What car £3K econobox

[virdeeb]

Chaps I have just sold my m3 and need a car that I can do 25,000 miles in a year. I have about 3k to spend on it, I dont need anything performance wise just maximum mpg and maximum comfort, any help with this?

[virdeeb]

Also need it to be very reliable

[tomsugden]

A bit over budget, but you may be lucky and find a cheaper one:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/4199875.htm

Plenty of lower spec ones available within budget.

[valverguy]

In my personal opinion, something like this

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4127518.htm

Small engined diesel comfortable enough cheap servicing and from what i hear reliable. for 3k you will get a low mileage example.

Alternatively if you feel a little more brave any of the vag 2.0 tdi's will be available in different guises and makes/models...

[J4CKO]

tomsugden said:

A bit over budget, but you may be lucky and find a cheaper one:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/4199875.htm

Plenty of lower spec ones available within budget.

Good call !

[valverguy]

I'd like to add that at 25k miles per year, you want something with steelies on for cheaper tyres, and you want something with cheap servicing (do it yourself) and cheap parts... It kind of rules out vags in my opinion

[HustleRussell]

valverguy said:

Small engined diesel comfortable enough cheap servicing and from what i hear reliable. for 3k you will get a low mileage example.

You hear wrong, Ford TDCI engines are much more troublesome than the VAG 1.9 engines

[valverguy]

HustleRussell said:

You hear wrong, Ford TDCI engines are much more troublesome than the VAG 1.9 engines

I had the mk1 1800 tdci engine for 60k miles without anything but servicing.

Regardless. The servicing/parts were very cheap and easy enough to do yourself. You also get a lot newer car for the money. Swings in round abouts i suppose.

[GreatGranny]

Old shape S40?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Passat?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Mondeo?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

[GreatGranny]

HustleRussell said:

You hear wrong, Ford TDCI engines are much more troublesome than the VAG 1.9 engines

They are also pretty gutless.

I think the DMF is a weak point on the 2.0l TDCi but my apart from that my dads Mondeo has been trouble free.

[DanielJames]

You'll get a really nice 406 HDi for under £2k, maybe even a grand

[valverguy]

DanielJames said:

You'll get a really nice 406 HDi for under £2k, maybe even a grand

My dad always said, buy a car that taxi's use alot, they must be reliable and cheap. I think a 406 would be ideal bangernomics...

[VladD]

Jag

[virdeeb]

Thanks for all of the quick replies, the problem with the Jag's is the expensive running costs when things go wrong. I need something that is inexpensive to fix when it goes wrong too. Has anyone done this kind of mileage in a small engined petrol car before?

[VladD]

virdeeb said:

Thanks for all of the quick replies, the problem with the Jag's is the expensive running costs when things go wrong. I need something that is inexpensive to fix when it goes wrong too. Has anyone done this kind of mileage in a small engined petrol car before?

I've had an S-Type for nearly three years and all I've had to fix is the A/C compressor. Not that a sample of one is representative, but you have to balance repair cost with the likelyhood of repair. Also I'm not sure how many of the X-Type parts overlap with Ford parts. Maybe worth investigating.

[Synchromesh]

Economical and comfortable you say. One car: Volvo S60 D5

[SWoll]

virdeeb said:

Thanks for all of the quick replies, the problem with the Jag's is the expensive running costs when things go wrong. I need something that is inexpensive to fix when it goes wrong too. Has anyone done this kind of mileage in a small engined petrol car before?

I did similar mileage to this a couple of years back in a 53 plate 1.8 petrol Mondeo snotter I bought specifically for the task (£1500). It managed 40MPG+ on the mway run, never went wrong, cost beans to maintain, is a nice place to sit and is a genuinely enjoyable drive.

My thinking was that any issues with older, high mileage diesels = big bills (turbo's, fuel pumps etc.) so better off in with a simpler petrol alternative.

You'll also get a younger, lower mileage car for your money.

[Ozzie Osmond]

virdeeb said:

Chaps I have just sold my m3 and need a car

Surely the answer to your question is a cheaper 3-series? All of the same virtues without the high costs.

[RizzoTheRat]

valverguy said:

DanielJames said:

You'll get a really nice 406 HDi for under £2k, maybe even a grand

My dad always said, buy a car that taxi's use alot, they must be reliable and cheap. I think a 406 would be ideal bangernomics...

Yep, 406 or Octavia fit the bill. For ease of servicing a 1.9TD rather than the 2.0 HDI or PD. If you and find a 1.9TD 406 with a Bosche fuel pump they'll run well on veg oil to make it even cheaper, not sure how common they are though, 305's generally used a Lucas pump which can't cope with the veg oil.