Recommend a change of car?

dougie-lampkin

Hi guys,

I'm currently driving a '94 Mini, but I'm looking to change for something more modern (though not necessarily newer, I'm open to suggestions). I'm a broke student so my budget is very tight

Basically I'm looking for something a little pokier, and roomier inside (not setting the bar very high ). The Mini is sound mechanically, but the old world 1.3 is no match for modern traffic. I find myself flooring it far too often just to keep up with traffic around me, especially on the motorway, and this is eating fuel. I get 25-30 mpg with mainly city use, which isn't dire, but there's room for improvement. 25 mpg is the city usage for a new petrol 4.4l V8 Range Rover like :pac:

I was looking into VAG diesels, what are people's opinions on the 1.9 TDI? A ~00 Golf, Passat or A4 TDI are within €100 of my current insurance, and tax is €200 a year extra, but with the reduced fuel consumption I should easily make that back. I've heard stories of people getting 60-70 mpg from the 1.9 TDI, but how much of that is pub talk I don't know. I could cover 10,000 km a year, which is 250 gallons of fuel a year in the Mini, at €1.45 a litre for petrol that's nearly €2,000 a year just on fuel. If I could get even 50 mpg from the TDI (whichever one), I'd save myself nearly €1,100 in fuel based on our current fuel prices, which aren't going down any time soon...

While I'd like to go diesel to save on fuel, I am also open to petrol. What I'd like to avoid are Micras, Starlets, etc., unless I run out of options. I'm not restricted to VAG either, or to any of the three cars I mentioned above.

So what are people's opinions? I'm not going felt spec, however anything that has been previously and subtly modified (while still legal and not ridiculous) is fine by me once the price reflects that. My budget is whatever the Mini fetches. It has 6 months tax and NCT, and lesser models are making €2,000 with similar models making €3-4,000. I'd be looking for €3,500 I guess, since it's clean, and with 80,000 miles. This puts me into the '98-'00 category of VAG I think?

TIA

colm_mcm

This 03 civic 1.7 diesel looks great.

£2400 = €2845
VRT is about €650
So €3500ish


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201103377878160/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/3000/fuel-type/diesel/model/civic/make/honda/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/ln12na?logcode=p

Tasty looking, buckets of spec, cheap tax, and 100hp

dougie-lampkin

That's a fine Civic alright, don't think I've seen any of the diesels around, but they're apparently an Isuzu built motor, so are pretty bulletproof I'd imagine. Quinn won't quote me online (probably as it's a Civic), but I'll ring tomorrow and see what the damage is. The name might be the only problem with it, I'm 19

Nissan doctor

Buy a Honda Type R v-tec conversion kit! Your mini will have a lot of poke then:D

dougie-lampkin

I was looking at engine conversions last December actually, the 1L Micra one caught my fancy. I also have a Micra as a backup car (NCT runs out in a couple months and needs too much work to pass again though ), and I know they're pokey enough for me in a light chassis. The messing of custom subframes, mounts and driveshafts put me off big time though...

If a K20 fell off the back of a truck and I found it it might be a cost effective conversion though :pac: