What type and where should I buy Used car

slimergan

Hi,

I have recently moved to Dublin from Kerry and I want to buy a car that has quite good mpg as I travel up and down to Kerry regularly and also reliability.
I am looking at 2008 Honda Accords at the moment but I'm thinking of waiting until January or February to purchase. So that's the type of car I would be looking at.
My max price would be around 10k.
Any suggestions on other cars or opinions on the Accords?
Where to purchase a car as well would be helpful e.g. dealer, private, auction etc.

Thanks in advance

dh0011

Accords are nice. Alternatives would include avensis and mondeo. Depends on whether you are after economy/reliability/fun.
Some people suggest VW but it seems their reliability is rubbish these days.

colm_mcm

Would you get a good post 08 one for 10?

dh0011

OP said he is looking at one 2008 car - I am sure he will adjust his budget and year targets once he does some homework.

Here is an avensis on sale close to me from 08
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Toyota/Avensis/D-4D-TR-/37313815856891650/advert?channel=CARS

Noccy_Mondy

colm_mcm wrote: »

Would you get a good post 08 one for 10?

I'm sure they would if buying next February. A 2008 one would be 6 years old then, and the new year should mean the car would have depreciated a little more.

@72

Might I suggest A Volvo S80 ? seriously comfortable the 2.0T 180 hp petrol 5 cylinder is a gem.

It would make an excellent long distance cruiser. You can get some good examples with full leather, heated seats cruise etc.

I went out with my brother at the weekend and finally found one in very good condition, it's a 2003 78K miles, I drove it home and I didn't want to give it to him !

I averaged 37 mpg from Irishtown to Naas, but that could be different over a full tank and I did get stuck in a lot of traffic.

You could convert to LPG @ 80C/L and 30 mpg on lpg, it works out at 53 mpg in a diesel, but LPG can be got cheaper now and some places offer 5Cent off the price if you convert and fill up with them. Not bad. I think if you drive hard you will see less mpg but cruising I could probably have got 40 mpg without that horrible traffic in Dublin yesterday. 35 mpg on LPG would work out about 55-57 mpg with reduced LPG @72.9 as I could get it now.

Cost to convert is about 1300-1400 Euro which would pay me back in under a year.

Anyway my point is that you can end up saving a fortune based on buying a diesel tractor engine with starship mileage, there is great value in 2nd hand big petrol cars and you won't suffer depreciation as fuel costs is not your only total cost.

bazz26

That's assuming there is LPG readily available close to where the OP lives/drives.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

That's assuming there is LPG readily available close to where the OP lives/drives.

Indeed, but If it is available it should be something he should seriously consider.

slimergan

Very informative post Mad_Lad would you be looking at high tax on the s80 then? Reason for going for 2008 was the lower tax and it doesn't seem I would get one in my price range for that year. Are they very reliable cars don't know much about them to be honest?

As I intend waiting until the new year yes I'm hoping the price of the Accords will depreciate a bit. What kind of mileage would I want to be looking at I was thinking I wouldn't want to be going above 95000 or so?

Cleveland Hot Pocket

slimergan wrote: »

Very informative post Mad_Lad would you be looking at high tax on the s80 then? Reason for going for 2008 was the lower tax and it doesn't seem I would get one in my price range for that year. Are they very reliable cars don't know much about them to be honest?

As I intend waiting until the new year yes I'm hoping the price of the Accords will depreciate a bit. What kind of mileage would I want to be looking at I was thinking I wouldn't want to be going above 95000 or so?

Depends what you class as high tax, it is 1080 afair.
That isn't too high when a normal (pre '08) cc diesel is 700 odd so there is only <€1 per day of a difference.

slimergan

Post 08 can be as low as 300 though am I right?

slimergan

slimergan wrote: »

Very informative post Mad_Lad would you be looking at high tax on the s80 then? Reason for going for 2008 was the lower tax and it doesn't seem I would get one in my price range for that year. Are they very reliable cars don't know much about them to be honest?

As I intend waiting until the new year yes I'm hoping the price of the Accords will depreciate a bit. What kind of mileage would I want to be looking at I was thinking I wouldn't want to be going above 95000 or so?

The tax on the S80 2.0L would be 710 a year. So you might save 300 a year over an accord diesel.

Here's an accord 50k miles nct til 0614

2.0 vtec,

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/04honda-accord-vtec-s-e/5540092

That's just one example of the value in petrols V a diesel with 120K miles, I guarantee you'll love the vtec a lot more than the diesel. If it's anything like the non vtec in our 00 crv it will be a really good engine.

You'll get it from him for 3.5k or lower depending on condition etc.

There are a tonne of examples of big petrols, now I don't know how well the Honda engines take lpg but i'm told they are fine on it but your installer should know more, it may be that you want to get the flash lube system installed as extra piece of mind that it will protect the valves.

you'll find other examples with full leather and more extras if you look hard enough and low enough miles.

If it has a full service history which it should at that mileage you can tell if the mileage is genuine, receipts are always best as absolute proof.

Bring someone along that knows about cars a mechanic is best obviously, do the car check on car tell or motorcheck.

But I think including lpg conversion that 4.5K is still going to find you a decent car, who cares about the year on the reg ?

You might spend 300 a year extra on tax over a post 2008, but why would you bother spending 5k extra to save 300 a year ?

You'll find loads of Volvo S60, 80's too, Honda would most likely be more reliable however I've not heard that much negativity against the volvo's of that era.

Of course you could go and get a Prius MK II and it will be the cheapest car to run by far on lpg, one of the cheapest cars to run on the road, electric being the cheapest and it's one of the most reliable cars in the world and needs no major servicing only coolant and transmission oil changed at 100K miles.

slimergan

So if I was to go for this Accord you reckon that I would have to do the lpg conversion to benefit on mpg is it. Sorry I'm not that familiar with lpg. They wouldn't have good mpg as they are would they?

dh0011

LPG cuts your fuel bills almost in half (only if the car is suited to conversion). The petrol accord will be getting mpg in the thirties. On lpg you mpg will be low thirties but since LPG costs half the price of petrol so in money terms you will be getting over 60mpg.

slimergan

Ah I see and going for the diesel would be out of the question do you think..tax would nearly be 1k and would the mpg be much improved?

dh0011

If you are planning on going the LPG route do some homework on cars that work well on lpg. I know volvos do for example.

slimergan

slimergan wrote: »

Ah I see and going for the diesel would be out of the question do you think..tax would nearly be 1k and would the mpg be much improved?

IMO you'd probably run a 2.0L vtec a bit cheaper than the diesel. I reckon the lpg would work out about 50-55 mpg, probably could get 50 mpg out of the 2.2 diesel.V 1.48.9 for petrol.

You do 100 a miles a day ? correct ? So the lpg on a volvo 5 cylinder 180 hp costs 1400 Euro's ish,

So 100 miles a day at 33 ish mpg will cost you 102 Euro's a week over 100 miles a day 500 a week.

It would cost 60 a week on LPG @ 73 C/L and @28 mpg on lpg

40 a week saving over a 48 weeks (work year) =1900 Euro's

Meaning a 36 week payback period for conversion.

In the Prius I get 64 mpg (me driving) using 38 litres for 540 ish miles so LPG @ 73C/L would cost me 30 Euro's a week @60 mpg on lpg V 56.62 on petrol.

Now my figures are best well educated numbers, it does not include petrol consumption for warm up which should not be much at all. Nor do my figures include extra servicing of the lpg system which afaik is a fuel filter.

All the mpg figures are including the 10% extra consumption on lpg , older systems suffered about a 20% loss.

MPG figures vary greatly depending on driving style, drive it like you stole it and those consumption figures go down, drive easy and use the torque to move and not revs where possible by gearing up quickly and you could see much greater mpg figures.

Remember there are great older petrol cars that can be run very cheap, you suffer much less depreciation and no interest payments on a loan which is very high today.

dh0011

Mad_lad did you ever think of converting?

Cleveland Hot Pocket

dh0011 wrote: »

Mad_lad did you ever think of converting?

He's like a jehovah's witness but for LPG and EV and Priuseseses in these parts, don't encourage him

DuckSlice

a little bit of me dies inside every time i see a prius

dh0011

dh0011 wrote: »

Mad_lad did you ever think of converting?

Absolutely, however We don't do the miles in the CRV to justify the conversion.

I might throw 20 a week into the CRV or less so it wouldn't be worth it, we might go on longer trips now and again. And Imagine there are people buying brand new diesels for the same usage, all for the sake of saving 450 a year in motor tax if they buy in the lowest tax band, they will loose three times that that on depreciation never mind interest repayments.

I don't know how long I'll keep the Prius, I have to say that while it's not the most exciting or nicest place to sit, it is reliable and it is not bad to drive at all.

If I had known much about lpg at the time I got the Prius I would have converted it. Chances are I'll be keeping it a while longer yet.

One option would be to get a MK III and keep it 5 years and convert it to lpg. Maybe when my brother is finished with the S80 I could buy that and convert it. But I would have to spend 10-12K on one + conversion.

etxp

etxp wrote: »

a little bit of me dies inside every time i see a prius

Ah they aren't that bad, you should take a spin in one.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

He's like a jehovah's witness but for LPG and EV and Priuseseses in these parts, don't encourage him

Yes a Leaf would be great but I can't spend 14-16K on one right now and the range is a little low for me, however a fast charger on the Naas road would mean it would be able to cover most of my driving.

The leaf is really a nice car to drive, people should really take it for a spin, instant power at the tip of the throttle is a great experience even if it;s not the fastest car 0-100 9 seconds is respectable and way better then the 14 seconds Zoe.

Shame GM decided not to release the Spark EV in Europe. 7 seconds would be a blast.

Moneymaker

The Leaf is so horrendously ugly though. I doubt I could live with a car that looks like that tbh.

For the OP, i'd +1 the recommendation for the S80. The S60 is a tremendous car also, extremely comfortable, devours motorways and you can get brilliant diesel engines(the petrols are very good too I hear). Leather interior, good build quality and they'll do 200k+ miles easy peasy.

Moneymaker

Moneymaker wrote: »

The Leaf is so horrendously ugly though. I doubt I could live with a car that looks like that tbh.

For the OP, i'd +1 the recommendation for the S80. The S60 is a tremendous car also, extremely comfortable, devours motorways and you can get brilliant diesel engines(the petrols are very good too I hear). Leather interior, good build quality and they'll do 200k+ miles easy peasy.

It's not that bad really, I've seen worse, besides I'm more worried about the inside and how it drives. I'd be sitting in it a lot more than I'd be looking at it from the outside.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Deleted User wrote: »

It's not that bad really, I've seen worse, besides I'm more worried about the inside and how it drives. I'd be sitting in it a lot more than I'd be looking at it from the outside.

The leaf is no worse looking than a similar sized non premium brand small car imo

It isn't the looks that would bother me anyway.

DuckSlice

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ah they aren't that bad, you should take a spin in one.

Eh, no thanks. When they stop looking as horrible as they do I may consider it. They almost look as bad as the mk1 yaris verso. God that was an ugly car.

dalton 1

slimergan wrote: »

Hi,

I have recently moved to Dublin from Kerry and I want to buy a car that has quite good mpg as I travel up and down to Kerry regularly and also reliability.
I am looking at 2008 Honda Accords at the moment but I'm thinking of waiting until January or February to purchase. So that's the type of car I would be looking at.
My max price would be around 10k.
Any suggestions on other cars or opinions on the Accords?
Where to purchase a car as well would be helpful e.g. dealer, private, auction etc.

Thanks in advance

My Dad has driven Accords for a long time and has never had a problem with them. Very reliable cars and the 2.2turbo diesel engine has tonnes of poke but once you have manners driving is very easy on juice. They seem to hold there value quite well.
if i had the cash i would buy one in a heartbeat. tax is around the 350e mark. just a quick note his car has 17"alloys(not sure if they are the standard) and tyres are quite expensive to replace (200e a Tyre)

he bought one new in 2009 and has done about 150k and has never had a single problem. hope this helps and best of luck with the new car.