New car £3000 budget

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Hi there, in a few months time I shall have my first years no claims and plan to change my current car to a better one. I want to get something well built and I like Audi’s BMW's etc. With me being 18 insurance may be an issue. I am willing to spend £2000 max on insurance. At the moment I have Peugeot 306 HDI 2L turbo which is remapped to 125BHP. The car is quite nippy compared to friends 1L Corsa etc. I have recently got a new job and will be able to afford something a little better.

At the moment I have mainly been considering an Audi A3. I have been looking at the 1.8 turbo engine. I have been doing some quotes and I know insurance changes daily but the ballpark figure is going to be around £1600 with my mum and dad as a named driver with bell who seem to be the cheapest. I also did some quotes on the A3 Quattro which was only £60 more to insure. When I come round to getting my years no claims and start to look to buy one of these I am going to wait for the right spec one to come around but I don't want to be set on an Audi A3. I want to get something similar spec and was open to suggestions. (Subject to insurance) Running costs I am quite hands on and have a budget and some savings aside for that.

I see no reason to get another diesel as I don't do the miles to benefit I do a 55 mile commute 5 days a week. And I also want to get petrol I quite like the idea of sensible mods (power and handling upgrades) this is one of the reasons an A3 was considered.

Sorry for going on a bit but if anybody can thing of some similar cars would be great!

Many thanks Phil
 

mjt

mjt

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I honestly don't think an A3 for £3k is going to be particularly nice.
The Octavia vRS is in your budget but I suspect insurance won't be particularly cheap..
 
Soldato
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I havent done it yet, so it's overdue - am going to have to suggest the car I own... Get a 9-3 :D

All have turbocharged engines so respond to power modifications well, they're a bit different from the norm, insurance shouldnt be bad either :)
 
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;16410763 said:
Surely you cant get a good one for £3k though, and if you can, why did you spend so much more, you could have saved a fortune :D

3k buys an early (2002~2003) model in something like Vector/Arc trim with a 1.8t or 2.0t engine. Oddly, both are 2.0 4 cylinder engines with low pressure turbos, just in different states of tune.

Mines a 2.0T Aero (the big T means it's a high output turbo), so top of the range with the second from top engine, with low miles and much newer.

That's like asking why you would buy a mint ST220 when you could buy a 2.0 Zetec Mondeo for half the amount :p The ST220 is probably the closest thing I can compare it to, was going to use an E46 and M3 analogy but thought that would start all sorts of arguments!
 
Soldato
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Have you seen the sort of A3s you can get for £3k?

I've just had a quick look on auto trader and they are generally not pretty!

I think the OP is trying to run before he can walk and would be much better off at this point either sticking with his current motor and saving a bit more cash or upgrading to something that is still reasonable in the 3K bracket like for example a Mondeo.
 

daz

daz

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If your car is OK for now, I'd probably recommend keeping it for a bit longer. It's a known quantity and you can budget and save a bit longer for a car that you'll really be able to cherish (Perhaps an A3 nearer to £5k-£6k, if your heart is on an A3), rather than an 11 year old one that's done 130,000 miles and has the potential for big bills to crop up suddenly.
 
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