Reliable car for £2,500 and long commute

Round_The_Bend

Thanks for all of the replies. You've given me something to think about.

wba31

VW Bora? the 6 speed diesel is fantastic, i had a w-reg and one day failed to stop in heavy rain and hit someone was a fantastic car though, and id get 65mpg at 60mph in 6th gear (on my "calm days"). most the time id be getting 55 mpg at 75/80...

bigjl

I will put another vote in for the MK3 Mondeo TDCi, they are stupidly cheap for what they are, £3000 could get you into a 55 or 06 plate easily enough.

jase1

Just be careful with the Mondy TDCi. It's a good car as a whole, but be very careful to ensure that the clutch/flywheel are OK. They seem to last anywhere between 40K and 150K, and it depends on how they are driven -- taxi drivers kill them with the 30mph in 5th routine.

See when, if ever the part was done, and be especially wary of any very low mileage cars, and in particular walk away from any car that has "just had its starter motor replaced", or where the starter feels unusually weak. When the DMF disintegrates, bits of flywheel get lodged in the starter motor and the car doesn't start. The cheap "fix" that unscrupulous people use is to replace the starter, which will be OK for a while then you have the same issue again. Clutch replacements on these cars are NOT cheap. Worst case scenario you're talking new starter motor (£100) plus new clutch/DMF kit (£400) plus around a day's labour (6*30=180) as the engine needs to come out. All in all, at least £650-700 at an independent, a lot more at Ford. You can fit a solid flywheel which fixes the problem but can cause issues of its own.

Other than that, and the usual warnings about DPFs and turbos, these are strong cars that will cover the miles no problem. But they are one car where starship motorway miles is a GOOD thing -- that's what they are built for, they suffer if pootled around town.

Round_The_Bend

Well, thanks again to everybody for their advice. In the end, I opted for a Honda Civic. Hoping that the 'legendary reliability' is true, as ideally I would like to keep it running for a few more years.

Once again, many thanks.

jase1

Good choice. I'd imagine that at £2500 you'll be talking the previous version -- the current one has one or two build quality niggles (though is fundamentally still very sound), but the 2001-2005 car was ridiculously reliable. A little bit plastic inside, but well screwed together -- typical Japanese in fact. I've looked longingly at the Type S on a few occasions now.

Round_The_Bend

jase1 wrote: »

Good choice. I'd imagine that at £2500 you'll be talking the previous version -- the current one has one or two build quality niggles (though is fundamentally still very sound), but the 2001-2005 car was ridiculously reliable. A little bit plastic inside, but well screwed together -- typical Japanese in fact. I've looked longingly at the Type S on a few occasions now.

It's a 2003 (53) Civic 1.7i CTDi S with full Honda Service History, cambelt change at appropriate time and from a major dealer. I was a bit hesitant due to the high mileage (100,000) but a couple of mechanic friends pushed me towards it, so I hope that they're right!

Thanks again to everybody for their suggestions and advice.

misc46

I'd keep it jap i.e Toyota, Honda etc or something like a Ford Focus. I'd avoid French cars.

6ettinold

bigmaz wrote: »

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

I've been a banger fan for donkeys - best car ever was a K reg Saab 9000 for £250 off ebay. 2 owners and faultless. Trouble is the price of fuel has now become the big dictator so we've just bought a Mondeo TDCi - I reluctantly had to make the sensible choice.

Superb car though, great engine and if you're doing lots of motorway miles I'd feel far less vulnerable in a Mondeo than a Jazz, etc. We've managed around 48-50mpg on a good run - the six speed box is ace.

Lots around to choose from too.

I'm not a dealer or garage fan. I'd rather speak to the last owner face to face. My car was from a teacher, met his family, they were emigrating so the reason for sale was genuine, they lived in a ery nice area, etc, etc. All the right signals were there. Cheaper than buying off some pushy orange tanned spiv in a portakabin!

I saw lots of cars, a fair few Mondeo's and all the traders left a lot to be desired. I do mean all the traders.

bigjl

Round_The_Bend wrote: »

It's a 2003 (53) Civic 1.7i CTDi S with full Honda Service History, cambelt change at appropriate time and from a major dealer. I was a bit hesitant due to the high mileage (100,000) but a couple of mechanic friends pushed me towards it, so I hope that they're right!

Thanks again to everybody for their suggestions and advice.

100k isn't high for an old shape Honda Civic with the 1.7 diesel lump, the older Civic is batter built than the new one in my opinion, when the wife bought her Clio I suggested a Civic with the same engine, but the wife wanted a newer car, when we looked at a new shape Civic with the ?2.2 engine I found the wear on the interior to be a lot worse than I would expect, and the same interior wear was found on all the used Civics that we looked at, gearknob, door panels and steering wheel, the older 1.7 was spotless and rattle free.

Essex Ambulance Service, now part of EoE, had a fair few Honda Civics in 5 door Type S spec, they have proved as unbreakable as the Honda Accord estates they bought at the same time, most on 04 and 54 plates.

They have all done the far side of 100k, some over 150k. No mechanical issues.

Your car may not have the interior room of a Mondeo or similar but is a good solid car, I actually forgot all about it thinking you wanted a car more suited to a sales rep, mileage muncher orientated car.

I don't think it will give you any problems, just keep the oil clean, the most important thing you can do with a modern diesel, I would keep up with the dealer interval services for the service history and do a mid interval oil change myself, if you don't get 300k out of it I would be surprised.