Can you help me decide out of these cars?

[Mak93]

Hi, after extensive research and advice from this forum on searching for a car thats practical for my mountain bike, economical and cheap to run and insure in my budget these three cars are the ones ive found thats best for me. Because of the cowboys in the industry and the horror stories and i'm no mechanic I now only buy cars from my local trusted dealer who is also a family friend and happens to have all three in stock which I've viewed and test driven apart from the diesel . I can get these cars at a slighty reduced price to.

3k for any of these...

Honda Jazz 1.4 09 plate +fsh + Honda history , 44k miles -
Kia Pro Ceed 10 plate 1.4 + fsh ,48k miles
Kia Pro Ceed 09 plate 1.6 crdi fsh plus 7 year kia history, 49 k diesel

Just for a little background info, i will be doing between 12 -18k a year , prioritise reliability and how practical the car is for my mountain bikes.

Jazz - Quite amazed at how much room such a small car can pack , perfect for the bike , not the funnest to drive tho. low ish miles for its age but the car has just had a full service done by local honda dealer with paperwork. stamped . Can load bike with minimal effort thanks to the jazz's seat system, very cheap insurance. The jazz also has a almost perfect mot history not 1 fail just 1 advisory for a tyre.

Pro ceed 1.4 + I know kias arent the most favoured car on ps but I quite like the pro ceed, not as practical as the jazz although slighty bigger on the outside, but big enough for my bikes and i actually liked the way it drive's compared to the jazz and personally prefer the looks . Disel pro ceed - Not test driven it as it was getting serviced when i went to look but I have drove a similar one , personally I find diesels more relaxing to drive and may suit my fairly frequent motorway driving but i am a bit put of with the new shaming towards diesel's ive been hearing lately so on the fence.

All cars are in very good condition and the dealer is very highly rated in the area , also has a 5 star auto trader rating.

Any advise on this, ps seller also has a nice fiesta in stock which i got recommended a lot but it just feels to small and cramped, i don't think my bike and gear would fit nicely .

Edited by Mak93 on Monday 4th June 04:00

[steve-5snwi]

if your covering 18k a year i'm not sure i would want to spend that amount of time in a Jazz, i would lean towards the Ceed diesel, however i would also consider the i30. If spending lots of time on a motorway something like a Mondeo or Laguna would be a good place to be for comfort.

As for the 5 star review on Autotrader, it doesn't mean anything, the dealer i worked for had 5 stars and some are justified, some however that were put up were deleted by autotrader when really they should have been left up.

[Integroo]

Why not go up a size and get the Civic? It has fold flat seats and a cavernous boot for your mountain bike, and is a size up which will be better for the number of miles you do. The diesel is a great engine, no DPF, plenty of power, good fuel economy (though I think they do have a tendency to eat clutches).

Something like this:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Mak93]

Thanks for the replies, I did look at the civic's and I do like that one you sent, issue for me with disel civic's is the insurance is very expensive thats what is putting me off them. The 1.4 civic is affordable but ive been told that these are bad on mpg and are underpowered for the size of the car . The 1.8 is also to expensive on the insurance so ah I don't know shame caues i really like civic's .

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd go for the Pro C'eed diesel it's a good car (same size as the Civic) & the warranty makes it a no brainer especially when you're doing 18k per year.

[Mak93]

Hi ZX i think you helped me out on my last thread a while back, just to update you i got a little banger paid 300 quid for it just to get me on the roads while i saved a bit more money to get around the 3k mark lol ive recently sold it for 260 mot was due lol.

The only thing is with the diesel is i am more paranoid , i heard that new mot laws are much more strict on diesels aswell so thats why I am on the fence with them. I do agree driving wise the disel is a better choice for me . I remember on some of my other ph threads a lot of people were saying get the petrol and i got a lot of horror stories on that thread about older diesels and it's kind of swayed me a bit .

[Mak93]

I don't think the 09 disel ceed has a dpf if im correct its the mid 10's that have them so not sure if i should see if i can get a dpf ceed if i go diesel

[ZX10R NIN]

M.O.T rules on new diesels are stricter but these rules are not retrospective, the 134bhp versions come with a DPF but the 113bhp will be fine (don't go for the 89bhp version it's just underpowered it's the same with 1.4 version) & MOT wise won't pose a problem.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

If you've found a good 113bhp version then go for it.

[Mak93]

Cheers zx very helpful , just want to say on the thread i estimated id be doing up to 18 k miles actually ive recalculated and it will be 10 - 12 but majority wil be motorway mileage with a bit of town driving in manchester mainly.