Advice on what car to buy please

GeenyWeeny

I was hoping to get people's opinion on what car To buy.

We have £3000 looking for up to a 1.6 engine. Our main aims are reliability and fuel efficiency.

The only thing that's caught my eye is a Renault megane,

Any recommendations?

Thanks xxx

motorguy

GeenyWeeny wrote: »

I was hoping to get people's opinion on what car To buy.

We have £3000 looking for up to a 1.6 engine. Our main aims are reliability and fuel efficiency.

The only thing that's caught my eye is a Renault megane,

Any recommendations?

Thanks xxx

Renault meganes get a very bad rep for poor electricals and reliability issues.

I would strongly recommend a Ford Focus. Hard to beat as an overall package.

missile

The Megane is not the most fuel efficient option. However IMHO many of us get hung up on the cost of fuel and ignore other costs of ownership.

How miles do you do? Do you need a 1.6 litre family saloon, (like the Megane) or can you live with one of the compact cars which are much more fuel efficient and cheaper to run.

Noctu

Are you doing many motorway miles or is it primarily short journeys? or a combination?

GeenyWeeny

Hi,

I mainly do city driving, 30 miles per day, and then the odd long distance drive 4 times per year.

I have always had little compact cars - rover metro, ford ka, Toyota yaris. I'm now pushing 30 and want what I consider a 'grown up' car, lol, something a bit bigger, maybe even be able to fit the dog in a big boot

grizzly1911

IMO I wouldn't look at Renault unless it was all I could afford.

From friends relatives that have them they do seem to suffer many daft faults from trying to be too smart. Electronic fault diagnosis being down to main dealers only.

MX5huggy

Then you come back to a Ford Focus, it's a good car.

forgotmyname

A 2L diesel maybe better on fuel than a 1.6 petrol and depending on the car cheaper to buy.

For city work you want the smallest engine possible without it being underpowered, 4 long trips a year wont be a hardship in any car these days.

If you buy a 1L car and try to keep up with 2L cars then you may use more fuel.

A larger 2L diesel can do 50+mpg in the right conditions but thats not 30 miles of city work.

123davo

GeenyWeeny wrote: »

Hi,

I mainly do city driving, 30 miles per day, and then the odd long distance drive 4 times per year.

I have always had little compact cars - rover metro, ford ka, Toyota yaris. I'm now pushing 30 and want what I consider a 'grown up' car, lol, something a bit bigger, maybe even be able to fit the dog in a big boot

i suggest you shortlist 10-12 cars you think may be suitable and then check Parkers.co.uk Reviews ... and also Honestjohn.co.uk for the low down on reliability & economy of different models etc. When your shortlist is 3 or 4 cars ... rent your fave for a long weekend ... go on a long journey .. visit relis!
I recently rented a Focus 1.8TCDI in spain ... lovely to drive ... did about 500 miles ... 60mpg no matter what i drove like! Motorways / mountains / town combined.
Since then i rented a current shape fiesta 1.4 TDCI ... really grown up car ... bigger than the Fiestas Of Old ... drove like a focus ( thats a good thing ) BUT the claimed 73mpg was totally unachievable ... i did 550 miles , driving on motorways ( struggled to achieve 45mpg @ 65-70 mph!!) and a-roads ( better economy 50-60 mph - 60mpg ) ... i averaged 53.5mpg ... not quite what i was hoping for!!
Similarly in the past i've rented diesel Vauxhalls & been totally disappointed with the real-world fuel economy!
my mate had a golf GT tdi and reported excellent economy despite his heavy right foot!
PS most french cars of the last 10 years or so have gained a poor reputation for ( mainly electrical ) reliability.
Good luck!

123davo

forgotmyname wrote: »

A 2L diesel maybe better on fuel than a 1.6 petrol and depending on the car cheaper to buy.

For city work you want the smallest engine possible without it being underpowered, 4 long trips a year wont be a hardship in any car these days.

If you buy a 1L car and try to keep up with 2L cars then you may use more fuel.

A larger 2L diesel can do 50+mpg in the right conditions but thats not 30 miles of city work.

IMHO if you look at a city car have a good long test drive 1st ... i recently drove a 58 plate Kia Picanto 40 miles and ached like mad by the end of the journey!!