MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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I'm sorry but singletrack is the place for motor advice.
I want to get a new car to me(used) as mine has blown up.
I have 28 mile round trip to work. 10 miles of this dual carriage each way. I also have a 90 mile round trip usually once a week. I'm currently averaging about 16,000 PA.
What do I buy? I look on all the car owners forums and every car seems to riddled with faults. Do I warrant a diesel?
I would like
45mpg+
Parts and servicing to be reasonable
Something with some sort of power/torque and fun.
Not spend most of my evenings or weekends getting it fixed.
Budget max of 10K obviously less would be a bonus.
If I had 10k to spend on a car, I would spend 8k and get a diesel and keep 2k for repairs hoping not to spend any of the contingency. If I spent 10k sods law states that I would get a bloody big bill straight away. You should be able to get a good VAG diesel for that.
How much gear do you need to freight about in it?
To get a 'real' +45mpg you're going to need either a Prius, or a 2.0 diesel.
A E90 320d (saloon or touring) would be the "best" if rather obvious choice!
Yep lots of choice. Diesel gives you driveability and economy. Take your pick. The BMW is not a bad option.
Can't help with the car but string is definitely twice half its length. 😀
Seat Altea XL TDI
£10k would get you a 2 year old Ford Focus 2.0 diesel with one year of warranty remaining, and under 25k miles, for example:
no, not mine.
Focus has a good reliability record (for a Ford), and being a Ford, parts should be cheap as chips if you do need to repair.
Supposedly quite a good driver's car, for a family hatchback. I know nothing about "drivers' cars"
Or if you need more luggage space, a 1.6D estate version of the same would come in at the same price with 20k on the clock
£10k on a BMW would get you a 320D M Sport Touring, 60 plate, BUT with more miles than the Starship Enterprise
[i]Budget max of 10K obviously less would be a bonus. [/i]
For half that you'd get a decent car. Say, 5yr/50k Vectra/Mondeo/Avensis. So less risk and plenty of cash spare in case anything goes wrong.
skoda octavia diesel.. wifes has justturned 100k in 4 years 1 bust spring thats it nowt else ...
Wow thanks for the replies. I seem to be addicted to Autotrader at the moment.
Best BMW's seem to be 09 plate with 50-70K miles. That's for a 1 series. How much life left before big bills likely on these?
Octavia/Mondeo/focus does seem appealing.
This is car finding definitely putting a strain on my relationship, it's all I seem to talk about.
OH: What would you like for dinner?
Me: Oooooo it's got 300BHP, yes please.
£8.5k will get you an A3 Sportback, 2.0l 170bhp, one owner, DSG, Sportline that will do over 40mpg if you're behaving and happily show the boy racers a clean pair of heels 😉
I happen to know of one......
If you can get past the Ford badge, the diesel Mondeos live for that kind of life and last forever. Failing that, the obvious answer is as new a Golf TDI (common rail) as you can afford. Octavia VRS would be cool but are hanging on to their prices a bit now since people have discovered them.
Skoda Octavia VRS diesel nuff said, economy and plenty of bike room
Christ, £10k & your talking about potential big bills...
The net is full of tails of woe, from every make. For every Mondeo or Golf with a problem there are thousands more that have only ever had the bonnet up for new oil & filters. Driven sensibly, with the occasional prolonged fast run, new oil & filters regularly & any modern diesel should give years of service.
10k would get you a brand new Dacia logan estate with diesel engine, medium spec trim and a 5 year warranty - zero rated for road tax and 70mpg, that auto express have just tipped over the Skoda Fabia estate
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/skoda/fabia/66668/skoda-fabia-estate-vs-dacia-logan-mcv
I recently bought a Focus Estate, 58 plate with 38,000 on the clock. I paid around £7500 for it. Its a 1.6 90bhp diesel.£30 road tax and a recent trip to london saw 68mpg (if the guage is accurate).
I couldn't decide if I should get a diesel or petrol. The gap is closer now with fuel costs offset by higher maintenance bills. Around 15,000 miles a year seems to be the break even figure for a diesel.
I'm very pleased with it, although there is a need to keep it well serviced to avoid the turbo problems that exist with them. No particulant filter on mine which is a bonus but they all seem to come with dual mass flywheels these days which can be a bit delicate.
I don't think diesels are what they used to be - rock solid, slightly agricultural, but ultra reliable. A desire for them to produce high bhp figures and petrol like performance has had an impact on reliability.
With your mileage, diesel looks more economic although if you're planning to keep it a long time it might be better to go for a petrol and gamble the fuel costs against the possible big bills for a turbo/flywheel/DPF renewal.
Rich.
Maserati Quatroporte , forget the fuel consumption, pray to Bhudda every morning that it wont break down and just enjoy the V8 ferrari engine, then sell it after 6 months and buy an Audi A5 thats what i'm planning next year , a 2006 Maserati then after 6 months an Audi A5 ,
On a £10k car, your biggest running cost will be depreciation - that would be my prime consideration over MPG.
16000 miles isn't really in the territory where the price premium and potential problems of a diesel are worthwhile.
If I had 10k to spend, I'd go looking for a Giulietta 1.4 Multiair. It's a turbo petrol, 170 brake, and 50+ mpg. My girlfriend currently runs an Alfa 147, and whilst they're not as cheap to service as her old Mk3 Golf, they're not the reliability nightmare people would have you believe.
I'm not sure I'd bother looking at 1 series etc. BMWs seem to often be very poorly kitted out, and I keep seeing rusty old E46s, which makes me question whether they have it together on the newer cars.
That said, I'd personally spend less on something I liked, and have the rest in the bank. A MK5 Golf GTI would be on my shopping list - GTIs barely depreciate, which makes them very cheap to run.
The Focus, Mondeo or Octavia you've already got in mind will meet your needs and you won't be disappointed by either. Test drive them and make your mind up from there.
Car forums are usually full of faults on the cars they are dedicated to as that is what people visit them for to find the answer to their car problems.
I would say you are on the threshold of requiring a diesel but if your daily round trip is in slow moving traffic you won't get near the 45mpg and the DPF may not enter the burn cycle which can cause you more expense so don't rule out petrol engines either.
10k will get you a mk5 Golf GTI with less than 40k miles on it.
Agree with craigxxl that your mileage is on the verge of diesel territory. I've had two big diesels (2l Mondeo, now a 3l Jag XF) because I was doing 20k plus a year. But that's now dropped and the running cost is comparable to a petrol engine with similar performance. If I was certain I was under 15k per year, I'd be buying a 3l petrol something.
if your daily round trip is in slow moving traffic you won't get near the 45mpg and the DPF may not enter the burn cycle
It's SHORT town journeys that are the problem. And then only if you never do long ones.
If I was certain I was under 15k per year, I'd be buying a 3l petrol something.
You'd be mad at that mileage!
If I was certain I was under 15k per year, I'd be buying a 3l petrol something.
You'd be mad at that mileage!
Why? I want a big fast luxurious car. As my mileage is high, I bought a diesel one. If my mileage was lower I'd buy a petrol one. I'm looking at efficiency in big fast luxury cars, not outright efficiency.
What fuel economy do you expect from a 3l petrol?
I get around 31mpg from my 330i Sport Touring on a round trip to work. On a long run at the speed limit it's around 35-37 dependent upon weather conditions.
Tron - No rust at all on mine, and it's covered by a 12 year anti-corrosion warranty anyway.
35mpg.. Should get 50mpg on a speed limit run at least in a diesel.
So for 10k miles that's a £500 difference.
Cardiac - if you don't need the space, a smaller car is the way to go. A late 118d is almost as good as the 120d, is less popular and therefore less expensive. I'd buy an SE over a sport too as they ride much better. The 1 series is far more efficient than the 3 series due to weight and clever drivetrain efficiencies.
Mol grips - a late 130i will. Easily return over 45mpg on a long run.
Mol grips
Turbo, clutch, DMF, DPF, EGR, Intercooler, high pressure fuel injectors - 7 of the top 10 failed items that were subsequently claimed for on aftermarket warranties, and none of which my car has 🙂
You can keep your £500. Without a warranty, you'll be spending MUCH more.
Molgrips, I bow down to your infinite wisdom. If you would now like inform the mechanics at the garages my brother and sister in law took there cars to because it obviously wasn't their DPFs that were the problem that occured on slow dual carriage commutes.
Quite possibly not, craigxxl. Most garages know **** all in my experience. They are happy to chuck parts at your car without thinking about it much. Thinking is not billable. Especially when it comes to DPFs it seems.
A lot depends on the car, the usage, the owner, the driving style as well as the journey profile.
Daffy that's £500 every year. Most diesel owners don't spend that much on repairs. Plus if you are gloating about not having a clutch, just wait till your auto shits itself 🙂
My brother when driving doesn't hang around. He had his DPF replaced at no cost on his Octavia VRS. Sister in law drives normal to fast depending on if she has the kids in the car. She has had 1 replaced and another fixed in her Passat.
How much throttle do they use at what revs? I bet even you don't know that. Did they need the warning light? Did they know about the warning light?
Complex, it is. DPFs can't 'fail' as it's just a filter. The regen cycle may not be able to clean out the soot produced by the engine in the time it's given. Replacing the filter ain't gonna fix anything but garages don't seem to understand that.
Golf MK6 TSI 1.4 GT?
I used to spend loads on cars, but over the last few years have gone down the route of banger economics.
Nearly 2 years ago I bought a 51 plate mondo with full service history and 12 months mot (2ltr petrol) in near perfect condition for £895.
Two years on, it flew through its last mot, done 40k and carried 5 of us 2000 miles through France this summer. Averages 39 mpg.
Needed no major work, just small stuff at service, has a chain and not a belt so no cam belt worries.
If it blows up, I'll get £150 back from scrap, and I'll buy another one.
I realise that I've been lucky with it, but my two previous cars were bought for £400 & £500, each lasted a year and gave back £150 when scrapped.
P.s. This isn't me being smug as I spend money on other things which people wouldn't class as a priority, but for me a car is just a workhorse.