main candidates are Golf GTI and Audi S3 so far (should take a more serious look at the gt86 I guess)

must be fast(ish) and be able to take bikes and a young professional couple. Ideally should feel reasonably premium, no bucket seats and roll cages

what else?
BMW m135 is out as the wife hates beemers

his & hers Dacia Duster

you can get an AMG sport (not the proper amg) A class 250 for 27k

RenaultSport Megane! Mmmmmmm

Is your wife’s prejudice based on driving one? Any chance of persuading her to go and have a shot in a M135?

New Octavia VRS with toys and some change?

I think it would be wrong to not properly look at the M135 as it is supposed to be a cracking car. Missing out on the best car due to your wife’s prejudice is just so wrong!!

“Young professional couple” eh? what does that actually mean? do they have certain physical differences to non professional couples? or is this a ” i can buy a £30K car” troll… not sure will keep watch on this one…. 😉

Would definitely suggest having a good long look at the GT86 – had mine for nearly a year and it still makes me smile every time I drive it. Getting an average of 35 mpg, and is surprisingly practical as a day-to-day vehicle. Has been absolutely faultless to date, and purchasing experience from dealer was also good.

Mrs just got a M125d. God it’s good. I was anti BMW too until I got in the thing. Her colleague got the 135i, what a noise it makes. I’d visit a garage for sure.

you is well rich

Pictures of the Subaru BRZ looks pretty cool, not seen one on the road yet.

Innit…

Don’t buy so new and get a Bentley Continental GT – really show up those that live on the new build estate with you and your professional friends 😉

Cripes, that Titus isn’t doing anything for your image!
Buy an audi second hand and get a carbon spesh to put on the roof. You’ll be well in.

2nd hand 911

tony can you get a bike in a gt86?

Depends what you want in a car. If you want some thing normal with big engine get the S3 ie not the best handling. if you want a capable fwd get the Golf. If you want a refined sports car get the BMW. If you want a fantastic handling car with smiles per mile get the GT86.

A Class AMG is just a tarted up A class.

Your not far of baby Aston Martin tertiary, or a nice Boxter/911.

Edit – I was looking at GT86, but you cant put a roof rack on one, and I couldn’t see a boot rack going on either. I would get my full susser in the boot, its very narrow opening though.

IMO the Boxter is more practical.

But you are after a fun car, you need to go and drive them all and make your own mind up.

Elshalimo +1

I was going to say GTi. Pedals are better placed for heel-and-toe than in Audi cars, for me.

I was quite interested in a GT86 for the RWDness, but lost interest as soon as I sat in one.

Golf every time – manual, performance pack, sorted 😈

Personally I would go for 135i or 125d – I recently went through the same exercise and nothing I drove had the same quality feel combined speed.

But personally if I were to buy a car today it would be the new 335d xdrive with no options at £414 @ 3.9% a month direct from BMW. Its a beast 320hp (0-60 in sub 5sec) and real world 45mpg.

But personally if I were to buy a car today it would be the new 335d xdrive with no options at £414 @ 3.9% a month direct from BMW. Its a beast 320hp (0-60 in sub 5sec) and real world 45mpg.

Interesting. Will a 3 saloon take bikes easily enough? I’m looking at the 3GT just so I can keep them inside – it’s massive.

Don’t buy so new and get a Bentley Continental GT

Yep, my thought exactly having seen one for sale yesterday. Otherwise I’d be looking at a used 535d or equivalent.

But tbh when last in your position we nearly bought a used Porsche (Cayman 3.4S tip), until the wife spent it on a Fiat instead (Horsebox) 🙂

£4k on a Mazda Bongo, £26k on adventures.

Dorset what put you off the GT86. It feels much more like a proper sports car when you sit inside it than any BMW will do.

I saw a Golf R last night, looked and sounded very nice, but a bit over £30k.

I was going to say the new A class is pants, Audi is dull and Golf is just too theftworthy but I’ll go with my original thought: £30,000 for a car? Spend less and save more.

The US – Someone buys a nice car, everyone else says, “Wow, nice car! Good for you”
The UK – Someone buys a nice car, everyone else* says, “Wharrawanchor! You should buy a second hand piece of shit instead”

*Well, not everyone else, just the usual chippy so and sos. 🙂

I used to chop & change cars like crazy, and have been through all the usual RWD, FWD, 4WD, Coupe’s, Convertibles blah blah – so I can potentially bore for Britain on this one!

TBH, from what you’ve said, I’d recommend the Golf GTI. IMO and experience, the 3 door looks nicer, but 5 door is easier if you’re going to put a bike inside the car – oh, and the suspension is a bit more UK road surface friendly than the Audi and BMW’s on runflat tyres.

As I don’t like to carry my bike on the outside of my car, I recently bought a Skoda Octavia VRS estate – nearly got a Golf GTI, but am so glad I didn’t, as I saved enough money to get a new Santa Cruz! I’m very pleased with the VRS – I love the understated look, and it’s bonkers fast 😀 If you’re spending your own money and go in and haggle hard, you’ll get a top spec and plenty of change from your 30K. My VRS has full leather and all the gizmos, and TBH, apart from the badge on the steering wheel, you could be sitting in a Golf GTI. The seats, instruments, wiper stalks, A/C, satnav etc are the same as a Golf MK6 (I keep recognising Golf GTI parts:))

If you do end up going for a VAG car and are planning to keep it longer than the warranty, I wouldn’t bother with the DSG box, go for manual. A pal has had an absolute nightmare with the DSG on his Audi.

LOL @ Tom B.

Yep.

I can’t believe that anyone would waste £30,000 on a rapidly depreciating means of transport that is only really being justified in order to make a statement to the neighbours. Just buy a cheap banger and two really nice watches 😆

The US – Someone buys a nice car, everyone else says, “Wow, nice car! Good for you”
The UK – Someone buys a nice car, everyone else* says, “Wharrawanchor! You should buy a second hand piece of shit instead”

*Well, not everyone else, just the usual chippy so and sos.

Yup.

Does it really have to be new? I mean, £30k will get you pretty much anything you want if you’ll consider second hand. You obviously don’t want the lecture on depreciation and all that, but at least answer this:
Do you have £30k in cash/loan ready to put down on the car of your choice, or are you looking at PCP on a £30k car? There’s a huge difference in what cars can be suggested dependent on the answer to this question.

For my money, and having squeezed bikes into (yes, into, not on) any number of tiny cars – MR2, MX5, RX7, for example – I’d buy a £30k car with the sole requirement of it being a massive hoot to drive. Sod the bike space, because if you really want to you will make it fit.
I choose…. this:

Thanks for the entertaining and informative answers chaps 🙂

Its not like I actually have 30K cash lying about, please see the previous thread we had on how on earth people afford nice cars!

(yeah flying ox PCP, the world would be my oyster with 30K cash)

ok WANT
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/ferrari/456/ferrari-456-gta-m/1205196

But cant have 🙁

How do people afford nice cars?

Either by working hard, or doing something illegal, choice is yours..

Either by working hard, or doing something illegal, choice is yours..

You missed been lucky and/or inheritance.

Either by working hard, or doing something illegal, choice is yours..

You missed been lucky and/or inheritance.

Sometimes, by working hard and doing something illegal you can come into an inheritance. But you can only keep it by being lucky 😈

PCP

In that case, I’d have a good look at Infiniti. It’s Nissan’s answer to Toyota’s Lexus, except without the “we were posh once, sometime in the late 1990s” feel.

G37 coupe would be my choice. Same engine as the Nissan 370z (i.e. brilliant), 2+2 seating, decent boot, exuding luxury, one of the best dealer aftermarket customer care programs going. Nice looking to boot.

You’ve got 30k and no ties?

TWO cars IMO:

Lotus Elise
AND
Audi A3 2.0T. This way if your situation changes in a year you can easily jettison the Elise.