Best family car that doesn't cost a fortune to run?

David_Aston

Chris, your opening post gives the impression of someone who is deciding that a mature, car choice, is required with the family addition expected. By your last post I am getting the sense of a rabid petrol head who might even be frowned on by Clarkson's awful mob! No offence.

reduceditem

It's really very simple.....

If you want to save money over the long term....

BUY A JAPANESE CAR!!!

I'm always amazed that people get side-tracked with small differences between fuel cosumption, tax and insurance....CARS THAT [EMAIL="DON@T"]DON'T[/EMAIL] BREAK DOWN SAVE YOU THE MOST MONEY!

And the cars that don't break down are Honda, Toyota...etc.etc

The reliabilty surveys don't lie.

TiTheRev

reduceditem wrote: »

It's really very simple.....

If you want to save money over the long term....

BUY A JAPANESE CAR!!!

I'm always amazed that people get side-tracked with small differences between fuel cosumption, tax and insurance....CARS THAT DON'T BREAK DOWN SAVE YOU THE MOST MONEY!

And the cars that don't break down are Honda, Toyota...etc.etc

The reliabilty surveys don't lie.

I agree...BUT, when they do go wrong you pay through the nose for parts! I bought a window regulator for my old Jap car (was the only thing that went wrong with it in 2years, granted!) but it cost over £400 with trade discount as it only came with the motor :shocked:

BillScarab

If you like the idea of a VW get a Skoda Octavia. It's a Golf chassis with VW/Audi engines, gearboxes and switchgear etc. They do well in all of the customer satisfaction reviews and the boot is enormous, far bigger than a Focus or Golf. There's more legroom in the back as well and of course they're cheap to buy. The diesels are very economical too, my 1.9tdi is currently doing 48.5 mpg average according to the computer.

Chris2685

David_Aston wrote: »

Chris, your opening post gives the impression of someone who is deciding that a mature, car choice, is required with the family addition expected. By your last post I am getting the sense of a rabid petrol head who might even be frowned on by Clarkson's awful mob! No offence.

Yeah, sorry about that... I just think they're so cool

But seriously I do need a bigger more sensible car

I think I might take a look at the Octavia.

reduceditem - I know Jap cars have a reputation as being reliable, and I usually only ever think of buying Japanese or German cars. Just wanted to get some different opinions on here (although Skoda is Czech, it is actually owned by Volkswagen ).

Road_Hog

Chris2685 wrote: »

Yeah, sorry about that... I just think they're so cool

I know I'm going to sound like a stuck record to the regulars here, but if you were ever seriously thinking of buying an R-Type Civic, don't until you've driven the 2.2 Diesel. All the power and speed but with a car you canlive with every day.

TiTheRev

2.2 surely means insurance and road tax would be higher? The VAG diesel engines are similar output from a 1.9. Correct me if im wrong, im only guessing!

Road_Hog

TiTheRev wrote: »

2.2 surely means insurance and road tax would be higher? The VAG diesel engines are similar output from a 1.9. Correct me if im wrong, im only guessing!

You are indeed wrong. I must point out that I was only replying to the OP's suggestion of a Type-R, not a counter proposal to the Skoda, becuase they won't be in the same price bracket.

Coming back to the comparison, I post links at the bottom but the main info.

For tax, both band C, so same tax, Skoda is 130 & Honda is 135 Co2. Combined fuel consumption is almost identical (about 2mpg extra Skoda)

Insurance is more for the Honda coming in group 10 versus 7, but the figures below will explain the reason.

Under the bonnet

Skoda 105 horses (11.8 secs)

Honda 140 horses (8.6 secs)


http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=18546
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=16668

Chris2685

Nice site Road_Hog.

Quite interesting to see that a 1.4 Micra is more expensive to run than a 2.2 Civic!

http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=11608

Ouch, my dads Shogun is painful to run
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=18974

TiTheRev

It's a bit misleading though, because Skoda dont technically do a 2.0 diesel except in only the new models, so to list only the 105bhp TDi as the only 1.9 is not the only ones you will get on the market.

They seem to list the 140bhp as 2.0, but it's only 1968cc and classed 1.9 by VAG. So to make it a fairer comparison, check out these stats.

http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=18580