SCRATCH your head and rub your eyes in disbelief but yes, you can still buy a decent sized brand new estate car for less than £7,000.
Dacia’s Logan MCV might appear like a throwback to motoring 1970s style, but if your budget can only run to the cost of a decent second hand car, why not take the plunge and consider something new that comes with plenty of space for the family, decent economy and an industry standard three year warranty.
THE car that held the record for the fastest front wheel drive lap set round the legendary Nurburgring race track (until Renault recently beat it) is now available to you, me and anyone else who wants to buy into the Cupra cult.
That’s what SEAT unwittingly started when they unleashed their first car to carry that name back in the year 2000 – a car that was then perceived to be an acceptable alternative to the ubiquitous Golf GTI for those on a tighter budget and not driven by badge snobbery.
THERE are some things you just don’t do.
Like visiting the Vatican city with your shoulders disrespectfully uncovered; asking for tomato sauce in one of Gordon Ramsay’s gourmet eating establishments; and ticking the option box for a roof like this on your new car.
THERE’S a new arrival in the SEAT Leon household, and the new baby is the biggest yet to pop out of the Martorell mothership in Barcelona.
The ST effectively completes the family, alongside the five door hatchback and three door SC variants, and lives up to its billing as one of SEAT’s most significant models ever.
THINGS are stirring in the garden, but after a dry spell of a couple of days, it’s hammering down with rain.
Not just any old little shower, mind you, but the sort that hurts your face as it drives into it.
Must be time to test a cabriolet then, and with ill-advised optimism, and impeccable timing, Audi’s neat new A3 Cabriolet arrives on the drive for appraisal, at around the same time the first UK customers were getting their cars.
FOUR-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel played an active role in the testing and evaluation programme of Infiniti’s new Q50 in his capacity of Infiniti’s Director of Performance.
So he was likely to be totally nonplussed by the fact the car brings to motorists a world-first steer-by-wire system – or to put it another way, a system with no physical link between the road and the steering wheel.
THE last time I had a ride in an Audi S1, rally legend Hannu Mikkola was in the drivers seat (no, honestly, he was) and he was holding the drivers door shut while changing gear, steering, and hooning round Goodwood race track for all he was worth.
Thankfully Audis flex significantly less these days so you and I needn’t worry about bits opening when they shouldn’t. The latest S1 is therefore a worthy successor to that short wheelbase S1 quattro from the 1980s that Mr Mikkola and I found ourselves in that day.
IT might not have had a rear wiper when it first went on sale, but it wasn’t long before the new Hyundai i10 was wiping the floor with some of its serious opposition.
Now there’s Son of i10, and it’s an even better proposition for anyone looking for a small, tidy, well equipped family car.
COULD any self-respecting non-Arsenal footy fan ever consider buying a car called the Venga?
Actually, there are probably some Gooners who wouldn’t buy one either at the moment, but they’d be missing a trick.
Because Kia’s family orientated supermini currently has the edge when it comes to results. It delivers on pace, practicality, efficiency (in terms of fuel), and as it doesn’t do a lot wrong, there’s not a lot of need for excuses…..
VAUXHALL are playing up to the fact the Corsa is a favourite buy for the boy racer – or Penelope Pitstop – on a budget with their latest offering.
And with prices starting from £8,995, the funky Corsa Sting is certainly affordable. There’s a choice of 16- or 17-inch alloy wheels in white or silver finish, with twin sports stripes and matching exterior mirrors. Standard equipment also includes CD/MP3 CD player, aux-in socket and speed-sensitive power steering.