10 Reasonably Priced Cars Gone Wild - We Abuse The Options List

Car configurators are the petrolhead procrastinator's weapon of choice. Who amongst us hasn't wiled away the hours speccing our spankin' new lime green Ferrari 458 or seen just what our luxury Merc limo would feature after a lottery win? Off the back of our recent look at cars you could actually buy on a budget, we decided to take some reasonably priced motors aimed at average Joe and his mates and spec them beyond comprehension. Sure, you won't get any wild bodykits or insane carbonfibre alloys coated in diamond, but here are the results...

10. Mazda 3

Base Price: 20,995 Final Price: 22,904 Options: 1,909

The Mazda 3 is arguably the coolest looking car in this list and is the best value for money. The base price here is for the top engine but they start at around £16k, so you can get a great looking car, well optioned, for less than £20k. The biggest extravagances on our '3 were those sexy anthracite alloys at £840, and £300 for the rear spoiler.

9. Honda Civic

Base price: £24,020 Final Price: £27,115 Options: £3,095

The Honda Civic takes a little getting used to, especially from the arse end, but get past that and you've got a very capable motor. Spec yours with hideous baby puke paint and an insanely priced 'Premium Pack' at £2,540 (those alloys are pretty bland for the money) and you have yourself a very expensive runaround.

8. Volkswagen Golf

Base price: £19,365 Final Price: £22,855 Options: £3,490

The new Golf from Volkswagen is predictably good at everything, if typically devoid of soul and emotion. If you want to go for the sensible option you can't do better, but I'd recommend going for a lower spec engine, as the DSG 1.2 TSI engine we've got on ours adds £2,425 to the price. And that's before you add the £3,490 worth of options...

7. Fiat 500

Base price: 9,960 Final price: £14,750 Options: $4,760

You may not be surprised to see Fiat's retro runaround in this list as it boasts loads of customisation options. You may be surprised to learn, though, that CT's car has white paint worth £740. For white paint. You can get ordinary white paint free of charge, but this paint is whiter than white. I hope. We also spunked £580 on an electric sunroof and a further £730 on climate control.

6. Seat Ibiza

Base price: £13,935 Final price: £18,872 Options: £4,937

The little Spaniard slots nicely into the middle of our list looking stylish with its £560 browny-yellow paintwork, and, well that was by far the biggest cost here. There's a decent amount of options and they're all reasonably priced, too. For example a TomTom Navigation system is just £189 extra. Sure you could just buy one for less but considering built in nav kits are usually waaay overpriced, this represents good value.

5. Ford Focus

Base price: £13,995 Final price: £21,850 Options: £7,855

Ford's worldwide design language has disappointed some fans of its historically sleek styling, but in new ST guise, it's one sexy mofo. We've gone for the Zetec S, which adds some nifty little skirts. And being the safety conscious boys that we are we have the Driver Assistance Pack for £1,050. For your money you get stuff like Lane Departure Warning and Blind Spot Assist. You can't put a price on safety...

4. Vauxhall Astra

Base price: £21,130 Final price: £29,995 Options: £8,865

The Astra's new look is smooth and sexy but here, that comes at a price. Especially if you want it in our lovely pearlescent brown, sorry 'Macadamia', for £525. We've also fitted the Premium Forward Lighting Pack to our car, which adds Bi-Xenon headlights and LED daytime running lights for the princely sum of £790.

3. Audi A1

Base price: £21,420 Final price: £32,615 Options: £10, 430

The entry level Audi is unsurprisingly high on this list. These Germans are notorious for their perfect interiors so the huge amount of options available in there is to be expected. Those sport seats cost £600, but you can wrap them in Silk Nappa Leather for an extra £1100. My favourite option on this whole list comes in the A1 - £125 for a chuffin' armrest. But the ultimate option here is the Audi Exclusive Paint Finish, which costs an incredible £1840. I went for the hideous two-tone pearlescent green, but it doesn't show on the example car unfortunately.

2. Volvo C30

Base price: £18,995 Final price: £29,650 Options: £10,655

The Volvo C30 is a stylish little number, but most of the sexy exterior aspects are optional. Those 18" alloys look mighty fine but they cost an additional £1470, and inside you get an epic surround system. If you cough up an extra £800 of course.

1. BMW 1 Series

Base price: £21,990 Final price: £36,275 Options: £14,285

And so here we are, crowning the BMW 1 Series with the dubious honour that is Car Throttle's Most Ludicrously Overpriced Options On An Attainable Car. Take a quick look at the cost of this lot; get yourself a base 118 and you can buy a fully optioned Fiat 500 on top for the same overall price. So what do you get for your money here? Those 18" alloys will set you back £1175, and inside the black leather costs you £1115. The Media Package that adds BMW Assist and a Sat Nav comes in at an eye watering £1550. Worth it? Well I'll leave you with this: spend £500 more and you can get yourself a Z4 M Sport. Just don't look at the insurance...