Honda or Toyota?

pd52

i know 2 people with the 2.2 diesel honda's and they have had no end of problems with them (just incase you were considering that variant )

TrickyWicky

Toyota if you want dodgy computerized brakes that have repeatedly hit the headlines..

Honda if you want a safe car.

londonTiger

GMWXP wrote: »

Are there any other reliable cars u would contemplate? VAG group bit expensive, anything else?

Thanks

based on your miles, I think it would be best to get a TDI mk5 golf. VAG group can be expensive with repairs - but lets be honest how expensive can it get?

E.g. a lambda sensor will need replacing at 100K on a golf costing £120. The same sensor will cost £80 on a honda or toyota. Ok expensive. But that's over 100K miles - over it's lifetime it's not that expensive at all.

Servicing is more or less the same cost.

To be honest it's not going to be hugely expensive compared to a honday or toyota. Your biggest priority should be fuel economy - (if you are paying for the fuel yourself that is). I own a mk4 golf but you should be able to get an early model mk5 golf for around 3.5K which will be reliable and have decent miles.

The tiny 1.4 cars are designed for city. They're real dogs for motorway driving. A bigger hatchback is not only better to drive on motorways but it can be cheaper on fuel too. A golf will be more expensive that a pug 206. But the pug 206 is a tiny budget city car. They're in different categories.

The honda civic and vw golf are in the same category and will cost the same in parts and maintenance. Same would be true for a toyota avensis I should imagine.

londonTiger

Danniuk wrote: »

And as for the civic the older models are much more reliable and well built than the new space age/alien looking models, the engines are still very punchy around town and on the m'way though!

I watch a lot of the eric the car guy videos and thats what he said too. Around pre2002 civic were really good. They were relatively new to western markets so they really put the effort in and built really good cars to expert to Europe and USA. The newcomers are always ones to watch out for because they really over deliver in value because they have a lot to prove. Then after that they really slid behind and started doing silly vanity projects like the honda robot and the jets which they claim will pass knowledge down to cars. But in the short term it means the cars had their budgets reduced to fund the vanity projects.

KIA cars were really crap when they lauched but they're investing a lot of money into their cars and developing some really good reliable motors.

btw OPs budget will most like buy the earlier civics.

wba31

Golfs are good... personally the mk4 golf was the last decent one in my opinion. they have nowhere near as much room for rear passengers than the civic (if you are tall)

I bought that 58 plate civic today, guy I bought it from says the VW/Audi group can have turbo issues with the diesels, he's never know it from Honda...

shakeitright

I have a 2006 2.2 cdti civic with 180,000 on the clock,in the 4 years I,ve had it,all I ever replaced is brake pads and tyres,son is a mechanic so it is well looked after and I,m not looking to replace it any time soon.

Murielson

The RAC bloke who looked at my Astra today suggested Toyota, Honda, KIA and Hyundai for reliability, ie - the vehicles that he is called out to the least.

londonTiger

Murielson wrote: »

The RAC bloke who looked at my Astra today suggested Toyota, Honda, KIA and Hyundai for reliability, ie - the vehicles that he is called out to the least.

all happen to be non european cars. i bet its just down to not many of them being on the road as fords, pugs, vws and vauxhalls

knightstyle

londontoger, Two things, first many, most?, Toyotas sold in the UK are built here and have you driven a 1.4 diesel Yaris or Auris on a long journey? The Auris we have, which is heavier than the Yaris, does brilliantly and returns 52mpg in automatic mode a figure that seemed unobtainable a few years ago.
So my answer would be to go for the Corola or an Auris, plus not all modern cars have cam belts some have chains which do not need changing, just maintaining.
Someone else posted a reply to a similar question and recommended getting a petrol car with gas conversion worth looking at?

shakeitright

Honda have been vosted the most reliable car manufacturer for 7 years in a row,so cant see that standards have slipped in recent years.