't just have some numbers to press for your presets so you have to scroll through BBC Nottingham and Gem FM and other such dross just to get to Radio 4.
munrobiker - MemberReally really, it really bothers me that you don't just have some numbers to press for your presets so you have to scroll through BBC Nottingham and Gem FM and other such dross just to get to Radio 4.
Don't you just press the memory button (soft key next to the volume) and then turn the dial to select the preset??
Admittedly, the fact that the soft key tags are on the top left/right or the display while the actual buttons are on either side of the display takes a little while to get used to.....
Perhaps we have different radios?
I think we have different radios by the sound of it!
sorry OP for the continued hijack....
munrobiker, this is the one in ours.
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You just press the button to the left of the dial (which corresponds to the memory tag in the top left of the display) which takes you to a display of all the presets. Twiddling the dial cycles through them all and then you just press the dial to select the preset once you land on it.