My Civic was stolen nearly a month ago, and I need to get round to replacing it. I liked it a lot, but the rubbish ride and rear visibility mean I'm not that keen on buying another - the upcoming new one is meant to be better but I can't really wait that long (or afford a diesel one).
Have been looking around at various nearly-new options, seems the austerity-hit public aren't buying so many cars so second-hand looks much poorer value now than when I bought my (ex-demo) Civic. I'm on car allowance so have to stay under 5 years old, and can't be bothered with changing that often hence looking at new or nearly-new and running up to the age I can get away with.
It's needed for usual work and weekend biking duties, no kids (yet but likely in the time I'll keep it for), driving is almost all slogging through London traffic or bimbling on the motorway for up to 20k miles a year, but very little in the way of fun twisty roads.
Seems that via drivethedeal I can have a Golf in Match 1.6TDi spec for about £16600 (£3700 off list, and cheaper than many VW dealers' used stock) and as long as I'm not fussy about colour, can have one in a few weeks. Spec is very good for the money (bluetooth, big touchscreen DAB stereo, front/rear parking sensors, cruise, etc) and while I'd not been a VW fan at all in the past, I was impressed with the similar Golf I hired earlier this year - so much comfier, quieter and more refined than anything else I'd driven in the class.
Any reason to look harder elsewhere or should I just get it ordered?
Cannot think of any good reason
would you like to spend hours spent in a traffic jam in it?
I know it sounds odd as a method of choosing a car, but to me a car is a device for getting from a to b and spending far to long going no where.
I feel its a great opportunity to drive a few marques to make sure you have done the best/found the best.
Good cars but I do think they are quite tight on interior space compared to what you could have? Civic's are supposed to be great for utilising interior space compared.
My mkV was just 'ok' and the mkVI can't be any bigger.
Why not leftfield and get a diesel Subaru?
depends how big a boot you need. Need a big boot, look elsewhere
Have a look at Kias and Hyundais. The long warranty and reasonable prices make them quite attractive IMHO.
I have a VW and a Kia, both are very nice.
Skoda Fabia TDI or Seat Leon TDI same cars but much cheaper.
Do the golfs come with the stupid electric handbrake? Steer clear is so, the one in the Passat is a PITA and seized over xmas and took the poor AA bloke 2hrs to free. Needs a new motor which costs £350. Its also just had a recall on the 4 injectors(which cost £400 each) after years of failures and VW charging customers. Electric keys fail also ours went last year. After 4 previous VW's this is our last! No longer a reliable manufacturer.
Skoda fabia estate is as ugly as sin but bigger and likely to be cheaper.
Is a C30 over budget?
Or if it was my money I'd mucho rather prefer this to a Golf any day
2nd for Subaru....i had a 2005 impreza rv and now have an outback - both reliable
Better steering, AWD, different, quirky, spacious. Not a euro-box.
anagallis_arvensis - Member
Skoda fabia estate is as ugly as sin but bigger and likely to be cheaper.
My parents got one of these on precisely this premise. The thing is, the build quality just doesn't feel anywhere near as good as a real VW.
What about a Volvo C30? If I was looking at a new/nearly-new car in the class you are, there is no question I'd be looking at this...
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Focus here, looked at golfs (admittedly 4 years ago) and just felt it was a bit more practical. Seemed like a bigger boot to us, nice enough inside and handled well with decent safety. Got a good deal too.
Think the newer ones have a few more toys.
What about a Volvo C30? If I was looking at a new/nearly-new car in the class you are, there is no question I'd be looking at this...
ever had a look at the boot? totally useless if you ever need to get anything substantial in (otherwise i'd have one)
The 1.6TDI is a shockingly bad engine in my opinion. I didn't feel it even gave me enough confidence to overtake a cyclist. Admittedly I am not a diesel lover but this one put me off derv for life.
What is it with new shape Civics getting stolen? I know two people who have had their's stolen. I thought that cars didn't often get stolen often these days?
To OP sounds like you need a smaller diesel auto. VAG group DSG diesel or something similar. Great for driving in London and motorway.
Don't they offer the 1.9 anymore? I thought that was a great engine. Even in 110bhp tune.
Nothing to touch the Golf in its class unless space is a requirement. Very refined, miser on fuel, and is actually fun to drive (1st non GTi golf to be a good steer since the mk2). Seats and Skodas better space, but poorer build/sound deadening and not quite as 'just so' in the steering/handling department.
Run a car hire business and have driven the Leon, Octavia, Focus, Astra, Auris, and it is so far ahead of it's rivals it's a no brainer
Anything Korean is dross and to be avoided unless you only value warranty etc.
Has none of the reliability issues we have with Passats, Tiguans etc. Vw's heartland car can't go wrong, and you will ALWAYS flog it for good money
Skoda Yeti
Cheers all.
Focus and Golf are actually surprisingly close on boot space - in fact, the new model Focus is actually quite a bit smaller than the current Golf. Civic was great in that regard, although the quoted size includes the well under the floor (where a spare wheel would normally go) which you don't get much use from. The only times I really made use of the extra space and clever folding seats was for getting three of us and dive gear down to the coast, and I don't do that any more - most we'd do would be the Mrs and I camping for a weekend which it should do fine.
Don't want anything bigger, street parking is a fact of life in London and the extra foot or so of length of something like an Octavia can mean the difference between parking right outside or a street away.
Focus - mk2.5s just don't seem cheap enough when there's a new model out. New model too expensive new and depreciates like a stone.
Astra - quite like, but not many about in the kind of spec I'd want and many of them ex-hire. Again, heavy depreciation new.
Giulietta - thought I'd like (Alfa fan) but don't. Overly expensive to insure for what they are. Looks a bit ridiculous on anything but the biggest wheels too.
Leon - like a Golf but with a nasty interior (with switchgear thrown at random) and poor ride.
Auris - my gf's parents have one in NZ. Capable enough but very dull and poor boot.
C30 - like but silly boot arrangement kills it. Needs the hard load cover, but having that makes putting bikes in there a right faff.
Fabia - nice enough but a size down (Octavia is Golf platform, Fabia is Polo platform), basic inside, don't seem cheap enough to justify
Subarus - no need at all for 4WD but the boxer derv sounds intriguing - might give one a go.
i30 - can't stand the way it looks
Ceed - facelifted ones are OK but much like the Fabia they don't seem *that* cheap next to the rest yet feel a lot cheaper inside.
Yeti - like but too expensive new and so in demand used ones are silly money.
Mercs - don't like any current ones (and didn't change my mind after a few days in a new C coupe in Sweden), so certainly not chucking 15k at a just-out-of-warranty one, thanks.
Pretty much by a process of elimination, I always seem to end up returning to the Golf. It doesn't have the same "I really want one of those" desirability that I felt about the Civic when I bought it, but it does seem the logical choice and is a lovely place to sit for hours on end.
Got a Golf 1.6 Bluemotion earlier this year and it suits me done 18k miles since April and had no problems, well other than the radio or whatever they call the thing that manages your bluetooth phone thing broke but was replaced under warranty & the mrs keeps pinching it as she prefers it to her Audi A3
Honestly give a Subaru a testdrive. Lovely how they move
How big of boot do you people need? Had Golfs now for about 6 years gone on family holidays with it, used for days out with a baby and toddler which meant a pram, bags and god knows what plus a Labrador. Fail to see how they're not big enough.
For me it was the way the seat folded (mkV) - the rear swab stuck up at an angle.
I'd also mention the new Jazz however the one I testdrove jiggled remorselessly on a smooth surface.
Sounds like your mind is made and this is just academic.
Shame you don't have the option of an older Civic, mine is great fun!
Excellent moment last night on the A14, 270 degree corner where the wife asked where the cars ahead of us came from and I pointed out that we'd caught them up on the corner, they were doing about 35 whereas we were doing about 50* and still not struggling for grip!
*note: I didn't end up right up their ar$e as that's just not my style, it was more a case that they were in the distance then they were much closer to us.
For me it was the way the seat folded (mkV) - the rear swab stuck up at an angle.
They still do that on the mkVI. Irritating when it wouldn't be difficult to allow the seat bases to flip and allow a better fold, but presumably VW have their reasons (upsell to the Golf Plus / Tiguan / Touran, perhaps?).
Not that big a deal for bike-carrying duties, and for bigger things like ikea trips I have a streetcar/zipcar membership that lets me rent a van 2 mins walk away for £9 an hour.
If you're settled on a golf, get a DSG - it's a lifesaver for London driving. I ran one for 3 years doing 40k a year in London and M25 area.
Now running a Skoda Octavia VRS estate DSG. No problems parking it compared with the golf, much more fun to drive, getting 45mpg as an average. Not as comfy - firmer suspension and sports seats but loads of bootspace.
I have that very car and its very good indeed. I've mostly been a Ford driver and have come back to VW after 8 years away-last VW was a Mk4 Golf TDI.
The engine in the 1.6TDI is fine- what will fool you initially (as it does many) is the gearing. Its the same as the Bluemotion and is optimised heavily for economy in the extra-urban ranges. Advantages are an average economy (for me anyway) of 62mpg; my commute is a mixed run of urban, A road, and Mway over 27 miles and its perfect.
On a longer run (to and from customer locations for work) I usually cruise at 65mph; again, economy is in the low 60's. However, it has bags of torque in 5th; I can overtake anything on the motorway from say 60mph with no need to change down.
Its got very neutral handling, an excellent ride, tucks in very flatly at speed on bends, and is extremely quiet.
Interior space is only ok; as others have said, the back seat bench doesn't fold down. I can still get 2 bikes, myself and a passenger in though. The interior itself and extras are great.
If you can get around the gearing I'd say go for it- most marques are doing something similar to improve economy anyway.
Forget about the C-30, the rear hatch is a joke. (You'll notice many cars now have narrower rear hatches, its all to do with retaining body stiffness without adding weight with strengthening.) Rivals for me in the hatchback space would be Focus (possibly econetic), Leon, 308 (better than you might think), Giulietta.
If you're settled on a golf, get a DSG - it's a lifesaver for London driving. I ran one for 3 years doing 40k a year in London and M25 area.
Spent this morning in a Fabia vRS, which I loved to bits. So much so that I bought it.
Thanks for your feedback all!
Great little mini rocket ship but you will do well to get over 36mpg within the M25
Awesome car I love mine, see you on Briskoda.
I much prefer the focus to just about any of the current VWs I've driven lately. Bluemotion golf was good on fuel but like all modern VWs its been fitted with instruments of torture rather than seats and yep five speed gear box took some getting used to (only had it a week).
Focus was a nicer place to sit and better driving car in the same sort of size range.
IMO.