Economical car for around 5k- suggestions please!

Wisco

So I may be in the market for a new (used) car soon.
My main concern is economy to run (tax etc, low maintenance costs) and I would be commuting (mainly motorway) so fuel efficiency is a top concern.
Ideally I'd like to spend 5k or less and am obviously looking for something used. I've always driven Hondas and Subarus, but my current Honda is wayyyyy to heavy on fuel and while it's great for what I use it for at the moment, it's not up to daily commuting as I'd be broke in no time. I do like it as I've never had maintenance problems however.
Fuel type doesn't matter, nor does size as it will primarily be me and 1 other person so I wouldn't mind a small car.
I'd love to hear suggestions or experiences of other boardsies.
Thanks in advance.

Leonard Hofstadter

The only thing that would be very fuel efficient at that kind of money is a diesel with a lot of miles on the clock... hardly the kind of thing you'd want if you do a lot of motorway driving.

OP, everyone else is thinking the same way as you with regards to having a more fuel efficient car, and consequently good second-hand diesels are very hard to come by, especially at that price.

You also have to consider that few cars are as reliable as a petrol Honda, I mean a diesel could have injectors, turbos, DMF, DPF, EGR valve and other expensive failures.

Yes you'll save money on fuel, but you could easily be spending all those fuel savings on fixing something that has gone expensively wrong, especially with the way most Irish people abuse their cars and don't bother with servicing etc etc.

What kind of Honda do you have?

The only diesels I can think of that might fit the criteria you'd be looking for is the Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi or else a VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda 1.9 TDI.

I'd probably go for an old model B5 Passat (97-05 model), there are a few decent 1.9 TDIs around, the Passat is a very good motorway cruiser, and while they're not perfect (they have overly soft suspension and so are crap on back roads), they are for the most part reliable and the 1.9 TDI is bulletproof if it has been looked after, especially the earlier non-PD models.

illegalpower

How about a nissan almera 04-05 with the 1.5 petrol engine. I use to get 500 miles out of a tank, all motorway driving and keeping it at 60 most of the time. Not the nicest thing to look at but it was reliable and frugal. 4000 grand would get you a decent 04 model. It's very mechanically simple and i leant alot of things by doing things like servcing and brake pads + discs myself. I had a saloon and there was loots of space and a big enough boot for my surfing stuff.

i was broke when i got mine ( an 03 facelift model) and it never let me down

hartnett_mark

Exactly some VAG car like Vw Golf/Skoda Octavia/Audi with 1.9 Tdi would be great for You, also Ford Focus or Opel Astra would be really good with diesel engine.

Leonard Hofstadter

That shape Almera has constant problems with the timing chain stretching (resulting in it eventually needing to be replaced - timing chains are designed to the last the lifetime of the vehicle), so it's not the most reliable car out there, and besides which I don't think it's an especially good car.

Also, the OP already has an economical enough petrol engine (Honda make the best four cylinder petrol engines) and wants to cut down on fuel costs, so I'm not sure if the Almera is the car to do that.

illegalpower

I think the timing chain only affected the pre face lift models and was sorted from 03 on, but i stand to be corrected. Agreed that it's not an especially good car but i paid less than 3 grand for mine and stuck 40k miles on it with no probs. There's surely better stuff out there but just my expierence

Wisco

Thanks for all the info everyone- I've got some googling to do.
I'm currently in a 00 CRV and while it suits my current needs, it is expensive to drive.
I had already been thinking about VW or Audi, but nice to get some more informed feedback as I'm a total novice at this stuff.
Keep those ideas coming please!

Leonard Hofstadter

If you downsized to say a petrol Civic you'd still save a lot of money on fuel but you'd have something far more reliable than most modern diesels.

A high riding 4X4 is not the most fuel efficient thing at 120 kph.

A nice 1.6 Civic with a decent spec will be every bit as comfortable and reliable as a CR-V, but it will be quicker and considerably more fuel efficient than what you have (a 1.4 would probably work out as being more expensive to run if it's mostly motorway driving as 1.4s in that size of car are usually rather underpowered and they usually run at very high revs at those speeds, further decreasing fuel efficiency).

You can't go wrong with a simple petrol engine - they may cost more to fuel, but they are far less likely to go wrong, and even if they do go wrong, it's rarely anything expensive.

Theanswers

2005- 2006 VW golf van could be got for €5000.

New model within reason, great on fuel.

Mr.Boots

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1990524

Cheap to run....Vrt under 350 euro as far as i remember.

Wisco

Mr.Boots wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1990524

Cheap to run....Vrt under 350 euro as far as i remember.

Thanks for the suggestion but I'd rather not end up as a pancake under a lorry on the motorway.... :rolleyes:

Fortunately I'm rarely on a motorway these days, and when I am I'm one of those people in the slow lane trying to conserve fuel.
Have been thinking about the Civic too- my parents have one and it seems to get good mileage- will have to ask them what model it is exactly since I vaguely remember my dad saying it was supposed to be a more fuel efficient version.

hartnett_mark

I think the best efficient has Vw Lupo 3L, it consume just 3 litres of diesel per 100km, so it will be around 94mpg, it has 1.2(61hp) :dd

colm_mcm

A honda civic 1.7 diesel would be worth a look. UK is full of SE models.
They're 100hp and give great mpg

slinky2000

hartnett_mark wrote: »

I think the best efficient has Vw Lupo 3L, it consume just 3 litres of diesel per 100km, so it will be around 94mpg, it has 1.2(61hp) :dd

Wow 94mpg!

Guill

What would thempg for a 1.8l petrol mazda 6 be? 04/05 ish..

hartnett_mark

slinky2000 wrote: »

Wow 94mpg!

This is exact way how my wife react when i told her to buy this one : )