Used car purchase

stevesb52

I'm looking at buying a new car in the next week or two. I've had my eye on autotrader for the last few weeks and have got a good idea of what's about. But, I'm still not 100% about what I should go for .

Essentially, I'll be doing most of my driving on A-roads/motorways (I live pretty close to town so would hardly do any city driving) with myself and luggage, and occasionally with a couple of extra people in too.

I'm currently looking at a Focus 1.8 diesel or Astra 1.7 diesel as these seem economical but with decent power behind them, but they are both at the upper end of my budget for insurance. So, does anybody have an idea how something smaller would fare? Would a 1.4 206, for example, handle 3-4 hours on a motorway carrying a couple of passengers without the engine screaming at me and consuming gallons of fuel?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated (in case you can't tell, this is my first venture into the realm of car purchase!). Cheers!

mikey72

stevesb52 wrote: »

I'm looking at buying a new car in the next week or two. I've had my eye on autotrader for the last few weeks and have got a good idea of what's about. But, I'm still not 100% about what I should go for .

Essentially, I'll be doing most of my driving on A-roads/motorways (I live pretty close to town so would hardly do any city driving) with myself and luggage, and occasionally with a couple of extra people in too.

I'm currently looking at a Focus 1.8 diesel or Astra 1.7 diesel as these seem economical but with decent power behind them, but they are both at the upper end of my budget for insurance. So, does anybody have an idea how something smaller would fare? Would a 1.4 206, for example, handle 3-4 hours on a motorway carrying a couple of passengers without the engine screaming at me and consuming gallons of fuel?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated (in case you can't tell, this is my first venture into the realm of car purchase!). Cheers!

We had a 1.5 diesel 106, and now a 1.4 HDi C3 that cruise happily on motorways, and gave 55mpg for the 106, and 65mpg for the C3.

andygb

A Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi will return 55 - 60MPG on a motorway, and be very comfortable. The Fabia diesel is smaller, so should be even more economical.

verityboo

Best to try and test drive a few cars to see what they're like. I'd be happy with a modern 1.4 engine on a motorway but it comes down to what you are happy with

stevesb52

Thanks for the replies guys, looks like it would be a good idea for me to pay more attention to the smaller engines than I have been doing.

Although I do have a spendthrift devil on my shoulder nagging about buying the Focus!