Fiesta, Micra, Saxo or 106

Nomad81

I'm looking to buy a car between €1,500 and €3,000. Must have no more than 60,000 miles on it and must have low running costs (fuel consumption, tax, insurance and RELIABILITY!)

Which of these 4 choices would I be best off with?

Should I be considering any other makes and models?

Saab Ed

Out of that lot I'd say Fiesta but what about a Clio?

Nomad81

Micra

Right, forgot about the Clio. I'm not a fan of the pre-facelift look on the old model though. But yeah, I'd defo count that in when looking.

tywy

Is the Clio reliable? I'll soon be looking for a similar car for a similar price... the Clio seems to be well priced... but I was wondering, is there a reason?

EPM

Micra

Fiesta with the 1.25 Zetec engine in Ghia spec and you'll have a cracker

Also, include the Clio - good cars but not as nice to drive as the Fiesta or the 106/Saxo which are basically the same car

h3000

Micra

I would suggest the Fiesta 1.25 in paticular. Stay away from the 1.3.

Something like this
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Fiesta/1.25-GHI/200907191785766/advert?channel=CARS

EDIT: Snap EPM

bandit197

EPM wrote: »

Fiesta with the 1.25 Zetec engine in Ghia spec and you'll have a cracker

^^Good advice, I agree

Drummerboy08

Micra

Fiesta gets my vote. For what its worth, i'd steer clear of the diesel variant. Very rattley, problems with injector seals can cause bigger issues, and not all that quiet.

EPM has it - 1.25 in GHia spec and your laughing.

spank_inferno

if it were my money, the Skoda fabia, hatchback version, its a good little car

Of your list.... the fiesta

Nomad81

Micra

I've had a look on cbg and carzone and have seen a few good Fiestas that I just might go and have a look at.

I've owned a Fiesta Mk6 before and have had trouble-free motoring from that car. By the sound of it, the Mk5 is about the same. Would love to have an 06 Fiesta, the same as I've had before, but I'd rather put the extra money away for a rainy day at this point.

A few follow-up questions now: Is it worth doing one of those car history checks? How about the AA Vehicle Inspection? Are the dealers going to charge me "on-the-road fees" such as doing the change of ownership?

Thanks!

Nomad81

Micra

By the way, how do I know if a Fiesta I'm looking at is the Ghia model?

Should I be considering the 1.0 Polos too?

colm_mcm

Micra

No Yaris/Starlet option in the poll, bizzare to include the Saxo or 106 given the criteria.

L1011

Should get a 2004 Panda for that money, easily. Modern car, unlike any of those listed, CD player, leccy windows in default spec. Bill Griffin has one listed for TWO grand on Carzone. Cheap to insure too.

P.C.

Micra

If it was my money, I would go for the Panda mentioned above, or a Clio if I could find a newish one.

If I was buying for someone else - it would be the Fiesta mentioned by EPM.

I am just not a Ford person, and I have a very good reason for never wanting to own one, but I respect that they are good cars

for other people

.

Mycroft H

Micra

Stay away from from 106/saxo ****boxes, there a bloody awful cars.

Fabias, yarises, starlets and mitsubisi colts are what i'd recomend

Sqaull20

Daewoo/Cheverolet Kalos, no doubt about it, most even come with a warranty :pac:

You would get this for near 3k.

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=1351043

Nomad81

Micra

If I were going for a Panda, I'd rather go for a Punto Sporting 1.2. It's got all the mod cons in a car and looks better too.

I've heard that the Punto is prone to problems though. Is that true of the Panda as well?

I've more or less scratched the saxo/106 off my list unless they're the VTR or GTI ones. :pac:

Zonda999

Saxo

MYOB wrote: »

Should get a 2004 Panda for that money, easily. Modern car, unlike any of those listed, CD player, leccy windows in default spec. Bill Griffin has one listed for TWO grand on Carzone. Cheap to insure too.

You're spot on. You'd forgot about one of them considering theyre relatively new and so cheap. They are known to be pretty reliable alright

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Panda

In addition to the retail success, the Top Gear Motoring Survey in 2006 ranked it 8th out of 152 cars surveyed for reliability, craftsmanship, ownership costs, driving experience and service received. Traditionally, Fiat have ranked at the lower end of this table, showing that the Nuova Panda is reversing the trend and suggesting a rise in quality standards for Fiat

Cant say theyre the worst looking yoke either. That particular one is here if you're wondering

L-M

Micra

+1 one on the Ghia 1.25 Zetec. Took the words from my mouth.

Get a nice colour, and AFAIK, it should say "Ghia" with a small litte badge on the back pillar, of the two back overs (over the door handle type thing).

Nomad81

Micra

So the choice now is between:

• Fiesta 1.25 Ghia - would have to be an '01 or '02 model for my budget
• Panda - wouldn't go for the Active model, so it'd have to be an '04 Dynamic and pretty close to my 3,000 limit at that. There's the Bill Griffin one, but that looks dodgy to me. Will check it out anyhow.
• Punto Sporting - that 6th gear could be useful for motorway driving, but questions remain about the rest of the car though. Seen a few around the 2000 euro mark.

The Fabia looks just a bit too spartan for me, and the Yaris I don't fancy either.

ninty9er

You left out the Corsa or Ibiza. Why the milage restriction? I doubt you'd get a Polo you'd be happy with in that price range, but you could be surprised.

What about the 206.

Nomad81

Micra

So I'm picking up a fezz tomorrow. It's a private deal. What's the best way to pay without hassles for both parties?

Seller is asking for cash, but that's a no-no for me.

I would prefer a bank draft or electronic transfer so that there's a papertrail. Which of these methods would get the money into the sellers account the quickest?

chickenhawk

106

I have a saxo. It doesn't have a great interior or anything but it's a nice car to drive. On country roads it has good handling. Easy to feel what the tyres are doing. Can be noisy inside though. Never needs oil, insurance is cheap, it's good on petrol and mine hasn't have anything go wrong with it yet. If you could you should try get a vtr or vts version. 1.4 and 1.6 engine respectively.

I've driven the fiesta and it's much nicer inside. But doesn't feel as connected to the road and feels a bit rolly around corners.