Newest car with lowest tech. £10K max

[Derventio]

Let me explain:

Imagine you have £10,000 to spend on a car but you want the newest possible vehicle but the least mechanical complexity and the maximum performance.

Electric windows and central locking, would be preferred but cruise control, a sunroof and /or air con are a nice to have.

Most diesels from about 2007/6 are out due to all the extra (complicated and in most cases, unreliable) emissions gubbins needed.

What can you think of that fits this criteria?

Any BMW 3 litre petrol six from the last decade, maybe? (Just a guess as the last BMW I owned was a 2 litre six E28)

Edited by Derventio on Wednesday 10th February 18:07

[bennno]

1L non turbo VW up / Seat Mii / Skoda Citigo

[Derventio]

Good shout. Quite like the Up.

[Jag_NE]

It’s a flawed equation because something could be relatively “low tech” as you put it, but be horribly engineered and badly put together. And that’s before you get into the lottery of well used cars and how they have been treated by previous owners.

[VS02]

I’d probably nominate my own car, a 2016 Polo S

No central locking
completely manual mirrors (you adjust them with stalks by each mirror)
No air conditioning
Manual headlights
Manual wipers
Light grey Plastic steering wheel with no functions (I changed it to leather)
Light grey plastic handbrake (manual)
Light grey plastic gearknob
No carpet in the boot (I mean on the back of the seats)
No fogs
The rear windows dont open
No cruise
No central armrest
No 12V socket
Steel wheels
Plastic body trim

A naturally asiprated 3 cylinder engine



Still a great car though. It has decent speakers and Bluetooth and isn’t that bad to drive. And its revvy.

[Monkeylegend]

I would think the cheapest Dacia must be on the list, or maybe BMW, most of them don't even have indicators.

[LuS1fer]

There are a number of 2000 on, Mustangs and Corvettes being advertised in that bracket though I am not sure if they are scams or these repaired cars that seem to be being imported.

A Fiesta ST would probably be my choice with a Mountune add-on.

[ch37]

bennno said:

1L non turbo VW up / Seat Mii / Skoda Citigo

I have a recent Citigo that does not have:

Central Locking
A clock
A boot light
Electric Windows
A parcel shelf that lifts when you open the boot
Rev Counter

Probably missed quite a bit, obviously no sat nav, heated seats, cruise control, electric mirrors, auto lights etc either.

It's the closest new car I could find to basically being 4 wheels and an engine that was still practical for a family of 3.

Love it! 75k on it now and no issues whatsoever.

Edited by ch37 on Wednesday 10th February 18:00

[TREMAiNE]

ch37 said:

I have a Citigo that does not have:
A parcel shelf that lifts when you open the boot

My biggest hate about my first CitiGo.
My second one rectified the issue thankfully.

Loved that car, most fun I've ever had on track was in a CitiGo.

[Derventio]

LuS1fer said:

There are a number of 2000 on, Mustangs and Corvettes being advertised in that bracket though I am not sure if they are scams or these repaired cars that seem to be being imported.

A Fiesta ST would probably be my choice with a Mountune add-on.

Actually, the old 2 litre Fiesta ST is a really good shout. The engine is pretty simple and well proven.They all had the sort of amenities we have all become accustomed to (electric Windows etc) but they offer reasonable performance. When did the last one roll off the production line? 2007?

The Focus St 2.5 would possibly fit well too. The old Volvo 5 pot is relatively simple but offers good performance

Edited by Derventio on Wednesday 10th February 18:09

[Derventio]

I have just realised that any late 1990s/early 2000s Japanese performance car would hit the design brief squarely in the middle. A Subaru Impreza or Honda Accord Type R would fulfill all criteria quite nicely. Relative mechanical simplicity/great performance/just enough kit/new enough to benefit from modern safety requirements etc.

[waynecyclist]

Has to be the base model Dacia Sandeo

[ch37]

20 years old is pushing the 'newest possible' brief a bit far, maybe..?

In terms of non performance vehicles a UN spec Dacia Duster or the previously mentioned base Mii/Citigo probably nails it.

[rfn]

You can get a brand new Duster for 10500 - would fit the bill ?

[Derventio]

ch37 said:

20 years old is pushing the 'newest possible' brief a bit far, maybe..?

In terms of non performance vehicles a UN spec Dacia Duster or the previously mentioned base Mii/Citigo probably nails it.

I think the Citigo/Up/Mii nails most of the brief but their 0-60 time is circa 14 seconds. So, if we set the age bar at 2012, when these were fist sold in the UK, can we improve on the performance without increasing mechanical complexity?

[Scootersp]

It's an interesting question but I think as performance goes up the "basic'ness" goes down, ever since the 306 Rallye type era......

I am stuck in the old days pre 2005 for reasonable tax on performance stuff, one 90's relatively simple but too old, one 2005 but complex (a bork liability!)

Modern day emissions has ruled more and so setups can be more efficient but complicated/delicate/overstressed.

My current banger/shed is a IS200 a cockroach of a car but 2L straight 6 has pretty low power and MPG and high emissions nothing made like that now.

You could look into Japanese imports as these can be very low rust and low miles, say a Altezza, Caldina etc?

2012 on I'm no expert on at all, will take a look and see what I'd buy if forced into that year and up.

[ChrisH72]

I had a 2011 BMW 6 pot.

Sadly the N53 engine really is too complex for its own good. The direct injection does give it good efficiency and economy but the cost of replacing those injectors when they fail is prohibitive as I found out.

My vote goes to anything without a touch screen. I hate the modern look of having an iPad stuck in the middle of the dashboard and feel that it will date any car very quickly. My current Fiesta ST seems pretty low tech. I have the ST3 so it comes with cruise etc. But you could get more ST2 for the money if those things didn't bother you. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly complicated or expensive as far as engine and mechanicals are concerned.

For a sports coupe the Nissan 370Z seems like a pretty old school car that shouldn't give too many problems.

[Scootersp]

Autotrader 2012, sub 10K and over 2L petrol search and performance with low complexity wise I'd choose a GT86 or Mx5. Not saying that's where my personal £10K would go but if post 2012 and low bork factor not much else appeals.

[mikeiow]

Monkeylegend said:

I would think the cheapest Dacia must be on the list, or maybe BMW, most of them don't even have indicators.

I was thinking the Dacia, then I noticed the “ and the maximum performance.”

[VR99]

If you can find a clean (not rusty) Mk1 or early MK2 Focus I think they fit the bill.
My 2004 focus:
Engine - 1.8 n/a but in a fairly light car 113 bhp feels plenty. Tough engines that can do galactic mileages
Not a single issue with electrics in 11 years under my ownership, no heated seats everything is basic but functional. Reasonably spacy boot for what is a medium-small hatchback.
In 11 years of ownership the most expensive work was the water pump and belts being replaced, only items to ever go wrong: alternator went quite a few years back and was replaced for £120, rocker gasket cover leak and cracked thermo housing last year all sorted. Not bad for a 16 yr old car IMO.

Edit: just realised your £10k budget will get you something much newer than a MK1/2 Focus...maybe a newer Kia,Hyundai or Dacia then...