Changing my car, opinions please?

Pete.g

Hi all,

Now, I'm looking at changing my car later in the year and did have my heart set on a Audi A4 Avant. But, just lately I've started to come to thinking of spending 6-10k rather than 15k.

Let me explain, I have to do nearly a 100mile round trip to work each day with all of my motoring costs coming out of my own pocket. If I was to buy a car in the 6-10K bracket I could fund most of it without the need for finance which would sting me with interest. Where as if I spent 15K on a A4 I would definitely need the finance.

Because of the miles I need a diesel and I also need it to be an estate. I do like a bit of luxury as no one likes sitting in a car for 2hrs+ a day, so what to do suggest car wise, do I, (A) Go for the Audi and finance the balance (B) go for a Vauxhall, Ford, Peugeot and dont fall into the finance trap.

Thanks,

Pete.

cyclonebri1

Pete.g wrote: »

Hi all,

Now, I'm looking at changing my car later in the year and did have my heart set on a Audi A4 Avant. But, just lately I've started to come to thinking of spending 6-10k rather than 15k.

Let me explain, I have to do nearly a 100mile round trip to work each day with all of my motoring costs coming out of my own pocket. If I was to buy a car in the 6-10K bracket I could fund most of it without the need for finance which would sting me with interest. Where as if I spent 15K on a A4 I would definitely need the finance.

Because of the miles I need a diesel and I also need it to be an estate. I do like a bit of luxury as no one likes sitting in a car for 2hrs+ a day, so what to do suggest car wise, do I, (A) Go for the Audi and finance the balance (B) go for a Vauxhall, Ford, Peugeot and dont fall into the finance trap.

Thanks,

Pete.

I'd always go with the cheaper option, this is a moneysaving forum afterall.

One to put on your list is the Renault Meganne est, you can get a brand new diesel with I think 148bhp for under £11k.

I bought one of these after trying the astra and focus, it was better than the astra and as good and cheaper than the focus.

anewman

Have you considered a Skoda? Afterall, they're made by the same company, often share the same engines, and are cheaper than Audi's.

Options include the Fabia estate (I hate the new look though personally), the Octavia estate which is probably closer to the A4 avant, and when they are released to the market there will be the new Skoda Superb estate - supposedly at the end of this year I believe, but you can never tell with these sort of things.

Cheapest Octavia estate diesel list price is £14,605, cheapest fabia estate diesel £10,480 but only a 1.4

Thunderbird_2

Toyota Avensis D-4D T3 S or T3 X trims. They are what I would go for that sort of daily distance. You can pick one with 53 number plate with 60,000 miles for about £7500, well below your budget and lets you spend some money on a full service, including a new cambelt and water pump.

Good luck with whatever you choose

Edit to add: I had a quick look on autotrader and there seem to be some 3 years old ones going for about £9000-£9500 with late 30,000 miles on the clock.

Conor_3

If you get a newer one on finance, remember that with 25,000 miles per annum mileage, you'll take a hit on resale as well because its a high miler.

Not everyone is enlightened enough to realise that 2 hours 100 mile commutes are better than 2 hour 20 mile one.

Pete.g

Hi and thanks for the replies,

As for the Skodas although I do like the look of the Octavia Saloon not so keen of the estate versions of any of the models. It's not the badge as it's a long time since I've been put off by badge snobbery.

The Avensis is one I've not really considered but now that it's mentioned I may well look at them as well as an option as they are nice cars and Toyota's are know for their reliability.

I'm planning on getting a car with 20-40K on it for a couple of reasons:

1) Any teething problems would hopefully have been sorted by then.

2) I'm planning to keep it for 3-4 yrs by which time it will have 100k on it give or take a few thousand. The car I run at the minute is a BMW 320d Tourer with 112K on the clock.

Pete.

bostin

Why change the car?! Do you just fancy a change or is the car needing some money spent on it?

bartsimpson

Only buy what you can afford, ie whatever you get, dont get it on finance.

Earn before you spend, not the other way around. The only exception to this rule should be with a house, because this goes up in value over the long term.

Inactive

Conor wrote: »

If you get a newer one on finance, remember that with 25,000 miles per annum mileage, you'll take a hit on resale as well because its a high miler.

Not everyone is enlightened enough to realise that 2 hours 100 mile commutes are better than 2 hour 20 mile one.

How exactly does anyone buying a used car know specifically which type of " commutes " a car has done?

tomstickland

There's loads of comfortable cars you could buy for £6K, and that would be my preference over spending £15K on a depreciating car.

drewwa

If you like the Audi, why not go for an older one? Plenty of Audi Avants in the 6-10k price range.

I have an 2000 w-reg Audi A4 saloon 1.9 TDI. I bought it for £10k in 2002 with 55k miles, and it's now worth around £3,500 or so.

It's done £145k miles now. Very quiet, very pleasant to drive, a whiff of prestige, good economy and performance, still looks modern. Would buy another one tomorrow.

Does 100+ miles a day on a commute, 50+mpg, 600 miles on a tank.

You can't really go wrong with anything with the VAG 1.9 TDI engine though. Good for 300k miles if looked after. I intend on keeping mine until the mortgage is paid in 6 years, whereupon it should be close to 300k.



Cheers,

Drew.