Which 18month- 2yr car?

bryanb

We will be in the market for a used car soon. Diesel or petrol? Annual mileage 12-14k
We are a couple near retirement age. 6ft 2" and 5ft 6" Therefore headroom is important.
We do the usual short shopping and round town runs, Plus 4 runs of 10 miles on dual carriage each week.
Every summer we do four 600 mile journeys on continental motorways. On our return we load up with wine boxes so boot space is important.
We don't like to trundle along at 50-60 mph, so need something of 90-100 bhp.
Our budget will be around £8k. Reasonable VED and insurance would be nice but not at the expense of comfort.
Any suggestions will be carefully considered, although dual mass flywheel not liked, thanks.

sunshinetours

No suggestions but at that sort of mileage you are close to where diesel makes more sense and the fact that you do around 2500 miles a year on French motorways as would mean diesel would be more cost efficient due to the somewhat cheaper diesel prices in France

presumably on that sort of age and budget you will be looking at new car prices of around £12- £14k or so
So if plenty of space is key I would guess some of the Kia/Hyundai type cars will be in the mix and maybe some Skoda models

debred86

The new ford fiestas are very nice cars, nice to look at, nice to drive, big inside and comfy! me, my mum and dad all have one! I have the basic Edge version, Mum had the Zetec and Dad has the Titanium (go for this if you have the money). Titanium has all the little extras which make it that bit more comfy, my dad has the 1.6 engine and goes on the motorway everyday without any issues, although saying that my little 1.25 does the job!

MX5huggy

sunshinetours wrote: »

mean diesel would be more cost efficient due to the somewhat cheaper diesel prices in France

This is somwhat out of date, last week I was paying €1.45 or €1.46 on the Autoroute and €1.36 at a small supermarket in rural mid France.

sunshinetours

MX5huggy wrote: »

This is somwhat out of date, last week I was paying €1.45 or €1.46 on the Autoroute and €1.36 at a small supermarket in rural mid France.

So about 10% - 15% cheaper then - we are agreeing aren't we?

gilbert_and_sullivan

Kia Ceed 1.6 Diesel didn't have DMF or DPF until about 8/12 months ago, so that would be a possibility, but you'll be checking for both no doubt in case....sensible fellow.

Estate version is very roomy, get a not so high spec one and it will have sensible normal tyres.

Another possibility, and these are a bit larger, Kia Magentis and Hyundai Sonata are three box saloons of the old school and none the worse for that IMO, both are available in 2 litre Diesel form with proper torque converter automatics.
Very good value having the wrong badges for those who don't need such things.

bryanb

MX5huggy wrote: »

This is somwhat out of date, last week I was paying €1.45 or €1.46 on the Autoroute and €1.36 at a small supermarket in rural mid France.

How did those prices compare with French petrol prices though? That's the real comparison as we will go to France whichever car we buy.

sunshinetours

bryanb wrote: »

How did those prices compare with French petrol prices though? That's the real comparison as we will go to France whichever car we buy.

Loads of web sites with this sort of info but generally 95 grade unleaded is at least 10% more expensive than diesel in France.
Whereas in UK unleaded is usually a couple of % cheaper than diesel

http://www.drive-alive.co.uk/fuel_prices_europe.html