Advice on changing car

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on a good middle sized car. I trade my car in every 3 years and will be trading in again next month. I have had a 1.4 Golf comfortline for the past few years and the last time I traded in, I had to pay €7k along with my own which was 3 years old at the time. This time around, the garage are looking for €10k along with my own. They initially asked for €10.5k until I seemed alarmed and so he knocked off the €500! I'm not really willing to pay the €10k for another Golf. While I really like the car, I'm not too keen on the girly look the new model has, plus you pay over the odds for any extras. Does anyone have any opinions on the new Focus or on the Mazda 3? I love the Mazda 6 but you can only get it in a 1.8, which I'm not intersted in.

My brother has a mazda 3 seems alright.
1.4 seemed a bit dead to me.
There supposed to be a mid size diesel for the mazda 3 now. 1.6 I think.
Might be worth a drive.

New focus looks ok, never driven or been in one though.

What about Octavia, Astra, Almera?

Opel and Nissan are doing a deals at the moment

Haved you checked www.carzone.ie for similar car prices?
10k seems a bit steep for that upgrade.

D

Have a look at Honda - new Civic coming soon. Great car to drive. I had a saloon until earlier this year, have upgraded to Accord. Very comfortable, reliable and lots of extras on these cars.

Do you really need to change? Don't change out of 3-year habit - make sure you have good reason(s).

Actually RainyDay, I changed cars previously every 2 years so I'm I'm doing good holding out for 3 years now! I just think it makes good economical sense to do it every 3 years. I do about 14,000 miles a year. I'm due a service shortly which will set me back €180 if there's nothing wrong but I feel it'll be more, plus I think I'll be told following year that I'm coming up to the NCT and I'll probably be loaded for that.

10k is a lot to pay for a Golf. I would rather pay it for a car that has everything. I'm going to test drive the Focus on Monday. AFAIK the old model was very heavy on juice, not sure about this one. I don't know if you get good trade-in value on an Opel or Nissan.

ribena said:

I have had a 1.4 Golf comfortline for the past few years and the last time I traded in, I had to pay €7k along with my own which was 3 years old at the time.

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You got excellent value at €7k a few years ago! I know Volkswagen have good residuals but I even doubt if a three year old Golf 1.4 with 42,000 miles on the clock, could be traded in for new in the UK for less than STG5K ... but I'm open to correction?

IMHO - buying a new car is madness. Get one 12 months old and save yourself a lot of money. Depreciation is currently costing you 3.5k a year.

Focus is a great car and is NOT heavy on juice (old one was not either). Mazda 3 would be another good choice, is basically a focus under a different skin. Golf is overpriced for what you get. I would avoid Nissan Almera as it is boring car and will depreciate faster than the others. New Civic is worth looking at also. As all cars are getting bigger and heavier you would need to get a 1.6 in any of the above cars.

Fear of the NCT is wildly overstated. Any decent 4yr old car that has been properly serviced should coast through the NCT with minimal expenditure.

Bang on Soy. I agree 100%

Test drove the Focus 1.4 yesterday. Nice car but you would definitely need the 1.6. It made me realise that I do actually like my own car so I think I'll hold on to it for another year!

1.6 Focus is quite good, but the 1.6 TDCI (110bhp) diesel is even better.

The Focus 1.6 TDCI (110bhp) diesel is fantastic..And so economical.....The resale value on the Focus is also one of the best...

Ribena, would you consider the new Seat leon - I'm currently driving a 2yr old 1.4 and really like it. VW parts also. I know it will never get the resale of a golf but its far more keenly priced than a golf to buy new. Agree with your comments on the Ford Focus, the 1.4 is v slugggish.