Recommendations for a "fun" car

kutsu119

Appreciate that this is probably a duplicate thread, but I've tried various keywords in the search and barring a few threads, nothing really relevant.

Long and short of my situation:
- Car needed for light mid-week usage and moderate weekend usage
- probably 100 motorway miles a month on average, and certainly sub 10k miles in a year
- Have 7 years no claims, and aged 27. Second driver is 26 and car will be fully comp.
- Have a daughter and usually ferrying her + friends, so need something that, whilst we dont need massive amounts of room, can cope with a few odds and sods
- something fun to drive, nothing too big, something with a bit of oomph
- looking to lease for 3 years, and not too much more than perhaps £350 a month

I've looked into the above, and the standard Honda Civic (1.8ltr and above), Golf TDI, etc - anything else worth considering?

Gloomendoom

pimento

Have a look at the Hyundai i30. I've just bought one. 1.4 engine but comes with all the bells and whistles and a five year warranty. Mine is a year old with 4000 miles and I paid £8000. You'd get a deal on a brand new one.

Best thing of all (to me, anyway) is the iPod dock. [/shallow]

Or if it's not big enough, look at the xi35.

anewman

Skoda Octavia VRS. Based on the VW Golf platform so if one of the ones your considering is a Golf worth a look/try.

Doozergirl

There is only one fun car. It's called a MINI

Love mine, loved my Cooper hatch, love my Cooper S Clubman even more. The Clubman isn't for everyone but I it ships my two little ones around, has five proper seatbelts and boy can it surprise people with 170bhp when I put my foot down! And they don't go for as much as the hatches when used so I traded my Cooper in and got a load more car for a sniff more than I traded my old one in for) will fit within budget. Even the hatch has more room in it than people seem to give it credit for.

I thought I couldn't decide between the MINI and the Civic when I started shopping. As soon as we'd driven them both, even H preferred the MINI.

minnie123

Ha doozergirl I am the opposite side of the fence I have a Civic Type R and it's fantastic. I did consider a Mini Cooper S a while back and I turned up at the garage in my Type R the salesmen said If you are driving round in that you will be taking a step down if you get the Mini Cooper S. But they are both fab cars so I would say go and have a go in both. (my CTR is the first shape though the new shape ones are not meant to be as good)

AdrianHi

Along the lines of a Golf how about a Mazda 3?
With a £350 inc. VAT leasing budget you can also get a BMW 118d M Sport or 120i if it's petrol you want. Servicing these is not expensive at all.

10JH

SEAT Leon or the Ibiza.

Polo GTI looks fun too!

sunshinetours

I would say a mini Cooper S if budget allows. Also another vote for a 1 series or second hand 3 series coupe? BM's certainly provide a good driving experience

I had a Golf VR6 a good few years ago and that was probably the most fun i've had with my clothers on (actually..... ) No idea if the new gen Golfs or their Skoda/Seat equivalents are as much fun to drive with more sedate engines though

I'm more a of a fan of second hand to get more car for your money

jd82

Panda 100HP!

Doozergirl

minnie123 wrote: »

Ha doozergirl I am the opposite side of the fence I have a Civic Type R and it's fantastic. I did consider a Mini Cooper S a while back and I turned up at the garage in my Type R the salesmen said If you are driving round in that you will be taking a step down if you get the Mini Cooper S. But they are both fab cars so I would say go and have a go in both. (my CTR is the first shape though the new shape ones are not meant to be as good)

Yes, it was a new shape that I was looking at. I liked them but the front windscreen of one I test drove (I tried the R and the S) was actually slightly warped and affected my view which made me worry about the quality. It was a bit more plasticky than the MINI and being that shallow, I only wanted one in the bright blue which they stopped making.

I used to have a 1 Series. Lovely car but not fun.