Best car for about €8,000 or €9,000ish

dinneenp

Hi,
We're a family with 2 small kids. We have a 05 Volvo S40 and a 02 Saab 93.

We're going to sell the Saab (get about €3,000 or so for it I'd imagine) and looking to buying a car for one of us 'getting to and from work' mainly, it won't have the kids in it 90% of the time.
The Saab is a 2L turbo so is expensive to run and tax. We want the new car to be cheaper for petrol (diesel probably) and tax (and insurance).

Our budget is about €8-9,000 (that includes the money we get from selling the Saab). I suppose we could push it a bit more but preferablly not.
We'd like something that's economical but also nice interior (just not the very cheap plastic look and feel some cars have).

Engine size doesn't matter, anything from a 1 litre would do, preferablly a bit bigger.
We're open to anything really, have just started browsing. Skodia Fabia seems nice and good price.

1. Does it make sense to look at cars from 2008 as from 2008 is when tax is based on emmisions?
2. More sense to buy a diesel (even though you pay a bit more for one)
3. What would your recommendations be and why?
4. Besides cbg.ie, carzone.ie and autotrader where should I look?
5. Anything else to note?

Cheers,
Pa.

dinneenp

dinneenp wrote: »

looking to buying a car for one of us 'getting to and from work' mainly, it won't have the kids in it 90% of the time.

How far away is work?

dinneenp

Work is 18k away, driving from countryside to the city but in busy traffic so a lot of stop-starting.

bazz26

Don't think you need a diesel to be honest if doing that little mileage. How about something like this:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201043200053029

Auto will be ideal for stop/start trips and still cheap to run.

dinneenp

dinneenp wrote: »

Work is 18k away, driving from countryside to the city but in busy traffic so a lot of stop-starting.

200Km a week so for work commute, add on another 100km/week for whatever else and you have 15K a year, less than 10,000 miles. Would ye fancy a Fiat Panda or Ford Fiesta?

dinneenp

bazz26 wrote: »

Don't think you need a diesel to be honest if doing that little mileage. How about something like this:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201043200053029

Auto will be ideal for stop/start trips and still cheap to run.

Thanks for the suggestion.
Sorry, I should have mentioned that we'd like a 5 door car. Besides that it's nice. I've heard a few people say 'don't buy a Renault' but I don't listen to them too much

Tea 1000

8 grand will run that Saab for a long time!

dinneenp

Tea 1000 wrote: »

8 grand will run that Saab for a long time!

I know
but tax is over €500 a year vs about €150 for some 2008 low emmisions cars
It's a 2 litre tubro so petrol costs are high.
It broke down last week, had to get a new fuel pump, replaced the tubro last year. So maybe it's just a bit old and I'll have to pay for more repairs in the near future.

Cheers,
pa.

Anan1

dinneenp wrote: »

I know
but tax is over €500 a year vs about €150 for some 2008 low emmisions cars
It's a 2 litre tubro so petrol costs are high.

Remember that these costs will be largely factored into the price of whatever you buy to replace the SAAB - don't fall into the trap of paying thousands extra up front to save relatively small money on tax and fuel.

Tea 1000

dinneenp wrote: »

I know
but tax is over €500 a year vs about €150 for some 2008 low emmisions cars
It's a 2 litre tubro so petrol costs are high.
It broke down last week, had to get a new fuel pump, replaced the tubro last year. So maybe it's just a bit old and I'll have to pay for more repairs in the near future.

Cheers,
pa.

You'll hardly find a 08 diesel for €8k, and I don't think you'll get 3k for the Saab. Therefore the difference will be small, as most diesels are 1.8 - 2.0, although some are 1.6. 1.6 is probably only saving you €150 in the old scheme per year over the Saab.
Even if you get twice the fuel economy out of the newer car, and even if you saved €1000 per year on fuel, you'll need 8 years to make the difference back. By then you'll probably have put a new turbo into the new small diesel, or maybe injectors, or maybe particulate filter...
If it's longetivity you're after, for your mileage, I'd be going this direction:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/1.8I-SES/201041199859279/advert?channel=CARS
It's remarkably economical for a petrol, and it will last a looonnnngg time. Post-08 ones are €302 tax, but will probably be over budget