Car advice

rodwyer

Hi there,

Im a relatively new driver, still waiting to get called for my test. I am looking for advice on what type of car to go for when/if I pass. At the moment im driving a 1.2 corsa. Its fine for going in and out to work, about 10k each way.

I will be looking for a car to commute up and down to dublin every weekend, as well as driving around dublin and limerick city. What kind of car should I go for?

Ideally looking for something 2nd hand and economical. Im willing to spend around 5 grand on it. I was advised to go for a diesal by a friend as they are supposedly cheaper, any truth to this?

Thanks

Tragedy

How many miles will you be doing?
20km a day to/from work, 400km each weekend to/from Dublin, much extra on top of that?

That's 25k km a year already.

15,000 miles per year averaging 30mpg in a petrol car = ~€1,900 on fuel
15,000 miles per year averaging 45mpg in a diesel car = ~€1,150

If you go from a 1.2 to a 1.9, your tax has already gone up by €328, and your insurance by even more most likely.

Buy a diesel because you want the same running costs, but more comfort, reliability and power - something you'll appreciate on the limerick to dublin run(one I do every two weeks, originally in a 1.3 kia, and now in a 2 litre diesel.)

rodwyer

Cheers,

Id only be working fulltime for about 3-4 months of the year. I would be doing dublin to limerick pretty much every weekend for the rest of the year and working part time at the same time.

In fairness im not gonna quibble over a few hundred euro. If power and reliability is going to come with the diesel id go for that. What are the major disadvantages with a diesel? Are they similar to drive to a petrol?

Suspose I could be looking in the 1.8L range.. What brands are to be avoided? Was thinking of looking at audis, vws or bmws.. New to this so please bear with me!

Tragedy

Be hard to find a diesel smaller than 1.9l for under 5k!

Generally, newer diesels can be quite expensive to service and aren't necessarily more reliable than petrol engines, but with your budget and the age you'd be looking at(not likely to get newer than 02 or 03!), that's not the case and engines tend to be bulletproof.

Downsides for me so far are:
Front suspension tends to wear a bit quicker than my old petrol car
Front tyres wear quicker than my old petrol car

In my first car, doing 120 on the M7 I was doing near enough 4,000 rpm, and the constant noise for hours did my head in. Seats weren't particularly comfy, no cruise control, couldn't overtake a fart and if I was in an accident, I was coming off worst :pac:

People tend to recommend the 130bhp passat(2000 on) or the 115bhp Mondeo from 2002 on.

BMW/Audi are usually overpriced all things considered.

I found them all boring though and considered a few left field choices like an Alfa 156 1.9 JTD, Volvo S60 2.4 D5, and the car I eventually bought in my sig. Not necessarily the smartest choices though!

rodwyer

Was doing some browsing there, think im gonna be keeping an eye out for either a mondeo or golf. Focus also looks good.

rodwyer

Actually screw that, just looking up ford pumas... drool

Lurching

rodwyer wrote: »

Actually screw that, just looking up ford pumas... drool

They never came in diesel though.

For diesels, id always lean towards a german car, audi or VW.

I know the mondeos are a well proven car, but just not my taste.