suggestions for a new car

ali-t

Thanks for those samsonite1, I was thinking petrol because I was told that only doing short journeys in a diesel car wrecks the engine and causes expensive damage.

my local paper has a few interesting cars in it tonight including a lovely range rover vogue 4.4 for £11k but google shows me 17mpg - its off the list!

Samsonite1

ali-t wrote: »

Thanks for those samsonite1, I was thinking petrol because I was told that only doing short journeys in a diesel car wrecks the engine and causes expensive damage.

my local paper has a few interesting cars in it tonight including a lovely range rover vogue 4.4 for £11k but google shows me 17mpg - its off the list!

Some of those 4x4s gave petrol versions although there are just not so many around - they are cheaper though - they were nearer £10k for a petrol Kuga if I recall, but they have 2.5 litre engines. Petrol 4x4s are not going to be that economical.

Regarding short journeys, both engines suffer. Short journeys are not good for any car. Not just the engine, but the battery takes a battering every time you fire the ignition and a short journey will not replace the charge. My previous car was petrol and the battery died from a couple of years of daily short journeys. Diesels sometimes suffer less in this regard due to often having higher capacity batteries.

Regarding expensive damage to diesels on short journeys, it is not strictly true, but on more modern diesels there are extra parts to meet Euro legislation on emissions. You need to make sure you do a good 20 minute blast down a dual carriageway or country road once in a while to clear build up of soot inside these new parts. Otherwise after a long time you may have to have it cleaned out by a garage, I have never had this or seen this on a car that I know of but have seen posts about it on the internet.

Just to reiterate though that short journeys are not good for any engine really. That's why I get a warranty, so I do not have to pay extra if anything goes wrong.

jellie

ali-t wrote: »

What is it that you love about them? Do you have a1?

I have a 1.2 A1. Love it.

Skinto_7

Samonite has made some good car suggestions.

I would add the following, you can get all of these between 1-2 years old, 20k on clock and in petrol for less £15k:

Suzuki grand vitara
Hyundai ix35
Peugot 2008
Mitsubishi asx
Jeep Compass
Kia Sportgage

gonzo127

i know it got passed over earlier when someone suggested it but a quick look on autotrader at the fiat panda 4x4 gives a few nearly new (64 plate) petrol versions with under 5k miles for under £12k, and it gets a pretty good right up on it from a very quick glance

ali-t

Just a quick update, i looked into all the cars i liked and the one mentioned by posters on the thread and went for something completely different. I ended up buying a 5 year old landrover freelander 2 and love it. Thanks to everyone for your input.

wrightk

+1 for c Max.just purchased petrol model.no dmf no timing belt and no dpf and diesel issues to worry about.cheap servicing.in top 100 reliability index.personally don't think it looks anything special but funnily enough it's the first car I've had that neighbours have commented on being a good looking car!

parking_question_chap

I dont think I have ever seen a shortlist comprising of such totally different vehicles.

Looks like you have just put every model of car into a hat and picked out 5 at random.

andrewf75

Double_V wrote: »

Please avoid Dacia at all cost.
Rubbish car.

Depends what you want.

They are highly rated across Europe where they have been on sale much longer than in the UK.

Its a budget no-frills car so its not for everyone, but if all you want is something simple to get you from A to B they make a lot of sense.

neil.woos

With a budget like that just get a 4-5 year old 325i. Very reliable and comfortable.