Suggestions for a car please

Wh05apk

At this level, for 100 miles a week fuel costs are largely irrelevant, the difference between a 2.0lt petrol and a small diesel will be about £5, far better to concentrate on finding a good car, which has been looked after, and will have low maintenance costs, diesels of this age could cost far more to repair than the small savings in fuel costs.

jimjames

clayton16749 wrote: »

What is it that's making you want to change cars?

Good question.

Currently owning a 2003 model I can't see much of an upgrade paying £2000 for another vehicle.

I'd suggest a VW Golf Mk4 TDI or any other VW group TDI but really depends what the reason for changing is.

BeenThroughItAll

Abu_Yoosha wrote: »

Would like to keep it smaller as I have noticed they are less costly. Example, parts, repairs, servicing, maintenance such as tyres, etc.

Sorry, but that's rubbish.


There is virtually no correlation between size of car and cost to maintain, except possibly in the cost of tyres. Costs will depend on make, model, and usage.

forgotmyname

A small car can have odd sized low profile tyres that are not made in huge numbers like the tyres on the average rep-mobile.

A service on a medium sized car maybe the same as that of a larger car. Depends on the engine and service interval.

And on a £2000 car a bit of pot luck also.

andydiysaver

I can only tell you what not to get as I've not got it right yet and maybe reading this thread will also help me


DON'T get ford or Vauxhall - mass produced rubbish, parts cheap as they may be , are frequently repaired as it's built off a huge line, and built to break - everything made of plastic, tons of bespoke parts needed to fix other parts, money gravy train right from handing over the keys to the scrap heap, no care or workmanship at all.


I'm not saying go for premium, what I am saying is from experience buying rubbish costs more in repairs in the long run!

andydiysaver

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Sorry, but that's rubbish.


There is virtually no correlation between size of car and cost to maintain, except possibly in the cost of tyres. Costs will depend on make, model, and usage.

I bet to differ - I once had to take a wheel of a ford ka to change its headlight cause my hands are too big- bigger cars easier in that regard. plus there's a correlation between size of car and cost to RUN and that's the real driver of the money when it comes to car size. so do you want a car that you have to take to bits just to get your headlight right that runs on next to nothing or do you want a beast with decent power to it that stops by the petrol station every 2nd trip to work, or do you want the middle ground?

Weird_Nev

Doing just 5000 miles a year and with £2k to spend IMO you'd be MAD to go for a diesel. YOu're just begging for high mileage woes and plenty of end-or life components. Things like turbos, clutches, DMF's and DFP's if fitted etc, and of course with higher milage all the other bits will be more worn too and so less 'fun'.

My suggestions are all petrol, so you can compare what you get for your money.

Honda Civic Type S 2.0 5 Door - Plenty available, no slouch (8.5 secs to 60) better ride comfort than the Type-Rs.

Fiesta ST 2.0 - If you can live with 3 doors, these handle very well, are fast, reliable and cheap to maintain.

Focus 1.8 Won't set the world on fire, but they're quicker than you think and class leaders in handling. Bit more discrete than the ST. Choice of thousands....

That's about it. Your stipulation of less than £250/yr road tax kills all the really lairy suggestions. Things like Renault Clio 182's, Focus ST's and the like...

forgotmyname

andydiysaver wrote: »

I can only tell you what not to get as I've not got it right yet and maybe reading this thread will also help me


DON'T get ford or Vauxhall - mass produced rubbish, parts cheap as they may be , are frequently repaired as it's built off a huge line, and built to break - everything made of plastic, tons of bespoke parts needed to fix other parts, money gravy train right from handing over the keys to the scrap heap, no care or workmanship at all.


I'm not saying go for premium, what I am saying is from experience buying rubbish costs more in repairs in the long run!

Thats odd because my Mondeo has been excellent. £1000 in servicing repairs and MOTs in 5 years. When i only paid just over £2000 for the car in 2009 and still going strong.
Despite me adding more miles than i usually cover. Its now over 170,000 miles on the clock.

andydiysaver

forgotmyname wrote: »

Thats odd because my Mondeo has been excellent. £1000 in servicing repairs and MOTs in 5 years. When i only paid just over £2000 for the car in 2009 and still going strong.
Despite me adding more miles than i usually cover. Its now over 170,000 miles on the clock.

not bad at all - my ford is half that mileage and the first chance I get, I'm dumping it for a better car - trouble came last summer when the (entirely plastic) power steering spackered and sprayed corrosive fluid everywhere, I didn't know what a bill was until that happened - plastic rubbish, that's a ford to me

forgotmyname

Power steering fluid is not corrosive. There are a mixture of metal, plastic and rubber pipes.

Old brake fluid used to be an excellent paint stripper. But paint and brake fluid has changed since then. Does modern stuff still strip paint?