Hello there you all-knowing, all-seeing, all-driving wonderful people, I need your assistance.
I need to buy my first car to commute to university about 57 miles twice a day, 5 days p/w. Ideal car VW Polo/ Lupo post-2000 but I know i'm pushing my luck with my budget. I need it:
To be VERY economical on fuel (BTW should it be diesel or petrol...?)
To be no more than £2000
To be in the lowest of the low insurance bracket (I'm 22)
To be small and nippy
To be reliable and sturdy - I know nothing about car maintenance and don't really want to learn.
To be quite gorgeous - I have my streetcred to consider.
Any ideas for makes/ models would be greatly appreciated, recommendations etc etc. If anyone's flogging a car fitting the above description let me know :)
Thanks
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For your budget you can forget a post 2000 vw - the only thing i can think of that ticks all the boxes whould be a 306 D-Turbo.
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Well I didn't even know what this was til I googled (ignorance is bliss), and it's going to cost far too much to insure.
Thanks anyway, I take it you think diesel is better?
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For what it's worth, I ran a 1.7 Lupo diesel for 89,000 as a driving tuition car and it was probably the best build quality of any car I have owned. None of the usual trim rattles and squeaks, it sounded and drove the same when I sold it as it did when new. Very economical too, around 55 - 60mpg under far from sympathetic conditions. Long as you steer clear of main agents servicing is not too expensive either.
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for the mileage your doing yes diesel will probably be best but it's not definate.
The problem you will find is that cars in the sub £2k category don't meet all your criteria so something will have to give.
Economical - Your looking at over 20k miles a year so diesel is a must
Under £2000 - Generally looking at either a 4 or 5 year old supermini or a slightly older slightly bigger car
Low insurance - generally means small engine
Small and nippy - because your doing a fair mileage a slightly bigger car may give a bit more comfort than a smaller car
Reliable - sadly cheap cars are generally older so are more likely to need repairs.
Streetcred - what do you class as cool?
You could buy a little 1.0 litre rollerskate but may well find it tiresome doing that many miles in it regularly.
Cars that may suit and will come in on budget
Citreon Saxo 1.5D
Citreon Xsara 1.9D/TD
Fiat Cinquecento/Seicento 1.1 Sporting
Fiat Punto 1.7TD
Ford Ka 1.3
Ford Fiesta 1.8D
Peugeot 106 1.5D
Peugeot 306 D/TD
Renault Clio 1.9D
Renault Megane 1.9D/TD
Seat Ibiza 1.9D
There are probably a load more that people will bring up but these are the ones i can think of off the top of my head.
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There's an 02 plate Arosa 1.4 TDi advertised by the dealer mentioned on the other thread about Motability cars that would be perfect, apart from the price - it's £4k, whcih is cheap! However it's very economical (65 mpg) and is basically a Lupo with a different badge.
Assuming you can't stretch that far, www.beaconcarsales.co.uk/_beaconcarsales.htm in Hertfordshire has a 98S 1.7 litre Arosa diesel with a reasonably high mileage that's £2,300. That may be within haggling room of budget.
Have you got a quote on the 306? It's only group 5 and while I know that group isn't everything when insurance premiums are calculated, it looks like it should be more expensive to insure than it usually is.
If the budget really is only £2k, I'd get a Saxo or 106 1.5 diesel, because they're simple and moderately tough. Most small diesels of this era (mid to late 90s) had heavy 1.8 or 1.9 engines that weren't that economical, even compared to the petrol equivalents, but Mr Haddock up there has pretty much summed up your options.
I'm not sure why he hasn't included the Corsa though - it's not a brilliant car, but it's practical if not exciting, and there are quite a lot around, with as far as I can tell a better diesel engine (Isuzu sourced I think) than the equivalent Fiesta.
Bear in mind also that 114 miles a day, 5 days a week, 36 (?) weeks a year, is 20k miles - that alone, without private mileage, will cost you a minimum of about £1,200 a year and quite possibly more like £1,800. Factor in the costs of running a car and you're looking at about £60 a week, which is a student rent in some parts of the country (I know nowhere near all though!)
Add the value of your travel time and is it really not an option to live closer?
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Yes david i did forget the corsa - available with either a 1.5D, 1.5TD or a 1.7D.
My thought exactly on the 306 - lots of them about to choose from and the insurance isn't too bad on them - i'm a member of a pug owners club and there are a lot of puggers with 306 TD's as first cars.
The only problem that i have with the small non turbo engines is that whilst yes they are economical they struggle with motorway work - my Peugeot is off the road and i'm using a Rover 115SD which is the Peugeot 1.5D and it's not too bad doing town stuff but over 60 on dual carriageway/motorway it feels very out of place and not happy at all.
Oh and another car i forgot about is my other car - a peugeot 205 STDT. All the looks of a 205 GTi but with a 1.8 Turbo diesel engine, a sort of forerunner of the 306 D-Turbo. Only problem is there aren't many around
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blue haddock, I thought you would mention the Toyota Starlet. OK, no diesel, not huge street cred, but ....
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Thanks so much for all of your suggestions I'm slowly making my way through them...
Fiat Seicento is looking good and has bargain insurance.
Yes David I had considered living closer but living at home with Mummy and Daddy, having a constant supply of food, fab big house, old room, bills paid etc etc is far more appealing. This is a postgrad, have done the student digs thing, loved it but needs must. Is a teaching degree too, meaning that I could be sent anywhere in the North for placement - paying rent on somewhere I will only be for about 5 months just isn't worth it. Not particularly looking forward to the commute, but is relatively simple A19 all the way.
Have a little problem in that I'm pretty tall and comfort factor comes into play - recently parents bought a new Micra and have become used to the space/height/brand new car luxury, going to have to get used to slumming it in a used...height means Skoda is out - have you ever tried to sit in one and see out of the windscreen if you are taller than 5'5"? Horrendous. Ka is the same.
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Just to confuse you a little more, with a couple of personal suggestions, I'd let the 4-5 year old thing give. By the time you're out of warranty I think i'd be accurate in saying generally condition and mileage are better indicators of any reliability. What I'm about to suggest may not please you, because of the credibility thing, but have you considered a Rover 200?
You could easily afford a 214 petrol or 220 diesel from the 96-on series, and they are pretty economical cars that ought to be big enough to comfortably fit you. I'd imagine they're also the best m-way cruisers suggested yet. The downside would be insurance - though you could spend say £1500 on the car, and then put the extra to insurance...and it may lack ultimate street cred, but I still think they look quite neat, subtle, classy cars? No?
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