Help me choose a car I have no idea

Northern_Wanderer

Look at Parkers website for specs on vehicles.

400ixl

Avoid anything with a wet belt engine which can include cars from Ford, Peugeot 208, Citroën, Toyota and Volkswagen for example (but not all from those brands).

Some other criteria that may help narrow it down a bit:
Does it need to be ULEZ compliant?
Max age you would consider?
Max miles?

Some cars in the budget range that you may find interesting (not all to my taste)
Alfa Romeo Gullieta
BMW 1 Series (M Sport)
BMW Mini
Honda Civic
Hyundai i30 (N Line)
Kia ProCeed
Mazda 3

FlorayG

400ixl said:

Avoid anything with a wet belt engine which can include cars from Ford, Peugeot 208, Citroën, Toyota and Volkswagen for example (but not all from those brands). What is a wet belt engine? 

Some other criteria that may help narrow it down a bit:
Does it need to be ULEZ compliant? no
Max age you would consider? 10 year
Max miles? 80,000

Some cars in the budget range that you may find interesting (not all to my taste)
Alfa Romeo Gullieta
BMW 1 Series (M Sport)
BMW Mini
Honda Civic
Hyundai i30 (N Line)
Kia ProCeed
Mazda 3

I'll have a look

Goudy

An engine's camshaft/inlet and exhaust valves are ran off the crankshaft so there needs to be a connection between the two to run them and also keep the valves in time with the pistons.

This timing is important as you need to let the air in and the exhaust out at the right time and on modern cars the valves and the pistons will usually share the same space inside the cylinders, just at different times in the combustion cycle. (an interference engine).

Over the years there have been various ways to do this.
Rods that pushed up and down opening and closing the valves is common on older engines, though the Americans still like to use this.
Cogs or gearing that connected the two together.
Thick chains, like on a bicycle.
Reinforced rubber toothed belts.

They all have their pros and cons. The Rod system usually needs more maintenance and regular adjustment, the Gear system tends to cause a whine. Belts have a shorter service life than Chains, but Chains can stretch and lose tension.

Taking power from the crankshaft and putting it through various configurations to drive the camshaft and valves causes a loss, it takes some power away from the engine but some of this loss is actually just friction.
Get rid of some of this friction and the car will more efficient, so produce lower emissions.

Some manufacturers found that if they use a rubber toothed belt and run it through the engine oil (hence the wet part) it reduces the loss by reducing the friction.

All was well and good until later in the cars life the belt started to break up.
Parts of the belt are now floating about in the engine oil blocking up various oil ways and other parts that run in engine oil, like brake vacuum pumps.
The belt may or may not snap (and pistons and valves may or may not meet) but most of the damage is done because of oil starvation, the particles of belt clogging everything up and oil can't get around the engine to lubricate and cool.

As with a normal reinforced rubber toothed belt, these wet belts have (or should have) a service life.
They need changing every some many thousand miles/years service.
Some manufacturers have lowered the interval and some have introduced a belt inspection because of this issue, some have done sweet FA as it's often a problem that fails outside of the manufacturers warranty period, ie your problem not theirs.

As these belts are wet, in oil, inside the engine, it more difficult and time consuming to replace them even if they don't cause you any trouble. It often costs £1000 plus to replace them on something as basic as a Ford Fiesta.
A dry belt is external from the engine oil though it may be under a cover, so is far easier and cheaper to replace, often just a couple of hundred quid.

Why they fail like this?
Well, it's usually been blamed on the customers missing oil changes or using the wrong oil. (no surprise there).
In reality it's a good idea badly executed.

The engine oil picks up all sorts of nasties as the engine runs, metal particles, combustion by-products, even moisture and it appears the reinforced belts might not react to these particularly well and the material breaks down.

Some belts have been redesigned or made out of slightly different material, but the risk is still there and if you can avoid it, all the better as the consequences are very very costly. The fix is often a new engine. 
 

FlorayG

Thanks. I know how engines work but 'wet belts' are a new one on me, I'd never heard of them.
One of my mates yesterday told me a Subaru Impreza would suit me and yeah, they are lovely, but a decent one out of my price range 

Goudy

FlorayG said:

Thanks. I know how engines work but 'wet belts' are a new one on me, I'd never heard of them.
One of my mates yesterday told me a Subaru Impreza would suit me and yeah, they are lovely, but a decent one out of my price range 

And can be fairly pricey to run and repair.

Your criteria is really full of things that don't really go together that often in the motoring world to be honest.
You might have to work out the really important ones and work from those.

Not boring to look at and be in is different to not boring to drive.
For the former there are models of normal cars that have sportier or plusher trims, usually with trim names like RS-Line, GT-Line, R-Line etc. They may or may not be a bit "warm" under the bonnet, most would only have been available with the "warmer" engines in the line up though.

All the not boring to drives tend to be expensive to buy, own and run and aren't usually that practical, though some Hot Hatchbacks buck that trend.
These days there aren't many on sale new, emission targets have killed most off. Used you will find plenty still. 

As for bigger engine size being better, that's a misnomer.
A 1300cc with a turbo will usually outperform a 1600cc without one for both BHP and torque where it counts.
In a non turbo, you would probably need to look 2000cc or above to get the performance "feel" in a hatchback sized car.

Most common or garden hatchbacks are 100hp plus, superminis 80-90hp.
One or two have higher output versions, the "warmer" engines tend to be 130hp or more and in modern hatchback tend to feel plenty when on boost yet settle down to a decent cruise with good mpg.

FlorayG

Thanks for the info @Goudy, as I said I'm out of date. I want something not boring to drive because I love driving; in my young days I was into hotrods. So now I'm getting old I need to 'calm down' a bit but I've had a couple of 'sensible' cars in the past and just hated them. I'll probably compromise on one or more of the other 'wants' in order to have something I just want to get in and go for a drive for fun

strawb_shortcake

What about a mini clubman? Personally I thought the newer minis were horrible to drive, but I seemed to be in a minority. They were very nippy though, but a clubman will give you some extra boot space

Goudy

How much load space do you actually need?
Would a hot supermini do the trick?
Quick, economical, very reliable and cheap to repair sounds like a Suzuki Swift Sport for that budget.

FlorayG

Goudy said:

How much load space do you actually need?

Enough for two Western saddles. There's a reason why cowboys drive big trucks 
For context, take a large family saloon with a large boot - you can fit one in there