Have been left rather more confused after a weekend of test drives, and left somewhat underwhelmed by some of the offers on the table. I've now test driven the new Mazda 3 (2.0 Sport Nav), Honda Civic (1.8 vtec se) Golf (1.4 tsi match) and the BMW (114i Sport). I understand to a point why the BMW salesman asked me to try the 114i first, just to make sure I wouldn't be happy with the power coming from a 1.6 Mazda 3, but it just confirmed what I had already guessed, too slow, and I'm still confused by the trims and packages. The Golf had by far the most fun engine out of all the cars I tested. The BMW was most comfortable.
The BMW had by far the best driving position and is exactly what I'm looking for as far as what I want from my next car (sitting in traffic again for an hour this morning on the M4 has convinced me of that). They also had a used 118i Sport, 2yrs old, supposedly with the driver comfort pack on the forecourt at just under £15000, but no sport seats (which is what I want after comparing the two, far more comfortable), very odd, so it's advertised incorrectly and is actually an SE with sport wheels.
All the dealers were pushing me towards a PCP type deal despite this not sitting well with me and really not what I wanted, but even so the figures don't add up. £350 a month for a 116i Sport with the driver comfort pack? No chance I'm paying that. The dealer is also trying to push the Xenon headlights, but I really can't see why or what the benefit is at the cost? £1100 extra for fancy headlights? no chance, and it's left me thinking I'm missing something.