Buying a 1.4l car, 20k to spend. Any recommendations?

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Fleur

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Hi. I want to buy a small to meduim sized car..1.4l ideal. Was thinking about buying the 3 door Opel Astra Sports Hatch. Anybody have any views on this car? Thanks
 
look alright but there not that big. have u familly? or will it just be you and your buddies in the car?

Do you want reliablitly? or you just looking for a good looking car?
 
Isnurance company gave me an Asta while my car was being repaired. I wasn't imressed with it at all! Very noisy, generally unrefined and unimpressive. Howling on motorways and at high speeds. I think for 20k you could do alot better than that, especially if you go for nearly-new instead of wasting money on brand new ones.
 
Its just me and other people occasionally. I liked the sporty look of the 3 door astra hatch, but re-considering after reading muffinsda comments!
 
Fleur said:
Its just me and other people occasionally. I liked the sporty look of the 3 door astra hatch, but re-considering after reading muffinsda comments!
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Try and test-drive one yourself. You may like it, it's quite subjective.
If I were you I would try and see if you I could find a new shape (mid 04 upwards) Volvo S40, you should be able to get one under 20k and it's a far superior car to Astra, and it looks very nice, both sporty and posh!
 
Ford Focus, VW Golf, or if you are brave enough , the Kia Ceed is getting rave reviews, one of teh best performing 1.4 engines in the class, great spec on the base model and a 7 year warrenty. Worth a test drive, probably the best bang for your buck, but resale value would be uncertain, prob lower than the other two.
 
Dundhoone said:
Ford Focus, VW Golf, or if you are brave enough , the Kia Ceed is getting rave reviews, one of teh best performing 1.4 engines in the class, great spec on the base model and a 7 year warrenty. Worth a test drive, probably the best bang for your buck, but resale value would be uncertain, prob lower than the other two.
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How much does the dealer servicing cost to maintain that warranty. A guy in work has a kia and his services seem very expensive.

I thought the Astra was quite big inside, though the boot could be bigger. I thought it was ok to drive. Going to try a 1.3 diesel one shortly. They seem to be a lot cheaper than a Golf.
 
the skoda Octavia.
No contest.research and you will see why
 
michaelskoda said:
the skoda Octavia.
No contest.research and you will see why
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The Octavia is quite a big car. I got the impression OP was looking for a Hatch of some kind. Good car though, and good value IMO. Always wondered why it gets great reviews even better than the VW's when mechanically its largely the same.
 
The Skoda Fabia Elegance 1.4 16v 100bhp.Excellent specs, excellent car, not as big as the Octavia
 
aircobra19 said:
The Octavia is quite a big car. I got the impression OP was looking for a Hatch of some kind. Good car though, and good value IMO. Always wondered why it gets great reviews even better than the VW's when mechanically its largely the same.
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Probably because the standard specs are way higher for less money than the VW
 
Go for a Golf...you'd get a good 05 3 Door Sportsline for that money.
Great car, if a touch underpowered but most 1.4's are.
 
Astra 3 door is nice looking ok. Ok to drive but nothing special.

Honda Civic maybe?

Octavia is rubbish in 1.4 litre guise. Avoid it. 1.4 Focus and Golf are also underpowered.
 
I think the concenus on the Astra is that its a decent car at a decent price but theres better cars in that class, the Golf and Focus for example. But there is a difference in price. I've driven a new Focus and Astra recently and for me there wasn't much in it. people go on about the Focus being a better handling car, but I didn't notice much difference, if anything I thought the Astra was stiffer and rolled less, which I prefered. We went for a nearly new Astra 1.3 CDTI. I usually drive an older Primera GT and its handling is vastly superior to both focus and astra. So maybe thats why I didn't notice the difference between focus and astra.

These 1.4 cars might be underpowered for some people. But many people probably the majoirty have no interest in performance and are quite happy in 1.0 and 1.4 cars. Even in a big car like the Octavia.

Another car to consider is the Mazda3, which caught my eye.
 
Thanks for your replies, don't know much about cars so all advice appreciated! I'm looking for something reliable but with a bit of style. The Mazda3 did catch my eye & I'm hoping to test drive one this w/e. Looking at other threads, most people seem to recommend the Focus, so that's another contender. Octavia would be too big for me....coming from a 1.0 a 1.4litre would be fine! I also took a Nissan Almera for a text drive & found it really nice. Maybe looks wise it's getting a bit dated?
 
Fleur said:
I also took a Nissan Almera for a text drive & found it really nice. Maybe looks wise it's getting a bit dated?
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Yeah don't do that! The almera is really past it at this stage. It is probably the most boring car on the road. Go for almost anything else in its class otherwise you will regret it. Even traditional almera buyers are buying other cars because its so boring!
 
Bought an OPEL ASTRA in November. Test drove Focus and Golf. Found nothing in difference in performance, just ASTRA better looking IMO.
 
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