low cost, reliable car - advice please

BeenThroughItAll

darkmatter101 wrote: »

For £1,500 and for the mileage you anticipate on doing mileage, you have a few paths you could go down on:

1. As others have suggested an older VW/Audi/Seat TDI would be a good choice. They are bullet proof (if they have been maintained properly) and are quite comfortable on longer journeys. Well the Golf, Passat, Jetta, A3, A4 all are anyway. However, looking at their maintenance is key. For £1500 you will be looking at 10 year old plus TDI's with 150k and more miles on the clock. Look at when the timing belt was last changed (they cost around £300 to do) and look at whether its had regular oil changes (otherwise your turbo may blow and its a VERY expensive job!). Problem with TDI's and diesels generally is that they are expensive to fix when things go wrong.

2. Doing 350 miles week(mostly motorway) and seeing that we are coming into the winter season, I personally would avoid the smaller petrol cars such as the Yaris/Polo etc. Wouldn't be as comfortable as larger cars and wouldn't have the power you would like on motorway speeds. However, if you don't mind go for an older 1999-2004 Yaris 1.33 VVTI.

3. My choice would be the E36 BMW 318is/323i/328i M-Tech. You can easily find one for £1500 and they would give around 35-40mpg on a motorway cruise of 70 mph. Excellent driver feedback and very comfortable, more so than all of the above. Bullet proof engines that can easily surpass 250k miles. And they are chain driven so no need to worry about timing belt replacements.

Started reasonably well, went downhill when you got onto your 'small cars shouldn't be allowed on motorways' horse, then further at 'my pick would be a crappy old Beemer'.


4/10. Must try harder.

Herzlos

You don't need power at motorway speeds - once you're up to 70ish you're using almost no power getting there. You may want a bit of poke to get there but not to cruise. Have you ever driven on a motorway darkmatter?

darkmatter101 wrote: »

3. My choice would be the E36 BMW 318is/323i/328i M-Tech.

You do realise that no-one apart from enthusiasts and those in the trade know what an E-number BMW is? It's an essentially internal name, you won't find it in ad listings or anything, not that it's of much use here because someone doing 350+ miles a week doesn't want to be doing it in a 323/328i because the fuel costs (@30mpg) will suck. That's firmly in diesel territory.

The Seat TDI was a good shout as well.

OP - just look for a diesel that's in good condition and you're comfortable sitting in. At that price there isn't much differentiation and condition is the big thing. You're going to be inside it for hours at a time so you want something that you like.

Idiophreak

Herzlos wrote: »

Have you ever driven on a motorway darkmatter?

No.

He tried driving his daddy's escort once, but he couldn't see over the dashboard.

Few more years and he'll get his L plates, bless 'im.

mattyprice4004

FSH isn't as important as made out - it's important to know it's been looked after, but at that price some could have been DIY serviced.
I've had a couple of complete nails that have had FSH.