Most boring what car ever!? Cheapo commuter.

[designforlife]

Right,

Missus is starting her PhD later this year. There's a good chance it's going to involve a sizeable commute as relocation isn't really an option.

I've said i'll help her out by buying and insuring her a car to meet this compromise. Following requirements.

Budget - Car £1000, insurance £1000 (she's American and will be on a new UK license with 0 NCB.

-saloon or similar, no hatches, and needs to be 4/5 door.
-insurance friendly
-automatic
-reliable as humanly possible, will be doing 200-500 miles a week.
-High motorway MPG (35 plus ideally)
-cheap on parts

So far i've come up with a circa 2000 hyundai accent. Any other suggestions gratefully recieved. Cheers

[anonymous-user]

She's American?

Make her feel at home with a Chrysler Neon...or PT Cruiser!

[designforlife]

P R N D said:

She's American?

Make her feel at home with a Chrysler Neon...or PT Cruiser!

She doesn't generally drive american stuff, big toyota fan.

I was thinking maybe an old toyota Carina E

[GreatGranny]

You're severely reducing your choice not wanting a hatch.

Look on Atrader and most cars in your price range and auto and suitable for that kind of mileage are hatch eg. Focus, Polo, Astra

Buy on condition at that budget.

Also run some insurance quotes, with no NCBs and high mileage you'll struggle to get insurance below £1000 unless it's a small 1-1.2 litre car but I may be wrong.

[Toed64]

I'd be looking for a 1.9 tdi VW Passat. Solid, economical and very tough mechanically. There are not many auto diesels out there, but they drive quite nicely.

[designforlife]

Passat might be a shout.

It's not a saloon but apparently she isn't averse to a minivan type thing, so I was thinking a suzuki wagon R could tick all the boxes? looks like itll manage 45mpg and there seem to be a few auto around for £1k ish.

Edited by designforlife on Friday 9th February 13:23

[luckystrike]

I’d imagine an auto wagon r to be a pretty woeful place to spend 250 miles a week.

I’d think I’d be looking at unfashionable Japanese hatchbacks here, something like a corolla. I know she wants a saloon but £1000, cheap to run, auto and reliable is already a stretch without restricting the type of car on top of that.

Without knowing any info about either of you, does she appreciate the differences in driving between the states and here? Something like a 5 series BMW is probably easier to drive around the states than something like a golf is in the UK. If she just wants something ‘big enough’ and she’s thinking about it from a USA driving viewpoint then it’s an easier sell for you to drop a few car classes in size

[kieranblenk]

Not a saloon, but an old Corolla auto will be pretty bulletproof. If it needs to be a saloon try a Suzuki Baleno if you can track one down.

[designforlife]

old corolla would fit the bill.

She just fundamentally doesn't like hatchbacks, and i know better than to argue the toss with a girl from Louisiana.

It may be that necessity trumps her preferences, so i'm open to lining up a few smaller car options too.

[Integroo]

What about £500 for a Chrysler Neon with 41k miles and lots of service history?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[designforlife]

Integroo said:

What about £500 for a Chrysler Neon with 41k miles and lots of service history?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

that could be a shout actually, although the mpg figures could be better.

[designforlife]

Also looking at Mitsubishi Carisma, as when i had a 90s Mitsubishi, parts cost practically nothing.

They look pretty frugal mpg wise. 1.8 GDI looks like the pick of the bunch.

Edited by designforlife on Friday 9th February 17:19

[freddytin]

This would be my choice....Focus saloon....
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Ugly , but otherwise underated.

[steve-5snwi]

Audi A4, C Class Merc, Lexus .... BMW 3 series, Toyota Avensis, Ford Mondeo, Volvo S60, Saab 9-3 .....

[Valgar]

Cheap insurance and Saloon might be hard to come by, due to her uncommon driving origins it might be worth looking at quotes before anything else

[kiethton]

VW bora SDi (or 130TDi)

Renault megane saloon 1.5DCi

Volvo S40 1.9TDi or newer S40 1.6TDi

[S54Love]

IS200? Reliable, though not sure about the insurance part.

[InitialDave]

Toyota Avensis.

[MorganP104]

Surely the answer here is a Toyota Avensis.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

/thread

ETA: InitialDave's got the right idea.

Edited by MorganP104 on Friday 9th February 21:49

[ZX10R NIN]

At 200-500 miles per year there are a few diesels worth considering too:

MG ZT pretty much bombproof drivetrain & you can pick one up for sensible money

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-ZT/323059862900?hash...

Or the Rover Version

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Peugeot 407

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

607

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Petrol Options:

Vectra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

IS200

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Honda Accord

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Ford Focus

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Volvo S40

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Use the above to get some real insurance quotes so you can see what type of cars are really an option.