Choosing a car

parking_question_chap

The A3 is pretty dull, nice steering wheel though.

I cant ever imagine walking up to that Volvo and being excited to drive it.

Focus is a really nice car, especially the model you are looking at.

Chimpofdoom

I just bought an A3 1.4 TFSI Sportsback a couple of weeks ago.

Interior, ok, pretty dull, but excellent when compared to a golf (and for the money I spent, wasn't much between the 2).

As for the drive, pretty good, very responsive.

d0nkeyk0ng

I'd love to go for the Audi but I gather the DSG is still causing issues and could easily go £4-5k for replacement of gearbox and mechatronics unit. So I would want an extended warranty on the car.

Volvos are okay. I swore I'd never drive a Ford after I drove a Fiesta as my first car.

I happily do trips to the tip in my Golf. I just put the backseats down and lay some fabric down to protect everything. I've easily taken 6-8 black bags full of rubbish, or 6 green bags full of garden waste.

If I had that much to do for a house move, I'd just hire a moving van for the day.

kmb500

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

Hi All,

I would hugely appreciate your experienced opinions on choosing my next vehicle, having narrowed it down to 3 choices with a budget of 17-18k. This will hopefully be my car for the next decade, so reliability, comfort and future-proofing are top of my list.

I rarely make it on to the motorway any more, so I'm looking for a petrol engine with average+ acceleration, and will be the cart horse for all future house moves and trips to the tip, so a hatchback is necessary.

2015 Audi A3 Sportback 1.4 TFSI S Tronic - 10-15k miles (interior design is a turn off, everything else is a plus)
2016 Volvo V40 T3 2.0 - 5-15k miles (seems like an all round sensible choice)
2016 Ford Focus ST2 2.0 Ecoboost - 5-10k miles (a bit OTT but I've driven a few focus and they're a pleasure to drive)

I've considered most other cars in this price range but these 3 'do it' for me the most, although I am open to being schooled on something I may have overlooked.

Thanks in advance

For driving pleasure obviously the Focus is the winner but even on a long journey you will be lucky to get 25mpg which is probably half of what the Audi can get. Don't know much about the V40.
Also your family are unlikely to appreciate the rock hard ride of the ST.


Also, Focus is much less practical than the A3, and I can't imagine it's as reliable in 10 years. What about a Golf? Similar to the A3 but cheaper, so you could get a newer or higher spec one for the money.


Between those choices, for practicality and transporting your family, the answer is pretty obvious to me
(and I am not some Audi fanboy... I have a Fiesta ST and it's great)

Chimpofdoom

IIRC the V40 and the focus actually share the same platform.

My main issue with the V40 is the dashboard, once the next version comes out with the upgraded interior, it'll be a car to buy (unless there's serious problems...)

As for the A3, given what has been said about the s tronic gear box, i'd say, go look for a manual and give it a try.

dcouponzzzz

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

I'd love to go for the Audi but I gather the DSG is still causing issues and could easily go £4-5k for replacement of gearbox and mechatronics unit. So I would want an extended warranty on the car.

Volvos are okay. I swore I'd never drive a Ford after I drove a Fiesta as my first car.

I happily do trips to the tip in my Golf. I just put the backseats down and lay some fabric down to protect everything. I've easily taken 6-8 black bags full of rubbish, or 6 green bags full of garden waste.

If I had that much to do for a house move, I'd just hire a moving van for the day.

I always wanted a Golf...until I bought a Polo. Nothing wrong with the car, I actually like the understated but higher quality interior. Volkswagen Liverpool though... provided a service which makes me think twice about it. Awful experience! I suppose I could travel elsewhere, or as I plan on holding on to it for a long time just use a specialist garage...

Golf 1.4 TSI BlueMotion Tech R-Line Edition 5-10km miles at 19k could be a possibility

dcouponzzzz

kmb500 wrote: »

For driving pleasure obviously the Focus is the winner but even on a long journey you will be lucky to get 25mpg which is probably half of what the Audi can get. Don't know much about the V40.
Also your family are unlikely to appreciate the rock hard ride of the ST.


Also, Focus is much less practical than the A3, and I can't imagine it's as reliable in 10 years. What about a Golf? Similar to the A3 but cheaper, so you could get a newer or higher spec one for the money.


Between those choices, for practicality and transporting your family, the answer is pretty obvious to me
(and I am not some Audi fanboy... I have a Fiesta ST and it's great)

My car for the past year is a 14 year old 1.8 petrol focus, which is pushing 30mpg max. This gets me approximately 1.5-2 months out of a £50 tank excluding unexpected long journeys that is. Fortunately fuel economy isn't very high up on my list!

mgfvvc

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

I swore I'd never drive a Ford after I drove a Fiesta as my first car.

Which generation of Fiesta? The modern Fords are a very different proposition to 30 years ago.

I have owned 2 Fords. The first was an A reg Sierra, which was a dog. I am now driving a Grand C-Max, which is great (looks aside).

agrinnall

mgfvvc wrote: »

Which generation of Fiesta? The modern Fords are a very different proposition to 30 years ago.

Exactly. My first car was an Escort from 40 years ago (it wasn't 40 years old at the time ) and it was awful, soon expiring in clouds of noxious fumes. 15 years later I had a Sierra which was better but had an intermittent fault that couldn't be resolved. I'm now on my second Fiesta in a row (12 and 65 reg) which are so much better than the older Fords, and indeed to my mind better overall than anything else I've owned, including a Boxster.

kmb500

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

My car for the past year is a 14 year old 1.8 petrol focus, which is pushing 30mpg max. This gets me approximately 1.5-2 months out of a £50 tank excluding unexpected long journeys that is. Fortunately fuel economy isn't very high up on my list!

fair enough. But yeah I wouldn't expect much economy from a 250 bhp car.
Given the choice it would be the one I'd buy - but having seen various reviews it does seem to be quite a bit less practical in terms of space, parking, economy etc than rivals. So it depends on what youre buying it for. That being said if you currently drive quite a dull car, buying another dull car but for twenty times the price is probably not the most exciting purchase you could make.


The turning circle on the Focus ST is apparently absolutely horrific and I know people who have gotten rid of their STs for that reason, it annoyed them so much not being able to manoeuvre the car into a parking spot.