Cheap, reliable economical car for under 1.8K

[geg1992]

Hi all,

Looking for a cheap, reliable and economical car for under £1800 if possible.

plus points would be speed + cruise control.

So far I have considered:

Something with a PD130 engine in. (I had a seat ibiza FR before which was good)

Saab 9-3 1.9 TID - seems a bargain for the money but concerned about parts?

BMW 320D

very cheap option of 206/306 with 2.0 HDI engine in (heard it's bulletproof)

Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

[ambuletz]

mk1 diesel octavia VRS.

[Defcon5]

With the same budget I got a 2007 Vectra 1.8 petrol with 85k. I needed 5 doors and a decent boot though so that factored into the decision.

It does what it needs to do with no fuss, but nothing more. I'd buy another with a similar budget tbh, I found them to be in much better condition than a similar price mondeo etc

[smn159]

geg1992 said:

Hi all,

Looking for a cheap, reliable and economical car for under £1800 if possible.

plus points would be speed + cruise control.

So far I have considered:

Something with a PD130 engine in. (I had a seat ibiza FR before which was good)

Saab 9-3 1.9 TID - seems a bargain for the money but concerned about parts?

BMW 320D

very cheap option of 206/306 with 2.0 HDI engine in (heard it's bulletproof)

Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

How are you defining economical? I bought a Volvo V70 D5 for £1900 from eBay recently and have been very pleased with it. Cruise control / A/C / Leather / 45-50 MPG.

MPG is just one part of the overall economy though and much of what you buy at that price will need some new parts at some point (MOT advisory lower wishbones / rear brakes / tyres and a £99 DAB radio for mine)

[BMWNick01]

Alfa 147 JTDm.

Mine has been faultless for 300 miles a week, has reasonable power to keep up with traffic (my other car is an E39 M5).
Leather and cruise control. Stuck some dunlop sportmaxx on it and it handles well.

Worth a look.

[geg1992]

smn159 said:

How are you defining economical? I bought a Volvo V70 D5 for £1900 from eBay recently and have been very pleased with it. Cruise control / A/C / Leather / 45-50 MPG.

MPG is just one part of the overall economy though and much of what you buy at that price will need some new parts at some point (MOT advisory lower wishbones / rear brakes / tyres and a £99 DAB radio for mine)

Many thanks for your reply. Well, I'm coming from a Toyota Soarer with a V8 doing 20mpg at the very most, so if I can get 40mpg that would save me £150 a month in fuel alone!

[geg1992]

BMWNick01 said:

Alfa 147 JTDm.

Mine has been faultless for 300 miles a week, has reasonable power to keep up with traffic (my other car is an E39 M5).
Leather and cruise control. Stuck some dunlop sportmaxx on it and it handles well.

Worth a look.

Great idea, thanks for the suggestion.

[smn159]

geg1992 said:

Many thanks for your reply. Well, I'm coming from a Toyota Soarer with a V8 doing 20mpg at the very most, so if I can get 40mpg that would save me £150 a month in fuel alone!

Loved my Soarer when I had one a few years back - that V8 is an excellent engine. 20mpg though... not so much

[geg1992]

smn159 said:

Loved my Soarer when I had one a few years back - that V8 is an excellent engine. 20mpg though... not so much

It certainly is a fantastic engine, so smooth too! Really need to start saving though, so goodbye fun cars

[steve-5snwi]

206HDi would get my vote, I could even get 45 plus out of my petrol 1.4.

[anonymous-user]

ambuletz said:

mk1 diesel octavia VRS.

They never made a mk1 diesel Octavia VRS.

I have a 2004 Octavia mk1 tdi 130 with remap and it is a very solid car. I bought it in a bit of state for £800, spent about the same getting it good, and done about 20k hassle free miles in a year and a half. on about 165k miles and still running strong, just put a recaro leather interior in and swapped the steering wheel for a nice leather golf one.

[wemorgan]

If you don't mind high mileage the Honda Civic is in budget, no cambelt to worry about too, though do test the clutch as with all second hand car purchases.

[Stickyfinger]

WHY spend that money....this will be more comfortable and last a lot longer.....vsx is quite quick as well.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/cit...

[wemorgan]

Stickyfinger said:

WHY spend that money....this will be more comfortable and last a lot longer.....vsx is quite quick as well.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/cit...

I do like Citroens but that example looks to have some rust issues.

http://regisearch.co.uk/registration_search.php?re...

[Stickyfinger]

Well checked.....

[ZX10R NIN]

You can find some nice reliable well spec'd cars in your budget all will have less than 100k on the clock & have a decent history so you take your time & use some due diligence & you should grab a good car.

2005 Mondeo 2.2 Titanium X 93k 155bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2.0 Version of the above 89k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2006 Focus Titanium 90k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2005 Nissan Primera 86k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2004 MG ZT 110k (detuned BMW diesel)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

[Stickyfinger]

wemorgan said:

Stickyfinger said:

WHY spend that money....this will be more comfortable and last a lot longer.....vsx is quite quick as well.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/cit...

I do like Citroens but that example looks to have some rust issues.

http://regisearch.co.uk/registration_search.php?re...

I just sold, it had been fixed.