I am going car hunting on sat with a mate who wants a new cak has about 7-9k to spend he likes the idea of the following but has not made his mind up. he is after a 1.6 with a good spek

does anyone have experience of these, what would you buy and why?

Focus

Golf

Astra

If you dont mind me asking, why specifically a 1.6, if its for insurance, i know a 1.6 bmw costs me 4x more to insure to a 1.8 Seat Toledo/Pug 306/Ford focus

You can often insure, say a 2.0 family car for the same as a 1.4 small car - don't buy on engine size, buy a copy of Parkers and check the groups (and prices) or the things dealers are selling.

Hopefully by doing this you'll get a good deal that's easy on the pocket

But don't take it into the dealership, for god's sake

If he likes fun cars to drive, he'll love the Focus, but not sure what age/spec he wants - would he buy older for a higher spec, or is newer the better?

Chris

Of those I'd have the Focus, cos it's the only one to not have cast concrete seats.

I liked my golf.They never seem to lose their value either

Well he got a 2003 1.6 golf match in black 45K on clock for £7,100

Dont go for a 1.6l astra unless you have bags of cash for fuel. They are so un-economical I bought my octi vrs to get better fuel consumption. I only over got 20-25mpg and it didnt matter if going round town or a motorway run. and it was a 2004 model.