After nearly a year of owning my Citigo, I can honestly say i am getting pretty bored with it. Plus in hindsight it wasnt the best financial solution, before buying it my car insurance was stupidly high (over £300 per month) and I was doing a fair few miles. Once i bought it my monthly mileage dropped to a minimum of 400 miles a month. So i was not getting the full benefits of the fuel economy and i had a PCP Finance agreement to start paying each month.

 

So! Now I'm looking at selling up around September and going for a Used car with a bit more "Omph" and more space. 

 

FYI, my car history to date:

1) Mk1 Skoda Fabia 1.4 16V (Owned 8 months, Sold for a cheaper to run car)

2) Mk1 Skoda Fabia 1.4 8V (cracking little car, but was £312 amonth to insure, sold to buy the Citigo)

3) Skoda Citigo, Bought September 2012.

I also bought a Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 Q-System (Automatic, this was the main reason why im not keeping it) to fix up and sell on (its actually going this Saturday! YAY!  ) but was never Taxed or Insured.

 

 

I currently have a budget of £2000 - £2500 to buy the car. I am mainly looking for a Petrol, Manual, Saloon size car with between 150-200BHP.

 

So my thoughts so Far have been:

 

- Alfa 156 2.0 TwinSpark

- BMW E46 318 or a 325i/328i

- Mk1 Skoda Octavia VRS .

 

 

Each have their own drawbacks

 

for example the Alfa 156's suffer front suspension issues, the Twin Spark engines need a new Cambelt and Variator (for Variable Valve Timing) around every 36,000 Miles and obviously have 8 Spark plugs. However I love the sound and styling.

 

The BMW's I have seen have generally been more expensive to insure (even compared to the Alfa 156's) and I dont know a great deal about them. That said a few friends have found part costs to be on the steep side.

 

And then there's the Octy VRS, by all means I like them, but after having 3 skodas I am getting slightly bored of the VAG cars. 

 

Also in terms of Car insurance, touch wood I am on my way to my 2nd years no claims in September, and as I am 20, I dont want anything too silly (like a 4L V8  )

 

So does anyone have any suggestions on perhaps other cars i haven't considered? or does anyone have any recommendations?

Think an accord type r will come into that bracket, or maybe at a push a very cheap integra

You could also get a resonable gt4 for around that rpice

But if you not into jap cars then my solutions are useless

haha, well I have never really given them a great deal of thought, they dont jump out at me as much as some cars. A freind has shown me several Mk2 (i.e early 90's) Toyota MR2's going for sub £1000 which also appear to be in pretty good condtion.

 

Also producing 150BHP from a 2.0L. 

 

But again, I know practically nothing about them!

^^^ but you know a driving instructor who does!

Fair point, I guess id have to start somewhere!

 

I do like the look of the 2.2 Honda Accord Type-R.

- BMW E46 318 or a 325i/328i

 

From what I've seen, avoid the 2.0 318, the 1.9 318 was a better engine for reliability. If you get a 6 cylinder, the MPG is about the same between the 2.2 and the 3.0, so insurance aside there's not much difference.

 

I've found parts to be no worse than my VAG cars (and it's not broken down, so I've not needed anything apart from service parts, unlike all my VAG cars!)

 

I don't imagine a Type R or MR2 will be too insurance friendly either? MR2 is lacking in the saloon credentials area too

MR2 is lacking in the saloon credentials area too

 

very true!

Having had the Mk1 and Mk2 Mr2, I can say that I never found the Mk2 to be much fun, mine had 173 bhp but was too heavy to be fun & not as enjoyable as a standard Mk1 Octy vRS......

 

 

And they aint easy to work on!

Go with the vrs

Sent from my iPhone 4s

Fair point, I guess id have to start somewhere!

I do like the look of the 2.2 Honda Accord Type-R.

Just remembered the prelude comes with the same engine and theyr very cheap

Well for that money and to keep the insurance down how about a Volvo.

 

There are some very nice T5s around for that money and you may even get a V70R. 

 

They are a very capable estate car and very under rated.

The normal V70 T5 is a 2.3 petrol with 240 bhp and check out Volvo for the insurance I found them very good.

 

I have had a couple and they were loads cheaper to insure than a 1.8T passat.

what about an impreza turbo they're great just a bit thirsty

Mk1 Octavia vRS

 

I see you're only 20...hmmm maybe a Renault Clio 172/182 Sport for some fun???

Ive had enough of Hatchbacks / Super minis for now. So thats whyive been looking into saloon cars.

 

I am most tempted by the Alfa 156, although its an Alfa! Only issue is the ones local to me are all 2.0 JTS (Direct injection) which have carbon build up issues and suffer from oil consumption. The Twin Sparks also drink a bit of oil, but not as much. but for some reason there are practically none local to me for sale! 3 months ago there were loads!

I like the look of Alfas, the seem to go well too, but the sheer amount that are for sale spares or repair scares the **** out of me. 

Yea they dont hold much value. 

 

They eat through Front upper and lower wishbone bushes and ball joints, with the twin sparks you have 8 spark plugs to change, Cam belt every 36,000 miles or 3 years, but do produce a lovely sound and 155 BHP which isnt bad given its an NA engine built around a Fiat block (Alfa Romeo head),

 

Its jsut hard finding one local which has also been looked after. You quite often get one which was cherished, depreciated alot, bought buy an idiot who abused it and didnt service it then sold it on with practically no loss. Which means its almost luck of the draw whether you find a good or a bad one.

Fabia vrs! I love mine, cracking motor, fast and fuel efficient

Nice try, but by the time I get to work it will still be cold! Has to be a petrol. And a mk2 is way over budget

With regards to the BMW's I would definitely say the 6 cylinders are more reliable than the 4 cylinder petrols of that year/model! Plus the 318's are slow down to the weight of them!

Corolla t-sport!

Will muller all the above suggestions!