Which Cheap Car Is Likely To Be Best Choice

[V8RX7]

Cousin has no cash and her Mk5 Golf's gearbox has just gone so I think it'll get £1k in the local auction

She does 12k a year mostly motorway and money is very tight so reliability and mpg matter.

I've had a quick look on AT and found the following it's been 20yrs since I drove little cars will a 1.25 Fiesta or 1.3 Micra cope with 80mph for 100 miles on the motorway or should I be pushing her toward something bigger ?

The choices I've seen are:

99 1.3 Micra 80k £600
96 1.4 Civic 70k £650
01 1.7 Puma 99k £700
04 1.6 Astra 70k £700
01 1.25 Fiesta 65k £750
02 2.0 Accord 68k £800

All are low owner, FSH, cars that are currently for sale nearby

I'd like the Puma but I know they rust, I'm told the Micras are bomb proof but will they be happy / comfortable as a motorway car ?

Common sense tells me to get her the Accord - bigger car, bigger engine surely the best bet and probably not a lot in the mpg at a steady cruise.

Thoughts ?

[orangesrule]

I'd go jap for reliability (personally), the 2.0l accord could be a tad thirsty though.

[robsav]

I had that age/engine fiesta from work when it came out. took it to the alps twice and it was happy enough at 80 odd the whole way. wasn't very enjoyable but it didn't grumble and was as comfy as you'd expect such a car to be!

[davepoth]

I reckon the Astra - it's the newest, so has done the most miles per year. Perversely that's a good thing because if a car has only done a couple of thousand they'll all be "in town" and short distances, meaning it'll feel older. The Astra looks like it would have done slightly longer journeys, so hopefully it would have had time to warm up. It'll also be much better on the motorway, although I would be happy to run all of those at 80+ all day.

[cat220]

Not on the list but can I suggest something like this, should be more than up for the job...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/peugeot/406/...

Cheers,
C

[Zad]

You need to know the condition of all the cars before you spend money. Either way, I think that seems a lot of money for a 17 year old Civic, and I think I'd go insane driving a Micra on the motorway for more than a few miles. The price of Fiestas and similar cars gets artificially inflated at this time of year by the new student population.

[inman999]

A Mk 5 Golf with a broken gearbox must be worth more than £1000.

[Defcon5]

Just fix the golf?

[SlowV6]

Consider adding a Primera to that list. A P11 facelift model 2.0 in a good spec would be in budget. Chain cam and will get mid to high 30s on a run. They are tough cars.

[V8RX7]

Golf has the 1.6 FSI engine which is known to be problematic and it's done 140k this is the second time the gearbox has gone - last time it was fixed for £1k (60k ago)

I guessed a used box fitted would be £500 - she's had enough and TBH I can't see the engine lasting much longer... did I mention that the 120k she's done has all been on 95 NOT super which is what it's supposed to have.