Should I keep my car?

FreddieFrugal

If you want a car that's reliable cheap to run and very cheap to fix if anything did go wrong then I would recommend a Focus. Just because it's my current car and the one we use for all longer journeys as it's comfortable, well made and it's easily the best car of its size I've driven in terms of handling.

You could get a 08 onwards 1.6 diesel for about £4,800 with reasonable mileage. pre 08 ones much cheaper and still very good.

I've got the 1.6 tdci Zetec and it's £30 tax, cheap to insure and my MPG has never dropped below 55. Average between 59 and 63 with mix of town and country driving. Gets between 550 and 600 miles per tank.

OddballJamie

Ford/PSA 1.6 tdci engine reliable. Don't think I've ever heard that before.

Muhren

I have seen a 2006 Vauxhall Astra Life 1.4 Dualfuel Petrol/LPG Mileage: 90600 TAX until 11/13. 5 month MOT. It is advertised at £2,200, the air con doesn't work and the lpg is said to run a bit lumpy so needs a service. I am thinking about going to have a look at it and wanted to find out what peoples views are and what experiences you may have had on lpg servicing.

facade

Don't buy it. It has too many miles and it sounds like there is something expensive wrong with it.
The aircon could need a new condenser, a new pump, evaporator valve or complete system because of debris from a failed pump (they never just need a £40 regas)
The rough running could be a valve burnt out or something else serious.

(There is always something wrong with a second hand car, what is wrong with yours is high running costs)

Personally, I don't like lpg. I don't think it does the engine any good, and I notice that we had a fleet of buses a couple of years ago with lpg stickers all over the back, they soon disappeared.

Muhren

facade wrote: »

Don't buy it. It has too many miles and it sounds like there is something expensive wrong with it.
The aircon could need a new condenser, a new pump, evaporator valve or complete system because of debris from a failed pump (they never just need a £40 regas)
The rough running could be a valve burnt out or something else serious.

(There is always something wrong with a second hand car, what is wrong with yours is high running costs)

Personally, I don't like lpg. I don't think it does the engine any good, and I notice that we had a fleet of buses a couple of years ago with lpg stickers all over the back, they soon disappeared.

Thanks for your reply, probably not what I wanted to hear but probably what I needed to!

What route would you recommend that I go down?

mad_rich

You want to save money, but at the moment that's quite a broad brief. There are thousands of cars that will be cheapr to run. Can you be any more specific with your requirements (features, size)?

At 24,000 miles per year, I'd be going for the most efficient car I could find that met my requirements. My Fabia will easily do 70mpg at 65mph, and I'm averaging 57mpg so far without having to drive that slowly.

The Fabia might not be right for you, but how about a high end Octavia or Superb?

facade

At 24,000 miles a year, your Merc probably has 3 or 4 years left in it, before it is worth peanuts (well below £1000), so you are looking at £1000 a year to go 24,000 miles if nothing goes wrong. (only 4.2p extra per mile)

Unless you can buy a new car with unlimited warranty (that covers wear&tear- as if!) you will wear pretty much anything out in around 6 years, so if you bought something cheap at £12,000 it will cost you twice as much as the Merc to sit in misery for 24,000/60= 400 hours a year.

I'd stick to luxury cars, they are cheap to buy with 50,000 miles left in them but you pay for it with fuel consumption.

Keep the Merc.

Muhren

mad_rich wrote: »

You want to save money, but at the moment that's quite a broad brief. There are thousands of cars that will be cheapr to run. Can you be any more specific with your requirements (features, size)?

At 24,000 miles per year, I'd be going for the most efficient car I could find that met my requirements. My Fabia will easily do 70mpg at 65mph, and I'm averaging 57mpg so far without having to drive that slowly.

The Fabia might not be right for you, but how about a high end Octavia or Superb?

I am just looking at what would be the most efficient, I am not that bothered about what I drive as I am just looking to clear my debts as soon as possible. I can then worry more about what car I want to drive.

Ultrasonic

OddballJamie wrote: »

Ford/PSA 1.6 tdci engine reliable. Don't think I've ever heard that before.

:rotfl:

I'm glad IanRi is happy with his, but there is no way this engine could seriously be recommended as a sensible second hand purchase for anyone.

IanRi - you might want to consider replacing yours before you do have the seemingly innevitable turbo failure. Seriously. Do a spot of Googling to get the idea...

gabitzul

Focus wise - try and find a 1.8 tdci instead, similar fuel economy but none if the turbo issues of the 1.6. Apart from that a good car (I have the 1.6 petrol 115).