Cheap Aygo versus older sub £1k small shed opinions wanted
Discussion
Following from the last thread, I still find I'm still giving some serious consideration to the idea of having a cheaper car. This would free up some money for a new business venture that is beginning to show signs of getting closer to launch, and let me clear some debts and save a few quid in the bargain.
I notice Toyota Aygo's and their ilk are down to £2,500 now.
These have £20 road tax, and do 60 MPG, and seem as though they are, on the whole, reliable, and, dare I even whisper it, fun to drive.
The issue is, I am not good with spanners, but I'd be willing to learn. I felt the Aygo might be more reliable than a older, cheap car.
The other option is to try and spend less than £1K on a small cheap to run car.
Obvious answers here are Micras and Fiestas. I would not have a Corsa as they are hideous to drive, and my girlfriend has one, and also I'd be very reluctant to buy a Renault after my experiences with them.
Criteria - cheap road tax, insurance, fun to drive (handling), economical, reliable.
Can anyone comment on the following:-
I notice Toyota Aygo's and their ilk are down to £2,500 now.
These have £20 road tax, and do 60 MPG, and seem as though they are, on the whole, reliable, and, dare I even whisper it, fun to drive.
The issue is, I am not good with spanners, but I'd be willing to learn. I felt the Aygo might be more reliable than a older, cheap car.
The other option is to try and spend less than £1K on a small cheap to run car.
Obvious answers here are Micras and Fiestas. I would not have a Corsa as they are hideous to drive, and my girlfriend has one, and also I'd be very reluctant to buy a Renault after my experiences with them.
Criteria - cheap road tax, insurance, fun to drive (handling), economical, reliable.
Can anyone comment on the following:-
- Fiesta 1.25 Zetec or 1.4
- Micra 1.3
- Seicento Sporting
- Yaris SR
- Punto 1.2 Sporting
eltax91 said:
If you get the 1.3 Micra it'll be the best of both worlds, you will not need to be good with the spanners. Maintenance is a case of:-
Only thing that puts me off is the fact I've had two Micras now... but that means I can testify that you are correct about this...- Check oil
- Check Water
- Keep some fuel in the tank
Although fuel economy wasn't great IIRC for a small engined car, really more into the 30s than anything else, although at the time I owned them, I had not long since passed my test, which may have had something to do with it!
Not a popular PH car, but £2k worth of VW Golf Mk4 1.9tdi in 115bhp spec, can be a spectacularly cheap way to get from A to B.
And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
My sister has one and treats it badly, has done for years now.
It returns 50mpg all day every day and nothing breaks.
When the end comes, the Earth will be ruled by cockroaches and that silver car.
And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
My sister has one and treats it badly, has done for years now.
It returns 50mpg all day every day and nothing breaks.
When the end comes, the Earth will be ruled by cockroaches and that silver car.
Matt UK said:
Not a popular PH car, but £2k worth of VW Golf Mk4 1.9tdi in 115bhp spec, can be a spectacularly cheap way to get from A to B.
And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
Noted, although its about £1K more than I wanted to spend, but then since I've specified an Aygo, then its fair game really. Shame about the road tax but then I suppose even £220 P/A is better than the £475 I'll be paying next year otherwise.And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
I did some sums a few months ago of the cost of our 2010 C1 Vs a hypothetical £1k 2000/1 Micra. The thought of biffing about is something old, cheap and simple appealed. BUT, even allowing for the higher depreciation of the 2 year old C1 Vs a £1k Micra my sums suggested the C1 would be cheaper overall over the next 3-5 years. A no-brainer really.
mccrackenj said:
I did some sums a few months ago of the cost of our 2010 C1 Vs a hypothetical £1k 2000/1 Micra. The thought of biffing about is something old, cheap and simple appealed. BUT, even allowing for the higher depreciation of the 2 year old C1 Vs a £1k Micra my sums suggested the C1 would be cheaper overall over the next 3-5 years. A no-brainer really.
Yeah that's what I wondered really...I'm sure the Aygo would be about 50% better on fuel than a Micra (I'll be doing 15K a year), so thats a decent saving, then save £100 road tax, insurance a tad cheaper, thats why I'm tempted to bite the bullet for one, as I'd still be freeing up some cash... Its a tough one, though, as the £2k+ difference is a lot of fuel and road tax.
TameRacingDriver said:
Matt UK said:
Not a popular PH car, but £2k worth of VW Golf Mk4 1.9tdi in 115bhp spec, can be a spectacularly cheap way to get from A to B.
And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
Noted, although its about £1K more than I wanted to spend, but then since I've specified an Aygo, then its fair game really. Shame about the road tax but then I suppose even £220 P/A is better than the £475 I'll be paying next year otherwise.And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
It's 146 g/km band F so £135 p/a
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
J4CKO said:
We have a C1 and it is a great little car but £2500 is entry level so will be high mileage, they do seem fairly expensive but are very cheap to run and quite good fun, even quite robust apart fromt he clutches on earlier ones, so watch out for that.
9 months ago I paid £3000 for a 7k mile 56 plate Aygo - absolutely immaculate, one owner, private sale - probably worth £2500 now?MercScot said:
9 months ago I paid £3000 for a 7k mile 56 plate Aygo - absolutely immaculate, one owner, private sale - probably worth £2500 now?
Was gonna say, a very quick search in Autotrader turned this up for starters (not that I'm in the position to by this right now but still).http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
mccrackenj said:
I did some sums a few months ago of the cost of our 2010 C1 Vs a hypothetical £1k 2000/1 Micra. The thought of biffing about is something old, cheap and simple appealed. BUT, even allowing for the higher depreciation of the 2 year old C1 Vs a £1k Micra my sums suggested the C1 would be cheaper overall over the next 3-5 years. A no-brainer really.
Yes but you need to fork out for the C1 in the first place. No good if you only have or want to spend a grand.Difficult one this. No one can say if he grand car will be reliable or a money pit. At that price point it's all on how the previous owners have looked after it and also a bit of luck.
Just try searching for car between £500 - £1000 within 10 miles of you and see what comes up.
A nice Puma is near me for £895 with full MOT and 76k miles.
Also a few Micras and Fiestas all with lots of MOT and decent mileage.
I would tread very carefully with a high mileage C1/ Aygo/ 107. Having seen many, many 107s there are no two that are the same but by 60k they will be needing a clutch sooner or later and probably a water pump.
I would possibly look towards either rasisng your budget by a grand or possibly a 206 1.4 HDi. Whle not the most exciting of cars they are cheap to run and £30 tax.
I would possibly look towards either rasisng your budget by a grand or possibly a 206 1.4 HDi. Whle not the most exciting of cars they are cheap to run and £30 tax.
Matt UK said:
Not a popular PH car, but £2k worth of VW Golf Mk4 1.9tdi in 115bhp spec, can be a spectacularly cheap way to get from A to B.
And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
My sister has one and treats it badly, has done for years now.
It returns 50mpg all day every day and nothing breaks.
When the end comes, the Earth will be ruled by cockroaches and that silver car.
Or if you avoid VW tax, you can pick up a car with identical mechanicals in the form of a Skoda Octavia or Seat Leon/ Toledo for less.And if your commute does not involve 'left foot braking', 'a desire to tease the back end out' 'kissing the limited at 8,000rpm' and balancing grip/slip/grip whilst 'playing at the edge of the envelope', they are a decent enough daily steer.
My sister has one and treats it badly, has done for years now.
It returns 50mpg all day every day and nothing breaks.
When the end comes, the Earth will be ruled by cockroaches and that silver car.
Left field suggestion, how about a Ford SportKa? Not as economical as your other choices, but should be relaible and cheap to fix if needed. Meant to be fun to drive too.
The Aygo/C1/107 does appeal as well however, and would probably be my choice.
GreatGranny said:
Yes but you need to fork out for the C1 in the first place. No good if you only have or want to spend a grand.
Difficult one this. No one can say if he grand car will be reliable or a money pit. At that price point it's all on how the previous owners have looked after it and also a bit of luck.
Just try searching for car between £500 - £1000 within 10 miles of you and see what comes up.
A nice Puma is near me for £895 with full MOT and 76k miles.
Also a few Micras and Fiestas all with lots of MOT and decent mileage.
Having to "fork out for the C1 in the 1st place" is taken care of by including depreciation & cost of capital in the calculation, which I did. Taking it into account again is double-counting. Also, the OP suggested he could find the £2500 required. Difficult one this. No one can say if he grand car will be reliable or a money pit. At that price point it's all on how the previous owners have looked after it and also a bit of luck.
Just try searching for car between £500 - £1000 within 10 miles of you and see what comes up.
A nice Puma is near me for £895 with full MOT and 76k miles.
Also a few Micras and Fiestas all with lots of MOT and decent mileage.
Agree that the £1k car could be a lot of trouble, although it might not of course.
The OP is talking about maybe an 06 Aygo Vs maybe an 01/02 Micra. I'd bet the Aygo will be the more reliable of the 2.
Looks like low mileage ones are out there for £2500, by and large they tend to be 80k plus at that price, or they were when we were looking, we ended up paying six for a year old 4k miler.
Ours has been doing short journies, my wife works a mile away but has to carry quite a lot of kit so she uses it, still does 45 mpg, I think sixty plus is possible if you do longer journies and take it easy, dont think they like high speed motorway work, that said it will do 90 odd mph and it fairly comfortable at 80 plus, cant imagine that is very economical.
Ours has been doing short journies, my wife works a mile away but has to carry quite a lot of kit so she uses it, still does 45 mpg, I think sixty plus is possible if you do longer journies and take it easy, dont think they like high speed motorway work, that said it will do 90 odd mph and it fairly comfortable at 80 plus, cant imagine that is very economical.
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