What would you have?

[Oli3000]

What about the Polo GTI? Best looking of the bunch if you ask me, followed by the fiesta.

The MkII Fabia and the Ibiza don't do a lot for me, the Corsa looks like a toy car for kids, and the Peugeot is French...

[DMilsey]

Polo GTi is over priced and I don't like the look of it from the back.

Swmbo had a polo and just did not like it and couldn't justify the cost over a fabia.

[MattyD]

Have to say I'd agree.

Problem with buying any high performance car new is it's going to lose a fair chunk of value in the first year or two.

Going a few years old gives you access to a lot more vehicles.

While not in the price bracket, my toy lost 30% of it's value in the first year.

Luckily I bought it a year old with less than 4k miles on it.

Same for me too. What is your 62 plate car? If you got a 61 or 12 plate S3 (I've no idea if this would be in your price band mind you) would it still not be a better car. My money would be on a nearly new Toyota GT86 for sheer driver enjoyment, plus you get the remainder of a 5 year warranty with it.

[DMilsey]

I currently drive a fabia Monte Carlo 105 TSi.

I think an s3 would be to much in running costs. Same as a gt86 with them both being 2.0.

With most the cars I've mentioned they're all fairly small engines with turbo/superchargers so if I'm careful I can still get half decent mpg and my insurance is hardly any difference between my current car and any of the VAG 1.4 TSI. I would imagine the s3 would be a killer for me to insure.

[sharkrider]

fabia vRS its the best car I've ever owned..... with simple TMC box would be hugely fast (or stage 1 remap) cheap to insure, I get 50 mpg on my way to work, 35 when driven hard, decent insurance...

dont be scared about the oil stories, my car doesn't use a drop, and hasn't had any problems in 42k

cheaper than polo GTI

[mr rooney]

+1 for the fiesta ST. If you can spend a few £ more you could have a GT86 or BRZ .

[DMilsey]

in reply to sharkrider; Logicaly it's the best car to move forward to, but styling wise i dont think it's sepcial enough and plus it's gettin facelifited in 2014? so i'll want to get rid again then.

This is why i think i would be best suited to the Seat Ibiza cupra. All the plus points of the skoda plus the stylings alot easier on the eye, imo.

Just a tad more expensive, but i', sure Seat like Skoda will do a 0% VAT offer soon.

Edited 17 December, 2012 by DMilsey

[skodanorman]

Regarding running costs... if you think how much money you'll loose in depreciation, you could afford much more in fuel.

[Paul007]

Or get an older car and a private plate if the date of reg matters so much to you.

[Dark_Hero]

My brother learnt the hard way about how much a car loses, when buying brand new.

Find a nice 6 month old pre-registered car and save yourself a good few k. You can still get service plans etc and it will still have warranty :-)

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

I have to say as much as it`d be lush to have a new car, its only new for a few weeks. If your planning to keep it for years and years then the big loss at the start is not so much of a issue, but otherwise it just seems silly. As said, by the time you factor in the depreciation you could afford something quicker/nicer.

If it were me out of them cars, the Ibiza/fabia would be dropped, as nice as the DSG is I still think the engine needs development. The corsa is old hat now, the 208 I dunno about, so probably the Fiesta.

[grr666]

I could have bought a brand new car and had a lot of

choice for the 17k I had burning a hole in my pocket.

Including a Fabia vRS mark 2.

I bought an 09 S3 with a decent level of spec. It was nearly

30k brand new. It's done the bulk of its depreciation already

and once I come to sell I'll get the bulk of my money back out of it.

I'm averaging 35mpg in the S3 with 250 quid a year tax and

under 300 quid a year fully comp insurance so in my mind the running

costs are reasonable. I paid more to insure my stage 1 fabia vRS due to its

mods etc. It's a much better car than anything I could have bought new for

the same money.

[Ad Lav]

Fabia will not be facelifted in 2014 - it will be replaced.

Look at a MK6 Golf GTI DSG, not as expensive as the S3 and cheaper to run.

Polo GTI is great but not much better (if any) than the Fabia vRS.

For me anyway:

Corsa is meh.

Vauxhall is no no.

Fiesta has shoddy build quality - not sure on new one but current model is bad.

Octavia vRS maybe?

[Titanium_Man]

I could have bought a brand new car and had a lot of

choice for the 17k I had burning a hole in my pocket.

Including a Fabia vRS mark 2.

I bought an 09 S3 with a decent level of spec. It was nearly

30k brand new. It's done the bulk of its depreciation already

and once I come to sell I'll get the bulk of my money back out of it.

I'm averaging 35mpg in the S3 with 250 quid a year tax and

under 300 quid a year fully comp insurance so in my mind the running

costs are reasonable. I paid more to insure my stage 1 fabia vRS due to its

mods etc. It's a much better car than anything I could have bought new for

the same money.

And worth every penny Garry, she's a beaut and goes amazingly well..... Got my missus wanting one when you popped round after telling her what you're paying for insurance etc!

[DMilsey]

I don't want a brand new car for snob appeal or just to say i have a brand new car, it just seems the best option for me atm having a few ££££ to put down and the rest on a pcp (to keep monthly payments down). Can also change the car every 18 month or so.

I would definatly have a 18 month old car, if i like the car it's not a problem!!

From what i can work out i can get a better deal on a brand new car on a pcp, with a few grand down, but obviously i wont be able to sell the car and will never actually own the thing, but this doesn't bother me right now.

I know alot of people will think i'm an idiot for doing it this way, but it just fits in with my life style right now...

[skodanorman]

No one is saying your an idiot, we're just suggesting another option. Sounds like it suits your current lifestyle; so go for it!

Despite what I said earlier about my Octavia, I wouldn't change it for the world... as long as its a head over heart purchase then you'll be the same.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[DMilsey]

What I meant was a lot of people can't see my logic in me having a new car, but like you say it suits me at the moment. Things will change as I get older i suppose.

[chrisa449568]

I don't want a brand new car for snob appeal or just to say i have a brand new car, it just seems the best option for me atm having a few ££££ to put down and the rest on a pcp (to keep monthly payments down). Can also change the car every 18 month or so.

I would definatly have a 18 month old car, if i like the car it's not a problem!!

From what i can work out i can get a better deal on a brand new car on a pcp, with a few grand down, but obviously i wont be able to sell the car and will never actually own the thing, but this doesn't bother me right now.

I know alot of people will think i'm an idiot for doing it this way, but it just fits in with my life style right now...

would you not be better leasing a car for a year or 2

[alkip]

Fiesta ST would be my choice

[Pete T]

Oh i can relate to the old 'don't want anything older that what I've already had' theory, I was the same at your age, but it'll wear off I'm sure. You'll come to realise that there's a lot to be had for £20k in the used market, let some other numpty take the buying new depreciation hit.

How about a nice 240BHP Volvo S60 T5, £19,999 with seemingly every option ticked...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190809433765

Edited 16 March, 2013 by Pete T

[Grizzle]

I HATE YOU!!! ^^ i would love an S60 so much!!

[grr666]

Oh i can relate to the old 'don't want anything older that what I've already had' theory, I was the same at your age, but it'll wear off I'm sure. You'll come to realise that there's a lot to be had for £20k in the used market, let some other numpty take the buying new depreciation hit.

That's the point I was trying to make, I'd rather my used S3 than a brand new Fabia 2 vRS any

day, it may not be as new but in 3 years I reckon I'll get about 70% back out of the 17k I spent on it.

Maybe more, if the mileage is low for the year which it will be.

It was a 30 grand car new and had already lost the bulk of its depreciation money by the time I

bought it. They tend to stabilise once they get to a certain point and mine is fairly well specced

which will help it hold its money better. I'll be whacking a private plate on it soon to disguise its

age so it could be mistaken for a much newer one. They were still that shape/spec last year, the newer

variant is just starting to make an appearance.

But as much as I love it, I'd never have bought it new.

[chrisa449568]

Oh i can relate to the old 'don't want anything older that what I've already had' theory, I was the same at your age, but it'll wear off I'm sure. You'll come to realise that there's a lot to be had for £20k in the used market, let some other numpty take the buying new depreciation hit.

How about a nice 240BHP Volvo S60 T5, £19,999 with seemingly every option ticked...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190809433765

you buy a quality used car and it will feel better than a brand new lower quality. i would definately buy something a lot better than the cars the young lad is looking at

[mannyo]

you buy a quality used car and it will feel better than a brand new lower quality. i would definately buy something a lot better than the cars the young lad is looking at

I agree, my 13 year old Audi has a much better interior than the 4 year old Superb MK2 it replaced despite having just short of 200K miles on the clock. The reason being the Audi cost the best part of 50K when it was new compared to say a new Fabia which around 1/3rd of that new. Cost to buy one of these today, similar spec with less mileage is around the 2K mark, for 20K you are in S8 territory and not a very old one at that.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/audi/s8/audi-s8-5-2v10-fsi-quattro-tip-bang-and-olufsen-2007/797080

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/audi/s8/audi-s8-quattro-fsi-v10-2007-07/1072992

[chrisa449568]

I agree, my 13 year old Audi has a much better interior than the 4 year old Superb MK2 it replaced despite having just short of 200K miles on the clock. The reason being the Audi cost the best part of 50K when it was new compared to say a new Fabia which around 1/3rd of that new. Cost to buy one of these today, similar spec with less mileage is around the 2K mark, for 20K you are in S8 territory and not a very old one at that.

http://www.pistonhea...sen-2007/797080

http://www.pistonhea...2007-07/1072992

for insurance and running costs i think the S8 is out of the question but i would certainly look at S4,S3 etc plus the amount you spend on it compared to a new car you could have Ed China give it a once over and still save money