Automatic Car Help Needed Please

ian103

tyrone2014 wrote: »

thanks five tide
i came across a Honda Civic 1.6 I-VTEC SE 5DR AUTO 2001 for £1,649
28.8mpg
and a onda Civic 1.5i LS 4dr Auto Saloon 1998 for £600 that does 34.9 mpg

i just want a car to get a from a to b and i understand what u saying about getting less common cars like a daihatsu but if any thing goes wrong the parts are less common.

my question is whats the age limit for a car because that 1998 car was an eledery persons car and only did 3600 miles so would that be good ?? or is it to old

Can't comment on the 1.6 auto, but with the manual box it was one of the most economic non-diesel cars I have ever had (40 plus mpg on a daily motorway commute in traffic), it was nice to drive, nippy and comfortable. , with hindsight should have kept it longer but

Joe_Horner

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Tyrone, what the "proper auto" brigade mean is a hugely complicated set of hydraulically activated epicyclic gears connected to the engine via a torque converter (although they probably don't actually understand the details of what any of that means ).

Patronising? Moi?

Intentionally in that case - advising someone to ignore what is possibly the best solution for their particular needs just because you'd only have a "proper" one yourself should, in all fairness, have an appropriate definition of "proper" attached

rev_henry

tyrone2014 wrote: »

because im a first time driver my insurance is sky high and i cant get a 2.0 litre as that will be over 2000pa for a under 1.5 engines i am quoted about 1200-2000 pa

im confused now you said only get a proper auto has the Honda Civic 1.4 and Hyundai Accent 1.5 not got proper ones ?? and if they are the proper autos then they are not supposed to a be as good with saving fuel

i had my heart set on honda jazz but then i realise for a first car better to get something cheaper in case of accidents etc and get a better car in a few years when i used to driving and if i got a honda or hyundai then i will save money

Yes the Accent and Civic have proper torque converters afaik.

fivetide wrote: »

tyrone - because of your age you are right to look for somethign a bit smaller.

The 1,4 Civic should be fine. For reference we've had two ford autos, a Mondeo and a Fusion and both had issues with the gearbox so they are not that bulletproof.

Merc tend to have very strong autoboxes (rest of the car is an issue) but those are out of your insurance range.

The Suzuki/Vauxhall Agila is a woefully underpowered car though and as such not that friendly on fuel.

Only other thing I can think of is to look at a few more weird and wonderful things. Less popular cars can actually be fairly cheap to insure. It depends if you want a car that is just a tool for getting to a and b or something that is a bit nicer to sit in.

5t.

On the weird and wonderful front I've just bought a 2005 Proton Impian. Mines a manual but there are lots of autos around. Very comfortable and cheap to buy - mine has leather and all the electric gadgets. It is a 1.6 so insurance maybe too high but have a look, as its unusual may be ok. I'm 20 and my insurance is around £650. Some parts are a nightmare though, mine needs an exhaust which the local garage/motor factors just cannot get hold of!

Gloomendoom

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Tyrone, what the "proper auto" brigade mean is a hugely complicated set of hydraulically activated epicyclic gears connected to the engine via a torque converter (although they probably don't actually understand the details of what any of that means ).

Patronising? Moi?

Nor do they need to understand. They just know that they do work, smoothly, reliably, year, after year, after year...

I have both a conventional auto and one of the new fangled jobbies at the moment. The latter is a POS!

tyrone2014

Thanks all for the help and highfive for the tips about choosing an older car and Joe Horner for breaking down automatics and cvt systems.

rev_henry how is your insurance so low £650 ? which company did u use ?some big engines like honda 1.6 is still ok if its 2001 year

fivetide

Shame the insurance will be high for this http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/honda/crx/honda-convertible-1-6-crx-vtec-engine-fab-project-and-a-bargain/696290

Should run backwards and forwards fine

See if you can get this on a classic policy. Waftarama! If not it'll cost you a fair whack I'd think but this one looks in really good condition even if it is a marmite colour
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/mercedes-benz/c-class/mercedes-benz-c180-elegance/678518

or if you want a Corsa (which is all this is)
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/vauxhall/tigra/vauxhall-tigra-1-4-auto-43000-miles-vgc/673092

No idea on budget but the Tigra is fairly frugal and that one has done no miles really. If it's had a belt change anyway it might be in good nick.

Failing that, gas powered Avensis.

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/toyota/avensis/toyota-avensis-1-8-gls-lpg-converted/636579

Might be worth adding someone older to the insurance too. Can bring it down a bit (as a named driver, no fronting).

Of course all these might be miles from you but a few ideas non the less!

5t.

andrew-the-cat

I think anything without a driver operated clutch is classed as automatic by the DVLA.

Automated manual transmissions and CVT will be the future of combustion cars, until electric takes over and we're all using single speed transmissions. CVT is well suited to smaller cars, as they generally cause less power loss than a torque converter, which is handy when you only have 80bhp for example.

Pretty much all automatics these days allow some sort of manual gear changing, either by sliding the gear selector into a gate on the side and using the up/down sequential operation, or paddles on the steering wheel.

My car is 10 years old with almost 140,000 miles and the CVT gearbox still works well, even with a 2.5 litre V6 diesel engine up front. Driving a CVT requires a learning curve but not a great one, if you've come from a conventional torque converter to one you will be surprised at how differently they drive, for example there is much less creep, they will easily roll back on hills, the revs don't match the speed of the car and the gear changes aren't really gear changes.

A CVT when driven normally will behave almost like a normal automatic, but during hard acceleration they will kick down and stay in a single gear, with the revs almost at the red line, until you stop accelerating. It's a weird sensation and confuses most people who have not seen it before, and it's very easy to find yourself going much faster than you think!

tyrone2014

wow thanks again highfive i really appreciate you taking the time out to have a look for some cars and your advice

and thanks andrew for the breakdown

Joe_Horner

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

A CVT when driven normally will behave almost like a normal automatic, but during hard acceleration they will kick down and stay in a single gear, with the revs almost at the red line, until you stop accelerating. It's a weird sensation and confuses most people who have not seen it before, and it's very easy to find yourself going much faster than you think!

Yep, discovered that about 2 months after we got our first Daf, when I picked up my first speeding ticket in 20-odd years :rotfl:

rev_henry

tyrone2014 wrote: »

Thanks all for the help and highfive for the tips about choosing an older car and Joe Horner for breaking down automatics and cvt systems.

rev_henry how is your insurance so low £650 ? which company did u use ?some big engines like honda 1.6 is still ok if its 2001 year

I have 3 years No Claims Discount, live in a virtually zero crime area and do not drive a silly little boy racer econobox. With Admiral. On my previous 1.4 Rover 25 it was £530, which is interesting because the performance figures for both cars are almost the same despite the larger engine.