As above really? Looking at Lagunas and 307s that are about 10 years old - appreciate it's a risky purchase, but I don't want to/will not spend more than £1500 on the car.
What's the view from the assembled masses?
Fords, VWs etc seem to be thin on the ground at that price.
Having just managed 30,000+ miles in 2.5 years from a £600 car from auction I am a fan of bangernomics.
Probably go Peugoet. But its just a lottery. We had a Renault that just kept going and going....
Toyota Corolla.
Much more reliable
406
I just bought an 05 plate Mazda 6 petrol estate for £1300. You don't need to be looking just at French cars.
Nissan primera estates are even cheaper and very reliable.
Also old shape accord estates are cheap as chips and bomb proof.
Definitely peugeot, wouldn't trust a Renault.
We've had a primera for last 13 years. Its been a cracker. Its a '99 and drives better than our 2004 mondeo.
Avoid the 307 and try to get hold of a 306.
I had a megane - the dci engine has an issues where if the alternator belt/timer fails it belt goes into the cam belt and destroys the engine. Which is nice - not sure if the laguna has the same engine.
I now have a 407. Which, touch wood, had been mechanically fine thus far - it does, however have some comically french electrical moments, usually caused by dodgy earths.
Primera , Passat , 406 or a leggy Accord .
Primera Td can suffer from warped turbo shafts on pre 2002ish models
Passats very good , just be aware of wet passsenger footwells
406 , few common faults some with binding brakes and odd electrical gremlins
Honda Accord 2.2 supposed to be very good and just in your price bracket
All above are deisel , do not know much about petrol models , except most Lagunas are a liabilty
I've got a 10 year old diesel 406 on 180,000 miles that's still (touch wood!) running great.
Admittedly, one rear door doesn't open, the central locking is gone and there's a bit of rust starting to appear on the window pillars, but still...
That said, it's probably just worth £100 -£200, so for your money you should be able to get a nice one!
Ford and VW are just as bad. My bro inlaws low-miler 2.0tfsi uses 1tr per 600miles and apparently thats 'normally'.
Peugeot would be better but there are shedloads of old Renaults about.
One thing- as they get older ALL cars show neglected serving.
Renault have a common tendency to fail expensively after 3 yrs...
Really? My bro in laws old 59 plate diesel Golf needes a new Turbo at 60k miles.
Peugeot 306 1.9L turbo diesel. Best car I have ever owned.*
(*Other cars: Polo mk 1, Polo mk 2; VW Transporter Type 2; Citroen 2CV, Rover Mini Cooper).
BMW E39 touring, don't bother with any of the pleb brands, this one will do.
Dont all beemer of that era rot from the rear arches etc?
Whereas Pug's are galvanised?
Why would one manufacturer omit and the other care?
Really? My bro in laws old 59 plate diesel Golf needs a new Turbo at 60k miles.
That's probably more to do with the way the car's been looked after than anything.
In my experience of having always driven old bangers, Japanese cars are great. Especially old ones. Many of them were way ahead of their time. They've levelled out a fair bit in recent years, but old Toyotas, Nissans, stuff like that, they go forever when looked after.
All cars have their common faults. Some bigger than others, so whatever you look at, look them up beforehand. But there's some good'n's out there. Especially big barges. They're cheap as chips.
The last thing I would buy is anything British. Closely followed by anything French (Peugeots might be OK to be fair....no real experience of them myself).
The 306 and 406 non-turbo diesels are very reliable, my old R plate 306 fell apart but the engine and gearbox were sound. 407's are a more complicated car - the 1.6 HDI is reputed for problems if not well looked after but I like mine and having had the DPF removed, EGR bypassed and an engine remap done it drives better and will hopefully last for a few more years. I believe the 307 was reputed as one of Peugeot's worst cars but I have never driven one.
I'd also recommend a diesel Rover 75 or MG ZT if you can find one in budget without astronomical miles. Definitely the best car Rover ever built and uses a BMW engine - plenty out there with 170,000+ on the clock.
Dont all beemer of that era rot from the rear arches etc?Whereas Pug's are galvanised?
Why would one manufacturer omit and the other care?
You are right, rust never kills Peugeots, they never get old enough, the electrics turn to cheese long before that becomes a factor.
I'd have thought you could find any manufacturer if you are spending that much (£1500). Currently driving a £500 Passat, solid as a rock.
I'd have thought you could find any manufacturer if you are spending that much (£1500). Currently driving a £500 Passat, solid as a rock.
Yes, my Civic cost £750. With full Honda service history! A year later it went through its MOT with only 1 advisory (because I let the brake pads get low and they scored the discs a bit).
I had both renaults scenics and a pug 307sw of about that vintage as compay cars.
They were bobbins the petrol scenic broke down 13 times with knackered coils and several other issues but still drove the pug had to be relayed to a garage twice and had bit fall off both were less than 2 years old.
The diesel renault scenic ( which was after the petrol scenic was the best and nothing went wrong at all and was a great bike carrier as the rear seats come out so easy and creates a small van. If I was you I would look for a 1.9 diesel renault scenic make sure you get a basic one with out to many electric toys
I have a 150k mile 406 hdi yr 2000 still going strong. The interior is shot - bits of trim keep
Keep falling off and ge air cons long gone.
I reckon I will get a few more years out of it.
406 estate.
Galv body so doesn't rot, diesel engine that will run forever.
Had mine since 2005 and it's been the best car I've owned by far. Very little gone wrong, huge load space, comfy and quiet, great car.
Zero electrical problems too, I've had a lot of people comment on the electrics, when I've asked them about it, turns out they've never owned one :/, but a mate of a mate said blah blah zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
Had a 307 for 6 weeks, three engine sensors, failed central locking and often I would return to it to find the front windows had rolled themselves down. The dealer ( A car supermarket.) did not even quibble me rejecting it as not fit for purpose, which suggests it was not the first time it had happened.
These days I prefer a more premium car, all be it a few years older, and I tend to go for petrol engines as older diesels seem to be a world of pain.
My 54 plate 307 estate is great. Auction purchase 5 years ago. 1.6 turbo 110 bhp 96k and no problems at all.
Apart from clutch and dmf. plus the eloss? fluid thats injected into the exhaust at £30 a ltr.
Peugeot 307 2.0 HDI here. 90bhp version, so no DMF or DPF to go tits up.
'04 plate, bought it last April with 118k on, now on 132k, returns low to mid 50mpg on a run. Only mechanical issue has been two worn front anti-roll bar drop links, but £12 spent at my local friendly motor factors, plus 1 hour of my time soon had those sorted.
406 is nice to drive. I had an s reg v6 petrol for a year or so. Sold it in 2008 when I gave up my company car and had to get something more economical (I went from three cars to one).
The vital electrics worked and it was spacious and comfy and ssurprisingly reliable and rot free. My 306 was good too (although that was a git hatch).
Had a megane for a while 53 reg. hateful!
Renault have a common tendency to fail expensively after 3 yrs...
We bought ours with 22K on at three years old. It's 10 years old now has 143K on the clock and has never been too expensive at MOT time.
Interesting how on this thread and the mondeo, accord one that most people are assuming diesel even though the op doesn't specify.
At this budget I can't see why you'd go anywhere else but Japanese petrol. Highest reliability across all manufacturers and all chain driven. Cheap motoring for years if you buy wisely.
you need a volvo 240 estate scrapped one the other week after the cylinder head went at 340k in the past 150k its had 3 bulbs and a couple of tyre changes and a oil change.. and i cost £250
The Citroen C5 estate I bought from here four or five years ago is still going strong. Worst bill in 30000 mile was a £200 steering rack.
Youve all mentioned big faults but as with my Priimera the engine warning light, multiple misfire, crank, cam sensor coil packs all expensive and no one could resolve. Sold on due to looming MOT failure due to fault. Laptop work can consume a lot of money