SWMBO's car (Peugeot 106 Key Largo, 0-60 in 7.3 hrs) is in dire need of replacement. She has decided that instead of having 'his n her's ' cars, we should now have 'family' cars :eek: The plan is that the Octy will be assigned to the school run/visiting family/going on holiday role, and we will have something more economical for the drive to work. This isn't quite so bad as it sounds as we both work shifts, so one of us is always at home when the other is at work.

I have agreed to this plan only on the understanding that the 'work' car is fun to drive and does at least 45-50 mpg. Budget will be in the region of 8k so rules out anything brand new.

My thoughts are aiming towards the Fabia 1.9 tdi (not known as 'fun' car, unless you are called Jason , but can be 'tweaked' ), Seat Ibiza Sport (same engine as Fab vRS), Smart Roadster (we dont need to get the kids in after all ) Alfa 147 JTD (probably a bit pricey). Audi A3( again a bit pricey)

Can anyone provide any further ideas ?

:wavey: moi?

I'd avoid Alfa TBH - just my own experiences....

If there's only ever two of you, would a really small car be quite suitable? Some of the smaller superminis have quite good front space. Maybe a 3 door something or other? I'm thinking perhaps Toyoto Yaris/Aygo?

I'd avoid Alfa TBH - just my own experiences....

Agreed worst car I've ever owned for reliability.

If you can afford - Fabia VRS. There's a couple for sale on here in the

Unfortunately 8k is about the limit, so the Fab vRS is out, hence the inclusion of the Ibiza Sport. TBH I have loved Fabia's ever since they first appeared and would be happy with a 'fettled' TDi ., however, the Smart Roadster does have a 'seat of the pants' appeal. The Yaris just doesnt appeal to me.

Ohh decisions, decisions.

Test drove a VW Bora 1.9 TDi Sport 150 a couple of months ago. Great fun and comparable to a Fabia vRS in terms of performance. This was a 03 plate car for

How about one of the last proper mini cooper sports, holds the road, great fun, and will not depreciate if you look after it.

our Lass Has just bought an '03 Plate Ibiza TDi Sport (Same 130bhp motor as the vRS) for £7500 and that was from a Dealer!!!!!

Cracking car it is too The only thing I don't like is that the clocks show Red in the dark, the CD player buttons are to small and the Fuel gauge goes the wrong way!

But it has full climate control and feels a bit more sporty to drive than my vRS!

Unfortunately 8k is about the limit, so the Fab vRS is out

One of the guys in the Fabia forum just posted up about a silver 04 fabia vRS he just bought for

Its a shame you are so far away because my smart roadster will be coming up for sale soon IRO £8k. Company car forces sale. I'm tucked down in Dover.

They are very seat of the pants to drive but dead easy to learn and VERY forgiving (except in snow when the back end wants to be at the front )

I've done motorway work covering 46 miles a day and it returns about 50mpg. The best i had was 53mpg on a 1 stop trip from liverpool to dover. Thats a whole tank to get from liverpool to dover (35l tank).

B road bashing is the most fun. It is very dangerous for other drivers though because they seem to think they can get away from you, and they WILL end up in a ditch before they outcorner the roady .

My roady's got the paddle shift gears, 16" wheels, Air Conditioning, Front Fog Lights, Side Airbags, Heated Wing Mirrors, all as extras.... and i changed the stereo for one with an line in for my mp3 player.

Definately worth considering as a fun option. After all fun is not all about bhp and cc

Thanks for that, I didn't realise we had any Smart owners here. How do you find the Roadster, I have heard of problems with leaks from the roof ?

Thanks for that, I didn't realise we had any Smart owners here. How do you find the Roadster, I have heard of problems with leaks from the roof ?

A friend of mine has an 04 plate roadster, he loves it. The roof doesn't leak but it does have a habit of dripping water on you when you get out of the car if it has been raining, apparently. I think it's got something to do with the frameless doors, the windows drop slightly to let you get in and out of the car, and due to their angle they catch a bit of water. I might be wrong, Smart owners can state for sure I imagine...

My two cents, I think they're a great laugh, closest thing to a semi-practical road legal go kart you can get. Corner brilliantly, handle brilliantly. But I'd never drive one - I'm 6' 2" and look silly enough struggling out of the passenger seat. I'd never live it down if I drove one. My mate gets so much stick about it being a lego car, a rollerskate, all that sort of thing. At least he's a shortarse so doesn't look too silly getting out of it... But if it's just for SWMBO to drive, then go for it!

There are problems with a lot of roofs leaking badly, however mine is blessed. Its leaked a couple of times but only usually after a really cold spout where the seals have become hard and smaller than usual. Heavy summer showers did not make it leak at all, even during the massive thunderstorms we had down here. Mines an 03 build on a 54 plate

I have a friend who rejected one because of leaks. His was one of the first they tried to fix up at milton keynes but ended up making it worse. With this in mind, i chose not to complain about the 2/3 times mines leaked (or appeared to leak) because it will probably come back worse.

The note about the door is right too, as you open it when theres standing water on the seals, it does drip in because of the sharp angle of the window. The windows themselves dont drop to let you in, its just the nature of the frameless design. The for2 does it too as they dont have rims around the windows either.

All the above said though its fantastic. You can take the roof down at full speed, and put it back up too. The supporting bars for the roof above the doors stow away in the front boot securely (but you cant do this at full speed ;-)). Unlike most convertables though the handling is not affected in any way by removing the roof because there is a lot of "rollover" structure remaining. It handles the same with or without its hat on .

Its difficult to say whether its a leak from the roof or dribble from the door - the old "if a tree falls in a wood, does it make a sound" saying comes to mind here .

Theres a couple of warranty bits outstanding on mine at the moment which were the same on all 03 and early 04 builds, steering rack was an early one that had a rattle (nothing major), but a replacement one fixes that. Also early design of the steering wheel causes 2 dash lights to display as there is a ribbon cable which freys inside the wheel causing an apparent fault - again nothing major.

Anything else you need to know about them, let me know I'll tell you all the good and bad points because its not fair to leave potential owners in the dark.

P.S if anyone does take the pi$$ for owning one, i usually find the short yet sweet line of "You, Me, B-road, NOW!" shuts them up

Another vote here for the Ibiza TDI PD130 Sport, same engine as the Fabia vRS but 3dr, lighter and better spec, only let down is the dash isn't quite as nice as the Fabia IMHO. Got an 02 reg back in June for £5250 and it's been excellent. I use it everyday for my commute and it's a fun to drive with a good amount of shove whilst still returning high 40's mpg. Decent tyres are essential though as it was crap on the ones it came with.

Thanks for the input everyone. We will probably hang on till the end of March (when the Peugeot will fail its MOT again ) so we get a couple of months to try out a few alternatives and make our minds up. I'll let you know how we get on.