Back to college car

slemons

Hey Guys,
Im back to college in a month as a mature (26yr old male).
I think i'll have to keep a car on but cant afford my current one.

Im thinking a diesel van (VW golf maybe) would be the most economical.
Im going to have it 4 years and do not too much driving, so i hope to get the best i can for cheap enough.

Currently im spending about €1700 a year on my current car excluding petrol (560 tax, 610 insurance, 500 odd servicing).
Petrol is about 50 a week.

So worst case scenario im spending 4300 a year on my current car, if i were to keep in on in college.

For me to buy something new it would have to come in cheaper than this over the course of a few years.

What are my chances?
Im thinking of something from the North or UK but in that price range does it make sense? ie Less than a grand.

Would a diesel van be much more economical than a 2litre coupe?
My current car does about 40 miles to the gallon if i mind it...

Advice appreciated?
Thanks
John

Zonda999

Well, if you're thinking of a golf van, it'll be a 1.9 and road tax will also be ~560€. A 1.9d golf van should do the bones of 60mpg, if you're careful. How many miles a year will you be doing, and will it be city or main-road driving?

slemons

Thanks for the very quick reply.
As little miles as possible. Hard to put a number on it. But mainly driving to the shop a few times a week, and the very odd spin out the country. Hopefully less than 150 miles a week


One of my mates had an opel astra? van 99, 1.6tdi. Brought in from the UK. He reckons the tax was only €80 every 3 months. €700 he paid for it. That sounds ideal to me.

Although of course the numbers may have been different. Everyone claims to have gotten a bargain dont they?

If the tax is the same as my current car, would an extra 20mpg be enough to make the purchase of a van viable?
I dont know anything about insuring a van? I assume it'd be cheaper than a 2litre coupe?

Thanks for the help Zonda

Zonda999

Hold on, made a mistake with that tax(:o), on a van, it wont be 560€(It'd be 560€on a car with that engine!). Not sure what it would be but it wont be that much, couple of hundred € maybe.

150 miles a week is very little tbh, so you can forget about 500€ service costs!. Insurance should be much less for sure. make sure to tell the company how few miles you'll be doing too. So basically, if you're able to get a van cheaply, it would be worth the change

If looking for a car/van, under 1000€, dont bother with carzone btw. Try all the free websites, adverts.ie should be worth a look

zilog_jones

I thought you pay normal car tax on car-derived vans? I don't think a diesel would be worth it for such low mileage driving if that is the case.

Also, I find it hard to believe a 2 litre coupe can do 40mpg - you sure you got your sums right?

Atomic Pineapple

I bought my ITR as a back to college car! best thing I ever did!

€500 / annum servicing is not out of the question doing 150 / miles a week, a basic service, a CV joint and a fan belt would get you to half that, throw in 2 tyres and you're nearly there and nothing has gone wrong yet really. If I was you I'd buy an old petrol Golf or Corolla with minimum 18 month NCT on it that was serviced in the last few thousand miles, spend as little as possible buying it. Keep an eye on the engine oil and coolant level and just drive it. Perhaps consider doing an oil change yourself, it's very easy and straightforward.

zilog_jones

zilog_jones wrote: »

I thought you pay normal car tax on car-derived vans?

Nope, they are commercial vehicle.

slemons

Looks like its not going to make sense to go for a new 'old' car.
My current car, bless her, has never given me a minutes trouble. I might be better holding on to it

Its a Pug 406 coupe 98. I've tried calculating the mpg many times before and keep coming up with the same answer. Thats not to say its right though...
€75 to fill it gets 440miles approx. Take petrol at €1.10 a litre so thats 68.2 litres or 15 UK gallons (divide by 4.54 afaik)

Oh, thats 29.3 Hmmm, now im confused...

It turns out my mate still has that Opel Astra van, 99 1.6TDI. And he's selling it for €700, but hasnt had an offer. I could knock him to €400 maybe. I wonder what would that be like on miles to the gallon.
Or would it be worth the potential grief. I know my Pug will go like a tank for another 4 years.

This could be a ball of sh1t. Its beeen parked for 6 months. It has a few dents on it and some rust on the bonnet. I wouldnt care about that though.
As long as it starts regularly, thats enough.

Anyone have any expierence with opel carvans? Esp Uk imports?

Thanks again for all your help guys.
Its really appreciated...
Dammit, what am i doing going back being poor again?

I'm selling a 1992 Merc 250 diesel at the moment, does 34 mpg, was just NCT'd, taxed till the end of September. 227 000 miles but that's not too bad for one of these. Downside is the road tax, but it is serviced and had new tyres and NCT until June 2011. They don't give trouble. I have it advertised for 1600 but the post haggling price is 1300. Very cheap to insure, diesel is at least 10c / litre less than petrol too. May well not be your cup of tea but all she should need over the next 2 years is a couple of oil changes if you are only doing 150 miles a week.

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=134315&cat=500

slemons

slemons wrote: »

I know my Pug will go like a tank for another 4 years.

Not many folk would say that about a petrol 406, they are known as being extremely troublesome, both engine and suspension wise, you may have gotten lucky with yours, 4 years is a long time to expect that to continue.

The Real B-man

Get a 1.4Tdi Ibiza or Polo

slemons

RoverJames wrote: »

Not many folk would say that about a petrol 406, they are known as being extremely troublesome, both engine and suspension wise, you may have gotten lucky with yours, 4 years is a long time to expect that to continue.

Lol, thats the funniest post I've read in a long time.
You'd make a great salesman Rover

Ta for the offer, but the tax on the Merc would kill me!

Wasn't meant to be funny at all, if I was on a limited budget I wouldn't hope to run a 406 for 4 years, defo consider the Golf or Corolla. Or a 1.4 Civic saloo (cheaper than the hatches). I can assure you the 406 will need money thrown at her over the next few years. I only mentioned the Merc as you seem to want to avoid maintenance costs, the W124 is known as being the most over engineered Merc ever, they don't give trouble. The tax is a bummer though as you say.

slemons

Thanks for the help Rover!

This is one i was looking at...
http://www.autotrader.ie/search/Volkswagen/Polo/1.4-S-TD/200931194794240/advert?channel=CARS

Looks great, but the insurance is only 100 cheaper than my current car. Tax is €357, so thats €200 cheaper.

Would you save a grand a year Diesel over petrol if you were only doing 200 miles a week? How reliable is the VW polo 1.4 TDI? Is it good for MPG?

Not a hope, a grand a year is €20 a week, €30 in a 30 odd mpg petrol will do 200 miles for you, not many diesels will do the same 200 miles on a tenner. As I have said cheapest option is a good 1.4 Corolla or Civic or maybe a Golf (I prefer the jap stuff though, much better for low maintenance costs and better to drive).

slemons

Thanks again Rover!
You've been a great help.

It turns out one of my colleages who emigrated a year ago, still has his old car lying around for sale.

Its a 99 Saxo, 1.0litre, 3 door. Apparently it was in great nick. But hasnt been driven in 6 months or more. It had nct passed til Sept this year.

Do cars go 'off' if they havent been driven? Does this make sense?
The tyres? Battery?

Surely a 1litre would be good on mpg?
I think i might go for this one...

slemons

On a related note, do any of you knowledgeable folks know if insurance should be cheaper for a student or an employed engineer? Are there special insurance brokers for students, like 25plus.ie for over 25's?
Just wondering what to put down on the application form?

KamiKazi

slemons wrote: »

Thanks again Rover!
You've been a great help.

It turns out one of my colleages who emigrated a year ago, still has his old car lying around for sale.

Its a 99 Saxo, 1.0litre, 3 door. Apparently it was in great nick. But hasnt been driven in 6 months or more. It had nct passed til Sept this year.

Do cars go 'off' if they havent been driven? Does this make sense?
The tyres? Battery?

Surely a 1litre would be good on mpg?
I think i might go for this one...

Had one myself when I was in college, great little car, never put a foot wrong. One full tank would last me three weeks of driving to college 5 times a week and driving back up home at the weekends. Plus I got two years out of one set of tyres and serviced it myself, super cheap car

slemons wrote: »

On a related note, do any of you knowledgeable folks know if insurance should be cheaper for a student or an employed engineer? Are there special insurance brokers for students, like 25plus.ie for over 25's?
Just wondering what to put down on the application form?

TBH once you're over 25 I can't see it making much difference.

The tyres won't have perished but if they were not inflated to the correct pressure they may be a bit out of shape sitting for 6 months. Battery may need a charge but should be ok once charged. If you want to be really careful take out the spark plugs before turning the key, folks do that on cars that have been stood a while. Not really needed for only 6 months though. Super mpg from the 1.0 Saxo but I wouldn't fancy having a crash in one.

What sort of engineer are you do you mind me asking ?

slemons

Thanks guys...
Looks like im the proud new owner of a 1.1 saxo.
Jump started it just now and it goes well. It didnt restart however. I'll give it a half hour long drive tonight. Hopefully it'll hold charge and not need a new battery.

Bit of a change from the coupe

Im an electronic engineer (know nothing about cars) but my days are numbered. Starting Medicine in 3 weeks. I must be mad!

Thanks again guys...
I hope the saxo is as good as your one Kami!