BMW 1 Series v Honda Civic

Ruby_Roo

Thanks for the rreplies I've got about £11k to spend on a second hand car - not a fortune, but such is life. I haven't had any deals offered to me yet - Honda are being stupid about taking my Mini part-ex and BMW are looking into sourcing me a car and are going to come back to me with a few to consider (being on an island, cars obviously have to be imported) - they said I'd get about £9k for my Mini though.

Replacing the Mini with something like a Type R isn't an option - although we want a bigger car, we also want one thats cheaper to run. The insurance, tax and fuel in the Mini aren't crippling me but having just acquired a large mortgage, and paid over £500 in tax/insurance in the last month, I would like to reduce running costs.

I only drive about 7000 miles per year, so not many, and over 50% of my driving is "urban" - my Mini does 35mpg average. We had a diesel 1 Series out last week and the average on that was about 45mpg, and coupled with a tax reduction of £110 p/a (different tax bands/pricing here) that could be a saving for us.

I'm open to other suggestions, based on our needs - we don't have kids but we have 2 dogs so need a decent boot, and we're off to Centerparcs with friends later in the year (they don't have a car) so need something which will fit 4 adults and some luggage in moderate comfort (the friends are shorties though). My only stipulations are that it needs to be 2008 or newer, no more than 40k miles and not from a French manufacturer.

redped

A quick google here shows that all BMW diesels are fitted with DPFs.

The AA has some good info on DPFs here - tbh, 7000 sounds like too small a mileage for a diesel, even if it does give good fuel economy - the savings will be lost if you have to get a garage to clean out the DPF for you.

I'd stick with a petrol engine if I were you, but beyond that I don't have any recommendations about what car might suit.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

forget a bimmer with that miles per annum, you really do need to throttle them to clean out the DPF propperly or it will just put deisel into it if it only does a part regen. rear shocks and springs are not too clever on them either being on "an island" ordering in parts from the uk going to come with a fee ontop.

can i suggest another manufacturer KIA, with 11k and a good part x a procee'd has many toys and looks like a sport hatch (IMHO), the boot space is good i can get a hell of alot in the back of one of them and the normal cee'ds.

captainawsome

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

forget a bimmer with that miles per annum, you really do need to throttle them to clean out the DPF propperly or it will just put deisel into it if it only does a part regen. rear shocks and springs are not too clever on them either being on "an island" ordering in parts from the uk going to come with a fee ontop.

can i suggest another manufacturer KIA, with 11k and a good part x a procee'd has many toys and looks like a sport hatch (IMHO), the boot space is good i can get a hell of alot in the back of one of them and the normal cee'ds.

Rear springs are ok on 1series and e90's. The models that suffered from snapped springs are e46 3series and cars based on it (x3, old z4). Newer models are ok.

Hintza

worried_jim wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

What ever you do- don't.

Oh oh Jim must be another eurobox man.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

rodenal

I have a diesel civic and it's a great car. It's not a suitable town car though imo - I get an easy 50mpg motorway but driving solely short journeys in and around town I average somewhere between 35-40mpg. You'll achieve not too far off 30-35mpg in most petrols with similar power. Mine is remapped but I would imagine the standard cars are much the same.

Your mileage doesn't suit diesel at all imo, the civic has no dpf but does still have an egr whilst the 1 series will have a dpf. I really did not like the 1.8 petrol civic, it's keen to rev but felt really very underpowered. That's not to say you shouldn't try one but it's a world apart from the similarly powered diesel. Interior wise it's vast compared to a 1 series though, particularly with the flip up rear seats.

Something along the lines of a 120i (petrol) could be worth taking a drive in. Reasonable power, reasonable (theoretical) economy so would be worth taking one out for the day. The boot isn't great and neither is rear leg room but it doesn't sound like that will matter too much here.

sunshinetours

Second hand Prius. Mostly urban miles will be in its element and plenty big enough for luggage and adults. Zero or v low road tax going forward. Servicing no more epxensive than a regular car in reality and battery reliability showing not to be a problem 10 years down the line

No better than a small diesel engine on long runs but round the town for size car pretty much nothing will beat it on economy
I am not recommending it on its fake eco credentials but as a money saver effectively

Great company car if you happen to run your own business aswell by the way!

worried_jim

sunshinetours wrote: »

Second hand Prius. Mostly urban miles will be in its element and plenty big enough for luggage and adults. Zero or v low road tax going forward. Servicing no more epxensive than a regular car in reality and battery reliability showing not to be a problem 10 years down the line

No better than a small diesel engine on long runs but round the town for size car pretty much nothing will beat it on economy
I am not recommending it on its fake eco credentials but as a money saver effectively

Great company car if you happen to run your own business aswell by the way!

I agree. Urban driving, second hand Prius for £11k is the way to go.

Ruby_Roo

worried_jim wrote: »

I agree. Urban driving, second hand Prius for £11k is the way to go.

I asked for opinions and I got 'em - but the Prius is not remotely attractive to me. I'd like a car more economical that my Cooper S, but its not a necessity, especially not at the expense of it being pleasing to my eyes

The Kia, which someone suggested, is quite nice to look at but it would depreciate massively - far more so that my Mini, the BMW or the Honda (with the latter depreciating the most of those three).

I also thought about an Audi A3 - but there is no Audi dealer here and I can't find a garage which has one for me to test drive.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Ruby_Roo wrote: »

I asked for opinions and I got 'em - but the Prius is not remotely attractive to me. I'd like a car more economical that my Cooper S, but its not a necessity, especially not at the expense of it being pleasing to my eyes

The Kia, which someone suggested, is quite nice to look at but it would depreciate massively - far more so that my Mini, the BMW or the Honda (with the latter depreciating the most of those three).

I also thought about an Audi A3 - but there is no Audi dealer here and I can't find a garage which has one for me to test drive.

the one thing kia will offer is a 7 year warranty, the others dont offer that. depreciation isnt that much on a used or ex demo KIA. and the tax banding is better than the both you describe and could also be cheaper on insurance compared to the ones your looking at. urban MPG is good too.