I've had my trusty Fiesta Mk6 Style Climate 1.25 petrol for 5 years and now it's time for a change.

I travel 12k maybe 13k miles a year.  I travel to the office 3 times a week which is a 50-mile round trip via mostly on the motorway and A roads.  I work from home for the other 2 weekdays and then on the weekend it's the usual social driving.

I have a few possible choices of new car in mind:

• Audi A3 1.6 TDI
• Ford Fiesta 1 litre EcoBoost
• VW Golf 1.6 TDI

My budget is £10k cash.  I'll be selling my Fiesta on Gumtree.

I'd really appreciate some advice as to whether I should opt for a petrol or diesel.  I'm after a hatchback or saloon that is relatively cheap to service.  I did consider perhaps a BMW 1 series diesel but the servicing costs of an BMW and perhaps the Audi put me off (apparently the servicing is expensive).  I had a Fiesta Zetec S EcoBoost 125bhp a few months back as a courtesy car and absolutely loved it; the drive, the power and the comfort.

I've had my trusty Fiesta Mk6 Style Climate 1.25 petrol for 5 years and now it's time for a change.

I travel 12k maybe 13k miles a year.  I travel to the office 3 times a week which is a 50-mile round trip via mostly on the motorway and A roads.  I work from home for the other 2 weekdays and then on the weekend it's the usual social driving.

I have a few possible choices of new car in mind:

• Audi A3 1.6 TDI
• Ford Fiesta 1 litre EcoBoost
• VW Golf 1.6 TDI

My budget is £10k cash.  I'll be selling my Fiesta on Gumtree.

I'd really appreciate some advice as to whether I should opt for a petrol or diesel.  I'm after a hatchback or saloon that is relatively cheap to service.  I did consider perhaps a BMW 1 series diesel but the servicing costs of an BMW and perhaps the Audi put me off (apparently the servicing is expensive).  I had a Fiesta Zetec S EcoBoost 125bhp a few months back as a courtesy car and absolutely loved it; the drive, the power and the comfort.

That is a very good budget for the germans get a good independent and the costs will go down. I will say you can get a decent A4for that price to a 330d bmw

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7 minutes ago, Ken.K said:

That is a very good budget for the germans get a good independent and the costs will go down. I will say you can get a decent A4for that price to a 330d bmw

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That's true.  I know of a couple of good independents around my area.  I suppose my first task is to work out whether I should choose a diesel or a petrol.

That is a very good budget for the germans get a good independent and the costs will go down. I will say you can get a decent A4for that price to a 330d bmw

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That's true.  I know of a couple of good independents around my area.  I suppose my first task is to work out whether I should choose a diesel or a petrol.

What is your mileage a year. Look at the Jaguar Xf as well good bargains to be hard 😉😉

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1 minute ago, Ken.K said:

What is your mileage a year. Look at the Jaguar Xf as well good bargains to be hard 😉😉

I've worked out it'll be roughly 12k miles a year.

Petrol

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you're estimated mileage is just on the margins between the two fuel types.  12-13K is about the point where diesel would work in your favour

At 12K miles per year you'd be probably better off with petrol, you'd need to be consistently nearer the 13K annually to make diesel the better choice.

 

2.5 Mazda 6 sport

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15 hours ago, GMX said:

you're estimated mileage is just on the margins between the two fuel types.  12-13K is about the point where diesel would work in your favour

At 12K miles per year you'd be probably better off with petrol, you'd need to be consistently nearer the 13K annually to make diesel the better choice.

 

Looking at past MOTs, I travelled 14k mikes for one year.  Between the last couple of MOTs I travelled 10k miles.  Since this year's MOT I've travelled on average 1k miles a month (I think!)

You have soo many options at your budget. Lexus Gs450h, C class saloons etc. Wish i had your budget

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Just a thought: I plan to buy my new car and then sell my Fiesta on Gumtree. I've checked the prices of insurance for a basic policy just to cover the car for someone to test drive and the first instalment is £40 and then the monthly instalments are £38. It seems sensible to SORN the car but then it would mean a potential buyer couldn't test drive it.

Edit: I changed the oil on the car last Monday and noted the mileage.  I've travelled 239 miles since then.  That works out as 12,428 miles a year.  My average mileage calculation a few days ago was about 12k miles a year.

Just a thought: I plan to buy my new car and then sell my Fiesta on Gumtree. I've checked the prices of insurance for a basic policy just to cover the car for someone to test drive and the first instalment is £40 and then the monthly instalments are £38. It seems sensible to SORN the car but then it would mean a potential buyer couldn't test drive it.

 

Buy as you see. They are in charge of insuring it or they are passengers and you take them for a drive

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Petrol. Diesels are more trouble than they're worth these days.

I started to have second thoughts this morning about whether the novelty of having a new Fiesta will wear off 

On 9/6/2016 at 11:23 AM, lloydyyy said:

I started to have second thoughts this morning about whether the novelty of having a new Fiesta will wear off 

Yeah but the novelty of owning a more fun but less reliable car will wear off even quicker 

I started to have second thoughts this morning about whether the novelty of having a new Fiesta will wear off 

Yeah but the novelty of owning a more fun but less reliable car will wear off even quicker 

For the budget I would strongly look at higher brands premium

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Mk2 Fabia Vrs ;) sub £10k twin-charged petrol pocket rocket, still average 36-40 mpg and properly shifts when you want it to (up to the speed limit, obviously...)

But seriously though, I think you'd find that owning a new car would give you a certain level of comfort. You'd essentially be ageing it in the way that suits you. You wouldn't have those times where you wonder how the last 30/40k miles have been driven and how the car's been treated.

18 minutes ago, Ken.K said:

Yeah but the novelty of owning a more fun but less reliable car will wear off even quicker 

Is the Fiesta really that unreliable? Granted, the Ford support network is a load of s word, but the Fiesta is hardly down there with Vauxhall and FIAT.

57 minutes ago, GaryPL said:

Is the Fiesta really that unreliable? Granted, the Ford support network is a load of s word, but the Fiesta is hardly down there with Vauxhall and FIAT.

I said that quote, not Ken. But my point was actually completely the opposite. A Fiesta WILL be more reliable than Vauxhall, Fiat, and any other second-hand german marque at that price-point. Obviously a second hand BMW might be more fun than the Fiesta, but the servicing and maintenance/repair costs can be scary.

7 minutes ago, Incontro said:

I said that quote, not Ken. But my point was actually completely the opposite. A Fiesta WILL be more reliable than Vauxhall, Fiat, and any other second-hand german marque at that price-point. Obviously a second hand BMW might be more fun than the Fiesta, but the servicing and maintenance/repair costs can be scary.

Sorry - just the way it came up on my phone. And also for the misunderstanding.

I said that quote, not Ken. But my point was actually completely the opposite. A Fiesta WILL be more reliable than Vauxhall, Fiat, and any other second-hand german marque at that price-point. Obviously a second hand BMW might be more fun than the Fiesta, but the servicing and maintenance/repair costs can be scary.

Sorry - just the way it came up on my phone. And also for the misunderstanding.

Maintenance is more definitely more on the germans than on a ford that is for sure but the germans can go for miles. Of that list I would go for the audi or maybe a golf gti.

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On 9/7/2016 at 7:54 PM, GaryPL said:

Sorry - just the way it came up on my phone. And also for the misunderstanding.

no need to apologize bud :)

I've been keeping an eye on my better half's old Fiesta which is currently up for sale.  She had it on a Ford Options plan and handed it back in July this year.  Since then, it's remained unsold.  The settlement figure was £7300 - I could've paid that and walked away with the car.  At the time I didn't see the point in paying all that money only for the novelty to wear off.

I went down to Day's in Plasmarl last weekend and had a chat about a deal for cash.  The salesman said there was no discount and 4 other families have expressed an interest in the car.  I wasn't buying his tactic of saying other families were interested for a second.  My counter-argument was that the car has remained unsold since July and they had already dropped the price from £9300 to £8900 because they can't shift the car.  The salesman had none of it, so I walked away.

Any advice on how to haggle for the best deal?  I can always approach my local Day's branch and discuss a finance deal in order to get a discount on the car, and then pay the balance off after a month.

Was it just hand back or did she trade it against a new car?

if it was just a hand back, then assume they paid £7,300 for it at the most. Just lay hard ball and ask to speak to the Sales Manager. Pont out the cars plate has aged another '6 months'. However go down finance route for better deal. If you want to be mean, pay it off in under 14 days, they won't get commission on the HP. 

1 hour ago, goldtail77 said:

Was it just hand back or did she trade it against a new car?

if it was just a hand back, then assume they paid £7,300 for it at the most. Just lay hard ball and ask to speak to the Sales Manager. Pont out the cars plate has aged another '6 months'. However go down finance route for better deal. If you want to be mean, pay it off in under 14 days, they won't get commission on the HP. 

They bought the car in straight away as soon as we handed it back. The V5 was signed to release the car into the trade.

I'll speak to the sales manager and get a price as close to £7300 as possible.