£5k Small diesel car for long daily commuting, any hints?

grizzly1911

We have a Corsa 09 plate 75 bhp brought for its economy and son to learn to drive in.

We live in a semi rural area and it is fine for running around in, has reasonable performance comparitive to petrol peers 9and a lot less gear changing). It will also hold its own on a busy stretch of M6 IMO easily holding above limit speeds if need be..

Two points let it down top gear is quite low about 25/1000 and I quite often find myself looking for another one. Secondly it isn't massively economical 52 toing/froing and upto 57 on longer journeys - this is with mixed drivers though. (less than 10% better than our other 2.0TD Avensis).

I used to have an old generation Astra with the 1.7CDTi when it first came out -although it only had 80bhp in the version I had it was quick, relaxed on motorways (57k in under 3years) and surprisingly economical often hitting 65mpg cruising and low 50s round town.

Ranger8

rodenal wrote: »

Odd attitude, if that's what you think then fair enough but I don't agree in any way shape or form, if the OP thinks the engine is worth considering one then the best thing they could do is go and find one to drive, but also drive other examples of the car. The 1.3 cdti is out of it's league in an Astra....IMO....having driven one for many miles (and swearing at it on a regular basis) and comparing it against similar cars.

Now that is peculiar because my wife has a 58 plate 90 bhp 1.3cdti Astra and I`ve drove it many miles and have to agree with interstellaflyer that I`ve never doubted its motorway performance, it really wafts along in 6th and even if you had to change down to 5th for a little extra acceleration its no effort with the short throw box.
A cracking little car that suprised me.

grizzly1911

Ranger8 wrote: »

Now that is peculiar because my wife has a 58 plate 90 bhp 1.3cdti Astra and I`ve drove it many miles and have to agree with interstellaflyer that I`ve never doubted its motorway performance, it really wafts along in 6th and even if you had to change down to 5th for a little extra acceleration its no effort with the short throw box.
A cracking little car that suprised me.

My old 1.7CDTi Astra with less BHP and marginally more torque, than than yours probably, was a great litte cruiser on the motorway with more than enough get up and go. It was a low volume eco engine.

Funnily enough I know people that had the newer shape 1.7CDTi that thought it wasn't that good.

At the end of the day it is all relative to what you are used to and expectations.

A PP says the 1.3CTDi has nothing below turbo cut in around 2000rpm. Funnily enough most small mid range TDs aren't much different. I would still say they are a lot more driveable than a similar 1.2/1.4 petrol that needs revving to 4500/ 5500 to extract performance.

Lum

Perhaps, but nobody is recommending a 1.2 or 1.4 petrol in this thread, and I'm pretty sure if someone asked about getting one for motorway work plenty of people would reply stating that it's a bad idea.

As the OP has also mentioned driving in London, where leaving a 2ft gap is taken as an invitation for 3 cars to pull in front of you, a car with a bit more grunt will save you a lot of time as well as being more economical and pleasant on the motorway.

danielvmn

Hello All,

Thanks for all the information provided.

I will start definitively looking for a Fiat Grande Punto first.
The reason I prefer the Punto, is because I had one in my country and I really liked it, so I'm already familiar with the model.

I'm particularly interested in these:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201118386557086/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/fuel-type/diesel/body-type/hatchback/seller-type/trade_adverts/model/grande_punto/make/fiat/postcode/e145hq/page/1/radius/30?logcode=p
This is cheap, economic, the version is decent (Active), but the engine could be lackluster in a motorway

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201134411072874/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/seller-type/trade_adverts/model/grande_punto/make/fiat/postcode/e145hq/page/1/radius/30?logcode=p
This is a great price for a 2008 model, as one of the best available versions (Sporting) and a better 1.9 engine, although this could not be so economic, by the way, any thoughts on both engines?

I will also look some fiestas to compare, eg:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201135412585346/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/body-type/hatchback/model/fiesta/make/ford/postcode/se85dp/radius/30/page/1?logcode=p
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201133410585695/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/body-type/hatchback/model/fiesta/make/ford/postcode/se85dp/radius/30/page/1?logcode=p
These are surprisingly cheap, but I'm sure there's a catch and I don't want to waste my time, so I may probably skip them, or shouldn't I?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201134411232835/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/body-type/hatchback/model/fiesta/make/ford/postcode/se85dp/radius/30/page/1?logcode=p
A bit older than the puntos and the version is only ok (Style), the engine can also be lackluster, with only 68 bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201130406470748/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/body-type/hatchback/model/fiesta/make/ford/postcode/se85dp/radius/30/page/2?logcode=p

After looking at them, I will take a look at the Astras

Thanks and Regards,
Daniel

grizzly1911

Lum wrote: »

Perhaps, but nobody is recommending a 1.2 or 1.4 petrol in this thread, and I'm pretty sure if someone asked about getting one for motorway work plenty of people would reply stating that it's a bad idea.

As the OP has also mentioned driving in London, where leaving a 2ft gap is taken as an invitation for 3 cars to pull in front of you, a car with a bit more grunt will save you a lot of time as well as being more economical and pleasant on the motorway.

But on the basis that a commute in central London is probably more down to nerve and cheek, IME, than performance.

Acknowledge the need for pleasure of the motorway cruise.

grizzly1911

danielvmn wrote: »

Hello All,

Thanks for all the information provided.

I will start definitively looking for a Fiat Grande Punto first.
The reason I prefer the Punto, is because I had one in my country and I really liked it, so I'm already familiar with the model.

Fair comment on the familiarity front.

Whilst most cars are pretty reliable these days and the Fiat has the panache are you going to "feel lucky" each time you drive it?

With a lengthy important commute take care in your choice.

Lum

grizzly1911 wrote: »

But on the basis that a commute in central London is probably more down to nerve and cheek, IME, than performance.

True, until you delay entering a box junction by two nanoseconds, only for the git to your right to out accelerate you, pull in front of you and leave you stranded in the middle of the junction with a fine already on it's way to you in the post.

grizzly1911

Lum wrote: »

True, until you delay entering a box junction by two nanoseconds, only for the git to your right to out accelerate you, pull in front of you and leave you stranded in the middle of the junction with a fine already on it's way to you in the post.

When very young I used to work in a team that traveled the country on audit work. We shared journeys and the company car drivers used to have a "DANO" theory on entering Motorways/Dual carriageways, when traffic was slow and heavy, "undertaking" and joining at the last minute on the basis that someone will always let you in.

I didn't condone it but funnily enough it more often than not worked.

danielvmn

Hi All,
Another situation came into play, I am going to see a 2007 Honda Civic today, it has a 2.2 Diesel engine with 97k on the clock, it has a full service history.
I've read about the reliability of the Civics and the efficiency of the 2.2 engine.
But how realiable can I expect this car to be? It seems everything is ok with the car and it's an ex-fleet leased car.

Another thing, this looks like it is from a new dealer, I mean, looks like the guy started with the car dealing business not long ago, as his domain is registered in July, but it's registered to the correct address.
Is this something to worry about? He accepts credit cards and that will be my method of payment anyway, so I can rely on a little bit of extra protection here.

Thanks in advance,
Daniel