£10k buy vs ~£300 pcm lease

[V8Granite]

What about a VW Caddy ?

I’m doing 65mpg in one at the minute in Holland and Belgium and the ride is surprisingly good.

Dave!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Is a diesel the right choice? What kind of mileage will you be doing and what about ULEZ?

ULEZ is fine with these. Also mileage is a 'who knows' guess - I can't do long journeys in the Smart, so therefore I get the train if I need to travel out of London. I don't use a car every day, in fact, it can sit outside without moving for a week or two at a time. My spec is in the first post, however the main aim is getting good fuel economy if I decide to pop up to Scotland or down to my folks (only 100 miles, but commonly a 2.5 - 3 hour drive)

Was chatting with Sundayjumper earlier and worked out that I'm more concerned about weekly/monthly costs (fuel, parking, tax, repairs) than initial purchase price.

Just to come back on the diesel vs petrol thing - our 272 will average close to 40mpg on a quick run (I've never tried seeing what it will do at 70), so I'd expect maybe one of the lower powered ones should see better than that. I'm not sure what the diesels will do, or what the tax bands are tbh, hence not sure where the crossover point is between petrol vs diesel on the overall running costs.

[Gavster]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detai ... 1076037398
Small on the outside, big on the inside, sips fuel, standard forum answer.

Oohhhh that could be it! It’s even got heated seats. That’s a great shout!

Also this one is lovely, being a 2017 Mk7.5 it's the facelift and all round looks a bit more modern.Its in Inverness which is a schlep but this ticks almost every box, the only part that isn't on spec if the mileage at 84k, I was looking for something a little lower. Really getting on board with the Golf estate idea now

https://www.horsepower-cars.co.uk/cars/ ... e/1266475/

[Mito Man]

Also look at the Seat Leon ST which is the same car but a bit cheaper. Not sure what the Skoda equivalent is. Think the Golf looks nicer though.

[Gavster]

Is a diesel the right choice? What kind of mileage will you be doing and what about ULEZ?

ULEZ is fine with these. Also mileage is a 'who knows' guess - I can't do long journeys in the Smart, so therefore I get the train if I need to travel out of London. I don't use a car every day, in fact, it can sit outside without moving for a week or two at a time. My spec is in the first post, however the main aim is getting good fuel economy if I decide to pop up to Scotland or down to my folks (only 100 miles, but commonly a 2.5 - 3 hour drive)

Was chatting with Sundayjumper earlier and worked out that I'm more concerned about weekly/monthly costs (fuel, parking, tax, repairs) than initial purchase price.

Just to come back on the diesel vs petrol thing - our 272 will average close to 40mpg on a quick run (I've never tried seeing what it will do at 70), so I'd expect maybe one of the lower powered ones should see better than that. I'm not sure what the diesels will do, or what the tax bands are tbh, hence not sure where the crossover point is between petrol vs diesel on the overall running costs.

That's useful, and based on what everyone's said I'm now set on a petrol instead of diesel. Sounds like it's going to be the safer choice considering how I do quite a lot of low speed city driving.

[Gavster]

Also look at the Seat Leon ST which is the same car but a bit cheaper. Not sure what the Skoda equivalent is. Think the Golf looks nicer though.

To be fair none of them are real lookers but I prefer the Golf too. The Leon just slopes off in very direction, which looks a bit odd, it's too soft, also interior feels more dated as they seemed to have updated around 2020 or so

[Gavster]

What about a VW Caddy ?

I’m doing 65mpg in one at the minute in Holland and Belgium and the ride is surprisingly good.

Dave!

I’d love something like this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266344002356 ... media=COPY

[Swervin_Mervin]

Don't rule out the Superb hatch or Ocxtavia hatch.

The Superb is looooong though, fille most spaces to the brim so if you are in a city, that might be an issue?

My hatch can fit a bike, a large fridge, two single beds, doors. The roofline on the estate is fairly sloped so the loss to hatch is not as big as you might think.

The main plus point for the Superb is leg room in the back. Other than that, the Octavia is very similar dash etc.

The L&K has the 4x4 and teh 280 engine. They are fast, but the Superb forumites seem to get mid to high 30s at best on a run.

Plus, in a city people will try and get in thinking you are a taxi.

The L&K will also have DCC most likely which are about £500 a corner iirc. at 120k chances are they will need done soon, if they have not been done.

The glass roof looks great, are prones to cracking on the trim and the odd leak.

Mine is the 220 2.0 TSi. I get mid 40s on a "keeping up with traffic" run and if I am bimbling at just under 60 will creep in to the low 50s, which is astonishing for a barge with a Golf GTi engine.

I was looking for the Octavia estate but I wanted Canton, heated seats and DSG and becuase the Golf got pinched, I was in a bit of a rush and I admire all the car can do, but do not enjoy driving it, it is not sporty, I find it worse than my diesel mk2 Suuperb SE to drive and it is allegedly a "sportline" but it does not enjoy hussling.

Useful info, thanks! Superb hatch? I thought it was saloon or estate?

Is yours DSG or manuel? The DSG seems to sap fuel consumption in some cases plus I’ve heard the manuel is more trouble-free.

And you’re the second person (at least) to mention parking. I kinda shrugged it off, but at the same time, this was me gloating last night so yeah, it’s definitely one to consider. Also starting to think I should be looking at some smaller Skodas too, Rapid, Fabia etc

Hadn't seen @nuttinnew had already covered the lower power 2.0's economy.

Interesting fact - the hatch is actually longer than the estate.

DSG is fine. I don't think it saps much power at all.

Ours has given us very little trouble. It's 6yo in March and just coming up to 40k. Got through its rear brakes fairly quickly but otherwise it's been fine. It's a nice place to be at night in particular, with the heated steering wheel. We didn't go L&K as wife wanted the alcantara sports seats rather than leather. It also meant we could spec it to within £5 of the £40k tax threshold, with the options that we actually wanted (we didn't bother with dynamic suspension for example but do have a spare tyre, sunroof Canton sound system and a few others I can't now recall.

[nuttinnew]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 00&fromsra

[Gavster]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 00&fromsra

That's a tidy looking car for sure

[Carlos]

I love this. Why there aren't more options for City dwellers to park like this, it's a massive win in terms if road space!

[Jobbo]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 00&fromsra

That's a tidy looking car for sure

The written description says it’s an S-line but the title correctly states it’s a Sport, which is lower spec model. Doesn’t matter if it has the kit you want on it.

[jamcg]

Read up on vag 1.4 tsi engines. Can’t remember which one, but there’s a particular 1.4 that has a nasty habit of self destructing

[Gavster]

I’ll have a look, there’s also the 1.5TSI too

[Gavin]

Don't rule out the Superb hatch or Ocxtavia hatch.

The Superb is looooong though, fille most spaces to the brim so if you are in a city, that might be an issue?

My hatch can fit a bike, a large fridge, two single beds, doors. The roofline on the estate is fairly sloped so the loss to hatch is not as big as you might think.

The main plus point for the Superb is leg room in the back. Other than that, the Octavia is very similar dash etc.

The L&K has the 4x4 and teh 280 engine. They are fast, but the Superb forumites seem to get mid to high 30s at best on a run.

Plus, in a city people will try and get in thinking you are a taxi.

The L&K will also have DCC most likely which are about £500 a corner iirc. at 120k chances are they will need done soon, if they have not been done.

The glass roof looks great, are prones to cracking on the trim and the odd leak.

Mine is the 220 2.0 TSi. I get mid 40s on a "keeping up with traffic" run and if I am bimbling at just under 60 will creep in to the low 50s, which is astonishing for a barge with a Golf GTi engine.

I was looking for the Octavia estate but I wanted Canton, heated seats and DSG and becuase the Golf got pinched, I was in a bit of a rush and I admire all the car can do, but do not enjoy driving it, it is not sporty, I find it worse than my diesel mk2 Suuperb SE to drive and it is allegedly a "sportline" but it does not enjoy hussling.

Useful info, thanks! Superb hatch? I thought it was saloon or estate?

Is yours DSG or manuel? The DSG seems to sap fuel consumption in some cases plus I’ve heard the manuel is more trouble-free.

And you’re the second person (at least) to mention parking. I kinda shrugged it off, but at the same time, this was me gloating last night so yeah, it’s definitely one to consider. Also starting to think I should be looking at some smaller Skodas too, Rapid, Fabia etc

Nibe is the 6 speed DSH which appears to be the better of the two, some engines have the 7 speed. TBF, most are grand of you treat them well and observe the servicing of the box.

It is a hatch and it is huge, but looks like a saloon.

I hope that I have managed to put a picture below...



THe red suitcase is a big one.

[Gavster]

This looks lovely, the only thing it doesn't have is heated seats, but it's a great example otherwise. It's a Cat N, which does bump the insurance up annoyingly

[Gavster]

This is lovely, it's got everything I want bar heated seats. It's a Cat N which does push the insurance up, but it looks like a spotless example otherwise.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 1146302859

[Sundayjumper]

I wouldn't buy a Cat N unless it's super cheap. Nightmare to sell.

e.g. the Audi linked above, WBAC £7850, but drops to £4800 if it's Cat N. About 40% lower.

[Swervin_Mervin]

That seems like a huge amount of money for a Cat N mid-size estate with not enough of the options you'd want along with a wheezy 1.4. There's no reason at that price to not drive something from the VAG stable with a bigger engine and heated seat AND wheel.

[Gavster]

The price is at the low end of a non v-car Leon estate, especially with such a low mileage, this spec is surprisingly expensive.

Anyway, I’m going absolutely bonkers here hyperfocussing on finding a car which is driving me a little crazy because all the ones I want to view are at least an hour away and I’m desperately trying to finish a work project so don’t have much spare time, especially not half a day to drive around some dealers. Gonna do a big editing session tonight to clear some space so I can get out to view some soon tomorrow