£7k to spend - Micra, Polo or Fox?

merlinormartin

Three words .... NOT THE MICRA!

spanglesugar

Thanks for your comments lellie and merlinormartin. Could you explain why?

piggeh

Polo best choice. Fox is way too basic. Also the Fox will not necessarily have the same strong residuals as the Polo as it has no history, unlike a Polo/Golf.

TBH I am surprised you have not looked at the other cars in the VAG group (seat & skoda), as they are pretty much the same as the VWs, but normally better priced. Both have the VW build quality.

I drove a new Almera the other day - as they're both by Nissan, I can say the build quality between the Nissans and VAG cars is miles apart.

tomstickland

The reliability of Nissan is very good though.

balsingh

tomstickland wrote:

The reliability of Nissan is very good though.

It was ... before they started hanging out with the guys at Renault

mvteng

As above, check out Skoda.

I've bought Skoda Fabia, Seat Ibiza & VW Polo all new within the last 6 years.

Seat quality & finish is very noticeably poorer than both VW & Skoda, but the Skoda & VW are both very good.

Skoda prices should get you a lot more for your money than VW

JonathanA

I think probably all 3 are good cars. I'd echo some of the sentiment here that VW aren't to the same high quality they used to be, but they are still in demand so residual prices are better. Personally I would only look at the nearly new option - let someone else take the initial depreciation hit. Having owned a Skoda and a VW, customer service was much better at the Skoda dealer, but the Micra my mother in law currently owns has not put a foot wrong in 3 years of driving & costs very little to run.

If you but new, shop around, look at some of the car broker sites like drivethedeal for competitive prices. At the end of the day, buy the car which you like the most - especially if you are going to keep it for a long time. Is there a convenience factor surrounding which dealer is nearest?

The Fox is, I believe, the successor to the Lupo, and is positioned as a budget car and priced accordingly. The Polo design is older, but new Polo cars are about the same size as the Golf when it first launched in the 70s. Do you need the larger size of the Polo?

Whatever your decision, don't rush it as you'll have to live with it for a long time - or it could be costly to change your mind! I think all are good cars, little to choose between them, other than personal preference.

I'd have the Micra - secondhand so that someone else had been stung by depreciation and save the couple of grand on my budget. But then I'm tight!!!

Happy choosing.

fatboyonadiet

Polo for sure, got the TDi TWIST myself and very good, can't complain at all. Would imagine it would be a better buy then the fox, given your budget you'll be looking at an older one and hence won't lose as much on depreciation. The foz will be newer and lose more, plus I think the polo will sell better when you want to sell it.

Equinut

polo for me, every time.

why not the micra or the fox?
well, for the polo...

build quality is dependable.
value for money is high.
depreciation isn't as bad.
parts are cheap and plentiful.
plenty of specialists who can service, too.
they run in well and engines can take a fair deal of mileage.

i can't say the same for the other two. happy motoring.

lellie

The polo won't depreciate as much as the micra (and probably the fox). It's also bigger and has better features than the fox - when the polo is essentially the next model up, if you can afford it, it makes more sense.

I would add that if I was buying a similar car I'd go for the fabia - they also don't depreciate much really and they're great cars.