Deal of the day: Hyundai i30

We scour the internet broker sites to bring you big discounts on new cars every week. The brokers work with UK main dealers to offer these savings on the latest models.

The car: Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi 110 Blue Drive Active 5dr
The saving: £3077
The discounted price: £15,518
The broker: Drivethedeal.com

For
The Hyundai i30 has a tough life, because it counts the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf among its rivals.

Our recommended 1.6-litre diesel engine is frugal, punchy and emits just 97g/km of CO2, which makes the i30 a tempting company car. It’s also a pretty refined engine once it has warmed up and fades away well at constant speeds.

Hyundai has focused on comfort with the i30. It rides both big and little bumps well and feels supple and composed at all speeds.

Inside, the i30 has a reasonably logical layout, with most controls situated high up on the dashboard. There are loads of cubbies, too. It isn't short of space either – headroom is good all round and there's decent rear legroom. The boot is 378 litres, which is larger than that in either a Focus or a Golf.

Hyundai offers the i30 with a five-year warranty, meaning greater peace of mind for owners should their car go wrong. However, the most recent JD Power survey indicated this is unlikely to happen with Hyundai scoring higher for mechanical reliability than Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen.

Against
The Hyundai does well at being comfortable but its body pitches and rolls too much around corners and on bumpy roads. The steering is also disappointing, with little feel when going in a straight line, making motorways a chore.

The six-speed manual gearbox has a notchy shift action and the optional automatic is too slow to make gearchanges.

The i30 isn’t as refined as it needs to be. There’s prominent road noise around town, which builds to a roar as you approach motorway speeds. If you work the engine hard then a gruff boom from under the bonnet joins the cacophony.

Should I add any options?
Mid-spec Active models get rear parking sensors and variable-weight steering on top of standard Bluetooth, LED daytime running lights, air-con, multi-function steering wheel, one-touch indicators and electrically operated and heated door mirrors.

We’d avoid increasing the price any further because you’ll push into Ford Focus and VW Golf territory, at which point we’d recommend those cars instead.

What next?
Head to Drivethedeal.com and select Hyundai and i30 from the drop-down menus to see the full range of deals available.