Cheap (sub £2k) car for motorway commute

rootminusone

Hi all,

I'm trying to find car to get me to work every day (20k miles annual) as cheaply, economically and reliably as possible. It'll have to be a banger bought for less than £2,000.

Does anybody out there have a good suggestion? I'm thinking Fiesta, Punto, Corsa (all economical). But don't want something that's likely to have been thrashed by a younger driver.

Also, are there any good places to look other than Autotrader? What are your experiences of, say, ebay?

Thanks for your help!

pandora205

I have a Fiesta and it has been very economical to run. I do around 10k a year but it had quite a high mileage when I bought it when it was 3 years old. It is now 8 years old and has passed the last two MOTs needing nothing more than new wiper blades. As Fiestas are so common most garages know how to fix them should anything go wrong too. (I did have a new clutch a couple of years ago).

poppasmurf_bewdley

If you are looking at doing 20k every year, you don't want a Fiesta, Punto sized car. They are too small and wear out quicker than a larger car.

If I were you, I would be looking at a Mondeo Mk3, which is a great motorway cruiser. For £2k you would be looking at a 2003/4 diesel, which should give 40/45mpg at least, depending on how you drive it. Try and get one which has had the clutch replaced recently if possible.

I bought my first Mk3 on eBay with no problems at all.

Look on the TalkFord website forums:

http://www.talkford.com/index/

worried_jim

I would go for an Audi A4 TDI. 50mpg, all the toys and easily get a good one for £2k.-

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201238485385017/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/model/a4/make/audi/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/2/postcode/bn424sn/radius/60?logcode=p

rootminusone

Thanks for the tips guys. Good to hear the fiesta has done you proud Pandora. I was worried about insurance costs for a larger car - not been driving for a while so have no NCBs. Hence an A4 might be too pricey to run. But will definitely follow up on worried jim and poppasmurf's suggestions.

forgotmyname

Zero NCD your insurance will probably cost more than the car anyway.

If the £2000 is all the money you have i would buy something older but cherished for half that price.

Modern cars could easily cost that again for a few fairly normal repairs.

Dual mass flywheels upto a £1000 at a dealer. £500 - £800 elsewhere.

Common rail fuel systems, £600 + for a set of injectors.

And these fail on cars that age. Its not oh its a mondeo you should have bought an audi instead. Because they have similar issues.

bengalknights

Old diesel polo or ibiza

tbourner

Gen6 Honda Accord 2.0. 2001/2002 kind of age.

worried_jim

tbourner wrote: »

Gen6 Honda Accord 2.0. 2001/2002 kind of age.

AT 20,000 miles per year they will need an oil burner. Good choice other wise though.

tbourner

worried_jim wrote: »

AT 20,000 miles per year they will need an oil burner. Good choice other wise though.

The Accord's one of the best mile munching petrols IMO. I wouldn't recommend an Accord diesel!

skivenov

Fiestas are good cars, but prone to rust after 8-10 years.

My little work vehicle is a 2002 Corsa diesel. There's two engine sizes in these, the 1.3 is a fiat derived "modern" diesel engine, very economical but not famed for reliability. Mine is the older 1.7 diesel. It sounds a bit like a tractor, doesn't go very fast at all, but is totally reliable and does 60mpg all day every day.

Depending what you do for a living, a little van can be cheaper to insure than a little car. My corsa's a van and it was £200 a year cheaper to insure than the same vehicle but a car.

Anyone who says you can't do motorway miles in a little car (except small engined petrols) is living in the past. Mine does 40k a year. Not long after I bought it, I went to Fortrose and back in it in a day and was totally happy.