As luck would have it .. I am now the proud owner of around £13k ... I also have my 99 plate Scooby in excellent condition !!!

So I'm after suggestions for a new car ..

Points:

• Not brand new
• Family sized
• I'm 25 so insurance is still a consideration
• To be used to go to and from work daily .. only 11 miles round trip
• Something faster than my current basically standard MY99

I'm all ears

 

Oh I have been told I have to spend £4.9k on my wedding so .. thats the old scooby trade it .. or there abouts.

 

I just bought a Feb 07 (56 plate) Ford Focus ST-3 for £12,250 and I'm quite happy with that.

Steve

 

How is it compared to the Scoobies you've driven ?

 

It is better than the new WRX, worse than the new WRX STI and worse than my WRX STI Type R (from quite a few years ago).

The ST3 comes with leather, heated windscreens, parking sensors, recaro seats and is generally a nice car.

Steve

 

"leather heated windscreens"

That cant be safe

Was looking at the 05 WRX STi UK ..

 

Not quite family sized if you want a 4 door..

top marques ltd : MERCEDES-BENZ CLK 500 Elegance 2dr Tip Auto SAT NAV

 

for that kinda money doubt you'll find anything quicker, unless you go evo 6 or sti scoob. bang for you buck on scoobs is second to none

 

The majority of todays hot hatches will outpace imprezas, plenty of 220+hp FWD cars about now.

Cupra R/Focus ST with a remap perhaps?

 

depends in what sence, straight line maybe, but not on b roads and not in the wet

 

straight line its m5 sort of money

BMW : M5 FACELIFT STEALTH REDUCED!!!!

 

few ideas

Billinge Prestige Car Sales : SKODA OCTAVIA 2.0T FSi VRS 5 DOOR

Vauxhall : 300BHP ASTRA VXR REGAL STAGE 3 2006 (55 plate)

MCR Vehicle Sales : Leon Cupra R, Onvi Yellow, Totally Immaculate

Lotus : Lotus Carlton 3.6L Twin Turbo

 

Do you really need to own the car?

Have you thought about putting the £13k into a high interest account and then using it to fund PCP payments on a new car? You would then be able to look at new cars upto £25-£30k.

Gives you plenty more options and more importantly, a 3 yr warranty and usually road tax paid throughout aswell.

 

COMMON SENSE ALERT!!!!!!

From the tone of your post it seems that you have just come into some cash. £13,000 to be precise. Why do you have to spend all of it on a car? Surely it makes more sense to put a large chunk to one side and spend the remainder, if you must, on a car. Given the state of the global economy at the moment it would strike me as being rather silly to spend all of your windfall on a car the instant it drops into your current account.

Blueblaster waits patiently for the in-bred cretins who are about to tell him to live for the moment....

 

And while I'm at it, why do people always turn these threads into a "Who can come up with the most bloody stupid suggestion" competition?

M5, Lotus Carlton, CLK500??? WTF are you guys on??? They're not going to be expensive to run, are they?

 

From the tone of my post ?? I actually said I have come into money

thanks for the advice though.

 

Well you didn't actually make it clear. You might have changed job and got a signing on bonus or something. That would have changed my "advice" considerably. As it is I reckon you have just inherited some money or some kind of investment that you or someone else set up for you has just matured. Lottery? Maybe, but doubt it.

 

They are open to ofers so you should be able to get some off the price.

BMW : 2001 m3 *( reduced)*

Again you should be able to haggle.

BMW : Gorgeous M3

 

Oh FFS, did no one read the original post? This chap drives a 5 grand Classic. He might be able to buy a £13k car, but that doesn't mean he's got the cash to pay the running costs of a £40/50/60k car. I know he's asking the impossible (faster than his Scoob, family sized with cheap insurance for £13k) but can we please have some common sense .

 

Those days are well and truly gone my friend, AWD is no longer king whether its wet or dry - I certainly have no problem keeping up with AWD anyway in my ST

I would also say Focus ST or any of the other FWD hatches - Astra VXR, Golf GTI, Leon R etc. Anything with 4WD is hit with tax hikes from 2010 and the running costs are far more than the FWD crowd.

As of 2010 STI's are £430 a year to tax, and about £700 a year to service - compare that with £310 for the ST and £110 to service and you're quids in, insurance is also much cheaper on my ST than the STI.

 

not everyone on here is on minimum wage

 

True, but would you care for a wager as to whether the OP who currently has a £5k classic and has had a £13k windfall will actually be able to afford to run any of the stupid suggestions? He's not got a job that gives him £13k+ more per year net income. This is a one off. Some of the suggestions have been utterly ludicrous.

 

thank you for fighting my corner.. all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

I can afford to buy and run this !!

however I'd be stupid to just dive in and buy the first car I see !!

again thanks for the suggestions .. I am looking at each one .. and I am still shopping round for a home alarm

This is the only forum I bother to post genuine questions as the range of knowledge is fantastic

 

i havn't driven the st or the vxr, however a mate has one and and evo i might add, in the wet the vxr is all over the shop, went out for a run with him a while back, dropped him like a stone as soon as it came to curves and i wasn't even trying. was damp and greasy at the time. also if you go on track times (using top gear's board), (you'll have to work out which model is which)

Mitsubishi Evo FQ4001.24.8
Subaru WRX Sti1.28.2Mitsubishi Evo X1.28.22Mitsubishi Evo VIII1.28.9Subaru Impreza STI1.30.1Ford Focus RS1.32.2Ford Focus ST1.34.9




think those times are fairly conclusive

 

one of the criteria is faster than the scoob, fast cars arn't cheap to run full stop.

 

I'm not trying to get into a holier-than-thou rant on this, but frankly who cares about being able to make good progress in "damp and greasy" conditions? When you have to hit the brakes when something rushes out in front of you the 4wd will be no use whatsoever.

 

considering the weather in the uk then i think it kinda answers that one, damp and greasy are more common than dry lol

o and on a side note, its even quicker to stop if your walking

 

That's true, but when it comes down to it this guys NEEDS a family car and he NEEDS to be able to insure it. Faster than Scoob must surely take second place to these requirements. At least everyone seems to think that because no one has suggested anything impractical at all.

As an aside, maybe the OP could indicate whether he can afford to maintain an aging M5? If so I can stop wasting my time and leave you lot to help him waste his windfall .

 

Sorry, don't get the walking comment. As for damp and greasy I would have thought that if it is damp and greasy most of the time where you live then most of the time you shouldn't be pressing on at all. But then I don't have the world class driving skills that everyone else seems to possess .

 

depends what you call 'pressing on' a car that is 50% more capable pushed 10% harder than a car that isn't is still gonna be safer.

also kerb weights, UK turbo 1235kg VXR 1393kg. so theres an extra 160kg to stop

we could get into a fwd vs awd argument if you realy want but its a bit off topic, so how about we agree to disagree? if not can always set up another for the purpose rather than spamming this one?