Used car - Hatchback big boot - Diesel High Mileage 4k Limit

harveybobbles

I have a friend who has a 2005 Mazda 6 2.0 petrol who manages to easily get into the early 40mpg range. Thats mixed driving and they do 16k per year, including two trips to Devon.

I never understand anyone who buys a car because of the VED.

nobbysn*ts

harveybobbles wrote: »

I have a friend who has a 2005 Mazda 6 2.0 petrol who manages to easily get into the early 40mpg range. Thats mixed driving and they do 16k per year, including two trips to Devon.

I never understand anyone who buys a car because of the VED.

Because the £200 I save pays for over 2000 miles of diesel. That's enough free motoring for me to do it.

harveybobbles

But your deisel car will have cost more than the equivelant petrol..

Always amazes me when people come in and spend £6000 on a car just because the VED is £30.

They never seem to understand that to get the £30 VED they have to spend thoudsands on the newer car..

nobbysn*ts

harveybobbles wrote: »

But your deisel car will have cost more than the equivelant petrol..

Always amazes me when people come in and spend £6000 on a car just because the VED is £30.

They never seem to understand that to get the £30 VED they have to spend thoudsands on the newer car..

Depends how you look at it. The premium on a diesel isn't that much anymore, I keep them for years, so I buy a slightly older diesel. And the last one saves £200 a year on VED, and nearly £1800 a year in fuel, so a few quid extra on the diesel is soon paid back. If fact the purchase price of the car, was paid back in full in three years, compared to our petrol car. And I reckon we'll keep it another five or so, so another saving of £10,000 in motoring costs on top of the "free" car. I would probably not buy another petrol.

[Deleted User]

Quick answer: Bangernomics!

There are loads of £500 cars with lots of life left in them. If the first one you get causes problems just scrap it and get another, you'll have 8 chances to get a decent one before using up your 4k budget, and if you know how to spot a well looked after car you'll probably get it right first time. I known loads of people who've had a really reliable 15 year old car that would have run for another 50,000 miles, which they've only been able to sell for around £500.

Give the service history and general condition more weight than make/model/fuel.

If you must get a newer diesel be wary of post 2006 ones which have a DPF that costs £1000s to replace, and removal of DPFs is now an MOT failure.

Edd_80

Harvey i understand your comments on diesels but i am not buying new. I am looking to buy used with a max of £4000. The biggest price difference will be a few hundred quid (mileage a little higher on a diesel as well) so a diesel is more economical as i can put the savings away for any issues further down the road.

The question really is does a diesel suit my 12'000 a year on average with some longer trips and my daily commute to work details in previous post.

Thanks,

nobbysn*ts

[quote=[Deleted User];65824052]Quick answer: Bangernomics!

There are loads of £500 cars with lots of life left in them. If the first one you get causes problems just scrap it and get another, you'll have 8 chances to get a decent one before using up your 4k budget, and if you know how to spot a well looked after car you'll probably get it right first time. I known loads of people who've had a really reliable 15 year old car that would have run for another 50,000 miles, which they've only been able to sell for around £500.

Give the service history and general condition more weight than make/model/fuel.

If you must get a newer diesel be wary of post 2006 ones which have a DPF that costs £1000s to replace, and removal of DPFs is now an MOT failure.[/QUOTE]

I choose the variant that didn't have a dpf. Having said that, the next model up did. They're around £300 to £400 for a replacement, plus fitting, which is no more complicated than an exhaust. So even that would be two or three years of VED saving at most.

[Deleted User]

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

They're around £300 to £400 for a replacement, plus fitting, which is no more complicated than an exhaust. So even that would be two or three years of VED saving at most.

I assume you're talking about the particular DPF for your car? In general they cost far more than this, this is why there are so many garages offering DPF removal for around £500.

In answer to the OP, I'd say 12,000 miles is borderline between going for a diesel or a petrol, so I wouldn't make it one of your essential criteria when choosing. It'd be much better to get a well-looked-after petrol than a diesel with no service history.

Edd_80

Hi All,

Just wanted to come back and say thank you all for the input and thoughts. finally persuaded my OH to go with an estate.

Purchased a Skoda Octavia Estate 1.9TDI!!:beer:

Thanks,
Edd

bigjl

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Usual MSE response in these situations is to shout 'Mondeo!'

I prefer the focus to the Golf. Leons are nice too.

Because a Mondeo is a good car.

Why not recommend one?

For the OPs budget they may get an early new shape,08 onwards.

Skoda Octavia also springs to mind.

I personally think the Golf and Leon boot will be a little tight.

A leftfield choice would be an Astra estate the 1.7 lump is apparently an Isuzu again after a few years of only fitting the inferior GM engine. The 1.9 cdti is ok for reliability if you can avoid a DPF equipped version, i think most Astras were non DPF as i think only the Auto Zafira had one from the 2005/6 but double check.

One thing to remember is that Vauxhall/Opel petrol engines are actually rather long lived, especially the older ones, not sure about the newer VVTi engines.

A mate got himself a nice 2005/55 plate Astra 1.6 Design estate at auction recently. Can't remember exact price but i think it was around the £1500 mark.

Had full history and drives like a new car.

And has plenty of room for his two dogs.

If £4k is all you have i would spend less and try and go to an auction like BCA or Manheim with somebody who has bought at auction a lot in the past.

And keep a chunk of money incase something breaks.

A Skoda Octavis or Mondeo could also be sourcdd in the same way.

The top end of your budget could easily see you in a 3 or 4 yr old ex fleet car with above average miles.

Which is howni have bought several of my cars over the last 8/10 years.

One had 80k odd on it and gave good reliable service to beyond 200k and the other had 101k on it and gave good service to beyond 150k.

And neither had the issue associated with owner neglect or sitting around unused, which is worse for a car than constant use in my experience.