I need a car -recommendations?

AlexHunter

My 13 year old car has finally given up the ghost - it's worth very little if anything.

I'd prefer to own rather than finance - that sets the budget at around £10-12k.

Criteria are: 

Big enough to lug amps and guitars

Manual gearbox

Sufficient oomph to overtake on country roads when needed

Reliable and not liable to breakdown every other journey (my current squeeze managed 100k miles of my driving and never gave me any issues)

Mileage under 50,000 ideally

Not bothered on petrol or diesel.

So are there any hatchbacks/estates that meet that?

Sporky

There must be dozens of options!

Octavia VRS estate mebbe?

Beexter

I've just bought a 1.4 Honda Civic which meets all your criteria except oomph. I love it. Really quiet and comfortable and does very clever stuff with the seats.Ok it's slow but very economic. I paid £8000 from a Honda dealer so it comes with a years warranty and all the benefits of the used Honda scheme. It's a 2013 model, 15,000 miles, 1 owner, full service history and immaculate. Highly recommend it

stickyfiddle

Sporky said:

There must be dozens of options!

Octavia VRS estate mebbe?

Would be high on my list. I have a Golf that I like very much but the Skoda is probably a better buy at 3 years old.

guitarfishbay

Skoda Octavia.

joneve

Octavia VRS would be legit...I'll also put a MKIV mondeo into the mix. We bought one that was 12 months old with 22k on the clock in 2011, with full titanium spec for 12k..Best 12k I ever spent. Space for days and an absolute beaut to drive for such a big car (although not overly quick on the 2.0 diesel as it's so massive, there's a lot of weight to it!) 

RaymondLin

You can get a nice Honda Civic 1.8L or even a Type-R (EP3) with your budget and plenty of change left over. They will be reliable, plenty of room and has a bit of oomph.

Or the Octavia VRS is very good too!

Axe_meister

Second hand Audi RS6

chillidoggy

Mondeo estate.

menamestom

The VRS is a good option, petrol or diesel.  Mondeo's are fine, you could always remap a 2L TDCi to be pretty quick.

Possibly a bit out of budget, but the Focus ST estate would tick all the other boxes and has plenty of power.

Axe_meister said:

Second hand Audi RS6

Good suggestion but probably pushing the 10-12k and under 50k miles.  £30k would do it though

roundthebend

Save your money and buy my Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi estate for £2500.

It's a 57 plate with 139,000 miles on it but is in great condition and runs like a dream. Spacious enough for all your kit and tons of oomph - we had it loaded up in the rear with camping kit for 4 people, a small trailer with our tent and inflatable canoes, and a roof box full of cooking gear. The 4 hour trip to the Lake District was a breeze, accelerating easily from 60mph in 6th gear to get past trucks etc. And fuel economy came in at 50+ mpg for that journey. I get 45+ just round town.

In Peterborough, but I'll even bring it to you if you're interested.

>>CLICK<< View photos and stuff here

AlexHunter

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've not heard good things about Ford and reliability though.

The Octavia looks interesting - will go and browse.

Are Civics actually big enough for transporting guitars and cabs?

Auto trader has so far highlighted:

Octavia

Honda Accord Tourer

Audi A6

Seat Exeo 

Any experiences or knowledge of them?

ICBM

AlexHunter said:

I've not heard good things about Ford and reliability though.

Strangely enough my trusty mechanic says Fords are on average the most reliable and have some of the least expensive parts if they do go wrong.

You may not want my recommendation but I've had no bother with my Renault Grand Scenic, which is by far the most practical car I've ever owned as well as reliable, cheap to run and wasn't even expensive to buy since everyone thinks Renaults are worthless second hand. I bought it at three years old for a third of the then new price and I've had it seven years and 70K miles.

You will get a fabulous low-mileage Scenic for £10-12K. I would get the petrol 1.6 not the diesel - cheaper to buy, cheaper to fix and better to drive.

You can get an entire Ampeg 6x10" bass cab, SVT head and your bass case *in the boot* in the Grand Scenic - not even needing to fold the seats. The short Scenic isn't bad either.

Beexter

AlexHunter;1007183" said:

.Are Civics actually big enough for transporting guitars and cabs?

Yep. They'd probably even go in upright. Honda call them "Magic" seats. Definitely worth checking out and Honda always come out well for reliability

LastMantra

Whatever you decide on be sure to test drive as many examples as you can...till you find THE ONE...that drives like butter...and literally pisses all over the others.

RaymondLin

Honda Accord is a good shout too, lots of kit, lots of space and reliable.

Axe_meister

AlexHunter said:

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've not heard good things about Ford and reliability though.

The Octavia looks interesting - will go and browse.

Are Civics actually big enough for transporting guitars and cabs?

Auto trader has so far highlighted:

Octavia

Honda Accord Tourer

Audi A6

Seat Exeo 

Any experiences or knowledge of them?

Two 2x12s 6U rack system plus 3 guitars happily fit int eh civic tardis with the Seats down. They also do an estate version of the civic.

thisisguitar

I'd take a look at this, it's a 2012 in the middle of your budget, hatchback with heated leather and 22k on it. 8.0s to 60mph, so should have suitable shove for country lane overtakes too. It's a only 1.4 but turbo and supercharged, so it'll be reasonable on fuel when you aren't pushing it. My mate had one, and it was surprisingly quick (I had a Saab 2.3 Aero at the time, so I was used to travelling quickly!). My brother had this shape and age of Golf albeit in diesel guise and he was more than happy with it. 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602241349035?model=golf&amp;transmission=manual&amp;page=1&amp;maximum-mileage=up_to_50000_miles&amp;price-to=12000&amp;radius=1500&amp;search-target=usedcars&amp;sort=default&amp;onesearchad=used,nearlynew,new&amp;make=volkswagen&amp;fuel-type=petrol&amp;maximum-badge-engine-size=2.0&amp;price-from=10000&amp;zero-to-60=fast&amp;postcode=b322eg&amp;logcode=p

SimonC

Octavia Scout - has 4wd on tap if you need it. The extra body trim and slightly raised suspension looks good as well.

strtdv

Octavia VRS is probably the best shout there. The Leon, Golf and Octavia are all the same car underneath, and the Exeo is a previous generation A4. To be honest, the VAG reliability crown has slipped a bit in the last few years, and actually if you want something very reliable and cheap then a Mk5 Gold GTTdi would be worth a look. It'll cost under £6k and the old 1.9 is bulletproof and cheap to maintain. It's not hugely fast by modern standards but is a great car. You could get an E90/92 3 series for that sort of money but the diesels are known for blowing turbos if driven hard

ICBM

I really wouldn't buy a diesel. OK I admit I'm biased and I just don't like them, but unless you're doing high motorway mileages at steady speeds there are good practical reasons why petrol is better.