Used small cars for tall gits

Sparks

Okay folks, a challenge -
The old girl, my beloved Citroen ZX reflex, is on her last legs. With a new battery, new leads, new alternator and two months after an overhaul, her electrics are just shot, again.
So the sad day of taking her out behind the house and shooting the old dear is upon us

Obviously, a replacement must be sought - but finances are limited to €6,000 or so. And there are criterea the replacement must fulfill...

1. It must be economical to run. 2 litre V8's sound wonderful, but the rapid disappearance of petrol is too scary. We're talking here about 40mpg minimum.
2. It must be reliable. 'nuff said, really.
3. It must be able to do the weekend's shopping for a family of 6. No 206cc need apply...
4. It must be able to carry a case that's 5 feet long by 7 inches wide by 4 inches deep. If seats must fold down, well, okay, but I'd rather it just fitted in the boot without folding.
5. It does not have to go any faster than 70mph and it won't need to be able to go from 0 to 60 in less time than it takes to tie your shoelaces. It does need to be able to cope with wicklow hill driving, however, and the occasional trip to Northern Ireland.
6. It shouldn't be a "boy racer special", with all the associated lovely insurance costs.
7. It's got to be safe in a crash (4 stars or more in the NCAP would be lovely).
8. I don't care if others think it looks ugly. (Hell, I was thinking of a Fiat Multipla until I saw the pricetags). I don't care who makes it, so long as I won't find myself needing a part that's only made in outer mongolia in a year's time.
9. A 6'1" person must be able to drive the thing without needing to have radical spinal surgery.

Okay, given that list of incredibly pedantic criteria, can anyone offer suggestions?

herbie747

'97 / '98 Colt or Fiesta?

Sparks

Naw - I don't fit comfortably in a fiesta (ex-girlfriend drove one and I'm too tall and too wide to drive one myself). And the colt is a boy racer car, isn't it?

herbie747

No, not at all. A Colt has a 1.3L engine. Most boy racers prefer 1.0L engines- Puntos, Corsas, Micras, etc.
Colts are quite stylish and comfortable- quite nippy and easy on the petrol. My girlfriend had one. Good car.
What about a Polo?

rander00

Get 2 mini`s welded together. U can pull out the front drivers seta and sit in the bk 2 drive it. Put 2 kids in it wit u, de shopping in the other 1 welded to it, and the wife on the roof.

All that criteria above, u shudnt be anynear the road. Get the bus.

herbie747

Thanks for that extremely relevant input. How clever!

Sparks

Well herbie, if it's not too bad on the insurance, I'd consider a colt. And the polo seems to have a reputation for being blindingly solid, so I'd consider that as well.

Chimaera

All the Euro NCAP results are available at http://www.euroncap.com

Restricting yourself to cars with 4 stars or better is going to seriously limit your selection. Have you considered going for something bigger than a supermini? Something like an early to mid-nineties diesel golf would be reliable and economical, and should be within your budget. Would also have more room than a supermini. Just a thought.....

BrianD3

how about a Renault Megane hatch or saloon? The facelifted models from mid 1999 onwards are the ones to go for. You get a very economical 1.4 16v engine (48+ mpg) Reliability is generally good. Certainly as good or better than your ZX. Lots of space and practicality, 4 star NCAP rating, lots of equipment. Comfortable car with good handling. You get a height adjustable seat and steering wheel on most models so you should be able to fit in it OK. if you like the ZX you should like the Megane, they have a similar "feel" - must be a French thing

BrianD3

Sparks

Restricting yourself to cars with 4 stars or better is going to seriously limit your selection

Well, yes, but have you seen the idiots that drive around Wicklow? I mean, if all I had to worry about was being rear-ended by a fiesta, that'd be one thing - but there are daft gits around here driving very large landrovers and the like...

Have you considered going for something bigger than a supermini?

Oh, certainly. The car has to act as the second family/shopping car, but that doesn't mean only superminis can be considered.

BrianD3,
The megane does sound like it fit's the bill allright, I have a few friends that drive various megane models - it'd just be finding one for the price.
Maybe a used one from Northern Ireland?

BrianD3

I reckon you'd get a 99 Megane for 6000. You'd certainly get one for that price in a private sale, dunno if you'd get one from a dealer you might be lucky

The prefacelift Meganes are still a good bet and they would be easily within your budget. Petrol engines are the 1.4 8v and 1.6 8v. The 1.4 8v is slow but you said you don't care about that. Anyway its no slower than a Golf Mk4 1.4 16v and it's noticeably faster than the Mk3 Golf 1.4 8v.

The 1.6 8v Megane is much better (faster) Both the 1.4 and 1.6 are very economical - you can expect aroudn 45-50 average mpg from both. That's better than many smaller engined cars.

Reliability could start to be a issue at high mileages. You could be lucky or unlucky there's always a risk when buying a car that age and older renaults aren't renowed for their reliability. Still you should be OK if you buy a car that's been well looked after and has reasonable mileage. and if you're buying from a dealer you'll be getting a warranty anyway.

Of course all of this is irrelevant if you sit in the car and can't get comfortable in it

BrianD3

mike65

If your thinking Renault why not get a 1.6 Laguna or 1.8 Sport model? They seem to be exellent value in the 5-6 year braket.

Check www.buyandsell.com for the prices.

Mike.

ToxicPaddy

Id suggest one of the following:

Ford Modeo 97 onwards
Opel Vectra 96 onwards
Renault Laguna 96 onwards
Toyota Carina/Avensis

All can be got in 1.6 petrol so are fairly economical as long as you arent the type of driver that floors it at the lights and hits 4th gear and then slam on the brakes before you reach the next set of lights 100 yards down the road...

Petrol or Diesel, it doesnt matter as you can easily find them with reasonable mileage on the clock, acres of room on the back for the 2.4 kids and also a huge boot that you would get lost in.


I have a 97 mondeo, have it over 3.5 years, put over 60k on the clock, very few problems, only one with a cracked headlight that was actually broken when I bought the car.

Very solid car, 1.6 petrol, loadsa room, very comfortable to drive and I'm 6'1, nice few extras, metallic paint, fogs, electric front windows, sunroof, remote central locking, alloys.

There are a huge amount of them with around the 40 - 60k mileage and can easily be gotten for around the €6k - €7k mark..

commited

Im 6'2" and drive a '97 Fiat Punto - dont even need the seat all the way back.
There is a good bit of head room - but we have the sunroof, so that takes away alot of space.
I would definately recommend one - see if you can find a nice low milage Punto - alot cropping up at auctions