Due to some reasons, I am buying a new car.

I am selling my beloved Street Triple R in order to buy it. I will have around £6000 to buy/insure a car.

So for example, £5000 on a car and then another £1000 to pay for half a years insurance, the rest on monthly direct debit.

I know you can get plenty of nice cars for that however insurance will be a problem so I'm looking for something that's funky enough for a good looking, young chap (such as myself) but cheap, reliable and fun to drive with good economy.

Ideally my car will be:

Diesel (but will take a nippy 1.2/1.4 petrol)
iPod connectivity (whether full intregration or Aux input, or ability to easily change the head unit)
Alloys
Air-con
front electric windows at least

Looking for a car between the size of my Corsa and that of an Astra/Focus

I was thinking of a Focus TDCI, however insurance seems a little high, currently I am driving around in a Hyundai i20 Comfort 1.2 which I really like, as it's comfortable and has full integrated iPod with wheel controls. I can see a few around for just under £6000 however most are £8000, This car would cost me £2300 to insure fully comp.

If you could post your suggestions/links to cars you see, that would be great.

HEHEHEH.

Something like a Mazda 2?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/cl ... postcode/nn83gd?logcode=p

EDIT: Wait that one's 6k :/

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

1.2/1.4

black & yellow one looks pretty decent link

Quote from Agniz :

black & yellow one looks pretty decent link

Quite good insurance aswell.

Quote from Agniz :

black & yellow one looks pretty decent link

Nah you want something more like this

Quote from J@tko :

Nah you want something more like this

uh oh that looks too powerful

Quote from J@tko :

Nah you want something more like this

2k? nah,too expensive..

Quote from J@tko :

Something like a Mazda 2?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/cl ... postcode/nn83gd?logcode=p

EDIT: Wait that one's 6k :/

Thanks mate, didn't even think of one of these..seems to have what I want. Would cost £2850 to insure, I haven't really got time to look for many but are there plenty around for between £5k and £6000? This sort of spec?

No I don't want a mower .

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Thanks mate, didn't even think of one of these..seems to have what I want. Would cost £2850 to insure, I haven't really got time to look for many but are there plenty around for between £5k and £6000? This sort of spec?

Well it started production in 07 and the TS2 is the lowest spec model (and the 1.2 the smallest engine) so I'm not sure you'd find too many that were cheaper than that one. But I'm sure there's plenty around. It's the same as the new-gen fiesta so you could look at them too.

Citroen Xsara 1.9 HDi

Cheap to run, high car = speed bump fun

I have a 1.6 petrol Focus (2003), and I'm glad I don't have a diesel. Petrol is more fun, more noise, more revs, no turbo to wait for. The Focus in general is really comfortable - I do long motorway journeys quite often without any discomfort.

Great fun when roads get twisty too (independent rear suspension). I tend to get 38-40mpg with unleaded which isn't bad as i do rag it around a bit sometimes. Had it coming up to 4 years now, it's been reliable (apart from an alternator pully that broke and your general wear and tear stuff like track rod ends). Just touching 65,000 miles and still runs very smoothly.

However if you really want diesel there's plenty people around who have a TDCI Focus who wouldn't have anything different - my personal preference is petrol though, so maybe I'm biased.

Go do some test drives - I tested a Focus, Astra and Fiesta and the Focus was way out on top. I also attempted to test drive a Citroen C3 but my feet were too big for the pedals!

Hmm well J@kto it seems those TS2's are a little out of my price range but I've been looking over Ebay and Autotrader, seen a hell of a lot of newer shape Focus's/Foci/Focuseses (whatever the plural is) for around £4-5.5k. I'd be looking at a TDCI Climate and I also hear all the cars with an "aux" button on the radio have inbuilt aux for iPod so YAY. £3300-£3700 to insure depending on what year.

Just got to sell my bike which is on ebay and then yeah, will buy. Unless anyone else has any awesome ideas.

Great for drifting!

Holy fudge monkey batman! Thats some testicle busting insurance prices!

Why? How old are you?

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Due to some reasons, I am buying a new car.

I am selling my beloved Street Triple R in order to buy it. I will have around £6000 to buy/insure a car.

The hell? You've only had it 2 minutes. You haven't even finished breaking in the engine.

If you want cheap to insure, you have to get yourself a commercial vehicle (pickup, van, tractor, etc), as you are only charged basic rates so you're not put out of business and most modern CDVs will come with all of the same gear as their back seated windowed friends.

Now if your condom burst, then that won't be much use unless you get something like a Berlingo, or the Transit Connect Crew, as it is a mini-minibus. Plus they come with all the mod cons you'd find in any other Ford Product these days, so good headunit that you can plug your MP3 player into, cruse control, airbags, aircon, etc.

Quote from garph :

Holy fudge monkey batman! Thats some testicle bustle insurance prices!

Why? How old are you?

He is 19, apparently.

Ignore aux / iPod sockets. You could fit a new headunit to give you this for £30 (if not less!)

I hope you're not serisouly going to piss over 2 or 3k on insurance for the year! Maybe £2000 max!

Get a cheaper to insure car and save the rest until your insurance comes down some more.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

The hell? You've only had it 2 minutes. You haven't even finished breaking in the engine.

I know, I've had a happy 2850 miles on it, it's breaking me to sell it. :cry: Really, It's going to destroy my life and future plans but if I don't get another car I will lose my job.

Quote :

If you want cheap to insure, you have to get yourself a commercial vehicle (pickup, van, tractor, etc), as you are only charged basic rates so you're not put out of business and most modern CDVs will come with all of the same gear as their back seated windowed friends.

Now if your condom burst, then that won't be much use unless you get something like a Berlingo, or the Transit Connect Crew, as it is a mini-minibus. Plus they come with all the mod cons you'd find in any other Ford Product these days, so good headunit that you can plug your MP3 player into, cruse control, airbags, aircon, etc.

Hey hey cheeky! I looked on ebay for these but they're all about £5000 so the same price as a Focus and most have been crashed, thrashed and abused. Get your point though, but I had enough stick from my corsa at work, if I rocked up at work in a van, they would lay into me and I'd kill myself.

Quote :

He is 19, apparently.

I am, apparently.

Quote from Jakg :

Ignore aux / iPod sockets. You could fit a new headunit to give you this for £30 (if not less!)

Would want to keep wheel controls for volume and change radio/aux/cd. A decent HU is about £80-£100 which has Aux input and then you're looking at £50 for wheel control adaptor, no thanks lmao. Was also looking at Laguna (00-06 models) TDCI 120's which are about 2-3k to buy and 3.5k to insure...most come with big leather seats, cruise etc, but no iPod connectivity which is why i'm leaning towards the focus.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

I know, I've had a happy 2850 miles on it, it's breaking me to sell it. :cry: Really, It's going to destroy my life and future plans but if I don't get another car I will lose my job.

What is wrong with your Corsa for work? You could undo the mods, probably £150-200 down the scrappy will put it back to standard.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Hey hey cheeky! I looked on ebay for these but they're all about £5000 so the same price as a Focus and most have been crashed, thrashed and abused. Get your point though, but I had enough stick from my corsa at work, if I rocked up at work in a van, they would lay into me and I'd kill myself.

I got nothing but kudos when I started rocking a van. Mostly because it had a mattress in the back. But at your age everything will be expensive to insure, so you might as well just go nuts and get a Range Rover P38 (slush box because the manual box sucked). You can get a very good one for 2.5-3k, you're looking at about the same to insure it. Jobs a good'en.

Get the focus, it's worth it, and it's damn comfortable.

-Owner of a 2005 focus.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Would want to keep wheel controls for volume and change radio/aux/cd. A decent HU is about £80-£100 which has Aux input and then you're looking at £50 for wheel control adaptor, no thanks lmao

A decent HU with aux-in can be yours for £30 - or at least thats what I paid for my Kenwood W3041 from Cash Converters - sell for even less on eBay. I mean you've got a second hand car, with a second hand stereo... why not get a second hand stereo to go in it?

Wheel control adaptors are £25, tops. Some headunits don't even need them (i.e. in my car, any Kenwood with an IR input just slots in and the controls still work...)

Your spending £5k on a car, but your discounting cars based on the fact they don't have £75 of audio fitted?

Same for alloyz - £200 for a set of OEM ones on eBay if you look. Your spending £5k on a car, don't let £200 put you off ffs.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Was also looking at Laguna (00-06 models) TDCI 120's which are about 2-3k to buy and 3.5k to insure...most come with big leather seats, cruise etc, but no iPod connectivity which is why i'm leaning towards the focus.

Hate to do the whole "recommend the car you drive" thing but...

if your looking at a Laguna, why not a Rover 75 / ZT? You can get a top-spec diesel (with cruise, heated seats, leather etc...) for <£3k. Surprisingly good cars underneath, but the "its a Rover" reputation has made them drop like a stone in value. Insurance is also quite low as well... i'm paying £1200 for the ZT at 19, TPFT. Could be £1100 if I went for a 75...

(don't look at the ZR / ZS - much more to insure. And much, much worse).

And why do you want fully comp? If you crashed your car, would you claim, considering the ass-raping premium you'd get the year after? What sort of excess would you need to have? As long as I don't crash my car every 2 years or so, it works out cheaper for third part for me...

Links for the MG diesels that have all of these options, I have a headache so am going to sleep.

What engines they use in them?

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Links for the MG diesels that have all of these options, I have a headache so am going to sleep.

Some examples. Most have leather, none appear to have heated seats, all have cruise.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/cl ... odel/zt/make/mg/postcode/

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-MG- ... 45f827b741#ht_1018wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2003-52- ... 41563ae482#ht_1336wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MG-ZT-T- ... m415631a0c6#ht_877wt_1139

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

What engines they use in them?

BMW M47 - it's an e46 320d engine, but with a single vane turbo (i.e. none of the 320d-turbo-shitting-themselves problems apply), and a little less power (115-135 BHP).

Oh and for a slightly less racy suggestion - Saab 93 / 95. Comfortable, epic toys and depreciate like mad after 6 years. More of a mile-muncher than a Sports saloon (even with the "hot" Aero models). Engines (diesel at least) is stolen from a Vectra, not the most refined beasts... But the insurance would be cheap

A bit on the large side, but everyone seems to think that they "need" a small diesel car so it's driving values through the roof - larger cars (esp bigger petrols) seem to be looking like a lot better financial bet