Reliable car for £2,500 and long commute

Round_The_Bend

Hi,

I'm looking to get some advice about a replacement for my cherished Nissan Almera Mark 1, which was recently written off during the bad weather.

I have a daily commute of 80 miles and all together, do around 25,000 miles of driving, per annum. Most of the driving is on motorways.

I am looking for something that is hopefully as reliable and cheap to run as the old Almera but hopefully with a bit less of the rust problem. Fuel economy is very important, given the mileage that I do.

I have been thinking about the Honda Jazz 1.4i DSI, Mitsubishi Colt 1.1 or a Toyota Yaris or Corolla but am open to any suggestions. I was also considering the Skoda Fabia but on my budget, could only afford something from around 2002/3 and reports for vehicles of that age appear to be mixed.

Thanks very much for any advice.

Gene_Hunt_2

At £2500 for what you want it's a gamble, you pay your money and take a chance.

Flearoy

Get an old 1.3 Nissan Micra (late 90's/early 00's) and save a stack of cash for fixing it, might not need it. Might want to avoid very small engines as motorway speeds might be a bit hard work for them.

mikey72

Our old peugeot 106, 1.5d copes with a similar life, maybe only 20,000 miles a year, mainly motorways, good ecomomy, next to no running costs apart from tyres and brakes, and cost less than £500 over three years ago. (and a cambelt when it went past 120,000 miles)

Hammyman

MK3 Mondeo TDCi is in your budget. Should average over 50MPG. Don't worry about high mileage, mine is on 148k.

bigmaz

Hammyman wrote: »

MK3 Mondeo TDCi is in your budget. Should average over 50MPG. Don't worry about high mileage, mine is on 148k.

Yeah, I agree, Def a MK3 Mondeo TDCi. Comfertable, cheap for parts, good fuel economy and cheap tax for a big car

jase1

If you can go to a bit more (just over 3 grand), take a look at Autoquake. They have regular deals on quite new cars for this sort of money.

For example:

http://www.autoquake.com/used-citroen-c4/1.4i-16v-sx-5dr-petrol-manual/inspid=30378

Now granted, it's a Citroen. And it's a bit high on the miles (though given the age of the car, this will have been all motorway trekking).

That's a start price -- it'll go down, most probably under £3000 before it sells. And if it doesn't, they get more in all the time.

Newish Citroen or old Fabia? I know which I'd rather have, after seeing the 51-plate car a work colleague has whose dashboard is continuously lit up like Blackpool at Christmas.

TEDDYRUKSPIN

You can't really go wrong with a Honda. Just make sure the input shaft bearing has been replaced. This tends to go around the 30k miles mark. You will know when it is going as it is so loud. Also, make sure you get a full service history.

Alternatively you can buy my civic.

jase1

Actually scrub that one, it had its head gasket replaced recently according to the SH. But the principle stands.

King_Nothing

Diesel Mondeo is a good shout for the miles you are doing, ignore the people telling you to get a shoebox on wheels, you do 25k miles a year, you want to be doing that in relative comfort, not redlining a small petrol engined car down the motorway, or having to book a pyhsio appointment every time you have a long stint of driving.

bengalknights

Honda Accord/Toyota Avensis 7 year olds should be within price range at the same time Skodas and Seats both VW brands should also be available such as the Ibiza Fabia Octavia and Leon all very reliable cars and fairly cheap to run.