3000 Euro to buy a car.... What to get?

Robin Ball

Hi Guys,

Could do with your help, I am going to get rid of my 1.1 Saxo as it won't make it through the NCT in one piece so it's time to get a different car.

I have 3k, I'm partial to Volkswagen Golfs but have noticed Renault Meganes are seriously cheap. I suppose there is a good reason for this.....

If you had 3k and did 80miles commuting 6/7 days what would you get?

Thanks,

Rob

I Was VB

Robin Ball wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Could do with your help, I am going to get rid of my 1.1 Saxo as it won't make it through the NCT in one piece so it's time to get a different car.

I have 3k, I'm partial to Volkswagen Golfs but have noticed Renault Meganes are seriously cheap. I suppose there is a good reason for this.....

If you had 3k and did 80miles commuting 6/7 days what would you get?

Thanks,

Rob

BMW 728i.

Robin Ball

Sorry, I meant to say that TAX on the car couldn't be 1500!! Lol..

Max Power1

I Was VB wrote: »

BMW 750iL.

FYP:D

Soarer

Something like this.

acotone

Get a ford mondeo , very reliable and economic.

Robin Ball

Soarer wrote: »

Something like this.

Thanks Soarer, I was chatting to a friend on Friday about cars, he said that Renault were essentially a load of C%*P, do you think there is any truth or is it just a rumour that he's repeating?

Owen

The Vel Satis was actually a brilliant car. They never sold here in huge numbers, but anyone I've spoken to who had one, they were always happy with them.

MidlandsM

acotone wrote: »

Get a ford mondeo , very reliable and economic.

petrol ones are hard on petrol....diesels are handy on derv;)

Soarer

Robin Ball wrote: »

Thanks Soarer, I was chatting to a friend on Friday about cars, he said that Renault were essentially a load of C%*P, do you think there is any truth or is it just a rumour that he's repeating?

I kinda hold the same opinion myself, but I think that comes from my dad and his experience of French cars 20 years ago!:o

Really don't think they're all that bad these days. The brother in law has a 1.6 Laguna. He's a shocking driver and never does any preventative maintenance, but the car's never put a foot wrong.

I've always wanted to buy a Vel Satis, but the potential "I told you so" from the ol' fella outweighs the satisifaction I'd get from the car!:P

I know that doesn't really help. I suppose since you don't have to listen to my dad, you should go for it!

Soarer

Owen wrote: »

The Vel Satis was actually a brilliant car. They never sold here in huge numbers, but anyone I've spoken to who had one, they were always happy with them.

Cool.

Should help the OP out.

YBTurbo

I'd by the best Ford Puma 1.7 I could find, lower it fit a nicer set of alloys, Leather etc...

Robin Ball

Soarer wrote: »

I kinda hold the same opinion myself, but I think that comes from my dad and his experience of French cars 20 years ago!:o

Really don't think they're all that bad these days. The brother in law has a 1.6 Laguna. He's a shocking driver and never does any preventative maintenance, but the car's never put a foot wrong.

I've always wanted to buy a Vel Satis, but the potential "I told you so" from the ol' fella outweighs the satisifaction I'd get from the car!:P

I know that doesn't really help. I suppose since you don't have to listen to my dad, you should go for it!

I hear you on the 'I told you so' but I just can't get over the look of it, the Megane is actually alright.... the Vel Satis.... little ugly, I suppose it doesn't matter as long as it's cheap to run.

Does anyone out there have any experience with the Megane?

Robin Ball

acotone wrote: »

Get a ford mondeo , very reliable and economic.

Just checking these out on Donedeal, you get a lot for your cash with these lads! The parts are probably quite cheap given there are a lot of them out there.

YBTurbo

Robin Ball wrote: »

Just checking these out on Donedeal, you get a lot for your cash with these lads! The parts are probably quite cheap given there are a lot of them out there.

There is a problem with fly wheels in the diesel models (Can't remember exactly which model)

Bebo stunnah

buy a horse? dont have to worry about the price of petrol/diesel then. I hear the tax is pretty decent too!

Robin Ball

Bebo stunnah wrote: »

buy a horse? dont have to worry about the price of petrol/diesel then. I hear the tax is pretty decent too!

Already have one, problem is filling up on hay at work, I just can't bring enough with me. Plus the mess he makes.....

Robin Ball

The Mondeo is looking increasingly good.... I do see most are over 100k miles. Is this an issue or are these things made to last?

Hal1

Have you considered a focus?

Bebo stunnah

Robin Ball wrote: »

Already have one, problem is filling up on hay at work, I just can't bring enough with me. Plus the mess he makes.....

Ok, so a mule instead? to carry it, and possible a shovel for the poop too

barura

I've seen Mazda 626's go for a song on DoneDeal. Though they are hard to insure.

I would be looking at Ford Focus's or 02/03 Golfs. Should get some change from 3k easily.

Why is there people saying horses and stuff? That's not really helpful.

Bigus

Robin Ball wrote: »

I am going to get rid of my 1.1 Saxo as it won't make it through the NCT in one piece so it's time to get a different car.

I have 3k, I'm partial to Volkswagen Golfs but have noticed Renault Meganes are seriously cheap. I suppose there is a good reason for this.....

If you had 3k and did 80miles commuting 6/7 days what would you get?

80 miles per day or per week ?

MidlandsM

Robin Ball wrote: »

The Mondeo is looking increasingly good.... I do see most are over 100k miles. Is this an issue or are these things made to last?

they come in 2 flavours......tddi and tdci (post 2003) - both reliable 2 litre turbo diesel engines, noisey but frugal and strong.

for 3k, you'll get one up to 2003.......stretch to 3.5k you'll get an 04 and for an 05 you'll pay €4,200 upwards

They were facelifted 2003 onwards.

try and buy one with a new cluytch and flywheel and if you buy the tddi model, a solid flywheel conversion would be good.
Wheel bearing go but as cheap from ebay, they are cheap to servce and there's no timing belt to worry about, so that keeps expenditure cheap too.

any mondeo question you have, pm me - I sell tonnes of these and know them inside out in my sleep.;););)

Robin Ball

Bigus wrote: »

80 miles per day or per week ?

It's 80miles/day

166man

Robin Ball wrote: »

It's 80miles/day

You need to look at diesel then really that's quite alot of mileage, in a petrol that's gonna be expensive on fuel anyway although in your price bracket a petrol might be the more reliable option.

Mycroft H

166man wrote: »

You need to look at diesel then really that's quite alot of mileage, in a petrol that's gonna be expensive on fuel anyway although in your price bracket a petrol might be the more reliable option.

You will get an non DPF/DMF diesel handily for that sort of money so easily as reliable as the next petrol.

You would be robbed blind on petrol with those sort of mileage too, 80 miles a day 6/7 days a week is near 2k miles a month so you would be mad buying a petrol.

fryup

here you go OP

cheap to run, cheap to insure and super reliable

166man

fryup wrote: »

here you go OP

cheap to run, cheap to insure and super reliable

That car would be perfect for somebody maybe doing 20-30 miles a day but the OP is looking at the guts of 40k km per year and I'm not sure a 1.1 Mitsubishi would be the best car for the job. A diesel saloon would be preferable I reckon.

Eric Cartman

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2670918

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2735014

MyStubbleItches

I'd go with the diesel mondeo too. Grand yolk to drive, affordable comfort for that kind of a daily commute.

maidhc

MidlandsM wrote: »

they come in 2 flavours......tddi and tdci (post 2003) - both reliable 2 litre turbo diesel engines, noisey but frugal and strong.

for 3k, you'll get one up to 2003.......stretch to 3.5k you'll get an 04 and for an 05 you'll pay €4,200 upwards

They were facelifted 2003 onwards.

try and buy one with a new cluytch and flywheel and if you buy the tddi model, a solid flywheel conversion would be good.
Wheel bearing go but as cheap from ebay, they are cheap to servce and there's no timing belt to worry about, so that keeps expenditure cheap too.

any mondeo question you have, pm me - I sell tonnes of these and know them inside out in my sleep.;););)

How reliable will a TDCi be with big miles?

MidlandsM

maidhc wrote: »

How reliable will a TDCi be with big miles?

fine if it has had a decent service history. Look on ebay motors uk and you'll see onles that have done 230k + for sale, and going grand.

I had one with over 180k on it, and it was tight as a drum and driving well.

Robin Ball

Thanks for all the info lads, much appreciated. I have done some looking into the 1.5dci from Renault and people generally run a mile from them citing electrical issues. I reckon it's probably going to be a Mondeo or a Golf at this point.

People here have been very complimentary towards the Mondeo, looks like a nice motor, sure better than the 1.1 Saxo I'm currently in.

Seems that the Mondeo can stack up serious milage too, guess that's why the Gardai use them. Is there any particular year that is a better vintage for this car? Or did every year produce a great model?

R

Id take a look at peugeot 307 hdi's too. My father has 235k km's on his from new and only problems have been 2 wheel bearings, this is his second 307 and has had no problems with either otherwise.

His is the 1.4 and its a absolute miser on diesel (55mpg long term average) but you would really want the 1.6hdi at least for the extra power in my opinion.

MidlandsM

Robin Ball wrote: »

Thanks for all the info lads, much appreciated. I have done some looking into the 1.5dci from Renault and people generally run a mile from them citing electrical issues. I reckon it's probably going to be a Mondeo or a Golf at this point.

People here have been very complimentary towards the Mondeo, looks like a nice motor, sure better than the 1.1 Saxo I'm currently in.

Seems that the Mondeo can stack up serious milage too, guess that's why the Gardai use them. Is there any particular year that is a better vintage for this car? Or did every year produce a great model?

R

try and get a post 03 model with the faclift, nicer dash console and more fresh looking.;)

zilog_jones

If I was doing that kind of mileage I'd definitely go for something as big as a Mondeo and a diesel.

How about a Peugeot 406 or Citroen C5? The HDi diesel engines are pretty reliable (the Ford TDCi engines like in the Mondeo are based on these) and IMO they make much more comfortable cars than Ford do. I got a 406 earlier this year and I'm pretty happy with it so far. You could easily get a late model 406 ('03-'04) with decent spec (leather, climate control, electric everything) for that kind of money. The 90 bhp ones do not have a DMF or DPF to worry about.

JJJJNR

One of these, I'd say you'd pick it up for about 1500 keep your money for services.