1.4l cars

Pdub23

Hi, I'm looking for a 2003/2005 1.4l petrol or diesel and was just wondering what people recommended? So far looked at 307, focus and C4? Looking to spend €2-3k thanks

ninty9er

Peugeut 206, Citroen Xsara. Avoid the Focus and Golf in 1.4 form

bazz26

Look at the Toyota Corolla, probably the most reliable of that vintage and the 1.4 litre was one of the most nippest in it's class. €3k should get you a newer shape model. I'd avoid the 307, they are hit and miss with temperamental electrics.

Dublinstiofán

What about a Seat? My dad bought one a few months ago and it's very fast
and it's only 1.2. Very plasticky and cheap looking inside but drives well.

micks_address

You might get into a 04 1.4 petrol 5 door civic for that kind of money... we had a 05 till last year and served us well, lots of room it in it for the familly anf good boot space

bazz26

The only problems with that generation Civic are the gearbox release bearing and power steering. Both can be pricey enough to fix so try and find one that has had both done already.

endacl

ninty9er wrote: »

Peugeut 206, Citroen Xsara. Avoid the Focus and Golf in 1.4 form

Do avoid the focus. I have one. Underpowered.

freshpopcorn

The main problem with 1.4 focus is that it's under powered but that mightn't bother you.

viper006

Like above avoid the focus. I had one and it was under powered and gave me so much trouble. My girlfriend had a 08 focus and it was 1.8, much nicer to drive but again loads of trouble with it.

I got a 04 seat leon on donedeal with 77k miles and full history for 2400. Lovely car to drive i have to say.

Pdub23

I've heard good things about the 1.4 leon, what about the Citroen c4 coupe? I'd like something bigger than a 206, have a focus at moment and yes underpowered but hasn't given me too much trouble

Pdub23

Also the 1.4. & 1.5dsl Renault megane's seem to be in plenty full supply on car sites, is there an issue with them in general?

ninty9er

Pdub23 wrote: »

Also the 1.4. & 1.5dsl Renault megane's seem to be in plenty full supply on car sites, is there an issue with them in general?

You can get the odd good one, the same as you can get the odd bad one from other manufacturers.

JohnBoy26

Pdub23 wrote: »

Also the 1.4. & 1.5dsl Renault megane's seem to be in plenty full supply on car sites, is there an issue with them in general?

I'd be avoiding the megane. They can end up turning into a nightmare.

MadYaker

Mazda 3?

Mandzhalas

Dublinstiofán wrote: »

it's very fast
and it's only 1.2.

Welcome to Ireland, land where 1.8 considered as super powerful and fast

Pdub23

viper006 wrote: »

Like above avoid the focus. I had one and it was under powered and gave me so much trouble. My girlfriend had a 08 focus and it was 1.8, much nicer to drive but again loads of trouble with it.

I got a 04 seat leon on donedeal with 77k miles and full history for 2400. Lovely car to drive i have to say.

Is the leon economical on petrol? What the Mpg?

Mister Jingles

Mandzhalas wrote: »

Welcome to Ireland, land where 1.8 considered as super powerful and fast

Maybe he meant the TSi 105 bhp ? Quite powerful for a 1.2 to be fair. 10-15 years ago 1.6s where producing that power.

corkgsxr

endacl wrote: »

Do avoid the focus. I have one. Underpowered.

Besides the civic. It being 1.4 means its underpowered. Woeful to go

Jesus.

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Maybe he meant the TSi 105 bhp ? Quite powerful for a 1.2 to be fair.

Still don't make it powerful

10-15 years ago 1.6s where producing that power.

That was 10-15 years ago

kona

corkgsxr wrote: »

Besides the civic. It being 1.4 means its underpowered. Woeful to go

Civic 1.4 wouldn't pull you out of bed either

corkgsxr

kona wrote: »

Civic 1.4 wouldn't pull you out of bed either

Better than most though. I can definitely say ill never but a petrol under 1.6 I don't care how many turbos or superchargers they add im not interested. And never lower than 2L diesel.

I cant get the economy as I dont have the power. I cant drive them sort of cars as your ment to to get the mpg there supposed to. Iv always done better with bigger engines

debabyjesus

Had an ep1 civic myself, bulletproof car. No issues with gearbox, clutch release or eps. To be fair honda did extend the warranty on the bearings and are decent to deal with. No faults or parts needed outside of normal servicing in 7 years in the family. It boringly started every morning without fail. Good yoke to go for 1.4. My only issues with it was dreadful road noise and tiny tiny boot (3 door).

Mister Jingles

Jesus. wrote: »

Still don't make it powerful



That was 10-15 years ago

Well that's your opinion, to some people it would be considered powerful so get over it.

Jesus.

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Well that's your opinion, to some people it would be considered powerful so get over it.

Fair enough pal.

JohnBoy26

kona wrote: »

Civic 1.4 wouldn't pull you out of bed either

I disagree. The 1.4 in the civic is a good performer for it's engine size. It has 90bhp and is a nice free revving unit.

A corolla of the same vintage also was pretty nippy, with the 4e fe having 87bhp and the vtti having 95bhp.

as a result both the civic and corolla are much better in terms of performance compared to the woeful 75bhp golf and 74bhp focus.

JohnBoy26

debabyjesus wrote: »

Had an ep1 civic myself, bulletproof car. No issues with gearbox, clutch release or eps. To be fair honda did extend the warranty on the bearings and are decent to deal with. No faults or parts needed outside of normal servicing in 7 years in the family. It boringly started every morning without fail. Good yoke to go for 1.4. My only issues with it was dreadful road noise and tiny tiny boot (3 door).

you were lucky with your civic many weren't though and had to fork out for steering racks and reconditioned gearboxes. All expensive jobs, not helped by the very expensive prices of Honda genuine parts.

For reliability these were a low point for honda. They were a far cry from the superb civic they replaced.

Sobanek

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Well that's your opinion, to some people it would be considered powerful so get over it.

It's definitely more powerful than your legs... or a bicycle.
I did my driving lessons in a 2007 1.2 Polo and it was miserable to drive - it wasn't powerful at all.

DeFinch89

Sobanek wrote: »

It's definitely more powerful than your legs... or a bicycle.
I did my driving lessons in a 2007 1.2 Polo and it was miserable to drive - it wasn't powerful at all.

1.2 tfsi and polo 1.2 are completely different in respects, the 1.2 tfsi was setup for spirited sporty driving while your boggo paddy spec polo 1.2 was designed for cheap economical and affordable driving.
Even your 'slow' polo 1.2 would be far more powerful than your own 2 legs at least 54hp in a 1.2 polo? you would rate at what? .20hp? unless you want to claim your a bionic man replica of hussein bolte I doubt you alone would get anywhere any quicker than a polo 1.2 to be fair :pac:

DeFinch89

Sobanek wrote: »

It's definitely more powerful than your legs... or a bicycle.
I did my driving lessons in a 2007 1.2 Polo and it was miserable to drive - it wasn't powerful at all.

Mandzhalas wrote: »

Welcome to Ireland, land where 1.8 considered as super powerful and fast

Honestly, in all respect, both of you talk like ye wouldnt know how to drive a slow car fast, or both of you own and drive powerful cars but are wasted on ye by driving them far too slow.

OR ye are so used to playing need for speed games ye have no true sense of speed whatsoever.

All within legal and safe limits of course

micks_address

Agree with this to some extent we had to do bearings in ours last summer, at the time the clutch was also replaced.. sold it on a few months later so didint really get the value of the work

re power, the civic was light, so even in a 1.4 it was nippy enough - for petrol consumption i'd say i was doing well to get 40mpg out of it. On long motor way journeys there was a lot of cabin noise at 120 or above.. kids always complained they couldnt hear the radio so to avoid arguments used to switch it off!

What was really nice about the 5 door civic was the flat floor in the back.. there is no 'bump' in the middle in the back on the floor like there is in most cars.. Also when you folded down the back seats.. you could fit a double bed in there with the boot closed there was so much space in it!

I've since changed to a 2.2 diesel accord.. which is well a different car altogether

Good luck with whatever you decide on.

Cheers,
Mick

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

you were lucky with your civic many weren't though and had to fork out for steering racks and reconditioned gearboxes. All expensive jobs, not helped by the very expensive prices of Honda genuine parts.

For reliability these were a low point for honda. They were a far cry from the superb civic they replaced.

viper006

Pdub23 wrote: »

Is the leon economical on petrol? What the Mpg?

Ya The leon is good on the petrol ive found compared to my 05 foucs 1.4 and vectra gts 1.8 i owned before that. It would take abiout 75 euro to fill the tank which surprised me but id get 430-450 miles from the tank with motorway and city driving vs about 360-380 or so miles from my focus filled based on same amount of pretrol. not much of difference i guess but thats my experience,

Having owed a 1.4 2005 focus before the leon, i honestly have the say the leon is much nicer drive and more economical. i paid 4400 for the focus with 60k miles on the clock and sold for the same money but only paid 2400 for the leon so i am very happy with have leon and more cash in the pocket to boot. The only advantage i found with focus is there will also be people interested in the ford and it was easy to sell on.

kona

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

I disagree. The 1.4 in the civic is a good performer for it's engine size. It has 90bhp and is a nice free revving unit.

A corolla of the same vintage also was pretty nippy, with the 4e fe having 87bhp and the vtti having 95bhp.

as a result both the civic and corolla are much better in terms of performance compared to the woeful 75bhp golf and 74bhp focus.

I've driven a 1.4 corolla , and both the 3 door and 5 door 1.4 civics, all are gutless asthmatic engines with the corolla being slightly nippier. Still wouldn't pull you out if bed, trying to get the 5 door to pull off at the lights is a bit of a ordeal

Either way it's a stupid argument all 1.4 are horrifically under powered. Anybody who thinks they are powerful would have to be mental.

Geomy

I have the 07 1.4 d4d corolla, the gearbox is reconditioned, but other than that it's very reliable I can get 60mpg...

There's a soft gear box in them, so one with a reconditioned gearbox might be worth looking at.

JohnBoy26

kona wrote: »

I've driven a 1.4 corolla , and both the 3 door and 5 door 1.4 civics, all are gutless asthmatic engines with the corolla being slightly nippier. Still wouldn't pull you out if bed, trying to get the 5 door to pull off at the lights is a bit of a ordeal

Either way it's a stupid argument all 1.4 are horrifically under powered. Anybody who thinks they are powerful would have to be mental.

Not all 1.4s are "horrifically underpowered". Some such as the 1.4 vvti corolla, KIA cee'd and Hyundai i30 are on par with many 1.6 engines in terms of performance.

I've owned both a corolla and civic. Both were perfectly adequate for day to day driving.

Saying that "they wouldn't pull you out of bed" is rediculous comment. Nobody is calling them powerful but they are not "horrifically underpowered" as you say. Both mightn't win any races but they will perform every day tasks perfectly well.

The only 1.4s that i would could call " horrifically underpowered" would be cars such as the 74bhp focus and the 75bhp golf.

Ardennes1944

I found my old Astra G 1.4 90bhp to be very nippy

micks_address

kona wrote: »

I've driven a 1.4 corolla , and both the 3 door and 5 door 1.4 civics, all are gutless asthmatic engines with the corolla being slightly nippier. Still wouldn't pull you out if bed, trying to get the 5 door to pull off at the lights is a bit of a ordeal

Either way it's a stupid argument all 1.4 are horrifically under powered. Anybody who thinks they are powerful would have to be mental.

Its all relavive i guess but i'd agree my 2.2 accord is significantly faster taking off at lights than my 1.4 civic used to be.. but i'd be pretty dissapointed if it wasnt

Jesus.

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

I found my old Astra G 1.4 90bhp to be very nippy

Only in Ireland

djimi

kona wrote: »

Either way it's a stupid argument all 1.4 are horrifically under powered. Anybody who thinks they are powerful would have to be mental.

Underpowered compared to what? Its a 1.4 engine; youre not exacltly expecting blistering performance are you?

Within its size there can be stronger and weaker variations of 1.4. My old 98 Civic 1.4 was quite a bit quicker than my gfs 00 Polo 1.4 for example.

JohnBoy26

Jesus. wrote: »

Only in Ireland

there's a difference between fast and nippy you know

kona

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Saying that "they wouldn't pull you out of bed" is rediculous comment. Nobody is calling them powerful but they are not "horrifically underpowered" as you say. Both mightn't win any races but they will perform every day tasks perfectly .

I did say the vvti corrolla is faster than the civic 1.4.

I've driven them and they are horrifically underpowered, overtaking for example is terrible. They are fine for going to the shops etc but to say they are nippy or fast is just lies.

1.6 engines ain't too hot either unless your hitting 9k in a b16

kona

djimi wrote: »

Underpowered compared to what? Its a 1.4 engine; youre not exacltly expecting blistering performance are you?

Within its size there can be stronger and weaker variations of 1.4. My old 98 Civic 1.4 was quite a bit quicker than my gfs 00 Polo 1.4 for example.

What does it matter compared to what? They are underpowered full stop.

I'm not expecting any performance, however some comments above are. When it comes to small engines I don't think power Is a concern.

djimi

kona wrote: »

What does it matter compared to what? They are underpowered full stop.

I'm not expecting any performance, however some comments above are. When it comes to small engines I don't think power Is a concern.

Well yes, if youre going to describe something as underpowered then you have to have some context and basis of comparison!

The thread is about 1.4 cars; there is little point in saying that they are underpowered compared to larger engined cars (that sort of goes without saying). I drove a 1.4 Civic for two years, and while it obviously wasnt a patch on my Integra, or indeed even the 1.8 Accord that I replaced it with, it was still perfectly fine to drive, was quite quick for its size, and was certainly quicker than most other 1.4s that I have driven.

Overtaking is not the issue that you make it out to be either; even in my gfs 1.4 Polo there is little issue with overtaking provided you are sensible about it.

JohnBoy26

kona wrote: »

I did say the vvti corrolla is faster than the civic 1.4.

I've driven them and they are horrifically underpowered, overtaking for example is terrible. They are fine for going to the shops etc but to say they are nippy or fast is just lies.

1.6 engines ain't too hot either unless your hitting 9k in a b16

Tbh your posts are a load of nonsense. A corolla and civic are fine for overtaking in my experience and are not "horrifically underpowered". They are both perfectly adequate for normal driving. Again I will say that Nobody is calling them fast.

You can't expect race car performance from such an engine which is what you seem to expect.

DeFinch89

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Tbh your posts are a load of nonsense. A corolla and civic are fine for overtaking in my experience and are not "horrifically underpowered". They are both perfectly adequate for normal driving. Again I will say that Nobody is calling them fast.

You can't expect race car performance from such an engine which is what you seem to expect.

I wouldnt bother trying to explain to them anymore johnboy they just dont seem to get the point.

my own '96 almera 1.4 saloon was much quicker than many a subaru impreza 1.6 off the line.
And superior to '00 focus 1.4 and golf MK.IV 1.4 in terms of acceleration and fuel economy.
To say all 1.4's are "underpowered" is sheer ignorant ****e talk.
and ya man blabbing on about the civic b16 being quick at 9k... LOL
we all know their quick civic type-R's, pulsar vzr's, levin bzr,s and etc.. their all 1.6 and pretty close to race engines with practically 100hp per litre for **** sake we not disputing that, but they are in a completely different league to standard more mainstrean economy 1.6's.

this thread is about 1.4's so talk 1.4's, compare 1.4's against other 1.4's and stop your babbling about all 1.4's being terribly underpowered or go elsewhere and brag about your undertorque'ed b16's.!!

DeFinch89

anyway I imagine the newer polo 1.4 twincharger (180bhp) are fairly rapid, anyone know what their like to live with?
reliability
economy
insurance
running costs
and etc.

pajor

I would think this would fit the bill nicely for OP.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/peugeot-206-1-4d/6154283

DeFinch89

pajor wrote: »

I would think this would fit the bill nicely for OP.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/peugeot-206-1-4d/6154283

wow, thats quite rare as a diesel option
didnt know there was such a thing as a 1.4 diesel 206

ninty9er

Meanwhile the OP has combusted with information overload.

I'll go back to my originals. The OP asked for 1.4 cars. CC wouldn't be my way of choosing a vehicle anymore, but it was at one point for anyone who has learned to drive in this country in the past 20 years.

Peugeot 206. A great little car despite the badge on the steering wheel. Mind you I do stress the 1.4 and NOT the 1.1.

Citroën Xsara. Get a facelifted one. Again despite the badge on the front and back the electrical issues are few (but not non-existent), do get to know a local independent auto spark, just in case, but most of the things that will go wrong will be cheap fixes unless you take it to a main dealer, as my mam found out the hard way.

pajor

DeFinch89 wrote: »

wow, thats quite rare as a diesel option
didnt know there was such a thing as a 1.4 diesel 206

Not that common and surprised to see one for 2k. Apparently not the slowest thing in the world in the 206 either.

djimi

ninty9er wrote: »

Peugeot 206. A great little car despite the badge on the steering wheel. Mind you I do stress the 1.4 and NOT the 1.1.

I have no first hand experience of this, but I have heard a lot of people complain that the 206 is a very uncomfortable car to drive; something to do with the pedals being too close together?

testicle

Just because it's a 1.4l car won't make it appear new!! :-)