500 quid to Krakow including buying a car?
Discussion
Afternoon everyone!
Last night in the pub we decided to do a challenge. There are 3 of us going to Krakow in Poland to visit a friend, leaving from Kingston Upon Thames. It's just over 1000 miles away.
The total budget for the trip is 500 pounds each. Simon will be taking public transport (not planes), Nick will be riding a 125cc maximum motorbike and I will be driving a petrol car 2000cc or above.
At 30mpg I will need 180 pounds worth of fuel, and 22 pounds for the channel tunnel. This leaves me with an upper limit of 300 pounds for the car, but obviously I would rather spend less because in reality a car that cheap will probably not get 30mpg!
I am reasonably mechanically competent so could buy a spares or repair car, but it needs to be taxed and mot'd for the actual journey itself so that would have to be factored into the budget.
I need your help with ideas for cars. We are going to sell the car and bike when we get to Poland unless we fall in love with them so something reasonably saleable would be handy.
I've been thinking about E30 320s or 325s, Volvo 850s, 240s and 740s, Peugeot 405s and other such bangers. Is there anything I have missed? Obviously it needs to be as reliable as possible and should have a fairly decent top speed because we will be going through Germany.
Thanks in advance for any help and thanks for reading.
Last night in the pub we decided to do a challenge. There are 3 of us going to Krakow in Poland to visit a friend, leaving from Kingston Upon Thames. It's just over 1000 miles away.
The total budget for the trip is 500 pounds each. Simon will be taking public transport (not planes), Nick will be riding a 125cc maximum motorbike and I will be driving a petrol car 2000cc or above.
At 30mpg I will need 180 pounds worth of fuel, and 22 pounds for the channel tunnel. This leaves me with an upper limit of 300 pounds for the car, but obviously I would rather spend less because in reality a car that cheap will probably not get 30mpg!
I am reasonably mechanically competent so could buy a spares or repair car, but it needs to be taxed and mot'd for the actual journey itself so that would have to be factored into the budget.
I need your help with ideas for cars. We are going to sell the car and bike when we get to Poland unless we fall in love with them so something reasonably saleable would be handy.
I've been thinking about E30 320s or 325s, Volvo 850s, 240s and 740s, Peugeot 405s and other such bangers. Is there anything I have missed? Obviously it needs to be as reliable as possible and should have a fairly decent top speed because we will be going through Germany.
Thanks in advance for any help and thanks for reading.
I did Leeds to Warsaw in a Puma - from that I made the following observations:
1. You need something with a long final gear to make it less tedious on the ears.
2. A 40 litre fuel tank and ~30mpg is enough to mean you only make a few stops but a bigger tank would be better.
3. A larger comfy car with suspension capable of absorbing craters will be more appealing once off the main road in Poland.
4. Budget for road tolls in Poland.
5. The service stations are much nicer than ours.
6. Driving standards in all the countries navigated put ours to shame.
On your budget I'm not sure what I'd go for to be honest as I suspect RHD won't hold much appeal over there unless it's being sold to someone planning to drive it back to the UK but any ex-rep car should do the trick if the aim is to just get there.
1. You need something with a long final gear to make it less tedious on the ears.
2. A 40 litre fuel tank and ~30mpg is enough to mean you only make a few stops but a bigger tank would be better.
3. A larger comfy car with suspension capable of absorbing craters will be more appealing once off the main road in Poland.
4. Budget for road tolls in Poland.
5. The service stations are much nicer than ours.
6. Driving standards in all the countries navigated put ours to shame.
On your budget I'm not sure what I'd go for to be honest as I suspect RHD won't hold much appeal over there unless it's being sold to someone planning to drive it back to the UK but any ex-rep car should do the trick if the aim is to just get there.
clarkey328is said:
Obviously it needs to be as reliable as possible and should have a fairly decent top speed because we will be going through Germany..
Based on your £180 for fuel criteria I would be tempted to ignore the fact that you can go as fast as the car will carry you on an autobahn and concentrate on wafting at 35-40mpg. thetapeworm said:
I did Leeds to Warsaw in a Puma - from that I made the following observations:
1. You need something with a long final gear to make it less tedious on the ears.
2. A 40 litre fuel tank and ~30mpg is enough to mean you only make a few stops but a bigger tank would be better.
3. A larger comfy car with suspension capable of absorbing craters will be more appealing once off the main road in Poland.
4. Budget for road tolls in Poland.
5. The service stations are much nicer than ours.
6. Driving standards in all the countries navigated put ours to shame.
On your budget I'm not sure what I'd go for to be honest as I suspect RHD won't hold much appeal over there unless it's being sold to someone planning to drive it back to the UK but any ex-rep car should do the trick if the aim is to just get there.
That's a great help, cheers. I was trying to weigh up the pros and cons of an auto, obviously economy has to be taken into consideration but I would have thought at a constant speed of 80mph they are doing less revs and are therefore more economical. I might have just made this up.1. You need something with a long final gear to make it less tedious on the ears.
2. A 40 litre fuel tank and ~30mpg is enough to mean you only make a few stops but a bigger tank would be better.
3. A larger comfy car with suspension capable of absorbing craters will be more appealing once off the main road in Poland.
4. Budget for road tolls in Poland.
5. The service stations are much nicer than ours.
6. Driving standards in all the countries navigated put ours to shame.
On your budget I'm not sure what I'd go for to be honest as I suspect RHD won't hold much appeal over there unless it's being sold to someone planning to drive it back to the UK but any ex-rep car should do the trick if the aim is to just get there.
For those that are interested, we will be documenting our trip which will take place in early June.
Chrisw666 said:
Based on your £180 for fuel criteria I would be tempted to ignore the fact that you can go as fast as the car will carry you on an autobahn and concentrate on wafting at 35-40mpg.
That's another concern, but I've got to go faster than the 125 bike. He can filter through traffic where I can't. There is going to be a lot of tactical driving. If I could get something with LPG it would mean I would not have to stop as much, but they aren't allowed in the chunnel.YBTurbo said:
A Granada ? Can be got cheap but are begining to pick up in price now.
Or something like this:http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2654145.htm
Is there any chance your friend in Krakow could have a buyer lined up for something in advance and you simply deliver it to them? Could make it more interesting for you if they are a Mini / 2CV enthusiast
I just found myself wanting to be in an RS6 or something with an AMG badge on
thetapeworm said:
Or something like this:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2654145.htm
Is there any chance your friend in Krakow could have a buyer lined up for something in advance and you simply deliver it to them? Could make it more interesting for you if they are a Mini / 2CV enthusiast
I just found myself wanting to be in an RS6 or something with an AMG badge on
That's not really in the spirit of it though http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2654145.htm
Is there any chance your friend in Krakow could have a buyer lined up for something in advance and you simply deliver it to them? Could make it more interesting for you if they are a Mini / 2CV enthusiast
I just found myself wanting to be in an RS6 or something with an AMG badge on
It's amazing how much the scrappage scheme seems to have destroyed this market, that and webuyanycar and the like.
clarkey328is said:
Chrisw666 said:
Based on your £180 for fuel criteria I would be tempted to ignore the fact that you can go as fast as the car will carry you on an autobahn and concentrate on wafting at 35-40mpg.
That's another concern, but I've got to go faster than the 125 bike. He can filter through traffic where I can't. There is going to be a lot of tactical driving. If I could get something with LPG it would mean I would not have to stop as much, but they aren't allowed in the chunnel.
Whats in Krakow thats making you all do this?
maybe this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2556471.htm
or this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2581389.htm
or this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2241542.htm
maybe this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2556471.htm
or this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2581389.htm
or this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2241542.htm
clarkey328is said:
He's got a full bike licence so as far as I'm aware he can.
ahhhhh right! I assumed he would be a learner... Still, getting blown about on an A road is bad enough and a bike >125cc would be cheaper as theres a lot less demand for larger engined but not massively powerful bikesGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff