Second car Focus. Alternatives?

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First Car has died! Second car thinking Focus. Alternatives?

Right so my Citroen ZX 1.9 D Reflex (75bhp) has come to the end of its life, and so I am after a new one. Off travelling for a month and then university for 2 months so I won't be buying it untill November/December. I will be keeping this car untill the end of uni 3/4 years, so I want something that will last me.

I am currently looking at a relatively new 54 reg 20,000 miles one, and like the edge model which has bigger allows, small spoiler amongst other things or and older 2.0. Here are some examples.

Focus Edge 1.6
Focus Edge 1.8
Focus Zetec 2.0

Just did an insurance quote using confused.com Quinn Direct £1021 for 1.6 £1085 1.8. I am 19 (20 in December), 0ncb but driving since 17 as a named driver, best area code, pass plus, no accidents or points on license. Will I have any success getting an introductory ncb calling them up and explaining that I have been a named driver for 2 years?

I want something that will be significantly quicker than my old car. Will the focus fit the bill. Performance gap between 1.6 and 1.8 and 2.0? There seem to be very few 2.0 litre foci around which is annoying. Are there any other cars I should be looking at e.g. older, higher mileage but better cars?

It seems that insurance is holding me back getting a quicker car. In hindsight I should have had my own policy from day one but I was on my parents and for some reason it was very cheap £450 or so.

I tried to do an insurance quote on a seat leon cupra (a car I love) but the site crashed. I am sure this is a coincident but I bet it will be loads e.g. £2000. If I wasn't burdened with this insurance I would save up and get it after Christmas. Anyone hear driving this kind of bhp car at 20?
 
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Soldato
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I'd say consider the diesel range. Alternatively, have a look at a golf. The 1.6 is cheap to insure and will be fast enough. SEAT Leon and Skoda Octavia do the same for less.

What are your car requirements?
 
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triggerthat said:
Are you trying to get the most out of your money?

Yes but I also like cars that look good hence I would pay more for a focus than a similiar specced mondeo.

triggerthat said:
What are your car requirements?

Very few, I am looking at 3 door foci because I think they look better. However I don't really need much space. I want a car that I can have some fun with and drive briskly. My journeys are usually relatively short, on A roads. However I will do the odd motorway cruise to and from Uni.
 
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Are you only considering the Focus? Is there anything else you would consider?

The focus are great cars. Maybe get one slightly older to bring the price down. :) I'd say go with the 1.8 if you had to get a petrol. The 2.0 doesn't offer much performance in comparison. However, I'd say look at the diesel range if you are a fan of Diesel cars. :) What is your average miles going to be over a year?
 
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Ollie's Gadgets said:
Average mileage will be no more than around 7000 miles. Maybe less.

I would definitely consider other cars. I am really after suggestions of other cars at a smiliar price point.

For that sort of price, have a look at the cars I listed above. :)
 
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Ollie's Gadgets said:
I want something that will be significantly quicker than my old car.
Even a 1.4 petrol is likely to be significantly quicker than the non-turbocharged ZX diesel, that's the kind of car that could put you off diesels for life!

The 1.8 Focus is cheap to insure and gives reasonable economy, for some reason the 2.0L gives significantly worse mileage for little performance gain, at least on paper.

Have a look at the Seat Leon and Honda Civic. The VW Golf and Audi A3 are probably too expensive for your budget, and offer poor value. If you dnt mind French cars then perhaps have a look at the Citroen C4 or the Renault Clio.

If you don't mind a slightly larger car then the Ford Mondeo and Skoda Octavia offer good VFM, and are great to drive.
 
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Dogbreath said:
Even a 1.4 petrol is likely to be significantly quicker than the non-turbocharged ZX diesel, that's the kind of car that could put you off diesels for life!

The 1.8 Focus is cheap to insure and gives reasonable economy, for some reason the 2.0L gives significantly worse mileage for little performance gain, at least on paper.

Have a look at the Seat Leon and Honda Civic. The VW Golf and Audi A3 are probably too expensive for your budget, and offer poor value. If you dnt mind French cars then perhaps have a look at the Citroen C4 or the Renault Clio.

If you don't mind a slightly larger car then the Ford Mondeo and Skoda Octavia offer good VFM, and are great to drive.

Yeah the ZX was a bit of a tractor. The 1.6 Focus is a different engine to the 1.8 and 2.0. It is a Zetec-SE which is more advanced and supposedly reves more freely. I need to test drive those two engines. It seems people's opinions are against the 2.0.

Had a quick look at the VW Golf GT TDI 130bhp and Audi A3 1.8 T Sport (150bhp). Would have to push the budget up to around 7k and would be getting an older car 2001/2002 with lots more mileage 70,000/80,000 (as your said poorer value). However as I would not be putting much mileage on these cars maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem. I presume they would depreciate slower than the focus too.

What are those two models like to drive? I think 130-150bhp would be the perfect ammount going forward for the next few years.

I like the Seat leon cupra (same engine as the audi) but I think at 180bhp it will be too hard to insure.
 
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Astra SRI-T? Actually quite reasonable to insure, so to is the 2.2 NA. Can be had for 7k but the 2.0 is a lot more common for anywhere around 5k.

1
2
Coupe's are in your budget also.
 
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Update on insurance using Admiral:

1.6 Edge £953
1.8 Edge £1023
2.0 Zetec £1233.75

Seems it is cheaper if you go directly to the website rather than using confused.com. Seems there is quite a big jump between 1.8 and 2.0. They also do a 10 month bonus accelerator which I guess is worth going for. Is that transferable to other insurance companies or is it only valid with admiral?
 
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Yeah, that is including them as named drivers. Do they seem a little high? If I would have had NCB it would have been like this:

0 year ncb: £953
1 year ncb: £850
2 year ncb: £783

Not as big a discount as I would have expected. Hate being young! :mad:
 
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Ste

Ste

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The 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 are 11, 10 and 9 seconds to 60, roughly, if that helps.

I own the 2.0 and having been in the 115 and 130ps diesil's I'd swap it for either tomorrow.
 
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Ste said:
The 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 are 11, 10 and 9 seconds to 60, roughly, if that helps.

I own the 2.0 and having been in the 115 and 130ps diesil's I'd swap it for either tomorrow.

There isn't a 130bhp focus engine, only a 115bhp (1.8 tdci). Were you reffering to the VW diesel?
 
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The NCB acured using the Admiral 10 month bonus policy is valid with other insurance companies - I've used this myself. The quotes look good to me :)

The new Focus offers the higher power diesel - maybe that's what he's thinking of

If you do look at a diesel Focus avoid the TDDi like the plague - it's awful. The TDCi is a great engine though
 
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Thanks, thats good to know about the NCB being transferable.

TDCI is quite a bit more expensive, albeit for the same price you get more miles and older.

TDCI edge I found

Insurance quotes on VW GT TDI and Audi A3 1.8T were well over 2 grand. It is annoying if I was older I would go for one of those with higher mileage over a focus. But being young I guess I will have to wait. :(
 
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1.6 Zetec 100PS at 6000rpm 145Nm at 4000rpm 41.5mpg 0-60 11.4 31-62 15.2
1.8 Zetec 115PS at 5500rpm 160Nm at 4400rpm 36.7mpg 0-60 10.2 31-62 13.4
2.0 Zetec 130PS at 5500rpm 178Nm at 4400rpm 32.5mpg 0-60 9.2 31-62 9.5
2.0 ST 173PS at 7000rpm 196Nm at 5500rpm 32.1mpg 0-60 8.2 31-62 9.9
1.8 TDCI 115PS at 3800rpm 250Nm at 1850rpm 52.3mpg 0-60 10.6 31-62 9.4

31-62mph is in fourth gear.

So the TDCI is almost as quick as the 1.8 in terms of 0-60 but has way better in gear acceleration, in fact better than any other engine inc ST, and far better mpg. I guess they will give different drives though, diesel being layed back less gear changes, and the petrols being all about down changes and high revs.
 
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