Recommend a reliable car for European trip

Plucky

First off, I have to hold my hands up and say my knowledge of cars and motoring is pretty poor. I'm the son of a long-time taxi-driver whose car was almost held in the same regard as his kids, and rightly so! But it was difficult to get driving lessons from him when we were younger, so I went without. I still can't drive. I'd love to, but it just always seemed too expensive an endeavour - lessons, license, fuel, tax, insurance etc - and I don't make very much money.

So you see why I need help.

My girlfriend and I (she drives) are moving to Spain in the Autumn and we are considering buying a LHD for the move. We are also considering spending a couple of weeks taking the scenic route to get there, if we have time before starting our new jobs. We're on a really tight budget, so we're not sure how feasible it is. Basically we want a cheap, reliable car that will serve us well for maybe a month's long distance driving.

The car that we buy will most likely be put back for sale when we arrive. I don't want to say how much our budget is because we don't strictly have one. But it's definitely lower than 5k, and hopefully a good bit lower if possible. It's a tall ask, and I know anything we buy in that price range could leave us stranded on our backsides in French countryside, but we are prepared for that eventuality. Can we do it?

Any advice, on any aspect of this, would be greatly appreciated.

cozzie55

You'll definitely be able to do the trip on that budget, granted you'd want to make sure you buy a very well minded car that you know won't let you down.

I've done a bit of long distance driving in europe and I would say make sure you buy something comfortable and with a bit of power. For example something like a nissan micra or toyota yaris will make the journey hell after awhile

I'd recommend something like the lexus linked below. Good bit of power and comfy seats. Granted petrol costs will be a bit high, the one linked has low milage which is a plus, but then you mite not find a similar LHD one for your price

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Lexus/IS200/SE-Low-m/18313410547406220/advert?channel=CARS

If the cost of petrol is an issue then maybe look towards something like a BMW 3/5 series diesel.

Quick question OP. How do you plan on getting a LHD car to buy in ireland? Are you going to wait till you get to france to buy or whats the story

TrailerBob

Your biggest problem will be getting what you want in LHD. I have only really seen Passats and A6's and the like that have been brought from Eastern Europe to here.

Most cars 00 plus are fairly decent, if you got a clean and well serviced one it will run for years. Skoda Octavia, Toyota Avensis, Mazda 3 - just some examples of cars I hear little about in therms of problems


My 2c anyway.

Alanstrainor

Is it just for a couple if weeks? Seems mad to buy a car. Just rent one. Apologies if I've misunderstood...

Plucky

Thanks for the replies guys.

I just saw a few LHD drives advertised on a few different websites. I know there aren't many on the market here at all, and we're seriously hampering our options if we decide to go down that route, but we've been told it's the safest option considering she is not a vastly experienced driver.

We may decide to not go down that avenue because the pickings will be slim. I don't expect anyone to find me a dream car in LHD though.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Is it just for a couple if weeks? Seems mad to buy a car. Just rent one. Apologies if I've misunderstood...

No you haven't misunderstood! We have considered that, but it seems difficult to rent across multiple countries and probably expensive too, but you're right, I should look into it again.

To be honest we probably wouldn't come close to the €5k, it's just an arbitrary ceiling I put on it. I think we are hoping to get something for half of that or less, or else we might have to let this dream die.

keithclancy

If your trying to save money doing it this way, its not the way to do it.

If you want a LHD your options are very limited.

Why not just ship your stuff over and then rent a car when you need it, or even buy one there.

IMO theres very little difference if your doing mostly motorway driving between a RHD and LHD.

Its only on back roads, multi storey car parks and drive-thrus that its an issue

And an Irish registered LHD, probably previously from Poland/Romania would be worth nothing in Spain anyway.

Plucky

keithclancy wrote: »

IMO theres very little difference if your doing mostly motorway driving between a RHD and LHD.

Thanks Keith.

A friend also mentioned it to me that there would be little difference between LHD and RHD, so that's something worth considering. Another friend strongly advised against it though, so I'm not sure as I have no experience to draw upon.

keithclancy wrote: »

If your trying to save money doing it this way, its not the way to do it.

If you want a LHD your options are very limited.

Why not just ship your stuff over and then rent a car when you need it, or even buy one there.

Part of the reason we want to buy the car is that we are both musicians and have instruments and equipment that we want to transport, which would cost a fortune to ship. We would also feel safer knowing that they would be handled with care in our company. So we figure why not spend a bit extra and have an adventure out of it.

keithclancy wrote: »

an Irish registered LHD, probably previously from Poland/Romania would be worth nothing in Spain anyway.

I guess we have the option of hanging on to the car or taking it home at another stage, which would be fine, especially if it didn't cost too much in the first place.

keithclancy

Plucky wrote: »

Thanks Keith.

A friend also mentioned it to me that there would be little difference between LHD and RHD, so that's something worth considering. Another friend strongly advised against it though, so I'm not sure as I have no experience to draw upon.

I drove my RHD to the Netherlands and had it here for some time, I also drove my LHD from the Netherlands to Ireland and had no problems.

Part of the reason we want to buy the car is that we are both musicians and have instruments and equipment that we want to transport, which would cost a fortune to ship. We would also feel safer knowing that they would be handled with care in our company. So we figure why not spend a bit extra and have an adventure out of it.

If you use a proper transport company then you shouldn't have problems, you can also insure it too. Transport companies don't cost half as much as you'd think, especially when you take into account that your going to drop a few K on a car. Whos to say your G/F who is already inexperienced doesn't have an accident on the way there ?

What if your stuff gets robbed somewhere along the way ?

I guess we have the option of hanging on to the car or taking it home at another stage, which would be fine, especially if it didn't cost too much in the first place.

Believe me, its a total ballache.
Can you even park it where you live ? Is it possible to get a parking permit on a foreign registered car where your going ? - Stuff like that

In my case it was great having the car and not really an additional cost because I already had it and it was worth very little anyway. It was a hassle I just wanted rid of eventually due to parking/registration difficulties.

hytrogen

cozzie55 wrote: »

...For example something like a nissan micra or toyota yaris will make the journey hell after awhile...

After driving my little Yaris for so many years & moving around the place several times since, you'd be surprised how much more you can stuff a Yaris with than a 3 series & the fuel economy is unparred.
In terms of comfort once you hit the highway it cruises comfortably at 130kmh & I've never stepped out of it with any backache after a long distance stint.
Also BMW's are notorious for having horrendous suspension..

...I'd recommend something like the lexus linked below. Good bit of power and comfy seats..

Another option would be a VW passat estate or well any hatchback or estate for resale purposes really. You won't see anyone drive a saloon car there because & I quote my mates on the Iberian peninsula "everybody wants the space for more stuff" so definitely go for a hot hatch, even a golf could be ideal since they go like the clap & are built like a tank.

keithclancy

hytrogen wrote: »

even a golf could be ideal since they go like the clap & are built like a tank.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ....

goz83

LHD and RHD really won't matter. If you want to go into technicalities, you need to have the headlights sorted so that the beams don't dazzle the drivers of mainland europe. A cheap BMW 318 will cost you around 2-2.5k and you can flick a switch on the head lamps directly to change them from rhd to lhd. They are also a comfortable car and plenty of station wagon models knocking about. Try get diesel if possible. If you're not too heavily packed up, the passenger can nap in the back seat. I recommend driving to rosslare and landing in southern france. You won't have to worry about tunnel times or anything.

I have driven from Ireland to Sweden and back, with only a 2 day stay over in Sweden. Driving was constant with 2 drivers and we had a Maza Bongo (Ford Freda). Its a similar drive, depending on where you are going to in Spain. All I can say is keep the red bull bucket full. 2 weeks is a very long time doing it though. I did sweden in less than 2 days.

Anan1

How about this? http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/3378236

L-M

OP why not go to Spain (fly), buy a car there, then do you travelling?

That way you avoid having the hassle of buying, paying for the boat and then the hassle of re registering the car over there?

Most LHD cars on the market over here and over priced or priced accordingly.

eth0

I have a spare irish reg'd LHD in teh shed but tis far from being reliable and needs a bit of work

Plucky

Anan1 wrote: »

How about this? http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/3378236

Nice find, it's already gone though!

Limerick man wrote: »

OP why not go to Spain (fly), buy a car there, then do you travelling?

That way you avoid having the hassle of buying, paying for the boat and then the hassle of re registering the car over there?

Most LHD cars on the market over here and over priced or priced accordingly.

Think I'm just gonna forget about the car altogether, it just doesn't seem practical.

Thanks for all the advice and replies.