Opinion needed on which car to get...

forgotmyname

I wouldnt choose either. Not the best engines in the ranges.

System

wgl2014 wrote: »

I'd go with the one from a family friend ( so long as you trust them).

Hell no. Just because it is a family friend is no guarantee that you'll end up with a good one and at least with the one from the dealer you have a warranty and comeback.

2ndAccount

forgotmyname wrote: »

I wouldnt choose either. Not the best engines in the ranges.

All i'm looking for is an economical runner to take me up and down the motorway to work. I'm expecting 55mpg+ out of both, cheap tax and insurance (I've already got 6 points so need to stay slow!!).

Budget of 5k, can't be too small a car as I'm over 6foot.

What would you recommend instead?

forgotmyname

Strange comment and choices.

Economical, so your not interested in reliability? Have you seen the issues they have with those engines?

Expecting 55mpg, depends on your journey type and driving style. I have a 2L Diesel Mondeo that will do 57mpg on a run with some traffic. Gentle drive along fairly quiet 40mph roads ive had 67mpg on the trip.

Cheap insurance? For me a Mondeo is cheaper to insure than a Focus. And they are cheaper to buy when used.

Cannot be too small? Daughters got a KA and i can slide the seat back so far that i cannot reach the pedals. Not over 6ft but im not under 5ft either.
Some small cars have tons of legroom. And some surprisingly large cars have very little.
Car was bought from nieces boyfriend who is over 6ft tall, he had no issues.

Stay slow? Almost anything out there will be capable of breaking the motorway speed limit. The ones you mentioned even in their lowest engine spec will do 110mph ish..

What would i recommend instead, not the 1.6 diesel in the Focus, otherwise a Focus is great, i would move up a size for a daily long motorway commute though. Sister did 20k+ a year and her Focus used to get through a few wheel bearings. She had a Mondeo afterwards and not one bearing replaced.

Other than that a Focus is good, just not that 1.6 diesel.

2ndAccount

forgotmyname wrote: »

Strange comment and choices.

Economical, so your not interested in reliability? Have you seen the issues they have with those engines?
I've seen the issues with the VW EGR valve failing and emissions update causing problems, I haven't seen or heard any issues with the focus engine? I'm looking for advice on common faults so if you have any then great!

Expecting 55mpg, depends on your journey type and driving style. I have a 2L Diesel Mondeo that will do 57mpg on a run with some traffic. Gentle drive along fairly quiet 40mph roads ive had 67mpg on the trip.
I didn't realize the mondeo would get those numbers to. Could I get a mondeo for the same money without too higher mileage on the clock?

Cheap insurance? For me a Mondeo is cheaper to insure than a Focus. And they are cheaper to buy when used.


Cannot be too small? Daughters got a KA and i can slide the seat back so far that i cannot reach the pedals. Not over 6ft but im not under 5ft either.
Some small cars have tons of legroom. And some surprisingly large cars have very little.
Car was bought from nieces boyfriend who is over 6ft tall, he had no issues.
I've owned both a golf and a focus in the past, just the GTI and ST versions! Both fit me fine, but I wouldn't want to go smaller.

Stay slow? Almost anything out there will be capable of breaking the motorway speed limit. The ones you mentioned even in their lowest engine spec will do 110mph ish..
I know, but I feel like I'm excersing caution by sticking to a smaller engine! And the insurance is dear enough on a 1.6 with points...

What would i recommend instead, not the 1.6 diesel in the Focus, otherwise a Focus is great, i would move up a size for a daily long motorway commute though. Sister did 20k+ a year and her Focus used to get through a few wheel bearings. She had a Mondeo afterwards and not one bearing replaced.
As above, I couldn't find any mondeos for my budget without being really high mileage.
Other than that a Focus is good, just not that 1.6 diesel.

Thanks for your note above, I've responded to the comments made. The other consideration for me, if I can get the same MPG out of a 1.6 or a 2L, would then be tax. Both of the choices are £30 a year, if I moved up to the 1.8L or 2L Focus its £130...

In my mind thats money down the drain, if the car returns the same mpg? and would cost more to insure...?

This isn't my weekend car, it's purely a commuter car. I play in my v6 330i at the weekend

forgotmyname

£130 a year instead of £30 but i get a more reliable engine, choices choices....

How many years will you need to keep the £30 tax car when you need a new turbo? Not heard of the 1.6 diesel focus issues? You need to research..

You Want a bigger car not Need. I need a car with 4 wheels and an engine. I choose a big engined larger car because i want it. I could easily move down to a Focus sized car but it wont save me anything on the insurance, OK i may save £100 or even £200 a year on the tax but it wont tow as well and it wont be as relaxing to drive as the bigger engined car. etc etc. But at the end of the day i wanted the Mondeo i dont need it except the rare occasion where im shifting something and it only just fitted.

You cannot find a Mondeo for £5k with sensible mileage?

Smaller engine and speed, no you wont drive any slower, in fact your likely to thrash it more.

I would choose a cherished car over what the mileage shows. I sold one in 2009 with 150k on the clock and its still going strong, i check the MOT status every now and then.
My last one had 170k miles when i sold it 2 years back and the person that bought it does almost 30k miles a year in it. I expect it to hit 250,000 miles this year.

A few on autotrader with around 40k miles for less than your budget, one stood out as i would travel and have a good look. 40k miles but 8 services.
So the owner knew that just because its low mileage it still needs servicing.

Likely they just told the garage to fix anything and everything no matter what.

forgotmyname

mmm Just found the car i would really goto see. Older MK3 2L diesel mondeo with 40k on the clock and being sold by a dealer. A 10 year old car must be good for the dealer to be selling it.

Well serviced these engines will goto 300k miles and more very easily..

Seen an article where one went through the auction with over 500k miles and it fetched more than i would have expected, it wasnt that old either. Over 300 miles a day, every single day.

2ndAccount

Thank you for your advice, you've genuinely given me food for thought!

I'm looking at the focus today, I've decided not to go for the golf, and will do some proper research on the Mondeos now.

I'm actually more tempted to the Mondeo just from a brief look!

benson1980

Also worth considering a hybrid if you want no tax and good mpg. 55-60mpg on the motorway and A roads won't be an issue so more than a match for the diesels you are looking at. Auris would be good choice if budget stretches to 6k ish.

stilstunner

Golf way much trusted than ford