Sub £3000 commuter - reliable and cheap to run

[PaulC75]

Hi all, posted here last year looking for a sub £10k car but after some shopping and the arm twisted by the wife ended up with this at £24k!



Now, don't get me wrong, I love the car, but I don't love the fact that circumstances have changed and I'm paying £375 a month, plus diesel, plus insurance/tax etc and have little change out of £500 a month and its rarely used for anything but the 22 mile each way commute 4 to 5 times a week!

So, Im looking to find something sub 3k thats reliable for that sort of work only. I've been looking at Honest John and Parkers and here and settled on a Yaris D-4D of about 2008 vintage and just went to see one at £2650 and while I liked the idea for me there's a bump to the left of the clutch pedal that feels like it's in the way every time I change gear and is annoying as sin! Plus this one had been sat for ages, spiders had made it its home, the 2 rear wheel arch liners where missing and there was a whine like a pulley or bearing constantly in the engine department!

I'd like something reliable, diesel(1) and relatively cheap to run(2) and about the £3000(3) mark?

(1)diesel because the new e10 petrol ain't always good in older cars.
(2)though if I bought it outright and not paying £375 a month I'd suffer worse fuel economy for something nice.
(3)Unless I go down the route of a cheap hybrid of course but that would need to be sub £10k if Im going to px or finance.

Any thoughts on any of the above greatly appreciated.

Edited by PaulC75 on Thursday 28th October 16:52

[Jakey123]

I wouldn't personally bother with a diesel in the type of car you are after.
An old petrol yaris/jazz/civic or equivalent small petrol is going to be the cheapest without any diesel complication, nearly all of them run fine on E10.
Just buy the tidiest one you can find.

[2gins]

Petrol, manual, naturally aspirated, Ford, Vauxhall or Japanese. Not exciting but that's what it is, right?

Saab 9-3 in Vector trim would be a decent choice too.

[ZX10R NIN]

This is easily done you can get a nice CLC220cdi for that money or a C Coupe if you want to spend less, they're pretty much bulletproof & running costs are sensible too with parts prices on par with Ford/VW.

CLC 220 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110268...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109177...

200cdi

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107305...

C Coupe 220cdi Sport Edition

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108156...

220cdi SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107175...

CLK220cdi Elegance

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109197...

All the above will be reliable & will see another 100k with regular servicing.

[markymark34]

ZX10R NIN said:

This is easily done you can get a nice CLC220cdi for that money or a C Coupe if you want to spend less, they're pretty much bulletproof & running costs are sensible too with parts prices on par with Ford/VW.

CLC 220 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110268...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109177...

200cdi

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107305...

C Coupe 220cdi Sport Edition

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108156...

220cdi SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107175...

CLK220cdi Elegance

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109197...

All the above will be reliable & will see another 100k with regular servicing.

Some great suggestions here. Is the diesel engine in the newer shape Merc regarded as well as this?

[ZX10R NIN]

markymark34 said:

Some great suggestions here. Is the diesel engine in the newer shape Merc regarded as well as this?

Not quite as good as this unit due to a few timing chain issues & they put the chain at the back of the engine making it a very expensive repair.

It hasn't affected a lot of the later engines but it is (long service schedules don't help) something to be aware of.

[PaulC75]

Cheers all for the info so far, re the Saabs and Mercs, I don't think they are for me to be honest, I'm really looking to go about the size of a focus at most really.
Looks like civic / auris would be the way forward for me and will take on board that petrol should be included in my choice re the e10 shenanigans.

Though I did stumble on the nissan cube and found myself looking at them in a longing sort of way LOL.

[ZX10R NIN]

PaulC75 said:

Cheers all for the info so far, re the Saabs and Mercs, I don't think they are for me to be honest, I'm really looking to go about the size of a focus at most really.
Looks like civic / auris would be the way forward for me and will take on board that petrol should be included in my choice re the e10 shenanigans.

Though I did stumble on the nissan cube and found myself looking at them in a longing sort of way LOL.

Also take a look at the Giulietta they're a great reliable (yes really) option at this price point:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105172...

Astra SRI

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110048...

Megane Dynamique TomTom

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105172...

All the above are easily as reliable as the diesel Civic & way more reliable than an Auris diesel.

Petrol Options

Astra GTC SRI

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105122...

1.4T Astra SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110258...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106063...

SRI

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110288...

Giulietta Lusso

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110198...

1.4T Megane Dynamique TomTom

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110078...

[ussprometheus]

A diesel Auris in either 1.4/2.0 guise would be more reliable than Alfa/Vauxhall/Renault. The 2.2 diesel from Toyota is the one where the reputation comes from and should probably be avoided at the ages they are now. Reportedly though the manufacturing issues with the 2.2 were resolved from 2009 onwards.

[PaulC75]

Always promised I'd never touch another renault and there's nothing about that megane making me change my mind, the alfa is plum awful looking IMO obviously but I'd not really considered the astra so that defintely bears thinking about.

[georgeyboy12345]

Don't buy a bloody diesel if you aren't even managing 6000 miles a year!

Get one of these

Fiat Punto

1.4 8V
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101117...


Zero tax Twinair version
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110288...


Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110088...


Suzuki Swift 1.2 SZ3
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110198...

[PaulC75]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Don't buy a bloody diesel if you aren't even managing 6000 miles a year!

I will be doing overall somewhere between 6000 and 10000 but plan to be as near to the lower end as possible if literally only using this for commuting but, genuine question, why not have a diesel?

[eleveneleven]

Like a few have already said I would avoid the Toyota D-4D engine on anything below a 2010.

The 2.2 i-CTDi in the Honda is a gem. loads of torque, good on fuel (40 to 60 mpg on a run) and very reliable. At £3k it would be my pick if I was in the market for a cheap reliable A to B Diesel
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010024...

Petrol options
- Toyota Corolla 1.6 VVTi
- Honda Civic 1.8 V-tec (Or Honda Jazz 1.4)
- Suzuki Swift 1.5 or 1.6

Low miles in diesel will require more frequent maintenance particularly oil changes, and there's DPF and EGR valves to worry about. Both get blocked easily if you don't let the car stretch its legs every once in a while, replacing a DPF is costly if it gets to that. Then there's ULEZ charges depending on where you live/travelling to/from. Less to go wrong with a petrol engine if doing low mileage. From my personal experience though at 8k I think you'll be fine with a Diesel if you can squeeze a long motorway trip in every so often.

Edited by eleveneleven on Friday 29th October 13:14

[ZX10R NIN]

ussprometheus said:

A diesel Auris in either 1.4/2.0 guise would be more reliable than Alfa/Vauxhall/Renault. The 2.2 diesel from Toyota is the one where the reputation comes from and should probably be avoided at the ages they are now. Reportedly though the manufacturing issues with the 2.2 were resolved from 2009 onwards.

You're actually very wrong the Alfa/Vauxhall & Renault diesels are comfortably less likely to go wrong, there were numerous issues with the 2.0d too.

[2gins]

For something compact, how about a Panda 100hp for some ph points? Good fun, no idea how reliable they are.

[ussprometheus]

ZX10R NIN said:

You're actually very wrong the Alfa/Vauxhall & Renault diesels are comfortably less likely to go wrong, there were numerous issues with the 2.0d too.

You are entitled to your opinion but in this case it's really not right, any engine series can have problems (see the engines put in the Alfa/Vauxhalls for example), but there are some that don't go as wrong or as badly wrong as others.

Peace.

[georgeyboy12345]

2gins said:

For something compact, how about a Panda 100hp for some ph points? Good fun, no idea how reliable they are.

This is a great suggestion! I hadn't thought of that

[PaulC75]

georgeyboy12345 said:

2gins said:

For something compact, how about a Panda 100hp for some ph points? Good fun, no idea how reliable they are.

This is a great suggestion! I hadn't thought of that

Interesting suggestion, though I have to ask what ph points are lol?

Seems fairly well liked on the honest john and parkers reviews

[p4cks]

Anything VAG that has the 1.4 TSI engine in it (NOT the twin-charged 1.4 which is made of chocolate and cheese)

Had it in a 2015 A3 which was amazing, and latterly had it in a Seat Leon shed. Regularly saw 45mpg+ and absolutely nowt goes wrong on them

[georgeyboy12345]

p4cks said:

Anything VAG that has the 1.4 TSI engine in it (NOT the twin-charged 1.4 which is made of chocolate and cheese)

Had it in a 2015 A3 which was amazing, and latterly had it in a Seat Leon shed. Regularly saw 45mpg+ and absolutely nowt goes wrong on them

You won't find anything with that engine for £3000, they are all too new still