£2000 to Spend on an Small Car . Help

funkycoldribena

I'd forget the 307 straight away as others have said.Focus is probably the best bet-1.6 zetec-fairly bulletproof,(probably need to be living in Brum):D

jehangir

thanks for all the advice , i have just had an phone call from an friends whose dads garage has an W reg Focus 1.8 diesel but wants £1900 with 160k on the clock.

I thought this was way over priced but the reason it is soo expensive is that it has had

NEw Engine
New Gear Box
New Cluth
Full MOT ( including service )
and 6 months warranty

Any good ?

rodenal

No, if that's the Tddi engine it's not even worth a grand tbh

Weird_Nev

jehangir wrote: »

thanks for all the advice , i have just had an phone call from an friends whose dads garage has an W reg Focus 1.8 diesel but wants £1900 with 160k on the clock.

I thought this was way over priced but the reason it is soo expensive is that it has had

NEw Engine
New Gear Box
New Cluth
Full MOT ( including service )
and 6 months warranty

Any good ?

Jaysus H Corbett!
Run a mile. That car is about £1,000 over priced!!!!

You can get decent 1.8 Diesel Focii for about £700 with fewer miles (and fewer potential problems) than that.

(click that link for rough pricing!)
What kind of friend is that?!

jehangir

the new engine and clutch were all done 4 months ago . Still no good ?

Weird_Nev

It won't be a "new" engine. It'll be a re-conditioned one. same goes for the gearbox. The clutch might be newm but that leaves:
Brakes.
Suspension components. (this is what makes cars feel tired as they wear)
Steering components. (again, make cars feel "loose" with miles)
Interior. (scuffs, tears, squeaks, grime...)

All of which have still done 180,000 miles. Some cars were built to take that - focuses really weren't.
Added to that the problems that can arise when someone bangs an engine into a car to try and make a fast buck. I'd much rather have a proven reliable car.

As a case point, lets say you want to spend £1,800 on a Focus.
You've seen what you can get with the diesel option.
Here's a 1 owner from new 1.6 , '54 plate, 95k miles full history and air con.
Here's a nicely specced 1.6 Ghia
Close to you, a '55 plate 1.6 56k miles FOcus LX
If you don't mind a slightly older car: 2001 car with full history, 2 owners and 76k miles for £1,300 That's a £500 saving. Buys a lot of fuel.

I'm just trying to open your eyes to the fact that your money will get you a shoddy diesel at the end of it's life, or else a really capable petrol car with years left in it and much less to leave you stranded.

If you're adamant on cheap diesel, hunt out a Peugeot 306 diesel. They seem to be about £700, several mates run them with very little bother.

mikey72

The petrol will cost at least a thousand pounds extra each year to run, so it's well worth investing in a diesel, plus most dieel engines will go on well after the petrol has long gone.

Weird_Nev

mikey72 wrote: »

The petrol will cost at least a thousand pounds extra each year to run, so it's well worth investing in a diesel, plus most dieel engines will go on well after the petrol has long gone.

Lets do some maths shall we?

1.6 petrol combined Mpg 41.5
1.8 Diesel combined Mpg 51.4

Price of a litre of petrol: 133.7
Price of a liter of diesel: 140.9

Given the mid-range of the OP's milage, he states that he does 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year and I've used 12.5k which means that the petrol cost over a year would be £1,823 and Diesel would be £1,555. That's a difference of under £300. NOT a thousand pounds! If he does 10k miles he is better erring towards petrol. if he does 15k miles he should look towards diesels.

At 180,000 miles a car will need work. No doubt. A 70,000 mile car is far LESS likely to need significant work.

He could buy a much nicer car, for less, and pay for the difference in fuel for 2 years by opting for petrol over diesel.
We're also talking about buying a car well into 140,000 miles vs a petrol with half that. Think blown turbos, failing injectors, clutches, gearboxes.... you can get a car with HALF the milage!

But is IS his choice! I'm not trying to force anyone down a particular path, I'm just challenging the mantra that Diesel = cheapest = best.

mikey72

Weird_Nev wrote: »

Lets do some maths shall we?

1.6 petrol combined Mpg 41.5
1.8 Diesel combined Mpg 51.4

Price of a litre of petrol: 133.7
Price of a liter of diesel: 140.9

Given the mid-range of the OP's milage, he states that he does 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year and I've used 12.5k which means that the petrol cost over a year would be £1,823 and Diesel would be £1,555. That's a difference of under £300. NOT a thousand pounds! If he does 10k miles he is better erring towards petrol. if he does 15k miles he should look towards diesels.

At 180,000 miles a car will need work. No doubt. A 70,000 mile car is far LESS likely to need significant work.

He could buy a much nicer car, for less, and pay for the difference in fuel for 2 years by opting for petrol over diesel.

But is IS his choice!

My 1.8 petrol has got a combined mpg in the 40's

The reality is it does less the 30mpg most of the time.
Costs around 20p a mile.
The diesel does around 60mpg on the same run.
Cost around 10p a mile. That alot on 15,000 miles a year.
£1500 in fact.
It cost us £475 with 90,000 miles on it 4 years ago. It's now on 160,000, with no work apart from consumables

Weird_Nev

mikey72 wrote: »

It cost us £475 with 90,000 miles on it 4 years ago. It's now on 160,000, with no work apart from consumables

Ok, great!
go and find the OP a link to a £500 diesel with 90k miles on it within 100 miles form him. He's having trouble finding one....