New car advice?

That's if he can get around R150k for a 6 year old Fiesta? I still say stick with the car you've got at R150k the options are limited in the new market and if he goes second hand he'll be picking up someone elses problem. Smaller cars for that amount of driving a day won't give a massive saving either.

You're fighting a losing battle lol.
As long as he has seen your advice, I think more people will agree OP should keep the car. It is pretty car too.
 
I would also just keep the Fiesta unless it is a lemon. It really shouldn't cost that much to maintain.
 
I would probably just keep the Fiesta if there was nothing wrong with it.

Going to the Up! Especially a lower spec model in the 150k range is going backwards in my view. And I say this having driven a top of the line one recently expecting to love it and then finding it quite miserable to drive.

I settled on the Kia Picanto which offered much better value.

https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showth...a-Picanto-1-2-Smart-vs-Suzuki-Ignis-GLX/page3

I'm sure the slightly lower spec Picanto would come in at your price range and still kick the VW Up!'s ass.


*****

That being said didn't we have this EXACT conversation a year or so ago when you first changed jobs to Stellenbosch and wanted to buy a new car for that event?
 
Ford Figo diesel, very very light on fuel on the open road.
Not available in auto and you'll have to settle on a year or 2 old one for your budget, but IMHO a very nice little car and not such a big downgrade from your Fiesta.
 
If you want a new car, then go for something like the Up! or new Picanto.

If it's not a want, the most sensible thing to do is to keep your current car.
 
for a 100km commute everyday the up will kill you.

a bit too small and low on power for that workload everyday, and youll end up working it so hard on the uphills and overtakes that youll end up with 1.6 fuel consumption anyways

Not really. My SO has an Up, actually though of selling it (still considering), but then she will be using my diesel for her commute. She currently drives about 60 to 70 km's a day depending on if she has to pick up or drop the kids, and she averages in the 6l/100km in heavy stop start traffic. When she uses my diesel she easily uses 8 and up, depending on how bad traffic is. It's slow but it's also very light on fuel, tyres is relatively cheap (according to my sis that has the same car and sits in Cape Town traffic daily) and the car has been very reliable.

Would not be a bad move.
 
Okay let get this straight, you've got a car you've fully paid for and you now want to get another car that requires you to pay an installment to save on petrol? So you'll get a smaller car and save R500p/m on petrol for a R3000p/m installment? Not taking into consideration insurance costs go up for more expensive cars.
Also smaller motors are great for town driving, but really suck on the open road for fuel economy.

In select instances like my own it can work out pretty well...where going from a 11-12 l/100 on average ten year old slightly broken car to one that does 6l/100 is brand new with service plan and warranty and features as well as cheaper insurance coming down to costing almost nothing.

But in the case of going from a pretty frugal Fiesta to a only slightly more frugal newer car for lots of money and not much overall value I completely agree with you.
 
I would probably just keep the Fiesta if there was nothing wrong with it.

Going to the Up! Especially a lower spec model in the 150k range is going backwards in my view. And I say this having driven a top of the line one recently expecting to love it and then finding it quite miserable to drive.

I settled on the Kia Picanto which offered much better value.

https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showth...a-Picanto-1-2-Smart-vs-Suzuki-Ignis-GLX/page3

I'm sure the slightly lower spec Picanto would come in at your price range and still kick the VW Up!'s ass.


*****

That being said didn't we have this EXACT conversation a year or so ago when you first changed jobs to Stellenbosch and wanted to buy a new car for that event?

If he recently moved here, or started working here, I would understand why he wants something smaller. Traffic is this town is crap, and a car that's already heavy on fuel will guzzle it in this traffic.
 
Not really. My SO has an Up, actually though of selling it (still considering), but then she will be using my diesel for her commute. She currently drives about 60 to 70 km's a day depending on if she has to pick up or drop the kids, and she averages in the 6l/100km in heavy stop start traffic. When she uses my diesel she easily uses 8 and up, depending on how bad traffic is. It's slow but it's also very light on fuel, tyres is relatively cheap (according to my sis that has the same car and sits in Cape Town traffic daily) and the car has been very reliable.

Would not be a bad move.
well then im very impressed by that little car, i dont personally have experience with one so thanks for that clarification, i reasoned that way because back in the day when i used to sell lots of 1.1L kia picantos it was like that, you drill it so hard especially on uphills that i got the same fuel cons as my buddys 1.6 alfa 147
 
well then im very impressed by that little car, i dont personally have experience with one so thanks for that clarification, i reasoned that way because back in the day when i used to sell lots of 1.1L kia picantos it was like that, you drill it so hard especially on uphills that i got the same fuel cons as my buddys 1.6 alfa 147

I think you'd very surprised with most of these new modern small cars, almost all of them are a lot more efficient than the older small cars.
 
well then im very impressed by that little car, i dont personally have experience with one so thanks for that clarification, i reasoned that way because back in the day when i used to sell lots of 1.1L kia picantos it was like that, you drill it so hard especially on uphills that i got the same fuel cons as my buddys 1.6 alfa 147

I think there is something to be said for the smaller engines having a flatter consistency across both urban and extra urban drives and that makes it seem like it's working hard because you don't see that drop on the open road like you do in a bigger car.

Case in point my GTI used to do 10-11 in town but if you hit a long enough stretch of open highway then it will dip down below 7 and therefore it seems more economical as a long road drive.

The Kia Picanto 1.2 on the other hand does 6.4 on average in town and then only dips marginally to 6.2 so it doesn't seem that economical in comparison. It's never ever higher than in town like you would suggest.

GTI (65500km) - Average 10,3 l/100 - Best 7,9 l/100.
Kia Picanto (2500km odd so far) - Average 6.4 l/100 of very inefficient driving since we got it. Best - 5,7 l/100.

Our local Up! is down on power and cylinders though so probably does work a little bit harder than the 1.2 Kia but also doubt it would be less efficient on open road.

There is something to be said for cars built for purpose with small engines in mind over generic multi engines units that offer a model with too small an engine for too far a body in their ranges.
 
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Hi Everyone,

First off, thanks for all the advice, I really do consider every piece of advice.. financial or car related.

So to lift the confusion a bit.. If I get a new car I will be selling the Fiesta yes, and possibly finance the extra 20-30k or take if out of my savings, I will work out the financial side of this.

The problem is not that I want a new car or a new toy, I just want to stay in the market as well. My Fiesta only has 75K on the clock now so I will still be able to get a good price for it.

If I buy a new car now it will be smaller tyres to replace, I will have a warranty / service plan etc.

So instead of paying R300+ pm for an aftermarket warranty, it made sense to me if I just took the R300 or R400 and rather spend that on an installment for a new car with warranty service plan etc and a car that will be more frugal on fuel, and I still stay in the market.

That being said, I drove the UP! today and it's not for me.. It's a fine car for city driving but not on the highway.

After the UP! I took the new Polo Vivo 1.4 for a test drive and I was pleasantly surprised! Really good value for money there imo.

So I am still deciding as I def do not want a big car payment again.

Any other options I might consider? The Vivo makes sense to me even though I am not a massive VW fan, they do hold their value very well.
 
Hi Everyone,

First off, thanks for all the advice, I really do consider every piece of advice.. financial or car related.

So to lift the confusion a bit.. If I get a new car I will be selling the Fiesta yes, and possibly finance the extra 20-30k or take if out of my savings, I will work out the financial side of this.

The problem is not that I want a new car or a new toy, I just want to stay in the market as well. My Fiesta only has 75K on the clock now so I will still be able to get a good price for it.

If I buy a new car now it will be smaller tyres to replace, I will have a warranty / service plan etc.

So instead of paying R300+ pm for an aftermarket warranty, it made sense to me if I just took the R300 or R400 and rather spend that on an installment for a new car with warranty service plan etc and a car that will be more frugal on fuel, and I still stay in the market.

That being said, I drove the UP! today and it's not for me.. It's a fine car for city driving but not on the highway.

After the UP! I took the new Polo Vivo 1.4 for a test drive and I was pleasantly surprised! Really good value for money there imo.

So I am still deciding as I def do not want a big car payment again.

Any other options I might consider? The Vivo makes sense to me even though I am not a massive VW fan, they do hold their value very well.

Is that new vivo or the last gen?

I found them horrible on highway, very under-powered and noisy. In-laws have the 1.4 55kw last gen.
 
Hi Everyone,

First off, thanks for all the advice, I really do consider every piece of advice.. financial or car related.

So to lift the confusion a bit.. If I get a new car I will be selling the Fiesta yes, and possibly finance the extra 20-30k or take if out of my savings, I will work out the financial side of this.

The problem is not that I want a new car or a new toy, I just want to stay in the market as well. My Fiesta only has 75K on the clock now so I will still be able to get a good price for it.

If I buy a new car now it will be smaller tyres to replace, I will have a warranty / service plan etc.

So instead of paying R300+ pm for an aftermarket warranty, it made sense to me if I just took the R300 or R400 and rather spend that on an installment for a new car with warranty service plan etc and a car that will be more frugal on fuel, and I still stay in the market.

That being said, I drove the UP! today and it's not for me.. It's a fine car for city driving but not on the highway.

After the UP! I took the new Polo Vivo 1.4 for a test drive and I was pleasantly surprised! Really good value for money there imo.

So I am still deciding as I def do not want a big car payment again.

Any other options I might consider? The Vivo makes sense to me even though I am not a massive VW fan, they do hold their value very well.
The warranty on Vivo is only 3 years and there's no service plan( so you have to pay service)

Whereas you can get 2018 Opel Corsa 1.0T Essentia 5-Door
https://www.cars.co.za/for-sale/use...sentia-5-Door-Western-Cape-Claremont/1779505/

Which has a 5 year/120 000km warranty and a 3year/60 000km service plan

Yes, the Corsa is not going to have the same resale value as the vivi but it's not bad either and insurance cost is going to be cheaper.
 
Any other options I might consider? The Vivo makes sense to me even though I am not a massive VW fan, they do hold their value very well.

Go check out the Kia Picanto 1.2

Preferably the Smart but the Style will fit your budget a little closer and is similarly specced to the Vivo Highline.

Has a lot more to offer than the Vivo in my view, but is ever so slightly smaller.

64kw vs 77kw but I have no idea how the weight compares between the two so it might amount to much the same drive.
 
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I have noticed that the smaller engines have to work harder at freeway speeds

eg. my fiesta ecoboost (1.0 3Cylinder turbo) at 120Kmph its doing about 2800rpm on 6th gear, the Kuga I am using at the moment (1.5 4cylinder turbo) at 120kmph its doing about 1900rpm on 6th gear, both are autos.
 
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