Economical Cars, and deals

The_bandit_Banker

Hi to all. I am wondering if anyone can help? This is slightly strange some will feel, but I am moving to From Exeter in Devon to Plymouth (also in Devon) A distance of 45 miles. I am looking to buy a car as my job will still be Exeter, but I'm struggling to find a Reasonable priced, newish car that is economically sound. Can anyone help? What are the best cars out there to buy? I have heard about the Skoda, and VW's. That they are good on distance and reliability... are they?

Well, I hope some can help

Thanks for your time

The bandit Banker confused:

anewman

I have a 94 Skoda Favorit GLXIe 1.3l estate (made before skoda was owned by VW) which has covered 107000 miles. Got it free of charge from a friend, but they seem to go for pretty much next to nothing on ebay. Fuel economy is reasonable, it's very reliable, and insurance is cheap. It will happily cruise at 80mph.

Niggles are leaky sunroof (now duct taped up), gear stick is a little noisy in certain gears, engine can be noisy, boot has a leak but has been almost fully cured with a strip of B & Q bathroom sealant on the tailgate, and also tailgate strut is broken so it has to be held up with a broom handle. There is also a problem with the headlights where they don't come on, but this is usually cured by tapping th fusebox. There is some rust coming out in places.

This is not newish I know, but it's definitely a cheap reliable all-rounder. Good luck with the search.

If you do that journey of 45 miles there and back 5 days a week, that's about 24000 miles a year. With that sort of mileage you may benefit from getting a diesel.

peterg1965

Bandit Banker, what is your budget? I would say getting a smallish diesel car to bomb up and down the A38 would be ideal. Skoda and VW (same car company effectively, along with Seat) make good diesel cars, albeit VW is on the more expensive side. A two year old Skoda Fabia Diesel would be a good bet, but as I say it depends on your budget.

The_bandit_Banker

Thanks very much!!! Great help! If you need advice then do call.

The_bandit_Banker

£4000, maybe £5000? What do you think? enough? That ideally would be the budget. Do you think i'll need more?

peterg1965

£5000 should buy you a very reliable car. Look on autotrader and you will find a two years old Skoda Fabia diesel for less £5K.

The_bandit_Banker

Thanks for that. Although I have heard only yesterday from someone in the car trade, that a very good investment for a car would be a VW Passat. A 2.0 TDI SE. And to avoid a 1.6 FSI. Also, that the Skoda's as they can be heavy on Fuel? Is that correct would you say?

peterg1965

I would say the Passat is a fine car, though the newer the better because they are prone to electrical faults on older cars. I would have said that Skoda Diesels are very economical and reliable. Check out the figures/running costs on https://www.whatcar.com

The_bandit_Banker

I have looked on 'What Car' and compared both the Passat and the Skoda. The Skoda Octavia 1.9 TD Ambiente or 2.0 Seems to come out on top. The Hatchback comes out at 50 - 65 MPG which for me is a great factor!.

Thanks very much for your help.

:beer:

plane_boy2000

You will be no where near getting a 2.0 TDi passat as the 2.0 tdi is only in the new model, however you will get an old model with the 1.9 tdi.

Perhaps in addition to budget you could give us some more info on the size needed, any kids etc so w ecan narrow it down a bit