Looking for a cheap to run older car

interstellaflyer

motorguy wrote: »

Check the renault forums RE: the pre-coding issue in case anyone has any advice / cheaper options.

RE: your key card, if its the buttons theres loads of people on ebay who will open it, replace the buttons and reseal for a few £.

I've checked Renault forums, doesn't seem to be much activity and most relate to MK2 Meganes, my car is a late 2011 car, Renault updated the software in 2011 meaning mine can't be done by most auto locksmiths, the MK2 keycards can be opened and fixed, the MK3 keycards are more secure and can't. Although we can't prove it, it is suspected that the precoding issue was caused by the previous auto locksmith I called, who got the registration number/year wrong and plugged in equipment that wasn't designed to handle the later software, the guy I've got on the job now has the latest equipment and comes highly recommended, downside was the vehicle needed to be recovered to his premises 30 miles away to do it.

interstellaflyer

motorguy wrote: »

The O/P seems to be doing approx 15,000 to 20,000 a year.

I think thats well in to diesel territory.

Assuming 33mpg out of that petrol Civic auto you linked to, and 18K PA, you'd be pumping £250 a month of fuel in to it.

Currently yes, that's the sort of mileage I do, however, thinking about it, to get the train to my main place of work is £6.40 return a day and I'm only a 10 min walk to my local station and when I get to Oxford it's only another 10 min walk, if I drive I have to pay £2 a day at the Park and Ride and a 10 min walk to work so I can cut down the mileage.

lexington013

Honda Civic diesel. The 2.2 CDTI is a peach. Very quick car for its size, managed 58mpg regularly out of my partners company car. Think it was a 2010 car.

kmb500

motorguy wrote: »

Any 1.9TDI VAG car with a FSH and a good history of maintenance.

Skodas tend to be less abused, so probably an Octavia for best VFM.

I'd probably personally run with a Passat or Golf though.

Try to buy privately otherwise for your £3K you'll be buying a £2,000 car with a dealers £1,000 profit margin

I second this, those engines are gold. We had a 1.9TDI Passat, just sold it with 150,000 miles on the clock. After all that mileage the only real issues it had in the 12 years we had (from new) it were parking sensors, one of the windows stopped moving and eventually sold it as there was an issue with water leaking through a door seal, which only happened after one of those airport valet companies managed to flood it.

foxy-stoat

lexington013 wrote: »

Honda Civic diesel. The 2.2 CDTI is a peach. Very quick car for its size, managed 58mpg regularly out of my partners company car. Think it was a 2010 car.

+ 1 for the 8th Gen Civic 2.2 cdti - my '08 is on 150K and all good....I have steered away from the standard 1.9 tdi VAG engine car groups now as the Honda is a better car in my opinion in every way. I have £1000 ready to drop for an unrated clutch and re-map once my clutch starts to get wobbly, its fine at the moment though (gutted).

interstellaflyer

Cheers guys, like I said, I'm not bothered about diesel, I can cut my mileage down by more than half, also, I know they have a good rep but sorry guys, Honda just doesn't do it for me

Frudd

Diesels are getting more expensive to run into old age due to things like Dual Mass Flywheels and Diesel Particulate Filters. I have read a couple of articles in the past couple of years suggeting that an older petrol car is better - they require more maintenance, but not high price items.

interstellaflyer

Frudd wrote: »

Diesels are getting more expensive to run into old age due to things like Dual Mass Flywheels and Diesel Particulate Filters. I have read a couple of articles in the past couple of years suggeting that an older petrol car is better - they require more maintenance, but not high price items.

I've been running diesel cars for a few years now and have never suffered DMF or DPF problems but then, most of my driving is on dual carriageway at 50mph plus for 10 miles or so, I rarely do short journeys. The biggest problem with diesel cars from a running point of view is that they are being bought by people who do the wrong sort of driving i.e. short journeys, stop/start town/city driving and low mileage.