[Help] New Car - what would you choose

[elwheelio]

I had a new Polo when the rejigged model first came out (2010ish). It was a great car, no problems. Sold it 3yrs ago as I needed something bigger. I would recommend it.

 

[zefarelly]

15000 miles a year is roughly the equivalent of commuting from Worthing to Crawley 5 days a week for 48 weeks a year, not exactly big distance. Also worth noting that a car that does 15000 motorway miles is going to suffer less wear than a car doing 6000 stop-start in a town or city.

Agree, although it works better for bigger cars. My old subaru was £4k only 3 years old but 89k on the clock.

Did me 11 years and 90k miles, never let me down.

 

[zefarelly]

There's always private sales and I'm sure you can find some friend of a friend who knows something about cars. I'm no expert but have a good look at the service history and any repairs (good private owners do have a habit of keeping invoices). check the car is cold when you get there, check it starts ok and listen to the exhaust, open the bonnet, get someone to rev it and listen for rattles, take it for a test drive, brake hard and do a speedy turn on full lock. Over the years I have bought loads of second hand cars, all private, and some for significant sums and I am no mechanic.

Only time I've ever taken a mechanic along was when I invested in my mid-life crisis classic sports car (and still running fine 6 years later). There are some good deals out there. If in doubt, see if [MENTION=263]zefarelly[/MENTION]has an hourly rate

Sorry, but back to watching SEGW fall over

TBH, most classics, and more specialist marques, have clubs, thats where the real knowledge hides. For moderns there are lots of specialist independants. Much easier to sorth the wheat from the chaff with the tinterweb

 

[Diablo]

You`re comparing a Polo with an A3. Why not an Audi A1 ? brilliant car !!

 

[Weststander]

Definitely go for a Golf. I had a new Golf from 2011 to 2017, only changing as we needed a far larger boot for European travels.

Everything was perfection - build quality, it’s road manners, roomy (I’m tall). Not one problem and I sold it privately for a great price due to their popularity. The current Golf is still loved by reviewers.

The A3 is essentially a Golf, but with a premium image and price tag.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Toyota Corolla or Yaris.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Polo's are mint.

 

[peterward]

I wouldn't choose a new car. Decent second hand every time.

I bought a Sep 2018 registered VW tiguan on PCP in Aug 2019 with 6200 on the clock, 9 1/2 grand off list price, plus lots of options I wanted on it like leather seats etc.

Just dont see any logic in buying brand new??

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

Well, Audis, BMWs and, to a slightly lesser extent, Mercs all seem to be driven by grade A bellends so you’ve got to ask yourself, do I really want to associate myself with that kind of person?

I learnt to drive in a Polo and it was a great car FWIW

 

[Motogull]

Polo's are mint.

But they can also be fruity.

 

[GT49er]

Well, Audis, BMWs and, to a slightly lesser extent, Mercs all seem to be driven by grade A bellends so you’ve got to ask yourself, do I really want to associate myself with that kind of person?

I learnt to drive in a Polo and it was a great car FWIW

I learned to drive in a Morris Traveller - and it was crap! Your point is.....?

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

I learned to drive in a Morris Traveller - and it was crap! Your point is.....?

That I thought it was a decent car and, as it is one of the cars on the OPs list, I think my point is relatively clear...

 

[jakarta]

Without getting into all this class warfare I suppose it comes down to what you need in a car. I used to travel all over the UK and a BMW 330D Estate was what I used. Since change of life due to Mrs J's ill-health and consequent huge reduction in work mileage a Mercedes A200 is absolutely fine.

Oh and I learnt to drive in a Morris Traveller pickup back in the 1970's - no ignition key, you used to push on a button on the floor. The same as my A200 in 2021. What goes around eh? At least my Merc doesn't have holes in the floor!

 

[GT49er]

That I thought it was a decent car and, as it is one of the cars on the OPs list, I think my point is relatively clear...

No, they really weren't - they were awful! The later ones, with the 1300cc engines, were slightly better, but the suspension and handling were dross.

 

[StonehamPark]

All great options. I've owned a Golf and an A3 out of your list and both were great for different reasons.

As you're kids will be learning in it, and its more a runaround car, buy a used Polo in my opinion.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

If you're leaning towards a Polo, I would strongly consider a Skoda Fabia. Effectively the same base car, with a lot of the same parts for less money.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Over the last 15 years, I've owned a Polo, Golf & Passat [all VW obvs] and done probably 220k+ miles and apart from usual tyres, disks & pads stuff, only had to replace a rad.

So, as Jeremy Clarkson would say: "[VW] and that's my final answer"

But would defo NOT buy [or lease] new

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Given you'll be adding your kids to the insurance I'd go for Polo - the Audi, Merc and BMW will cost an arm and a leg to insure.

 

[gmabel830]

Honda Civic - the last few generations have been excellent cars and are getting better all the time.

Seconded. I bought a new Civic Sport last year and like it a lot. And I can definitely afford more but don’t want to spend a lot on a car.


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[Blue3]

I would only buy and not rent I would have a budget and get the most I could within in that budget and I wouldn't let the kids anywhere near it

As for make and model I would consider almost any manufacturer over recent years with take overs, technical working projects they are all using the same parts for example the PSA Group make engines for a very large number of car manufacturers an example would be the 1.6TDI Unit can be found powering Fords, Suzuki, Citroen, Volvo, Purgeout, Nissan, Renault, Vauxhaull, Opal