1.6 Buying Advice

Ronan75

Hi,
Due to recent changes in my income I'm finding it hard to justify holding on to my 2.0 petrol Saloon. It's the best all round car I've ever had, faultless and sailed through it's NCT last week but between tax and insurance and mpg....

I'm planning on selling it and then buying a smaller engined hatchback car, hopefully a 1.6. I'm thinking about an Alpha 147, BMW 316Ti or BMW 116i

Year: 2002
Budget approx: €6,000

As far as I know the 147 has a high tax band for a 1.6 but I'm open to correction on this.

Any advice and user experience on these car choices, or any alternatives I haven't thought of would be appreciated,

thanks,
Ronan

GTE

Ronan75 wrote: »

Hi,
Due to recent changes in my income I'm finding it hard to justify holding on to my 2.0 petrol Saloon. It's the best all round car I've ever had, faultless and sailed through it's NCT last week but between tax and insurance and mpg....

I'm planning on selling it and then buying a smaller engined hatchback car, hopefully a 1.6. I'm thinking about an Alpha 147, BMW 316Ti or BMW 116i

Year: 2002
Budget approx: €6,000

As far as I know the 147 has a high tax band for a 1.6 but I'm open to correction on this.

Any advice and user experience on these car choices, or any alternatives I haven't thought of would be appreciated,

thanks,
Ronan

Im only new to driving and the lark. I dont mean to come accross that I know alot, I dont really lol, but is there any reason that you are not considering a diesel? I read here just a few minutes ago the the Alfa has a great diesel engine and I think it was was a 147.

Zube

Ronan75 wrote: »

As far as I know the 147 has a high tax band for a 1.6 but I'm open to correction on this.

Not a 2002, all tax on pre-08 models is by capacity only, CO2 doesn't come into it.

All of those cars are rather heavy for a 1.6, so they won't be fast or economical.

bladespin

Better off looking at a 2l diesel TBH, good alternative that's cheaper to run.

crotalus667

Zube wrote: »

All of those cars are rather heavy for a 1.6, so they won't be fast or economical.

+1 a bmw with a 1.6 is going to drink juice (my sister had one once it went over 2000rpm you could watch the needel on the fule gauge going down)

Eoin

Have you really done the sums?

I worked out that my 2.5 auto (25mpg) would cost ~1500 extra a year over a 2.0 diesel (40+ mpg) based on just over 12K miles a year. I didn't factor in insurance, but I'm not paying much at the moment anyway.

Sounds like a lot of money, but to trade in for something half decent would probably cost two years of that saving, and that just doesn't make sense to me. Sort of like spending hundreds on a piggy bank to put pennies into.

What 316TI are you looking at? The e36 one is a 1.6 engine as far as I know, but the e46 is a 1.8, so you're not going to save a huge amount on tax there, and maybe not all that much on fuel.

Ferris

Ronan75 wrote: »

Hi,
Due to recent changes in my income I'm finding it hard to justify holding on to my 2.0 petrol Saloon. It's the best all round car I've ever had, faultless and sailed through it's NCT last week but between tax and insurance and mpg....

I'm planning on selling it and then buying a smaller engined hatchback car, hopefully a 1.6. I'm thinking about an Alpha 147, BMW 316Ti or BMW 116i

Try working out how much a change in car will save you but at a guess:

Fuel consumption difference between a 2L saloon and a 1.6 hatch will be negligable, maybe a couple of hundred a year if you do 12k per annum.

Insurance difference will depend on the car but I bet ringing around for the best quote next time you change will save more. Remember that hatchbacks are sometimes loaded as they are driven by young drivers.

Tax difference will be ~300quid.

Not worth it for the short term imo, also if the car you have is reliable and has sailed through a NCT so you are dealing with a known quantity, not something that could have been trashed. Car repairs are expensive.

My advice would be to maintain your current car to a good standard and alter your driving style to save fuel. A 2L car should do 35mpg+ if driven economically, look up hypermileing on google for tips.

Anan1

Ferris wrote: »

My advice would be to maintain your current car to a good standard and alter your driving style to save fuel. A 2L car should do 35mpg+ if driven economically, look up hypermileing on google for tips.

+1, any small savings made by going from a 2.0 to a 1.6 would be more than eaten up by the cost of the change.

phattoni

thanks for the replies,
yeah it makes more sense to hold on to it. It's a 1999 lexus IS200. I only drive it about 3 times a week so I suppose MPG doesn't really matter but I've been looking at it thinking I could get something smaller and more economical and possibly make a few quid in the process. Can't do without a car altogether though as I'm self employed.

re. insurance: I contacted NoNonsense recently and chap wouldn't give me a quote. He said the car was "too old"!? I have 3 years no claims, full irish license for 2 years, zero points (never even a parking ticket) and I'm over 35. Anybody else encounter that problem?

thanks,
R

Top Dog

Whats your current car?

Spoke too slow

Anan1

phattoni wrote: »

re. insurance: I contacted NoNonsense recently and chap wouldn't give me a quote. He said the car was "too old"!? I have 3 years no claims, full irish license for 2 years, zero points (never even a parking ticket) and I'm over 35. Anybody else encounter that problem?

thanks,
R

Happens all the time, ring everyone for the cheapest quote.

phattoni

Anan1 wrote: »

Happens all the time, ring everyone for the cheapest quote.

I rang NoNonsense - that's when the guy told me he couldn't give me a quote. What's the purpose of the NCT if companies refuse to quote on a car of 10 years or older - I never encountered that before and I've had some old cars.

Top Dog

phattoni wrote: »

I rang NoNonsense - that's when the guy told me he couldn't give me a quote. What's the purpose of the NCT if companies refuse to quote on a car of 10 years or older - I never encountered that before and I've had some old cars.

Only time I've ever encountered any issues getting a quote on a car it was because the car was over 15 years old - never had issues with anything younger than that.

Anan1

phattoni wrote: »

I rang NoNonsense - that's when the guy told me he couldn't give me a quote. What's the purpose of the NCT if companies refuse to quote on a car of 10 years or older - I never encountered that before and I've had some old cars.

I mean ring every ins co and a good selection of brokers for the best possible quote. Quite a few ins cos won't quote for new business if the car's over 10 years old, don't ask me why..

Eoin

phattoni wrote: »

thanks for the replies,
yeah it makes more sense to hold on to it. It's a 1999 lexus IS200. I only drive it about 3 times a week so I suppose MPG doesn't really matter but I've been looking at it thinking I could get something smaller and more economical and possibly make a few quid in the process. Can't do without a car altogether though as I'm self employed.

If you're self employed, then you may as well go the whole hog and get a commercial, unless you need to carry passengers. Feck all road tax a year, plus you can claim some of the VAT back on your diesel (I think).

I don't know the used prices for any of the cars you mentioned, or your own one - but is it that likely you'll make money out of the deal?

I'd really sit down and to the sums. I did mine recently because I might be moving office, and it just didn't seem to make sense. It would have to be a lot more economically viable for me to trade down.

Zube

phattoni wrote: »

I could get something smaller and more economical and possibly make a few quid in the process.

There is just no way you'll make money changing for a newer car. A 2002 1.6 147 is worth as much as your Lexus.