Advice needed on low cost (mostly) motorway driving

shiphen

wba31 wrote: »

wow, honda accord would be amazing for you, I would save yourself a few thousand for insurance/repairs for a year and spend £6k on one, will get you a 2006/2007 model.

Rumour has it that after the late 1990s Honda changed strategy and started making cars that were less reliable so that they could make more money on parts!
Anyone know if (and to what extent) this is true?

marlot

shiphen wrote: »

Before we getting into specific makes & models, I want to check my logic.
I am thinking that I should get a car that is:
a) a slightly OLD car (that has already done its depreciating), but which is
b) LOW mileage (hence low maintenance costs)
c) a very reliable make (hence low maintenance costs)
d) I should not worry TOO much about fuel consumption because it will be small compared to depreciation + repairs.
Is my thinking valid so far?

I think you'll find that a, b, c and d are all inter-related, and you'll find it hard to maximise them all. Lowest maintenance costs come with a new car (you pay for servicing, and everything else should be warranty, plus newer cars are generally more fuel efficient). You can pick up ex fleet cars cheap, but they'll have a few miles on them (but that doesn't mean that they're not able to do another 80,000).

When I was faced with this dilemma, I created a spreadsheet - I even included the annual road tax, tyres, servicing, an allowance for repairs. I bought a 1-year old toyota, but your figures will probably come out differently.

MX5huggy

May I suggest a Golf 1.9 TDI............

ie why are you considering changing?

wba31

shiphen wrote: »

Rumour has it that after the late 1990s Honda changed strategy and started making cars that were less reliable so that they could make more money on parts!
Anyone know if (and to what extent) this is true?

I had my accord for 12 months (15k miles) and only changed the tyres on it.

The civic i've had for 12 months (12k miles) and have changed the tyres on it, and it is having the glow plugs done this week. I've found them to be very reliable.

The gent who bought my accord is a honda enthusiast who lives in North London (travelled to Birmingham to buy my car) and he said the only Honda he's not consider buying is the current Civic which is made in Swindon.

Looking at your other posts regarding hatchback size, the current civic i have (54 plate so old shape) is again a great car and very economical, although cannot get cruise control on it...

marlot

Treat these things with a bit of caution, but here is a UK car reliability index http://www.reliabilityindex.com/

shiphen

MX5huggy wrote: »

May I suggest a Golf 1.9 TDI............

ie why are you considering changing?

P.S. I have the following complaints with my current VW Golf (2003 model):
1. Age - it has now done 140,000 miles and is starting to become expensive to maintain (just over £3000 last year!)
2. Noisy (esp. when the engine is worked hard, but also lots of road noise).
3. Cornering is rubbish. (Suspension over bumps is not good either!)

According to the latest reviews that I have read, the NEW Golfs are much better (quieter, better cornering etc) - but if so I dont know in what year that happened...

But the crunch problem as I see it with a Golf is that it DOES hold it's value. i.e. My new thinking is to buy a luxury car that has ALREADY DEPRECIATED(!). If I could find something that is rather old and unfashionable (and therefore dirt cheap) but very reliable (and therefore low maintence costs) I could get very cheap motoring by quietly running it into the ground.
And do so in luxury comfort !

rodenal

Can you tell me what you had done to your golf to spend £3k in one year - and who you had do this work? That seems like main dealer money to maintain an older car, which is madness.

90% of the work you'll ever need to do to the golf you can do yourself - £3k would buy you and fit a new engine to the car....twice!

I'm going to guess at main dealer cambelt and main dealer new turbo with diagnostic but would be interested to hear what the problems were.

Suspension will need a refresh if it's done 140k miles, decent shocks springs and bushes would come in at no more than about £600 - less if you just wanted oem or equivalent replacements.

If it hasn't already had one then it may need a new turbo soon, this is perfectly diy'able and shouldnt cost much for a garage to fit if the worst happens, just buy a known good turbo for it yourself.

It may be a bit noisy but it's a bloody good old engine the 1.9 pd, thumping performance and very good mpg - i wholeheartedly reccomend keeping the car, you may well have refreshed everything that will need doing for another 100k

shiphen

marlot wrote: »

Treat these things with a bit of caution, but here is a UK car reliability index <snip> [reliability index]

Thanks - that site looks interesting. However the "Average repair costs" have GOT to be incorrect because ever car I looked at (e.g. Honda Accord, Golf, Audi A3, Jag X type) all seeme do cost LESS money if they were from the OLDER range. Surely that can not be correct! New cars should break down *less* often and need fewer repairs - afterall that's half the point of buying a new car!

shiphen

rodenal wrote: »

Can you tell me what you had done to your golf to spend £3k in one year - and who you had do this work? That seems like main dealer money to maintain an older car, which is madness.

90% of the work you'll ever need to do to the golf you can do yourself - £3k would buy you and fit a new engine to the car....twice!

I'm going to guess at main dealer cambelt and main dealer new turbo with diagnostic but would be interested to hear what the problems were.

Suspension will need a refresh if it's done 140k miles, decent shocks springs and bushes would come in at no more than about £600 - less if you just wanted oem or equivalent replacements.

If it hasn't already had one then it may need a new turbo soon, this is perfectly diy'able and shouldnt cost much for a garage to fit if the worst happens, just buy a known good turbo for it yourself.

It may be a bit noisy but it's a bloody good old engine the 1.9 pd, thumping performance and very good mpg - i wholeheartedly reccomend keeping the car, you may well have refreshed everything that will need doing for another 100k

No, not main dealer - a small local dealer.

The main cost was the turbo which died in slow motion, bit by bit, with various rubber pipes corroding and first the intercooler then the whole thing being replaced ! These are all in costs dont forget, including various other things like 4 new tyres, wiper blades, fluids, oil etc. Also from memory break disks and pads. Squirter motors. Fuel pump leaks.

I simply do not have the time nor inclination (nor skill) to do a DIY job on it.

Even if I replace the shocks/springs/bushes to improve the cornering (??) my main complaint now it that it is NOISY and not very comfortable on long distances.

shiphen

Meanwhile hows about this line of thinking...

e.g. I have my eye on a Honda Accord Tourer - say model "2.2 iDTEC Type S".
Acceleration is reasonable: (0-60 is 9.2 secs)
(Power: 177 BHP)
(Top speed: 134 MPH)
Economy: 47 MPG average (according to What Car mag)
(672 mile on a tank)
Now, say a 2005 version, with 60,000 miles on the clock, would only be £5,400 from and independent dealer.
With luck I could probably put another 100,000 miles on the clock before it started to fall to pieces, no?
www parkers co uk /cars/used-prices/Valuation.aspx?deriv=26198&plate=78#amount=6000&years=3
At 47 MPG that is fantastic economy (particularly for a big car). The only problem would be parking the darned thing. As I really do not need to drive such a big lump of steel for my commute...!

- Any thoughts?