Economical, sub £4k

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Thu 24 Apr 2008 21:32
Economical, sub £4k - sargeman
My Sister is looking for a used car. She's going to be doing approximately 400 miles a week, would like something economical and safe for under £4,000. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks

Tom
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Thu 24 Apr 2008 22:30
Economical, sub £4k - oldnotbold
Sixty to eighty miles a day, so not too small then, so a Toyota Yaris is out.

My wife loves her Ford Focus, and in manual form on that mileage a 1.6 should return 36 mpg, I'd suggest. Good car, loads to choose from, and they wear the miles well. For that budget she should be able to get a good one.
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Thu 24 Apr 2008 22:42
Economical, sub £4k - Avant
"Sixty to eighty miles a day, so not too small then, so a Toyota Yaris is out."

Not necessarily - elder daughter has done 50,000 trouble-free, comfortable miles in 2 years in her 1.3 Yaris. Avoid the 1.0 which is probably OK round town but slkuggish on the open road.

If it's too small a Corolla will do quite well, but I agree that a Focus will also suit her if she doesn't mind it using a bit more petrol.
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Fri 25 Apr 2008 19:37
Economical, sub £4k - sargeman
Thanks for the responses. I was thinking of a Citroen C2 1.4hdi (purely from an economy point of view). Will add the yaris and a focus / corolla to the list.
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Sat 26 Apr 2008 07:41
Economical, sub £4k - madf
An early diesel yaris should be in reach. I've seen them with over 100k miles and still excellent. And cheap servicing.. or easy DIY

Edited by madf on 26/04/2008 at 07:42

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Sat 26 Apr 2008 17:27
Economical, sub £4k - oldnotbold
On that mileage a diesel is marginally worthwhile, and read HJ's DT column today - he's not happy with modern diesels, and I agree. 40 mpg from a petrol car that costs less, and is less likely to go wrong is better than 50 mpg from a riskier, more expensive (in capital + per gallon) diesel.

Do the sums on a spreadsheet, and take into account the cost of the capital and the depreciation to get the real number.

Putting yr finger in the wind is no longer viable!

Edited by oldnotbold on 26/04/2008 at 17:28

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