Don't want another Polo, as they seem to have got really expensive now. Not like they were cheap before I suppose
Only need a smaller car these days, as most of my driving (99%) is on local rural roads and don't need the space of a bigger car.
Tried a few different things:
- Vauxhall Corse. But going for a decent level of trim and the more powerful engine means the car is knocking on £30k (before any discount). Just not worth it.
- Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo. Not a great fan of the dumpy looks. But might have been tempted by the limited edition 170 (but low availability).
- Renault Clio. Nice looks and drives half decent. But could not find the top level model in the colour I wanted. And sadly, our local dealer is Arnold Clark (enough said).
So... just out of interest more than anything, I dropped into our local MG dealer (they are also the Vauxhall dealer as well). And had a shot in the MG3 Hybrid+
I must admit that after a decent test drive, I was quite impressed with what you could get for your money. Decent level of kit and drove pretty well.
Not as sharp to drive as the Gti but I reckon in a straight line almost as fast.
So talked the talk and after a while, I was offered a 20% discount on what is already a pretty cheap car.
And even after paying of the outstanding finance, there was a fair bit of +equity left. So went for a zero deposit on the new car and cash back from the Gti.
Almost like being paid to take a new car (besides the monthly payments of course).
The garage sourced the car in a couple of days (in the colour I wanted) and a couple of days later, I was picking up the new motor.
Fastest that I've ever bought a new car in some50 years of motoring
I still fancy my AMG A-class. But maybe when we down size house wise. Always got to have something to look forward to.
Thoughts so far.
Pros:
- Price. Unbeatable I think.
- 7 year warranty. But obviously the usual wear and tear items excluded after 3 years. Pretty standard that.
- Fuel consumption. In mixed driving, 60/65mpg easily achievable. Best that I've seen was 72mpg. Very handy these days!
- Performance in a straight line. MG quotes 0-62 in 8 seconds. But any number of test show it to be nearer 6.5 seconds and I can believe that.
- Handling reasonable. Steering could have a bit more "feel". But that's electric power steering for you.
- Ride quality on the tyres with a reasonable side wall is more forgiving on our rubbish roads than the Gti.
- Equipment level. Can't think of anything missing to be honest. Accept the auto dimming interior mirror.
- Seats pretty comfortable. Though adjustable lumbar support would have been nice.
- The infotainment system seems to work just fine. Reasonably "snappy". And nice to have physical buttons on the steering wheel.
- The paint job is probably one of the best on any car I've ever bought (and most have been WAY more expensive).
Cons.
- Some trim is a bit hard cheap looking plastic. But the same could really be said about the Polo Gti TBTH.
- The weak point is the 3 speed gear box. Sometimes it seems to get confused and selects a lower gear than you would expect. Though 99% of the time its fine.
- Reversing camera could be clearer (needs to be higher resolution). Though the 360 camera works great for parking.
- Looks... very subjective. I think in the blue it looks OK. Needs slightly bigger wheels though. I think 17in, rather than the stock 16in would make a big difference.
- The Intelligent Speed Assist is WAY too sensitive. One mile an hour over the speed limit and BONG, BONG, BONG.
You can easily turn it off but that rather defeats the objective of this supposed "safety aid".
- The Lane Keep Assist hardly ever seems to work. Not bothered by this really. My opinion is, if you can't keep the car in the correct lane, then you maybe should not be driving.
One month on and not a squeak or rattle in the new car. And actually enjoying driving it. Just goes to show, that you don't need to spend big money to enjoy driving.
I'll continue to keep an eye on the forum, as I've found it very helpful at times and the folks in it, very friendly.
Enjoy your motoring, whatever you drive.
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. I’ve seen a few on the road and I think you’ve picked a good colour. There was another forum member (POLO Clive) who switched to an MG3 hybrid+ a couple of years ago but he’s not been active on the forum for 18 months or so so don’t know how he’s been getting on with it.