Buying a Car for Commuting - What is the MSE way?

rugbyleague

Last date for registration was Feb 2000 = W plate

the cars that I think could be younger than this are the saab convertable, 106s, freelander, pickup truck, focus (new lights) taxi!!

could be a good game this!

lots of debate here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263548/Now-did-say-left-car-The-28m-backlog-perfectly-driveable-vehicles-waiting-SCRAPPED.html

hubert_cumberdale

the saab convertable looked like that in 1998
i cant see a 106 but they came out in 1997 on the face lift and 91 on the pre face lift
freelander was 1997 in that shape

the focus is the right age but probably just there because it should be

Mark_Hewitt

I think if you're buying your first car then insurance is going to be your biggest cost. The reason I bought a Fiesta is because it had free insurance for the first year, which saved me around £1,000!

Inactive

LandyAndy wrote: »

Is what I think you meant.:)

:rotfl::rotfl::D:p

hubert_cumberdale

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

I think if you're buying your first car then insurance is going to be your biggest cost. The reason I bought a Fiesta is because it had free insurance for the first year, which saved me around £1,000!

but how much was the fiesta

im guessing it was brand new so you could have bought a 1 or 2 year old one and save around 4k and then paid the 1k insurance and it would have lost less value as its already dropped a lot

puddy

bachgammon wrote: »

This is my kind of thread. Can I tag along? I am a dedicated money-saver who wants to become a car owner for the first time in my 30s.

I feel like I don't really understand the market - unlike loads of markets which I have cracked through this community. Cars can seem like a bottomless pit for costing money.

But there are times in life - travelling to see friends for example - when I really feel I miss out. For the first time in my life, I have a couple of thousand pounds to spend.

I am interested in a Ford Fiesta to Focus size car. Reliability is massive to me. I like the idea of getting a very good warranty - or getting a car that won't let me down.

What do people think? I don't expect to be a big user and would use the car maybe twice a week on average.

same as me, i went through all this about 3 years ago when i passed my test in my mid thirties. it was harder for me i think because im an automatic driver, not only do they cost more, but there are less of them and the mpg is less

so i ended up with a 1.2 micra. i love my car but feel guilty at wanting more mpg and more power. i have decided to give it another 4 years (its 6 years old at the min) depending on how it fares, but really lust after a smart car which can do up to 85mpg. i get 42 out of mine but that is simply because i really only do motorways so the efficiency is good

gmm30

Stigy wrote: »

You could buy a Rover, as they obviously don't hold their value too well and you can get a very late model for a great price! I've never liked Rover myself, and the K-series engined models were very weak, with headgasket trouble at as little as 10,000-miles. Waterpumps were weak, too. If you can turn a blind eye to those issues, you can probably pick up a 2005 model 75 for a couple of grand!

Late Rovers (2004-05) had significantly lower build quality than earlier cars (they were running out of money!) so I'd recommend a 2002-03 25 or 45. You can avoid head gasket troubles by going for the excellent 2.0 L-series diesel - an old-school direct injection turbodiesel with no dual mass flywheels or diesel particulate filters to worry about. 45-50mpg easy. Nothing like the image of a Golf or Leon, but they're literally half the price.

The 75 was an outstanding car, although it used the more modern diesel engine from the BMW 320 and is a bit less economical. Much more refined in every way though.

Why not drive a couple and see what you think? I know I'd rather commute in a 75 than a Citroen C1!

hubert_cumberdale

just stay well away from petrol rovers as they guy above said

you do however get good comfort with them for not a lot of money diesel sounds good just stay away from those nasty 1.4 and 1.6 engines awfull little beasties

Wig

Wouldn't it be nice if instead of mpg we had £per10miles based on average fuel prices for petrol and diesel. Online tables could easily use a link to current avg fuel prices, printed tables would obviously be accurate at the time of printing only but it would still all be largely the same relatively speaking.

So it would be like (imaginary figures)

Fuel prices based on data on 17/12/2010
Toyota Aygo 1.0l petrol £0.71
Toyota Aygo Diesel £0.70
Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 model petrol £1.20

23rdian

Labour were a disgusting government.