Granted things may well beat me off the line, but bar it being a 458, not much else will look as good losing. The Suzuki Swift looks mighty interesting. Having looked at the stats of it, it looks to be a little slow(ish)?
You need to think bigger!!! I bought a BMW 630i with FBMWSH, 74k, 2005 for a bit more than your budget. I'm 25, no NCB and my insurance is £770/year fully comp no ridiculous excess. (You won't get a good one for your budget but you might find a hot 5 series) Perfectly possible to buy monstrous cars and not get brutalised on insurance. My theory is that the company is insuring on the reputation of the car and it's probably a car that doesn't get crashed a lot as most owners are 60 year old men. Hot hatches have ridiculous premiums because they're ridiculously high risk. Think outside the box and you'll get a surprise, I bet.
I have a Mini Cooper s turbo. I can recommend it. Brilliant little car. Supercharger sounds ace but fuel economy is woeful. I've had 3 various age clio sports and they are fantastic. The mini is a nicer place to be and feels much better out together. However I never had a single problem on any of them, so don't worry too much about the French reputation (unless you buy a dog). I recently ran a 325 touring and unless you need a bigger car I wouldn't go for one again. Even though wafting along on the motorway was nice.
I have a Seat Leon Cupra on an 08 plate, very very nice car to drive and rapid if that's how you like to drive it
^^ The man makes a good point. Bigger cars might be worth looking into. I know for example that around here you can pick up a second hand Volvo for slightly less than a new Polo wold cost you. That's saying A WHOLE LOT in Namibia, since we probably have the most retardedly expensive second car marked in the world. Value retention varies regionally though.
£2000? Aren't you like 21? What piece of the country do you live in where you can afford to insure that car for that price!?
Twingo RS 133 cup are great cars. Such good fun. I had one for two years and only got rid after driving a Clio 197, which is simply awesome, best car I have owned simples. Build quality of the RS' the come out of dieppe (clios and meganes) is much better than their normal counyerparts
22, live in the West Country in a medium sized town, and in one of the 'nicer' parts of it. The new Fabia does look pretty nice. Sent from the Starship Enterprise
Mazda MX-5, should be able to get a low mileage '06 (new shape) with £7k. Why? 2 seater - as stated, you don't have a wife and kids and you also won't be pestered into being a taxi driver. Rear wheel drive - lots of fun and good handling. Convertible - it doesn't need to be sunny to enjoy the roof down. Reliable - MX-5s have a good record when it comes to reliability and holding value. Modern classic - you won't look like a boy racer in it like you will in those other cars. Practical - Surprisingly cheap to insure, run and live with. You know it makes sense.
Legroom is OK... headroom in an MX5 is likely to be a problem for you. I am 6'4", and when I tested an older MX5 (not sure of the year, TBH), I noticed that headroom was a bit tight.
I know, comparatively, they don't blow anyone away, but the Focus ST line are pretty robust hatches - I'm 6"6' too, and fit in the 170 and 225 reasonably enough. I don't recall the mini (I don't know what age or model, though) being all that comfortable for me as a passenger - But I've never sat in the drivers side. With the MX 5 you could cut a hole in the roof perhaps? Wear a Tupperware bowl and some bungee cord when it's raining?
I quite like the ST. Looked at one of the newer ones (not the newest though), insurance was a trifle high :/ Sent from the Starship Enterprise
I know you said you got a quote for the VW Golf GTI, but did you try a quote on the GT Sport TDI? The Latter is Group 17 and the former is Group 13 - So should come well into budget. Also with regards to a remap - Your looking at £350 for this, and the car will be as quick/quicker than the Golf GTI. I've ran many cars with a remap, with zero problems. As long as you keep your servicing at regular intervals, you will have no problems.
