Car suggestions for the missus

JohnRA

JohnRA

Member Number 3801
ISDC Club Member
To start, no Suzuki Swifts, she doesn't like them. No silly small cars like Ford Ka or Mazda 2's etc. No Citroens, she thinks they're ugly.

Budget will be about 5 - 5.5k. Petrol or diesel doesn't matter but the better the MPG, the happier she'd be.

She likes the Focus but only really has an interest in a '08 1.8tdci which she'll be hard pushed to get in her budget without high mileage. She likes the Fiesta and she also likes the Honda Accord 2.2 diesel after I took her for a spin in my friends.

Been looking at anything from Octavia's to Hyundai i30's.

No WRX's, I've already suggested it and she's said no, we're not buying a car for me. :D

Any suggestions?
 
Other than economy, what does she want from a car (looks? if so what kind of looks... handling? space? how long does she intend to keep it? Long commutes or short town journeys?)

2008 mid size cars that are economical to run are probably out of the budget so unless they have more than 250k kms on them.

2006-2007 probably are good years for that budget to get something maybe 120-160k kms in the mid size economical segment.

Octavias and i30s are nice cars and value for money at the moment.
Golfs, A3s and beemers are over priced in the current market, as are some Fiestas and Focuses.


FYI, at the moment I've a Nissan Note 1.5dci 2008 with 179k kms on it which would be on the lower end of your budget (few marks around it, but overall straight enough). Nice car and economical with handsfree etc; however maybe not suitable looks wise. I have a 2008 Jaguar X-type 2.0d with 129k kms on it which would be a tad over the budget, but clean and just serviced, does 5.4L/100kms but still has 130bhp and a good looking car with great comfort (reliable engine same as the Mondeo 2.0 diesel). BTW stay clear of the Ford 1.6 and maybe also the 1.8 diesel - the 2.0 is the reliable engine. Also have a 2008 Octavia 1.9tdi DSG with 165k kms on it, but it too would be over the budget you indicated.
 
Focus in 1.8 tdci or 2.0tdci is the only way to go in my opinion or if a little smaller a fiesta 1.4 tdci

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Keadeen said:
Other than economy, what does she want from a car (looks? if so what kind of looks... handling? space? how long does she intend to keep it? Long commutes or short town journeys?)

2008 mid size cars that are economical to run are probably out of the budget so unless they have more than 250k kms on them.

2006-2007 probably are good years for that budget to get something maybe 120-160k kms in the mid size economical segment.

Octavias and i30s are nice cars and value for money at the moment.
Golfs, A3s and beemers are over priced in the current market, as are some Fiestas and Focuses.


FYI, at the moment I've a Nissan Note 1.5dci 2008 with 179k kms on it which would be on the lower end of your budget (few marks around it, but overall straight enough). Nice car and economical with handsfree etc; however maybe not suitable looks wise. I have a 2008 Jaguar X-type 2.0d with 129k kms on it which would be a tad over the budget, but clean and just serviced, does 5.4L/100kms but still has 130bhp and a good looking car with great comfort (reliable engine same as the Mondeo 2.0 diesel). BTW stay clear of the Ford 1.6 and maybe also the 1.8 diesel - the 2.0 is the reliable engine. Also have a 2008 Octavia 1.9tdi DSG with 165k kms on it, but it too would be over the budget you indicated.
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Be kept until it dies tbh. She'd like a BMW but no point in getting a poverty spec 1.6 petrol. There's a couple 2005/2006 316/318 in budget but she's himming and hawing about them. She doesn't like the Nissan Note. She's very hard to please looks wise. She'd want the focus but only in the hatchback and not the saloon. She doesn't like the Mondeo then for same reasons yet she likes the Mazda 6 that Dave posted above.

Work is only up the road. 100km a week max then whatever trips to shops etc. Even doubling it, it's still only 200km a week so no real need for a diesel but she'd like one. Plus it means I can use it on a long run aswell but not necessary. Which such small mileage I was trying to lean her towards a Swift sport but she doesn't like the looks.

4 doors are preferred but not needed as Christopher can climb in to his car seat himself these days. Once a buggy can fit in the boot, that's that box ticked.

I'd imagine there'd be very little economy difference in a 1.8tdci short trip up to work and a 1.6 or 1.8 petrol something.

wagon dec said:
Focus in 1.8 tdci or 2.0tdci is the only way to go in my opinion or if a little smaller a fiesta 1.4 tdci

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1.4tdci was the one she was looking at alright. Heard the 1.6tdci give a lot of trouble with injectors, rails, turbo's etc?
 
With that mileage and shorter journeys of about 10km each way I would NOT buy any modern diesel.
That sort of usage will cause expensive to fix issues for modern diesels and you'd hardly benefit from any economy as they barely get up to temp on such short trips.

Look for a petrol for sure.

Seen a few C180 Kompressors go for very reasonable money of late... pretty car, reliable, comfortable, nippy enough for the average driver. Also seen the odd Octavia vRS petrol go for OK money, which would also give you a lot of car for the price.

examples:
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mercedes-benz-c-class-1-8-c180-kompressor-sport-4d/10160942

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/skoda-octavia-vrs-turbo/10708272
 
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In the secondhand market doing that kind of milage you'd be mad to go for diesel with all the Robles they come with. Stick with petrol . There would be a lot of good clean nice spec petrol cars around 1.6 in that price range . Compared to what you'll get in diesel range for the same money :thumbsup:
 
Toyota Corolla
buy it never look at it again
need to sell if due to unforeseen circumstances it's sold before you even finish writing out the add :icon_grin:
cheap petrol tax insurance ,NCT = more money for Johns project
 
Keadeen said:
With that mileage and shorter journeys of about 10km each way I would NOT buy any modern diesel.
That sort of usage will cause expensive to fix issues for modern diesels and you'd hardly benefit from any economy as they barely get up to temp on such short trips.

Look for a petrol for sure.

Seen a few C180 Kompressors go for very reasonable money of late... pretty car, reliable, comfortable, nippy enough for the average driver. Also seen the odd Octavia vRS petrol go for OK money, which would also give you a lot of car for the price.
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More or less what I've told her. She'll ruin any modern diesel with her work journey and I know for a fact she'd be inclined to drive down to the shop aswell in it. The temp gauge doesn't move a mm for that little journey.

I mentioned the Merc to her and she didn't know what car it is. In fairness there's only one around us. She doesn't really notice cars at all. She thinks all Subaru's look the same sure, except for different colour. Completely forgot about the vRS. I'm trying to get her out of the attitude of new = better.

scoobysub said:
In the secondhand market doing that kind of milage you'd be mad to go for diesel with all the Robles they come with. Stick with petrol . There would be a lot of good clean nice spec petrol cars around 1.6 in that price range . Compared to what you'll get in diesel range for the same money :thumbsup:
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For some reason she has anything 1.6 - 1.8 petrol as guzzlers but with her mileage there's going to be feic all difference in economy. May sway her to a BMW or something nice. I know she'd love one but for some reason wont take the plunge.
 
She's right I wouldn't touch a bmw either :icon_grin: auris 1.4 petrol i30 or Kia ceed nothing exciting but reliable cheap and nothing major to go wrong
 
On hold until end of month now. Possibly next month. She has an interview in the Airport so if she ends up working there, most likely be going the diesel route.
 
Check out hyundai .

Never thought I'd be recommending them but my missus has had 3 different hyundai at this stage and nothing has gone wrong with any of them .

Not expensive to buy . Service costs are on the low side . Economical and never any bother selling one on
 
If she is doing such low mileage a high mileage car with good history wouldn't be a bad bet so long as it's in the budget.
If she is holding on to it for a while it will fall back into average mileage after a while...

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Funny enough any reviews I read just give out about run flats and they're fuel guzzlers.

Surely WRX running costs wouldn't be much different!

It's bog spec aswell and there's another for a couple hundred more with full BMW history in SE spec. Dunno why she wants me to look at this one. They're even both the same colour!

Earlier she was showing me 1.2 petrol fabias. How she landed on this, I've no idea.
 
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