Considering as a runabout
Discussion
Hey guys.
I'm considering purchasing a new car as the work runabout. I don't want to spend much and am not particularly bothered about specifically what car it is. However, I have found locally, a 2010 Mazda 6 2.2 TS2 diesel. It IS high mileage, 204k to be precise. But that in itself doesn't bother me. I'm just after advise on running costs, particularly parts costs, and what I should be paying close attention to on this model. I couldn't think of anywhere better for reasoned and knowledgable advice.
Any advise gratefully received, other than the shouts of 'don't do it'...
I'm considering purchasing a new car as the work runabout. I don't want to spend much and am not particularly bothered about specifically what car it is. However, I have found locally, a 2010 Mazda 6 2.2 TS2 diesel. It IS high mileage, 204k to be precise. But that in itself doesn't bother me. I'm just after advise on running costs, particularly parts costs, and what I should be paying close attention to on this model. I couldn't think of anywhere better for reasoned and knowledgable advice.
Any advise gratefully received, other than the shouts of 'don't do it'...
That Mazda would need to be cheap, very cheap, 100k isnt not much to a modern car, but over 200k it could be utterly on its last legs and the Mazda six of that era, I think has a poor reputation for rust.
Look at whatever history it has, get it checked over by someone who knows their way round a car if you dont and pay particular attention to the underside as they can look shiny on top and a long abandoned Trawler underneath.
It may well have plenty of life left but I wouldnt pay more than a grand for it.
Check the MOT history online and look for any fails or advisories, especially to do with corrosion.
Look at whatever history it has, get it checked over by someone who knows their way round a car if you dont and pay particular attention to the underside as they can look shiny on top and a long abandoned Trawler underneath.
It may well have plenty of life left but I wouldnt pay more than a grand for it.
Check the MOT history online and look for any fails or advisories, especially to do with corrosion.
I'm just wondering why you would opt for the notoriously troublesome 2.2 Mazda diesel as a work runabout, rather than the extremely reliable 2 litre petrol? I had a Mk1 Mazda 6 and it was brilliant. Reliable, good to drive, no cam-belt, low maintenance etc.
How far is your commute? If the 2 litre petrol is too thirsty, could you get by in a smaller engined car like a Focus or a Mazda 3?
So for me, I would exercise extreme caution with a Mazda 6 diesel of that mileage!! - for clarification, it has two issues - firstly timing chains stretch and snap and secondly the rising oil level which can cause the engine to seize...other than that and the potential DPF issues you get with diesels, yeah its fine!
How far is your commute? If the 2 litre petrol is too thirsty, could you get by in a smaller engined car like a Focus or a Mazda 3?
So for me, I would exercise extreme caution with a Mazda 6 diesel of that mileage!! - for clarification, it has two issues - firstly timing chains stretch and snap and secondly the rising oil level which can cause the engine to seize...other than that and the potential DPF issues you get with diesels, yeah its fine!
Edited by greenarrow on Tuesday 31st December 11:29
J4CKO said:
That Mazda would need to be cheap, very cheap, 100k isnt not much to a modern car, but over 200k it could be utterly on its last legs and the Mazda six of that era, I think has a poor reputation for rust.
Look at whatever history it has, get it checked over by someone who knows their way round a car if you dont and pay particular attention to the underside as they can look shiny on top and a long abandoned Trawler underneath.
It may well have plenty of life left but I wouldnt pay more than a grand for it.
Check the MOT history online and look for any fails or advisories, especially to do with corrosion.
Look at whatever history it has, get it checked over by someone who knows their way round a car if you dont and pay particular attention to the underside as they can look shiny on top and a long abandoned Trawler underneath.
It may well have plenty of life left but I wouldnt pay more than a grand for it.
Check the MOT history online and look for any fails or advisories, especially to do with corrosion.
Thanks J4cko.
It's only £900. Which I thought was an exceptional price. Have been and had a 'quick' look round the car without any sales person in attendance. The outer bodywork looks immaculate. No immediate signs of rust anywhere. The MOT history shows 4 fails during its life. But 1 of those was due to lights not working, 1 was windscreen wipers not clearing effectively, 1 was brake disk too thin, and the other was front tyre below minimum tread depth. Advisories speak nothing of corrosion anywhere. MOT history has it having covered 104k by the time of its first MOT. And mileage seems to stack up from there without any concern.
I've obviously not seen underneath, but know the garage it's at has ramps so will see if I can get it on them. Hopefully they'll oblige...
greenarrow said:
I'm just wondering why you would opt for the notoriously troublesome 2.2 Mazda diesel as a work runabout, rather than the extremely reliable 2 litre petrol? I had a Mk1 Mazda 6 and it was brilliant. Reliable, good to drive, no cam-belt, low maintenance etc.
How far is your commute? If the 2 litre petrol is too thirsty, could you get buy in a smaller engined car like a Focus or a Mazda 3?
So for me, I would exercise extreme caution with a Mazda 6 diesel of that mileage!! - for clarification, it has two issues - firstly timing chains stretch and snap and secondly the rising oil level which can cause the engine to seize...other than that and the potential DPF issues you get with diesels, yeah its fine!
Thanks greenarrow.How far is your commute? If the 2 litre petrol is too thirsty, could you get buy in a smaller engined car like a Focus or a Mazda 3?
So for me, I would exercise extreme caution with a Mazda 6 diesel of that mileage!! - for clarification, it has two issues - firstly timing chains stretch and snap and secondly the rising oil level which can cause the engine to seize...other than that and the potential DPF issues you get with diesels, yeah its fine!
I've purely looked at this as budget and distance allows. I, unfortunately, can't travel the length and breadth of the country looking at cars, as much as I'd like to.
Also, I haven't found a petrol version or I would definitely look. My commute is only about 15 miles each way. Hence not wanting to spend much money. And yes, a petrol would be a better option. And the thirstiness of the petrol doesn't concern me.
Thanks for the advice around oil issues and timing chains. I'll pay attention to those.
As for the focus/mazda 3 idea. I don't particularly dislike the idea. Just within a reasonable distance and at the right budget they seem few and far between...
I'd say find the best Vectra/Mondeo etc you can find locally with half the mileage:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
CelicaLincs said:
greenarrow said:
I'm just wondering why you would opt for the notoriously troublesome 2.2 Mazda diesel as a work runabout, rather than the extremely reliable 2 litre petrol? I had a Mk1 Mazda 6 and it was brilliant. Reliable, good to drive, no cam-belt, low maintenance etc.
How far is your commute? If the 2 litre petrol is too thirsty, could you get buy in a smaller engined car like a Focus or a Mazda 3?
So for me, I would exercise extreme caution with a Mazda 6 diesel of that mileage!! - for clarification, it has two issues - firstly timing chains stretch and snap and secondly the rising oil level which can cause the engine to seize...other than that and the potential DPF issues you get with diesels, yeah its fine!
Thanks greenarrow.How far is your commute? If the 2 litre petrol is too thirsty, could you get buy in a smaller engined car like a Focus or a Mazda 3?
So for me, I would exercise extreme caution with a Mazda 6 diesel of that mileage!! - for clarification, it has two issues - firstly timing chains stretch and snap and secondly the rising oil level which can cause the engine to seize...other than that and the potential DPF issues you get with diesels, yeah its fine!
I've purely looked at this as budget and distance allows. I, unfortunately, can't travel the length and breadth of the country looking at cars, as much as I'd like to.
Also, I haven't found a petrol version or I would definitely look. My commute is only about 15 miles each way. Hence not wanting to spend much money. And yes, a petrol would be a better option. And the thirstiness of the petrol doesn't concern me.
Thanks for the advice around oil issues and timing chains. I'll pay attention to those.
As for the focus/mazda 3 idea. I don't particularly dislike the idea. Just within a reasonable distance and at the right budget they seem few and far between...
TBH at £900 its cheap enough to take a risk on it. Run it for a year, if it breaks, chuck it away...
Personally for £900 I'd look at the older Mk1 as there are plenty of 2 litre petrols available in that price bracket at around 100K miles at which point from experience I can tell you that you'd be unlucky to get any major bills. Many people also actually prefer the drive of the Mk1. Its a smaller car and very nimble. I owned an NB MX-5 at the same time as my Mazda 6 and it would be difficult to choose which of the two had the better steering. The Mazda 6 was also as quick through the bends as the MX-5, which I proved on my favourite back roads!!
ZX10R NIN is also right that the Mondeo is a good choice if you go petrol. Again, £900 buys you a decent Mk3 Mondeo 2 Litre which should be fairly bomb proof
I will highly recommend a MK1 Focus for its simplicity/running costs. It's been more solid and reliable than a corolla I had before it and I think it speaks volumes about just how good the MK1 focus was as a cheap transport option.
A word of caution though when looking at the sub £1k bracket, lot of sh*tters in that price range that will be falling apart if minimal servicing was done if any as these cars tend to have a high tolerance to being thrashed and abused, so just be aware and go by instinct when buying as eventually issues will crop up, some of it might be luck.
A word of caution though when looking at the sub £1k bracket, lot of sh*tters in that price range that will be falling apart if minimal servicing was done if any as these cars tend to have a high tolerance to being thrashed and abused, so just be aware and go by instinct when buying as eventually issues will crop up, some of it might be luck.
VR99 said:
I will highly recommend a MK1 Focus for its simplicity/running costs. It's been more solid and reliable than a corolla I had before it and I think it speaks volumes about just how good the MK1 focus was as a cheap transport option.
A word of caution though when looking at the sub £1k bracket, lot of sh*tters in that price range that will be falling apart if minimal servicing was done if any as these cars tend to have a high tolerance to being thrashed and abused, so just be aware and go by instinct when buying as eventually issues will crop up, some of it might be luck.
I'm currently running a cheap Mk1 Focus and entirely agree with all this. My advice, read the MOT history carefully. A word of caution though when looking at the sub £1k bracket, lot of sh*tters in that price range that will be falling apart if minimal servicing was done if any as these cars tend to have a high tolerance to being thrashed and abused, so just be aware and go by instinct when buying as eventually issues will crop up, some of it might be luck.
Multiple advisories and failures each year suggests someone not keeping up with maintenance. Mine needed a new battery immediately and has a drive shaft bearing noise but otherwise has so far been reliable considering it was very cheap and bought blind off of Ebay!!
Also agree about buying on instinct. Mine has no history, but the only advisories were things like rear foglight failures which you cant legislate for and the occasional worn tyres. I feel sure it was looked after and the fact that it has used no oil or water in nearly 2,000 miles so far would seem to bear that out....
Edited by greenarrow on Monday 6th January 15:15
Well, I've bought a runabout. Thanks for everyone's advice. I did find a mk2 focus petrol, and a mk4 mondeo petrol. But the focus was worse than a shed, and the Mondeo had a bit of a dodgy MOT history. Although looked good, clean, tidy, no rust anywhere, but was missing the boot floor...?
Anyway, being as it's now going to be the wife's car we found something that suited her needs a bit more and bought a mk1 C-Max 2.0 petrol titanium. Lovely little thing. Tiny spec of rust on bottom corner of door, but easily sorted with a rub down and patch up. Interior is magnificent, very spacious, incredibly clean, plenty of space, and power sockets, and trays for the kids. Does have 116k on the clock, but don't see why that should be an issue.
Hopefully a nice little motor. Just awaiting the new MOT to see where it's at in that respect. But looking back at MOT history only ever failed on tyres and a couple of bulbs, so nothing major in the history either.
Paid a little over budget we'd hoped for, but picked it up for a £1500. Will come with 12 month MOT, 3 month warranty (whether that's worth it or not remains to be seen).
Pick it up Saturday.
Anyway, being as it's now going to be the wife's car we found something that suited her needs a bit more and bought a mk1 C-Max 2.0 petrol titanium. Lovely little thing. Tiny spec of rust on bottom corner of door, but easily sorted with a rub down and patch up. Interior is magnificent, very spacious, incredibly clean, plenty of space, and power sockets, and trays for the kids. Does have 116k on the clock, but don't see why that should be an issue.
Hopefully a nice little motor. Just awaiting the new MOT to see where it's at in that respect. But looking back at MOT history only ever failed on tyres and a couple of bulbs, so nothing major in the history either.
Paid a little over budget we'd hoped for, but picked it up for a £1500. Will come with 12 month MOT, 3 month warranty (whether that's worth it or not remains to be seen).
Pick it up Saturday.
I hope the car is ok for you.
Personally, I wouldn't have bought from a dealer at this price range. Each to their own though.
And please note that if anything goes wrong early on, don't let the dealer push you into using the warranty. They really aren't worth the paper they are written on.
Personally, I wouldn't have bought from a dealer at this price range. Each to their own though.
And please note that if anything goes wrong early on, don't let the dealer push you into using the warranty. They really aren't worth the paper they are written on.
The problem is I live in the a!*e end of nowhere, and haven't got a lot of time spend travelling all over the country looking at cars. I searched on Ebay, gumtree and autotrader and within a sensible distance of me there wasn't much to choose from. I appreciate there are excellent deals out there, but I can't be travelling to Manchester and London just to look at a car, especially at that price.
So a dealer it was.
But this is where it gets a little different. The warranty isn't a third party warranty, like most dealers would be, it's underwritten by them so (apparently) covers everything. And they will (supposedly) fix anything. And I made the point of clarifying this several times throughout the process.
The only thing they ask is that if there is anything goes wrong I take it back to them. Unless the car is undriveable, in which case they'll make arrangements to recover it to themselves...
I think this all sounds a bit OTT for a car that age, and hopefully I'll never need it, but we shall see.
So a dealer it was.
But this is where it gets a little different. The warranty isn't a third party warranty, like most dealers would be, it's underwritten by them so (apparently) covers everything. And they will (supposedly) fix anything. And I made the point of clarifying this several times throughout the process.
The only thing they ask is that if there is anything goes wrong I take it back to them. Unless the car is undriveable, in which case they'll make arrangements to recover it to themselves...
I think this all sounds a bit OTT for a car that age, and hopefully I'll never need it, but we shall see.
At the end of the day if you're happy with the car you dont need to justify your selection to anybody.
I've also found that dealer prices are often similar to private prices in this bracket so its no big issue.
The C Max is an excellent choice. I believe that the 2.0 C Max petrol has the Mazda derived engine that I was raving about earlier on this thread so should give you good service and be reliable. Its a Ford too so cheap to run and Fords of this era are generally reliable.
Nice one.
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