1.4 / 1.6 Petrol hatch 04 - 06 Best Option?

PN14

Hi Guys,

My sister is looking for a 04 to 06 car with budget of 6-7k max. She is after a 1.4 or 1.6 petrol (she would prefer diesel and prob does enough miles to justify but diesel seems to be beyond her budget at this age with any kind of reasonable milage).

She is looking for advice on what to buy as she doesn't want a lemon. She is currently looking at Focus, Astra, Mazda3. She wanted an A3 / Golf but has been told to stay away from the 1.4 & 1.6 petrols of that vintage in these cars. This would also rule out any offering from seat / skoda. She dosen't want a toyota for some reason.

Any advice on what would be a good motor with reasonable milage return around the 40mpg mark.

bazz26

Ford Focus 1.6 litre is probably the best on that list.

PaddyFagan

PN14 wrote: »

She wanted an A3 / Golf but has been told to stay away from the 1.4 & 1.6 petrols of that vintage in these cars. This would also rule out any offering from seat / skoda.

I'd agree with ruling out the 1.4, the 1.6 8v is fine - but there was also the 1.6FSI available which I'd argue was the pick of the smaller petrol engines from VW at that stage (I own an 06 Golf Plus 1.6FSI )...

So perhaps something like:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2081631 (04 Golf 10,000km ??? - if it's true it could be a steal)
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2060069 (06 Golf)

Paddy

Ardennes1944

Astra 1.7 diesel or to be different, a grande punt sporting.

Personally, I'd defo get the sporting

bazz26

Focus TDCi here, I'm sure she could buy it close to her budget:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201115201967444

MrDerp

You might nick this at the top of your budget:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Peugeot/207/GT-1.6-1/201107201299743/advert?channel=CARS
It's 2007 so under the old tax system Might cost a bit on juice but you'd (ahem ... your girlfriend would) have a lot of fun in it.

There's a few auto 1.6 207 SX hanging around too. My mother has one and it's fairly nippy.

Zubeneschamali

MINI Cooper?

PN14

Thanks for replying everyone.

She has a friend a mechanic and told her steer clear of the VW 1.4 petrol. Told her it gives problems as you head towards the 100km mark. He also told her that the A3 has the same engine as the Golf and therefore to steer clear however as one poster said I don't think the A3 ever came in 1.4 variant back then and I would presume the 1.6 is a different animal to the 1.4 variant.

Its been 15 years since i owned a petrol so I'm afraid I can't give her a whole pile of advice.

Would there be much difference performance wise between the 1.4 & 1.6 focus. I don't think she'd be worried about power / pickup etc more fuel usage. Would a 1.6 get up around the 40mpg or is it more likely to be back in the mid 30's?

PN14

If I was in her booots shoes the mini cooper would prob be my own choice. I might steer her in that direction and she what she thinks?

PaddyFagan

PN14 wrote: »

Would a 1.6 get up around the 40mpg or is it more likely to be back in the mid 30's?

For most of these cars the mpg figures will be very close between the 1.4 & 1.6 - most cars in this segment are stuffed with safety gear and have curb weights in the relms of 1,500kg - so the 1.4's tend to struggle and hence mpg values are similar.

I'd say any of the petrols mentioned could do 40 mpg - but that depends on how much stop/start driving she does and how heavy her right foot is

Paddy

Zubeneschamali

PN14 wrote: »

I don't think she'd be worried about power / pickup etc more fuel usage.

You've obviously never driven a 1.4 Focus. I had a garage loaner for a while last year, and it was painfully slow.

Herself is not mad into cars, but she loves our Mini Cooper, and so do all the non-car people she meets.

A-Trak

Alfa 147? You'd get a lot of car for that budget.

MrDerp

PaddyFagan wrote: »

For most of these cars the mpg figures will be very close between the 1.4 & 1.6 - most cars in this segment are stuffed with safety gear and have curb weights in the relms of 1,500kg - so the 1.4's tend to struggle and hence mpg values are similar.

I'd say any of the petrols mentioned could do 40 mpg - but that depends on how much stop/start driving she does and how heavy her right foot is

Paddy

You said she does a lot of mileage yeah? What kind of driving? Any sustained 120km/h and the 1.4 focus won't average 40mpg. More like 35 mpg. It's just underpowered. I did get close to 40mpg in my 1.4 focus when I did a higher proportion of city driving though.

If you're doing a lot of N/M driving I doubt the 1.6 focus would cost any more on fuel than the 1.4. The 1.4 is a dog because of its weight. I know. I had one.

I do 30,000km a year, mostly motorway and N road, and I'm getting the same 35mpg out of my 1.8 Volvo s40 as I did in the 1.4 focus. Think about that. The only sane reason I can see for the 1.4 focus is if anything larger would have crippling insurance costs. That engine simply should never have been put in that car. It's fine as a runabout, not for someone doing enough miles to be considering Diesel.