Economical car fail.... help please!
Discussion
Hello
Basically myself and boyfriend have just taken out a mortgage on our first house so massive bills to follow. I'm on a measley, just-above-average wage and currently running a 2.2 litre Astra Coupe which I love to bits HOWEVER costs me a silly £260 a year on tax and £600 insurance, plus £30 a week on a short commute to work. The last service bill which didn't have anything particularly major was over the £500 mark. Not previously been a problem but with the new mortgage it will be pushing my budget!
So I'm looking for something:
- ideally costing peanuts to tax (in relation to the coupe)
- cheap to insure... (MX5 works out expensive for me!)
- RELIABLE!
- must be able to have some form of bike rack fitted as do lots of MTB-ing (also maybe an MX5 problem)
- 4 or 5 seats would be nice (as above!)
- preferably not dog slow or boring to drive, ugly, boring to look at etc.... will be bad enough going from a relatively quick / gutsy engined car to something "economical" so something fun to drive and nippy would be a bonus, even better something that looks a little different or less common than the average boggo fiesta or Ka.
- Strict budget of £1500.
I have spent half an hour browsing cars on ebay/autotrader within 20 miles of home and have so far found NOTHING of any interest whatsoever, and finding myself drawn to the likes of an older Celica, a classic Scooby and a 1.8 version of my current car (turns out they are also astronomical to tax considering the engine size you get.)
Another problem being, my Coupe will be incredibly lucky to sell for £1200 if anything at all, so begs the question whether or not selling it would be sensible or not at all..... if I get peanuts for it, the likelehood of finding or affording a decent reliable car is of course diminished.
So basically I'm not even sure if I should be selling it at all! It has no real problems and has been touch wood very reliable to me.... so could be a good idea to run it into the ground and hope nothing does go wrong? Argh decisions!
My ideal car would be the 2003 onwards version of the Fiesta Zetec S TDCI but of course that shatters my budget! Also looked at the Puma but most seem ropey for the price or rusty, and still quite pricey to insure.
Any insight would be fabulous as I keep getting sick of the sight of bland hatchbacks, closing autotrader and telling myself to keep the Coupe as nothing else will do!
Thanks
Basically myself and boyfriend have just taken out a mortgage on our first house so massive bills to follow. I'm on a measley, just-above-average wage and currently running a 2.2 litre Astra Coupe which I love to bits HOWEVER costs me a silly £260 a year on tax and £600 insurance, plus £30 a week on a short commute to work. The last service bill which didn't have anything particularly major was over the £500 mark. Not previously been a problem but with the new mortgage it will be pushing my budget!
So I'm looking for something:
- ideally costing peanuts to tax (in relation to the coupe)
- cheap to insure... (MX5 works out expensive for me!)
- RELIABLE!
- must be able to have some form of bike rack fitted as do lots of MTB-ing (also maybe an MX5 problem)
- 4 or 5 seats would be nice (as above!)
- preferably not dog slow or boring to drive, ugly, boring to look at etc.... will be bad enough going from a relatively quick / gutsy engined car to something "economical" so something fun to drive and nippy would be a bonus, even better something that looks a little different or less common than the average boggo fiesta or Ka.
- Strict budget of £1500.
I have spent half an hour browsing cars on ebay/autotrader within 20 miles of home and have so far found NOTHING of any interest whatsoever, and finding myself drawn to the likes of an older Celica, a classic Scooby and a 1.8 version of my current car (turns out they are also astronomical to tax considering the engine size you get.)
Another problem being, my Coupe will be incredibly lucky to sell for £1200 if anything at all, so begs the question whether or not selling it would be sensible or not at all..... if I get peanuts for it, the likelehood of finding or affording a decent reliable car is of course diminished.
So basically I'm not even sure if I should be selling it at all! It has no real problems and has been touch wood very reliable to me.... so could be a good idea to run it into the ground and hope nothing does go wrong? Argh decisions!
My ideal car would be the 2003 onwards version of the Fiesta Zetec S TDCI but of course that shatters my budget! Also looked at the Puma but most seem ropey for the price or rusty, and still quite pricey to insure.
Any insight would be fabulous as I keep getting sick of the sight of bland hatchbacks, closing autotrader and telling myself to keep the Coupe as nothing else will do!
Thanks
My friend had a 1.8 Astra and found it horrendously thirsty, the 2.2 is probably marginally better. What mpg are you actually getting?
If I were you I'd either stick with the devil you know, or just give up and buy some sort of starship mileage Mondeo TDDi, you'll need to look much further afield than 20 miles though, when I'm car hunting I set the radius to at least 100 miles to include a better range of cars.
If I were you I'd either stick with the devil you know, or just give up and buy some sort of starship mileage Mondeo TDDi, you'll need to look much further afield than 20 miles though, when I'm car hunting I set the radius to at least 100 miles to include a better range of cars.
Service included a tyre and a wheel bearing plus new handbrake cable so that bumped it up £150 quid but lots of little niggly bits mostly. It has done 108,000 miles so now the question is how long will gearbox / clutch live on for etc. It had a new timing chain fitted at 80k regarding the usual 2.2 Z22SE problems with oil lubrication so engine wise seems solid for the time being.
Fuel wise I don't have a trip computer but seem to get about 28-30mpg on the A and B roads to work, could probably push that up to 32 -34 being careful.
Its due its MOT in November so I guess see how that goes and take it from there. 99% sure it will pass touch wood, just dreading there will be a ridiculous bill for it at some point leaving me wishing I'd gotten rid sooner. Just contemplating how much better or worse off I'd be with a £50 a year tax small hatchback... that I have no idea on the reliabilty it will offer me! Win lose situation I think. Current thoughts, stick with the Astra....
Fuel wise I don't have a trip computer but seem to get about 28-30mpg on the A and B roads to work, could probably push that up to 32 -34 being careful.
Its due its MOT in November so I guess see how that goes and take it from there. 99% sure it will pass touch wood, just dreading there will be a ridiculous bill for it at some point leaving me wishing I'd gotten rid sooner. Just contemplating how much better or worse off I'd be with a £50 a year tax small hatchback... that I have no idea on the reliabilty it will offer me! Win lose situation I think. Current thoughts, stick with the Astra....
Edited by Louisa911 on Monday 10th October 23:42
Louisa911 said:
Hello
.....plus £30 a week on a short commute to work.
.....plus £30 a week on a short commute to work.
Louisa911 said:
Hello
- must be able to have some form of bike rack fitted as do lots of MTB-ing (also maybe an MX5 problem)
... surely you've solved your own problem there? - must be able to have some form of bike rack fitted as do lots of MTB-ing (also maybe an MX5 problem)
As other have said, cost in changing car will probably not make it worthwhile. I've been gradually downgrading my cars in the past few years, always chasing he dream of something fun yet frugal- and if i'm boring and do the maths, i havent really saved anything after the depreciation etc. Only now i'm in a far more boring car. i lose!
How many miles per week are you driving for £30?
Depending on other factors you'll probably not save a great deal of cash unless you get lucky or spend a lot more than £1500 - I tried varying the car I drive on a series of insurance quotes and dropping from a Volvo V70 D5 to a Nissan Micra 1.0 saved me less than £150 on a £550 premium.
You can probably improve fuel economy with practise - I got an Audi S2 up from 18mpg to 35mpg when I had a long M25/M23 commute about 10 years back simply by driving with the lorries and avoiding sharp braking or acceleration - look ahead and ease off the power rather than braking as late as you can. Journey time was up by maybe 5 minutes over 65 miles but much more relaxing. I'd still enjoy the thing at the weekends though.
As others have said, find a good independent and get a bit more savvy with the servicing costs - shop around for your own tyres, check your brake pads before a service, that kind of thing.
Depending on other factors you'll probably not save a great deal of cash unless you get lucky or spend a lot more than £1500 - I tried varying the car I drive on a series of insurance quotes and dropping from a Volvo V70 D5 to a Nissan Micra 1.0 saved me less than £150 on a £550 premium.
You can probably improve fuel economy with practise - I got an Audi S2 up from 18mpg to 35mpg when I had a long M25/M23 commute about 10 years back simply by driving with the lorries and avoiding sharp braking or acceleration - look ahead and ease off the power rather than braking as late as you can. Journey time was up by maybe 5 minutes over 65 miles but much more relaxing. I'd still enjoy the thing at the weekends though.
As others have said, find a good independent and get a bit more savvy with the servicing costs - shop around for your own tyres, check your brake pads before a service, that kind of thing.
Louisa911 said:
Its due its MOT in November so I guess see how that goes and take it from there. 99% sure it will pass touch wood, just dreading there will be a ridiculous bill for it at some point leaving me wishing I'd gotten rid sooner.
And the value of a high mileage Astra Coupé with 4 weeks MoT remaining would be...?Probably driving on average about 120 miles a week. Never really worked out my actual MPG based on a general weeks driving as more often than not I'm off somewhere different each time and topping up on odd days. Think a near-empty tank and an odometer reset is in order!
Thanks for the tips so far guys, agree with what a lot of you are saying about downgrading. If I were to sell the Astra for £1000 I'd have lost £650 in a year and most likely end up with a crappier car and a fair bit lost through insurance too.
Thanks for the tips so far guys, agree with what a lot of you are saying about downgrading. If I were to sell the Astra for £1000 I'd have lost £650 in a year and most likely end up with a crappier car and a fair bit lost through insurance too.
oldcynic said:
nd the value of a high mileage Astra Coupé with 4 weeks MoT remaining would be...?
Well it would *fingers crossed* in two weeks have 12 months MOT on it by that time so hopefully that situation won't arise! I agree with you though, they are stupidly cheap now for the amount of car you get! Great when buying but not so good for the seller eh.You could get an a2 for roughly 2k which will do 60mpg.
Or a 98 a3 with 80 ish thou on the clock 1.8t which will do 26mpg in town and 45 on cruise for 1k-1.3.
None of the above would set the world on fire however both would cost next to nothing to run esp the a2. I think it costs between 50 and 125 quid a year in road tax and is likely to be very cheap on insurance.
Or a 98 a3 with 80 ish thou on the clock 1.8t which will do 26mpg in town and 45 on cruise for 1k-1.3.
None of the above would set the world on fire however both would cost next to nothing to run esp the a2. I think it costs between 50 and 125 quid a year in road tax and is likely to be very cheap on insurance.
My vote goes to staying with the Astra.
It's a car you know, has obviously been maintained, and you're happy with it.
Based on the MPG figures you give, only a diesel is going to give you a decent return on any money you spend, and even that is going to take a long time to get those returns.
And then you need to factor in the higher maintenance costs of a diesel.
And who knows what problems may be lurking in any 'new' car you buy?
Better the devil you know and all that.
HTH.
It's a car you know, has obviously been maintained, and you're happy with it.
Based on the MPG figures you give, only a diesel is going to give you a decent return on any money you spend, and even that is going to take a long time to get those returns.
And then you need to factor in the higher maintenance costs of a diesel.
And who knows what problems may be lurking in any 'new' car you buy?
Better the devil you know and all that.
HTH.
£30 a week in fuel... Stay with the Astra. Savings would be minimal. My dad did this, he had a Rover 25 1.4i with 47k miles and a 45mile commute each day. He refused to go diesel so traded in his 103hp Rover + £1000 for a 60hp 1.1 Saxo... He probably gets about 5mpg more (Rover was pretty good to start with) and it has cost him £1000 
What a tool.
What a tool.Good god Liquid - can you go a single day without whoring out your car? 
I agree with most of the above posts, it's unlikely that selling it will help much unless you buy a really cheap motor. Would rule out a Scooby though - might be reliable but servicing isn't cheap and MPG not good either!
I agree with most of the above posts, it's unlikely that selling it will help much unless you buy a really cheap motor. Would rule out a Scooby though - might be reliable but servicing isn't cheap and MPG not good either!
hora said:
Personally I'd keep the Astra and run it into the ground.
For £1,500 you could buy a peach but I doubt it. Every car as it gets older has consumables fail etc. It'd just be like someone buying your own Astra now.
Change garages and just do an oil change once a year.
What he said, with a tight budget it is better the devil you know than the one you don't unless you manage to spot a very dull, unloved by most people car that runs on air for your budget. For £1,500 you could buy a peach but I doubt it. Every car as it gets older has consumables fail etc. It'd just be like someone buying your own Astra now.
Change garages and just do an oil change once a year.
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