Reliable PHer Cars?

[WaldoMcBaldo]

Hello everyone, sorry to make my first post here a 'what car?' post but I could use some real world advice.

I'm looking for a car with a proven history of reliability. I.e, No major crippling faults. I used to have a 98 Accord 1.8 which was nice, reliable (thirsty for a 1.8!) and comfortable. I then put it through a hedge due to some black ice on the way to work. Bought a 1.9 XUD Xantia as a stopgap and have been running it on free veg oil since, however it'll need the strut tops doing soon and I don't wanna sink money into it.

I want something halfway fun to drive, reasonably reliable, not awful on the motorway and reasonable-ish on fuel for around £1500 notes. Some mod cons would be nice too.

Currently on the look out for -

2004 Honda Civic - Either 1.6 or 2.0, 3 or 5 door

Considered but wary of -

E46 318 - Never had a Bimmer, unsure of reliability
NA MX5 - Lolfueleconomy
Ford Focus - Rust/boring/hate the interior of the earlier ones
Mk4 Astra 1.6 - Mega oil consumption issues + build quality
PSA cars - Good diesels, not so much petrol. Mixed batch depending on previous owners
Renault diesels - Reliability issues, sh***ing turbos

Downright 'No' -

Anything VAG - Heard lots of horror stories of 98-04 VAG cars

Other than these I'm pulling up short for ideas

Basically I just want some real world, real owner advice. Owned any of the above or anything else I haven't mentioned? How did it treat you? I'm mechanically inclined and do most of my own work but I've hit the point now where I don't have time to fix my car every damn week!

Thanks in advance guys!

[Codswallop]

A non Type R 2004 Honda Civic is not great to drive in my experience. Ford Focus is a better steer if you can get over your dislike of them.

MX5 would be good, but again watch out for rust. Another option for you to consider - Ford Puma 1.7. Very good cars, simple and reliable. Just watch out for rust on the rear arches.

[WaldoMcBaldo]

My fiance's brother has a 04 non-R 1.6 Civic and I drove it down to Cornwall last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It felt fairly planted, didn't struggle too much on the motorway and was reasonably comfy. I'm a bit unwilling to go Ford if I'm honest. I can usually fix most things myself apart from rust (Can't weld or paint for ste) and the Fords in my price range are prone to rust.

[Willy Nilly]

I had an MB2 Civic for nearly 12 years - utter reliability it was replaced recently by a 11 pate Jazz and more of the same is expected. I quite liked driving the couple of EP2 Civics. Probably expecting a sharp steer and reliability of 1500 quid is quite a lot to ask.

[jamesh764]

Based on personal experience, an Alfa Romeo with a 2.0 twin spark engine is what you are looking for. 30mpg when enjoying it, 40 keeping below 80 on the motorway. Cheap insurance, but expensive road tax. Apart from servicing and crash repairs, mine had less than £100 spent on new parts in the six years we owned it for.

[WaldoMcBaldo]

Really decent handling is a very vague term, I guess I mean something that doesn't make me want to kill myself every time I drive it. I want to be capable of having fun in it occasionally. It doesn't have to have double wishbones all 'round or be glued to the road, it just needs to be alright. For example I felt my old Accord was sharp for it's size and weight.

Now I never thought anyone would suggest an Alfa...

I know a guy that used to buy a new car every time he got a new girlfriend and he'd exclusively buy Alfas. Let's just say he had an inventory of tools that could rival most small garages.

[Fittster]

WaldoMcBaldo said:

Anything VAG - Heard lots of horror stories of 98-04 VAG cars

I thought the VAG 1.9 was considered to be very reliable.

[Paulm4]

Accord Type R? Practical, comfortable, great handling and power when you need it.
Mine gets 30+mpg, not sure if you consider that good or not!

[anonymous-user]

1.9 PD 130 Passat. Boringly reliable & solidly built.

[WaldoMcBaldo]

Paulm4 said:

Accord Type R? Practical, comfortable, great handling and power when you need it.
Mine gets 30+mpg, not sure if you consider that good or not!

30 out of the 2.3? I barely got 27 if I was lucky out of the 1.8. I could almost watch the gauge drop sometimes.

Also as for the VAG 1.9; I've heard good things about the engines but the electrics scare me. My uncle had a Bora V5 from new and ended up having everything up to, and including a whole new wiring harness done to it before he got shut at 120,000 miles.

Edited by WaldoMcBaldo on Saturday 12th April 20:27

[johnny fotze]

I'd go for the BMW, but a 320 instead of the 318. BMW 6 pots are the stuff of legend, looked after they will go to the moon and back, and hold decent resale value. I've limited experience of their 4 cylinder engines so won't pass comment. I have owned 4 straight six Bims though, and never had a serious problem. Just keep an eye on the temperature, there have been issues with water pumps/impellers but I believe these have been sorted on the e46.

Edited by johnny fotze on Saturday 12th April 20:51

[swisstoni]

I bought a mk1 Citroen C5 2.0 Hdi auto for £4k and 40000mls in 2005 and it has been very reliable for the 50000mls since.
Zero toys or fun but a relaxing cruiser and no rust.

[johnny fotze]

Also, as you said PSA make excellent diesels. I've only had two French petrol motors; one was a 205 gti so irrelevant to your query, the other a 1.6 Citroen. It never put a foot wrong mechanically, but I couldn't get on with it. No real reason, I just hated the thing.

[Paulm4]

WaldoMcBaldo said:

30 out of the 2.3? I barely got 27 if I was lucky out of the 1.8. I could almost watch the gauge drop sometimes.

Also as for the VAG 1.9; I've heard good things about the engines but the electrics scare me. My uncle had a Bora V5 from new and ended up having everything up to, and including a whole new wiring harness done to it before he got shut at 120,000 miles.

Edited by WaldoMcBaldo on Saturday 12th April 20:27

Yep, I think the Type R was the most economic of all the petrol models. It's a 2.2 though, just for pedantry's sake....

[WaldoMcBaldo]

Paulm4 said:

Yep, I think the Type R was the most economic of all the petrol models. It's a 2.2 though, just for pedantry's sake....

You're right, it was the Type V that had the 2.3

[vit4]

The mk1 Focus is a very tough little car (I'm sure in German reliability surveys it was coming out on top?), find a looked-after one without rust and you're laughing. My mum has a 1.4 that's done 140k, it uses a bit of oil now but is yet to break down and does get a hard life. I would say avoid that particular engine purely due to it being a bit gutless. Also whilst the TDDI diesel is an older unit and pretty much bombproof, it sounds like the newer TDCI can be flaky.

[MyNameIsNotBob]

http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/s...
The rare JDM spec Subaru Legacy B4 RSK.
400 quid plus 800 quid shipping to southampton.
ODO 29100km.
Mint.

[MyNameIsNotBob]

http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/s...
The rare JDM spec Subaru Legacy B4 RSK.
400 quid plus 800 quid shipping to southampton.
ODO 29100km.
Mint.

[aspirated]

Fittster said:

I thought the VAG 1.9 was considered to be very reliable.

1.9 tdi PD130 specifically, is bulletproof

[WaldoMcBaldo]

MyNameIsNotBob said:

http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/s...
The rare JDM spec Subaru Legacy B4 RSK.
400 quid plus 800 quid shipping to southampton.
ODO 29100km.
Mint.

I just don't even...

Also I have heard good things about the 1.9 130 VAG lump, however like I said before the rest of the car scares me. Anyone had any experience with Volkswagens / Audis of this vintage?