What Car? �7000 to spend.

[Rommel]

Got �7000 to buy a car (no more than) but I know nothing about them. I'm looking for something pretty new, year 2000 onward and fairly sporty. I don't want anything that's gonna be to heavy on insurance. Any recomendations? I've been having a look at: -

Alfa Romeo
Volkswagen Golf
Ford Focus

Just some advice would be good.

Cheers

[Impret-Sir]

well, taking your choices so far,

Afla, which one? a 147 is a lovely car, and a 2.0l version would be great, but they are grp14 insurance, and I doubt you could find one at your price limit, I may be wrong about that, but I doubt it. A 156 would be a good alternative, certainly available for �7000, and again, very nice indeed, the five cylinder JTD deisel engine is very good, and the JTSdirect injection petrol is very lovely indeed!I would avoid the 166 and GTV, too 'old school' Alfa, still nice, but too creaky and dynamically outclassed by the opposition.

Golf, NO!, excess weight and wobbly suspension equalls a far from sporty drive, stody and disinterested dynamically,and not that quick either. The very latest GTI is back on the pace, but of course you wont be able to afford one of those.

The Focus is the benchmark for entertaining handling and ride in its segment, and has a few good engines too, the 2.0l Zetek probably the pick of the range. Not quite up with the Germans in terms of fit and build quality yet.

Other ideas? Well, I would be thinking about, Honda Civic Type R, if you like the Type R engine effect, (personally I dont),although again, this might be out of your price/insurance bracket (grp 18!) A good left field choice would be an MG ZS, available for silly money now, and an agile and grippy hatchback or saloon, Or maybe a Seat Ibeza, the PD130 deisel has hot hatch performance plus 50mpg! well built too. Or the Leon, which is a Golf, but much better handling, the 20VT is the pick of the bunch. Peugeots 206 XSI is a good compromise between fun, performance and cost, almost as good as the much more expensiveGTI.

Lots of lovely choices!

[slimjim]

A late Puma would be a good, cheap-to-run choice.

[Impret-Sir]

Yeah, stupid me! My wife owns a Puma, and it is a great little car, handles well, and goes well too. You would get one of the last ones for your seven grand.

Only downsides are the tiny rear seats and the high tail gate opening which can make the boot hard to load.

Only consider the 1.7, the smaller engines are ok, just not good enough to make the most of the great chassis.

[Kev_UK]

It depends on what you need the car for, if it's to be used to do the weekly shopping, buying stuff from the DIY store, taking kids to school or carrying pasengers in the back, etc. then something like the (yawn) Ford Focus would fit the bill.  If a 2+2 sports type car fits the bill then you could go for a Honda, or perhaps a Toyota MR2 or Celica, or Supra.. or a Mazda MX5

[floss85]

I have a puma at the moment and its great. Really reliable, reasonably cheap to run and looks smart! I'd go for one of them!

[PhilD]

The Focus would be the best bet from your options as there are plenty to choose from so you will get a newer car for your money, and will be cheaper to run with lower servicing and spare part costs. The Alfa has a reputation of being unreliable but has more style. If you can live with it's dull looks the Vauxhall Astra would be a good buy also.

[lethologica]

Personally I'd go for a tdi golf, but that's only because I fell in love with the one my boyfriend had :)

Good Luck!