Help me choose a new car

gary the great

I seriously need a new car, but I just can't make my mind up on which one.
Im in England, so my price range is about £4k, which is the car equivilent of about 8keuro over here id say, roughly.


Suppose what i want in a car is something that looks nice, has plently of comfort and toys, will be nippy of the mark (theres loads of little roads,roundabouts, speed humps were I live) so a big heavy thing is out of question. Thus i have ruled out any of the VW group cars. It should be also capable of cruisig the motorways at 80mph without any problem.


I was all set on an alfa 147, they tick all the boxes except the reliablilty box, which is important. I even went to see two of them and even though they were beautiful, really high spec'd and a good price they both needed to have the belts and a service done, which not onloy would cost me a fortune but I just don't want all that hassle right now. SO I havent ruled them out, if I can find a spotless one whith a FSH thats had all the bits done recently, I'll get one.

Next up would be a Honda Civic. Either the 2 door 99 hatchback version or the newer 2001 shape 2 door. I always had a thing for the Civic but have never drivien one.
I know reliability wise its hard to beat it, but I dont know I just think I may have outgrown them or something. Although a 99 model Vti would be nice!

Next is a focus. Not totally mad on them but I get reliability, a nice drive, plenty of extras and will save myself a few quid. But its a bland, like the corolla (which I may also consider).

I currenly drive a 97 323f, and I love mazda. I love the interior of the mazda 3, and its reliability. But i just think the back of it looks awful and looks like a grandads car! So although I havent ruled it out, I think the looks are holding me back.

I have a bit of a dodgy knee so I cant really have a low down car (which is why im getting rid of my F), so the higher up the better.

Anyone able to offer any help? Its doing my nut in!

gary the great

Nobody able to help me?

cantdecide

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/CARS_popup.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=none&sort=5&hassearched=Y&make=AUDI&min_pr=3000&source=0&model=A4&max_pr=5000&miles=1500&agerange=3&mileage=6&postcode=ne13+6pe&variant=&bodyid=0&trim=&fuelid=0&colour=&transmissionid=0&keywords=&ukcarsearch_full.x=50&ukcarsearch_full.y=14&start=1&distance=97&adcategory=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200718282399685

right before you said no VAG cars i was thinking of this- it's only a 1.8T so it should be fun and it's not very big at all. it's like the 3series beemer without the stigma- haggle a bit, bolt on some nice wheels and it's a weapon in or around your budget

projectgtr

"I have a bit of a dodgy knee so I cant really have a low down car (which is why im getting rid of my F), so the higher up the better."

so that rules out the civic so

gary the great

Ye but isnt the 96-99 civic quite high up? Wouldnt mind a Vti!

Evil_Clown

Hi,
I currently have a 98 civic, It is pretty low without mods
But i think this gibves the car great handling and also speed bumps are not a problem unless the car has 4 lads in it, then you have to be careful
I would thoroughly recommend the civic I can't say enough aboyut them, reliable, pretty good features, a nippy engine, decent mpg so on so on
I've had mine 3 years with no major problems
So i'd go for the civic, try to get one from an older person though as they do have a boy racer rep and may be driven pretty hard if not.

C_Breeze

4000GBP is definitely not the equivalent of 8000Euro.

I would recommend a Honda Civic 1.8 VTI

alfarocks

I'll sell you my 147 for 8K and it has all the 'bits' done to it.

C_Breeze

4,000.00 Gbp = 5,907.19 Eur

xha1r

C_Breeze wrote:

4000GBP is definitely not the equivalent of 8000Euro.

I would recommend a Honda Civic 1.8 VTI

I think he meant the exchange plus juxtaposing the value of both cars, English one's generally come out cheaper so what you get in England might cost €7k but here would cost €8k... I think.

quarryman

i think he knows how to convert 4k to euro buddy.

i think what he means is a car over there worth 4k would get you a car worth 8k euro here.

edit: xha1r beat me to it.

gary the great

quarryman wrote:

i think he knows how to convert 4k to euro buddy.

i think what he means is a car over there worth 4k would get you a car worth 8k euro here.

edit: xha1r beat me to it.

Ye thats what i meant. When you take into consideration that they dont pay the high VRT we pay on new cars, therefore cars are cheaper to buy new and second hand. And also the fact that UK cars are generally all higher spec'd, which you would pay a lot more for over here.

Anyway a 1.8VTi might be to big, I want a 1.6 (or thereabouts) hatchback. Thats why the Alfa and the civic are top of the list.