New (ish) car dilema

miradene

I am looking for a bit of advice on changing my car.

I have a '51 plate petrol Vauxhall Zafira ( which I have had for 6 years )which I love, but is realistically too big and too expensive to run. Costs are approx 30 mpg, Tax £245 per year and insurance group 13.

I am looking to downsize to something much more economical but not so small that my 2 kids will be squashed in the back!

The car is used for only about 15 miles per day to get to work and back. It is used on the motorway a couple of times of year. We do have another little car as a weekend runaround which my OH uses for work.

The boot needs to be big enough to put shopping etc in.

Also should I go with petrol or diesel?

I have my car to either trade in or sell and I have £2000 to add.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Kilty_2

Focus, Astra, Golf, Corolla, etc. 1.4/1.6 petrol should be efficient enough.

todolistsocd

We currently have an Astra 1.6, it's ok for petrol around town but when driving on the motorway at 70 for example, it drinks a lot of juice.
Boots ok for space, if you don't have a pram/stroller in there.
Even though the backseats have 3 seatbelts, to get 3 people in there would be a squeeze.

Hope this helps!:)

miradene

A few to think about Kilty thanks.

Useful to hear what you are using todolistsocd.:cool:

Kids are 15 and 8 so no pushchairs or other big stuff needed.

It is just such a big decision as we need the car to last a good few years and don't want an expensive mistake.

I have read loads of reviews but think that people with real life experience of the cars have the best knowledge.

After reading some reviews on this site people seem to be suggesting that petrol is better than diesel for short journeys. I have no diesel experience so know nothing about this.

Perhaps I should stick with petrol?

Will have to take my car to a local garage to get some (probably laughable) idea of how much I would get for trade in..... :rotfl:

bigjl

I have heard many good reports about the last generation Astra.

I would avoid the 1.9 CDTi, though the Met Pol have had few issues with the 1.7 CDTi engine in their Astras.

The Design spec is a nice spec, half leather, leather steering wheel, alloys etc.

This one doesn't seem expensive at £5199 http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Vauxhall/Astra/details-501590-Vauxhall-Astra.asp?viewtype=0

This is a nice one aswell £4799 in Elite spec, 1.8 engine is reliable http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Vauxhall/Astra/details-505082-Vauxhall-Astra.asp?viewtype=0


Or better the devil you know, a 2.2 Auto Zafira £5499 low miles and 57 plate http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Vauxhall/Zafira/details-504514-Vauxhall-Zafira.asp?viewtype=0

These are just examples, but give a good idea what you should be paying for a similar car nearer to where you are.

Though, with years driving Zafira mk1 and mk2 you may find that the mk1 is a slightly nicer car to drive, it just feels lighter somehow, but the newer one is more comfy, just don't buy a 1.9 CDTi, not recommended, but the petrols seem to have a good reputation, somebody on here got a 1.6 and she said it wasn't underpowered. Though I would rather have a 1.8 or a 2.2 in proper auto, the 1.8 auto has that weird semi auto box. A bloke at work has one on an Astra and he isn't impressed.

Or a leftfield choice are the ex Addison Lee private hire cars, high miles but clean and tidy and well serviced, 57 plates starting at mid £5k.

Linky http://www.addleecarsales.com/browse-cars/?cbf=45&pg=2&id=589 57 plate, £5800

http://www.addleecarsales.com/browse-cars/?cbf=45&pg=1&id=615 08 plate, under 100k miles and £7200, there are errors on the listing, all the 08's are marked up as 07/57 but are actually 08/08.

But for the money, the fact that they all get a rebuilt gearbox at around 75k wether regardless, due to the gearbox being the vehicles weakspot for hig mileage use, they have used these for a while and know all the issues, hence why they perform this gearbox rebuild, the vehicle is only off the road for two days.

They have owned over 10k of these over the years, so they know what goes wrong and how to prevent it.

tomuk_82

miradene wrote: »

I have my car to either trade in or sell and I have £2000 to add.

Do you know how much your car is worth for trade or sale? If your not sure you could always check Parkers web site...

Depending on your overall budget obviously depends on what type of car to get.

I would recommend a MK2 Skoda Octavia (06 - 09?) with the 1.9 or 2.0 TDI engine.

So basically a VW Golf for less money, you will get around 60MPG+ and give you a massive boot.

For the best trim on a budget I would recommend the Elegance

Example:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2006-SKODA-OCTAVIA-AMBIENTE-TDI-PD-SILVER-/110665240096?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c4298e20

For just over £4k
Mileage: 67,500

Kilty_2

bigjl wrote: »

Stuff

Diesel for 15 miles a day? Really?

bigjl

I would buy a high mileage ex fleet diesel for low mileage useage.

Think about it this way, buy an above average miles MPV, own it for 5 years and it has suddenly turned into an average miles MPV.

This is a tactic that a lot of private hire drivers in London have used. A bloke I know has just "given" his 130k, 08 plate E220 CDi to the wife, he has got a new E220CDi, in three years the wifes E220 will have 140k on it, but the car will be 6 years old, so the car has gone from a car with an average of 43kmiles pa to a vehicle with 23kmiles pa.

Sometimes a saving can be gained by not doing the obvious.

For example my wifes Clio DCi will almost certainly get given to my daughter when she learns to drive, as she will do very few miles then the car will not continue to lose value due to the mileage, I also have a feling that he wifes Company will put a new clutch, suspension and tyres on it in the 6 months before disposal, ahem.


I can understand the reasoning for avoiding a diesel for low mileage use, but if the cheaper ex fleet cars are mostly diesel then it causes the low mileage petrol car to be worth too much, especially wheh there is nothing wrong with a higher mileage ex fleet diesle car.

Just another way of looking at things.

However if you read my post fully you will see that I have mentioned more petrol cars than diesel, so your criticism is a little unfounded.

Kilty_2

Most of the sensible suggestions were diesels - if they're sick of 30MPG and £235 tax in their current car they're not going to buy a 2.2 petrol are they (and said they didn't need a car the size of a Zaf either)

bigjl

I don't think that the zaf 2.2 is such a strange choice for a low mileage driver. It is the only proper auto petrol zafira though.

I must admit that there is a huge glut of ex fleet Astras in 1.8 auto and Design spec. Which is a nice spec. To be honest that is a better option than a zafira but i just threw in a few extra options. I have been smoking about London in a 52 plate Astra1.8 auto for the past couple of months and over the last three tank fulls it has given 29mpg. Which isn't bae for a 9 yr old hammered ex response car that is used around London. I reckon a new one will improve on those figures. A lot of people don't realise how quick the 1.8 astra is. Especially for a family car.

Perhaps i have confused the issue a bit by putting forward too many options. But better to have too many than too few if you ask me.

taker920

Do the sums - and then decide to keep the zafira until you get a big enough bill to warrant changing.

HTH