£10k mid sized daily

[dontlookdown]

My Mazda 3 daily is about to be written off so I will need a replacement shortly.

I may just buy another - with the more powerful 165bhp engine it's just about fast enough, is the right size and drives well for what it is.

But also toying with getting a more specialist long journey cruiser as I now do more road trips with daughter at uni. Not a giant thing, but maybe an old Lexus IS250. I must be getting old myself;)

Any other thoughts? Petrol, n/a ideally, must be ULEZ compliant. The only thing I don't like about the Mazda is that there is a fair bit of road noise on the motorway. Have mostly had Japanese dailies recently because they generally just work and I have a fun car that is the one allowed to go wrong. But all ideas welcome!

[DaveH23]

Stay within the Mazda 3 Family and get it's big brother, the MPS.

Plenty fast enough.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023092222...

Enough spare change left over from budget for increased fuel costs.

[ZX10R NIN]

You'll get a very nice last of the line IS250 for around you budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401275...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401175...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311204...

They're hard to find but worth seeking out

[dontlookdown]

ZX10R NIN said:

You'll get a very nice last of the line IS250 for around you budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401275...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401175...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311204...

They're hard to find but worth seeking out

Thanks, they do look quite tempting. Any tips/problems to look out for? Are they old school tc autos or something more complicated?

[Whataguy]

Old school autos. Back seats are quite small.

I owned one for a few months, was averaging around 30mpg which isn’t as good as a much faster golf gti/etc.

Although the is250 has 200+ hp I didn’t find it to be that quick, more of a cruiser.

[dontlookdown]

Whataguy said:

Old school autos. Back seats are quite small.

I owned one for a few months, was averaging around 30mpg which isn’t as good as a much faster golf gti/etc.

Although the is250 has 200+ hp I didn’t find it to be that quick, more of a cruiser.

Tks. 30mpg is not amazing I agree.

[CG2020UK]

Not very exotic but a Vauxhall Insigna might be a decent option

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402236...

[ZX10R NIN]

dontlookdown said:

Thanks, they do look quite tempting. Any tips/problems to look out for? Are they old school tc autos or something more complicated?

There are no issues, like all autos check to see if the fluids have been changed on time, I think mid to low 30's for a 2.5 N/A V6 is good.
The gearbox is a conventional one so no issues there.

[ZX10R NIN]

CG2020UK said:

Not very exotic but a Vauxhall Insigna might be a decent option

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402236...

I agree with the above but I'd go for the later model with the 1.6T Insignia:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402136...