Diesel/hatchback/reliable - advice?

surf_chick · 28-04-2011 08:37PM #1

Hi all

First time poster, so please be nice:)

I am looking for a new (or new to me) car, ideally hatchback, diesel, 08 or younger. Budget is 15-18k.

I saw a new Kia Ceed today and was quoted 18K incl metallic (3k off printed list price). I don't think I want a new car, but the 7 year warranty gives me alot of peace of mind.

I've tested a Civic & Leon and liked both, preferred the Civic but it's a bit pricey. Golf or Focus are also options...but everyone seems to have one.

I'm currently driving an 04 Corsa.

As you may tell from my post, I know little about cars, and want something reliable, efficient, good boot space and doesn't need 5 miles of straight road to overtake a tractor. So any words of wisdom you may have would be much appreciated. I've put off car shopping for about 18 months now, as the range of choice and the feeling that I'm getting a bad deal intimidates me.

Cheers
Surf Chick

Reloc8 · 28-04-2011 08:42PM

A Skoda Octavia VRS would tick your boxes......few 2008's on carzone for 16k from dealers, 2010's for 23k.

If you wern't wedded to diesel 2008 this http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1971768 looks like a savagely good car, although it is 2007 and petrol, its fully, fully loaded, 30k miles and has been available for sale for quite a while so probably get it for near to half the upper end of your budget - spend the rest on tax/petrol etc. etc.

(disclaimer - I don't know the car or the seller)

surf_chick · 28-04-2011 08:58PM

Thanks Reloc8.

Your link just links back to this post, can you let me know what model you were suggesting?

From having a poke around this forum I see the Skoda Octavia VRS wins the best boot prize, which is good in my book.

Oh and I do a mix of city and distance driving.

Reloc8 · 28-04-2011 09:23PM

Wooops - link fixed - it is a private sale though so you'd be looking at selling yours privately if you're not keeping it.

Seriously - check out the spec on that thing.

If it were me (I don't know enough about cars really) I'd be organising a good mechanical test of that one before purchase just to make sure it is sound...it has been up for a while so that price is likely to be fairly soft too. You'd have fun in one of those.

surf_chick · 28-04-2011 09:45PM

Thanks for the link, it does look nice, maybe even a bit too nice for me and my surfboard! I'll definitely test drive a Skoda Octavia VRS and check out this impressive boot in person.

Does anyone else have other suggestions?

Squall19 · 28-04-2011 10:13PM

Have a look at the new Mitsubishi Lancer diesel.You'd get it kitted out with side skirts, alloys, rear spoiler, painted brake calipers, bonnet scoop etc for 22k.Thats what he offered me down from 25k:D

Mitsubishi+Lancer+2010.jpg

1.8 diesel, 150bhp, variable valve timing, double overhead cam engine.I drove one recently and its a great machine, felt quick and well built.Not much difference in performance between that and the heavier 170bhp Octavia Vrs, really good spread of torque for a diesel in that lancer.Octavia Vrs is nothing special, Fabia is the only interesting Vrs with its turbo charged and supercharged 1.4

vectra · 28-04-2011 10:31PM

Squall19 wrote: »

.Octavia Vrs is nothing special, Fabia is the only interesting Vrs with its turbo charged and supercharged 1.4

Sorry for your lack on knowledge but the Octavia vRS Kicks the Fabia vRS in the face.

Squall19 · 28-04-2011 10:41PM

vectra wrote: »

Sorry for your lack on knowledge but the Octavia vRS Kicks the Fabia vRS in the face.

The new one? You must joking:D

That will blow away the diesel Octavia and push the petrol 197bhp to its limits.

178bhp and 1243kg, thats quick by any standard.

Its only 22k as well OP, worth considering too

surf_chick · 28-04-2011 10:48PM

Thanks for the tip, am blinded slightly by the stats, but will also check out a Lancer:)

suarez9 · 28-04-2011 11:01PM

2007 Opel corsa diesel cdti donedeal today great car

vectra · 28-04-2011 11:27PM

Squall19 wrote: »

The new one? You must joking:D

That will blow away the diesel Octavia and push the petrol 197bhp to its limits.

178bhp and 1243kg, thats quick by any standard.

Its only 22k as well OP, worth considering too

You have obviously driven both then in REAL life??

Squall19 · 28-04-2011 11:35PM

vectra wrote: »

You have obviously driven both then in REAL life??

No I haven't, but the Octavia is a good bit heavier, with only 20bhp more.

Both do 0-60 in 7 secs.Its a drivers race.

Diesel 170bhp does 0-60 in 8secs+ so that has no chance at all of keeping with the Fabia.

I drove the diesel Octavia when I was looking at a new car which was mapped by bluefin, about 200bhp and it was quickish, but nothing compared to the astra opc i drove on the same day.

vectra · 28-04-2011 11:42PM

Squall19 wrote: »

No I haven't, but the Octavia is a good bit heavier, with only 20bhp more.

Both do 0-60 in 7 secs.Its a drivers race.

Diesel 170bhp does 0-60 in 8secs+ so that has no chance at all of keeping with the Fabia.

I drove the diesel Octavia when I was looking at a new car which was mapped by bluefin, about 200bhp and it was quickish, but nothing compared to the astra opc i drove on the same day.

So the test stops at 100kph??

You also compare a 200bhp TDi to a 241 bhp OPc astra Petrol :rolleyes:

Plus the fact that the OP is looking at a Diesel with a big boot.
Fabia loses out massively on both counts

Squall19 · 28-04-2011 11:57PM

vectra wrote: »

So the test stops at 100kph??

You also compare a 200bhp TDi to a 241 bhp OPc astra Petrol :rolleyes:

0-60 is still the benchmark.

They are almost dead even performance, both do 80-120kmh in 4.5 secs, both do 0-140kmh in 13, both have a power to wieght ratio of 7.83/7.84kg/bhp respectively. both do the 1/4 mile in 14.8/14.7.

Drivers race and fabia comes with dsg standard, so unless your Colin McRae the Fabia will be in the lead:D

Whats wrong with that?

Octavia tdi is alot more expensive used and I wanted to see if the savings in fuel made up for less performance over cheaper petrols.

It didnt, it was alot slower than the petrols, compared to the OPC which was mapped to 280bhp it didnt have a chance, a 10 year old 1.6 Toyota Levin would have beat the diesel and in the end i went for a mazda 3 mps now mapped to 300bhp.I pay a little bit more in fuel, but its a world away performance wise.

Squall19 · 29-04-2011 12:03AM

vectra wrote: »

Plus the fact that the OP is looking at a Diesel with a big boot.
Fabia loses out massively on both counts

I suggested the Lancer.

Until you came in saying the Octavia Vrs was better than the Fabia:rolleyes:

Which is funny as the Octavia Vrs get beaten by every car in its segement, its 197bhp motor is way down on power compared to its rivals, especially in a car its size.Ford, Mazda, Opel, Renault etc are all putting out over 250bhp these days from there turbo petrols and most of them weight less too.

You wont be racing them in a Vrs Octaiva lol

vectra · 29-04-2011 12:13AM

Squall19 wrote: »

I suggested the Lancer.

Until you came in saying the Octavia Vrs was better than the Fabia:rolleyes:

Which is funny as the Octavia Vrs get beaten by every car in its segement, its 197bhp motor is way down on power compared to its rivals, especially in a car its size.Ford, Mazda, Opel, Renault etc are all putting out over 250bhp these days from there turbo petrols and most of them weight less too.

You wont be racing them in a Vrs Octaiva lol

And I suppose they all come in at the same price as the Octy as you mention cost??

Squall19 · 29-04-2011 12:23AM

vectra wrote: »

And I suppose they all come in at the same price as the Octy as you mention cost??

Some are cheaper in fact:D

Go check same year Mazda 3/6 mps, Ford Focus ST, Astra/Vectra OPC, Impreza Wrx, Megane etc on donedeal.

Only good thing about the Octavia Vrs is the boot, performance wise its got a power to weight ratio the same as a Fabia, end off.:D

colm_mcm · 29-04-2011 12:42AM

The fabia is a dogs dinner visually though.

TestTransmission · 29-04-2011 06:06AM

vectra wrote: »

Sorry for your lack on knowledge but the Octavia vRS Kicks the Fabia vRS in the face.

lol,god,you're such a fanboy

vectra · 29-04-2011 07:09AM

TestTransmission wrote: »

lol,god,you're such a fanboy

Nope
But I have driven both

TestTransmission · 29-04-2011 07:53AM

vectra wrote: »

Nope
But I have driven both

yawn

illegalpower · 29-04-2011 08:05AM

Why not get the ceed estate diesel with the roof bars and you would loads of space for you surf gear and you could even fit a sup board on the roof rack for those low swell days.
Most of the lads i surf/kitesurf/sup with have diesel estates or commercial jeeps because of the long distance we have to travel for good conditions. No point in geeting a vrs or the like when it's just going to end up a beach taxi covered in sand. Another few to consider would be the mitsubishi space star or nissan quas qui as they both with take all your gear and be economical on juice

Also 7 year waranty with the kia is great piece of mind so that would be a huge plus in my book, If you like the way it drives, looks and fits your gear then go for it.

vectra · 29-04-2011 09:45AM

TestTransmission wrote: »

yawn

:P

r3nu4l · 29-04-2011 10:47AM

Lol at ALL the fanboys here talking about supercharged this and that, MPS, ST all the hot hatches. :pac:

surf_chick asked about a diesel hatch for about 18k. She drives a Corsa, talked about a Leon (didn't mention FR Leon), Civic (no mention or R) and focus (no mention of ST or anything like it) and you lot are recommending cars putting out 250+bhp (not including the VRS there obviously)! Nutters one and all

She also mentioned a Ce'ed, enough said imo

surf_chick if you want a reliable diesel that won't cost the earth and has a big boot then the Octavia is a fair choice. It won't win any championship races, nor will it push through corners like a Scooby WRX but it will get you from one place to another in relative comfort and the 2.0L diesel has enough power to make overtaking safe or to give a small spurt of power if you need it. If you were considering the ce'ed (excellent warranty imo!) then I would go for the estate version rather than the pure hatchback. More room in the boot

I drive an A3 (170 bhp) quattro and love it but they are over-expensive for what you get and while it does 0-60 in 7.9 seconds which is quick enough for me, according to some on this forum it's probably slower than a Fiat 500*

Lads, give the lady some decent recommendations, not everyone wants a ****-hot car either because the don't want the expense of the fuel, the tax, the insurance...or believe it or not because they don't care about having huge power under their feet and arses

*actually, it probably is slower than the Fiat 500 (Abarth edition

)

illegalpower · 29-04-2011 11:25AM

Something like this would be a great surf bus

http://www.carzone.ie/search/KIA/Ceed/1.6-EX-S/201108201337732/advert?channel=CARS

This would be cool with a few surf stickers on the back and a board on the roof

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Nissan/Qashqai/1.5-DCI-/201102200870395/advert?channel=CARS

Or of course there's always this, not a vrs but a nice diesel estate for cheap

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/Elegance/201116202077590/advert?channel=CARS

Milage is a little high on the first and third ones but just a few examples of something that might suit

Tea 1000 · 29-04-2011 11:30AM

The Civic is a decent bus. If you liked it, then why not go for it?

Green Hornet · 29-04-2011 01:22PM

The Civic is probably the best of the choices in your OP. 55 mpg and torquey enough for what you need. Roomy inside and clever seating arrangements. It is more expensive but far superior to Leon's and the like.

marc1 · 29-04-2011 04:31PM

A more reasonable suggestion:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/1-Series/120d-SE-/201117202164002/advert?channel=CARS

Not everyone likes the looks of the 1 series, but I am a fan!

Otherwise I would consider:

VW Golf 1.9 TDI
Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI

Maybe a Focus, personally not really a fan, but many people like them.

surf_chick · 03-05-2011 08:58PM

Hi all

Thanks for all the suggestions. The 7 year warranty with the Ce'ed is really tempting, and I hadn't seen the estate version. I'm definitely not looking for something really high powered and to be honest, all half the numbers talk above went straight over my head:)

Qashqai etc are too high for me to get my boards on the roof, so lower hatchbacks are what I'm looking for.

BMW One series would definitely be on my shopping list, but I think it's a bit nice (and expensive) to be bringing to beaches etc.

Thanks again for the help lads (I'm guessing ye are all lads).

SC

prettygurrly · 03-08-2011 09:06PM

don't buy an opel corsa diesel 1.7, having a nightmare 8 weeks with mine. will never touch vauxhall or opel again.

n97 mini · 03-08-2011 10:19PM

Reliable = Jap or Skoda.

Octavia = best Skoda.

Don't forget tho, no matter what anyone says, it's still a Skoda.

Diesel/hatchback/reliable - advice?

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