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Thinking of leaving the fold...

azaman

azaman

Active Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
572
Location
London
Car
E320 CDI Sport
I've had my C180K Coupe for a little over a year now. While I have enjoyed owning the car I am starting to get a little bored with it. I should have gone for one with a bit more power :wallbash:

So, I have a potential budget of around £15k (pending clearance from my finance officer - the wife). My current car is an 04 with 40K on the clock, so ideally I want something newer, with fewer miles. I have had a look at my Merc options and seems all I can afford is another Coupe. While I do like the car, I'm not one to buy the same car twice.

A car that has caught my eye is the Honda Civic Type-R. I have seen a couple on 07/08 plates with < 12K miles for around £15/16K with the extras I want (Rage 19" alloys and sat nav). Seems like good value to me so I am seriously considering it. I've not driven one yet so I still need to get behind the wheel to decide if I like it, and if I can go back to front wheel drive.

What are people’s views on the Civic? Can anyone think of any other sporty cars for similar money?
 
I had similar thoughts last year when getting rid of the W203. I looked at other makes, as much to keep an open mind as anything else - but just kept coming back to the merc.
The feeling when in one was so much better than any of the others (except the Jag XF - which I would have bought in a heartbeat).

Good luck with whatever you choose although I suspect that you may not get a balanced view from this forum :D
 
pos.k said:
I had similar thoughts last year when getting rid of the W203. I looked at other makes, as much to keep an open mind as anything else - but just kept coming back to the merc.
The feeling when in one was so much better than any of the others (except the Jag XF - which I would have bought in a heartbeat).

Good luck with whatever you choose although I suspect that you may not get a balanced view from this forum :D
Click to expand...

That is something that bothers me, can I bear to move away from the kudos of the three pointed star? I know my car is only a W203 Coupe, but to me it does still feel a little special.

Having said that I also own the previous version of the Civic and it has been a faultless car. It is used as the family mule and does get lots of abuse, yet it has never put a foot wrong. My W203 is a year younger than the Civic, yet has quite a few more minor faults that I find irritating (plenty of rattles in the cabin, crazing on the binnacle Perspex and a noisy exhaust shield).
 
I was going to suggest a nice CLK but figured the OP wanted a hatch!

:D
 
Baron_Samedi said:
I was going to suggest a nice CLK but figured the OP wanted a hatch!

:D
Click to expand...


Hatch is ideal for me but depending on the car I could do without. Time to get down to Car Giant to have a look a CLK in a little more detail :bannana:
 
I told you you wouldn't get a balanced view :D
 
azaman said:
A car that has caught my eye is the Honda Civic Type-R. I have seen a couple on 07/08 plates with < 12K miles for around £15/16K with the extras I want (Rage 19" alloys and sat nav). Seems like good value to me so I am seriously considering it. I've not driven one yet so I still need to get behind the wheel to decide if I like it, and if I can go back to front wheel drive.

What are people’s views on the Civic? Can anyone think of any other sporty cars for similar money?
Click to expand...

Test drive is essential for one of these, as despite all the press stuff about type r's they are a bit of an aquired taste IMHO.

Great fun initially but after a while i hated the fact that you had to rev the you no whats off it to actually go anywhere. Also felt a bit of a prat having to drop to second all the time to overtake from low speed.

Torque suits my driving style better but def go and have a play
 
I am about to sell my CLK 500 to make way for a new CLS coming on 1/9.
Cubanite Silver, Anthracite leather interior, Burr Walnut trim. Sunroof, Keyless Go, Comand, CD changer, TV tuner, 7 spd gearbox, sport suspension & 17" wheels, wood & leather steering wheel. March 05 53000 miles £14000 MOT March 2010 Tax Feb 2010

Regards

Steve
 
If its just the two of you I would buy an SLK32

Older than the others that have been mentioned but a Focus and R type are a little chavtastic... :)
 
I drove my friend's Honda Civic Type-R for 3 days while i was in New-key and i'm comparing it to my 230K.

Very 'tinny' and feels very cheap. Not enough space (me being 6ft4), and it felt very lifeless at low speeds and it was compeltely torqueless. Yes its fast, but you really have to thrash the hell out of it to get any speed out of it, not my style, I prefer the max torque of my 230k being available at 2000rpm rather then at 6k rpm. It did feel alot lighter and more nimble than my 230K though, thats for certain and probably the only plus i could find in the car.

Try an SLK320/SLK350, you might like them, and they are both plenty-fast, the 350 is an animal actually.
 
Some good suggestions so far. I'd not consider a Civic over a Mercedes - is it really worth it just for the performance? You can buy a quick MB if you want one, a Civic will always be a Civic... Front wheel drive, thin nylon carpets, noisy and plasticy etc. Ugly too IMHO :crazy:

The biggest cost to the vast majority of car owners is depreciation. How about a nice AMG model of some description - even consider spending less cash on the purchase and keeping a little aside for servicing/maintenance etc.

How about something like this:

Mercedes : mercedes clk 55 amg

Mileage is low if that's your thing. 46k on a V8 M113 is nothing. Only £9k asking price - spend the extra cash on petrol/tyres/brakes/insurance etc. I doubt they'll depreciate an awful lot more from the current values :)

Will
 
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