Hi all,

Requirements:

Diesel hatch (lots of motorway commuting), sporty looks, around 200bhp, toys such as bluetooth.

Budget £13k.

Any recommendations from the many learned folk on here much appreciated!

Vag stuff would be preferred, but any alternative options definitely considered particularly if they offer better value or exclusivity!

Brera 2.4 - 220-ish as standard and remaps easily to 250

Drop-dead gorgeous to look at, but not a very dynamic drive - also make a nice noise, especially with some exhaust mods

What he said and will only cost you 5K

However its really only a 2 seater car unless you have small kids in the back.
The boot however is pretty big

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/...-jtd-sv/7518154

Could you pick up a BMW 125d for the £13k mark ???

Honda

another Honda

Unusual

Higher miles

Skoda Octavia VRS, good spec and plenty around at that price. Easy remap from 170 to 200 bhp and very reliable. Get a white one and watch how motorway traffic moves over when seeing it in the rear view

As above, but Seat Leon mk 3 with the later 184bhp tdi which maps to 220bhp.

Or the Mk 2 Leon with 170 as above.

Focus ST TDCi

having had a 2.4 remapped 159 in the family I'm not convinced that's a good choice for a mile muncher.

runs a LOT of boost to get the power, does not take well to salty roads - rusts to bits on the underside, and had a lot of constant niggles.

mpg on the 2.4 also poor compared to the 3lr BMW diesels out there.

agree Brera is gorgeous to look at, but....

Yep, totally agree the Brera has the aesthetics, but, as Suba says, they rot like hell sadly.

So rules out the Brera.

Saving on budget isn't really the issue, would rather the £13k is maxed with the newest/lower mileage option

List is currently:

BMW 125d
Leon FR 184. Definintely a subtle look, but I like these, they drive well and they are brilliantly specced.
Golf GTD (obviously an FR 184 with a bigger price tag)
Focus ST-2 Tdci now coming into this budget too, good shout. Might be a bit overly sporty but, definitely good.

Also got to be a relatively small hatchback, so rules out the big saloon/coupes like Jags, 3 litre BMW's, the infinity that Patch had mentioned, A7's etc

I'm not ungrateful for the suggestion Phil, but I hate the "new" Honda Civic's with a passion. Horrendous and now dated interiors in trying to persevere with the 2006 Starship Enterprise dashboard, rubbish quality fabric on the seats which wears/sags in hours, not years!

And don't get me started on the outside

^^^ - fair points

If OP can sacrifice a bit of refinement (and isn't too environmentally-sensitive), a very late Alfa GT Cloverleaf 1.9 Jtdm can be bought for £5k - £6k. Hugely practical (I've had a washing machine in the back of mine), very reliable (mine's at 234,000 miles) and pretty frugal (mine has averaged 46mpg for the last four years). They respond extremely well to a remap and EGR delete, especially as they don't have a DPF. They also handle extremely well, but they do suffer from the usual Alfa suspension arm maladies - consider suspension arms as a disposable item and you'll be fine....

Quite exclusive now and still looks pretty good. The four-pot isn't particularly refined at low speeds and the sound / vibration insulation could be better, but once cruising, its an accomplished mile-muncher. Seats are quite possibly the best I've ever sat in and passengers often make the same comment.

Despite being "replaced" by the Brera, the GT actually outlasted it - there are some 2011 cars available. the 170bhp Cloverleaf is a very nice drive.

Now I own a 310bhp ST I can only say what a great drive it is. It's the only car so far that gives me almost as many smiles per mile as my beloved Plus did.....

Hence the other thoughts Danny boy )) Good luck in your search mate.

[qoute]

Now I own a 310bhp ST I can only say what a great drive it is. It's the only car so far that gives me almost as many smiles per mile as my beloved Plus did..... [/quote]

What's the torque on that Proccy?

Couple of cars ago i had a Giulietta Veloce 2.0jtdm 170 - fantastic car to look at, great handling. Fine on motorway with comfy seats etc. 13k could get you a 175 tct in the facelift, probably sportiva spec too.

Its the non normal/boring approach - i had a mk7 golf match tdi and the alfa at the same time for about 6months - the alfa was the much sportier drive etc, was a treat getting back in it after a week of driving the golf up and down (Golf wasnt a bad car, solid and well built....but not exactly something you'd look back at or recall driving).

Personally i'd watch the whole diesel situation too - i replaced the Alfa with a F30 3 series and went for the 316i - 1.6 turbo (mini cooper s/pug engine), you can remap it up to 200bhp and all the clutch etc is the same as the 328 so easily deals with it. I never mapped mine but it'd average 42-45mpg so only a couple worse than the Alfa (47-50) but was quieter, bigger powerband etc.

1 series is a good shout, i had a 118D (E87) before the Alfa again good car, i'd argue a slightly better drive than the Alfa, nicer seating position by far, fantastic handling (M sport or 704 option suspention makes a big diff) - Where the Alfa won was better balance between comfort/handling (New F20 1 series is better than the E87 is this area) nicer looking inside and out.

I've also between had a A180D Merc (not a great car, topped off with the renault engine) and currently a Insignia Elite (much better than you'd expect it too be!).

I do about 27-30k a year, mix of motorway and A roads

What's the torque on that Proccy?

I'll have to have a look at the graph Phil. Whereas my Coupé was 359bhp and 344lb/ft I'm sure the ST is over 400ft/lb but I might have imagined that...

The colour suits your Proccy

Hey Proccy, didn't know you had an ST now! I tune a lot of these and RS Fords. Can I tempt you with my Sabre 400R hybrid turbo upgrade

Sabre Tuning

Very easy cars to extract power from when done right. I have a 450bhp RS MK2 as the Sabre R&D car, exceptionally fast on track!

What sort of power level would a 20vT need to match that Flea?

If we aim for A Hatch, low miles, tech and top budget it would seem to be between...

Volvo - VW - Seat - BMW - Mini

There is always the Alfa Romeo Giulietta or an older or leggy Audi A3.

But you know me. It might be tough to find one for the budget, unless you open up the mileage a bit, but I would be looking for a TT Coupé (S-line special edition or Black Edition) with xenon headlamps & heated seats.

From choices above I’d be more tempted by the BMW ( biased view as my daily is a 120d Coupe)
I’d recommend 8-10k oil changes though, ignore long life servicing.
Oil changes are nice and easy with an oil extractor and the oil filter being on top of the engine.
Maybe worth looking at BabyBMW.net

My Father bought a V50 estate yesterday in white. I drove it home for him and was finding it funny watching people motoring along and then anchor it up in Lane 3 just behind me (I was in Lane 2) and slowly and cautiously drift by at circa 75mph. The car caused a line of traffic as I was travelling below the speed limit.

On a side note I was really impressed with the V50 it was so comfortable and lovely to drive.