I'm buying a new car and I could use some help!

minihey

I have €3,000 (max) to spend, I need a fuel efficient car (I am a fast food delivery driver) I'm in college, I drive about 25,000km per year, so I need something reliable.

P.S. Would a 1.9l diesel be more fuel/cost efficient than a 1.4l petrol?

Any help is greatly appreciated as I am fairly clueless when it comes to cars!

jenno86

Maybe a Corolla 2003/4? Reliable cars as far as I know.

Can help you with the petrol v diesel tho.

Good luck with your search!

Bpmull

A 1.9tdi would be cheaper to run than 1.4 specially if you do a lot of long distance. Considering you do 25,000 km a year if I was you I'd buy something like a 1.9tdi vag car. Ie the likes of a skoda octavia (which will be cheaper than an a4 or golf but have the same engine components as there all Volkswagen group cars) If your clueless about cars it is very important to get a mechanic to check over any car before you buy it as with a relatively small budget of 3000 you could be buying someone else trouble.

ironclaw

Bpmull wrote: »

A 1.9tdi would be cheaper to run than 1.4 specially if you do a lot of long distance. Considering you do 25,000 km a year if I was you I'd buy something like a 1.9tdi vag car. Ie the likes of a skoda octavia (which will be cheaper than an a4 or golf but have the same engine components as there all Volkswagen group cars) If your clueless about cars it is very important to get a mechanic to check over any car before you buy it as with a relatively small budget of 3000 you could be buying someone else trouble.

If your doing plenty of start / stop in city with a diesel, you'll quickly kill it. Mileage is also on the low side for want of a diesel.

bazz26

Would a car derived van do you? Something like a Mk I Ford Focus, 1.8 litre TDDi engine is pretty robust.

Something like these:


http://www.donedeal.ie/commercials-for-sale/04-focus-van-1-8tddi-zetec-tax-doe/6335123



http://www.donedeal.ie/commercials-for-sale/03-ford-focus-1-8-diesel-van-10-mths-doe/6223128


http://www.donedeal.ie/commercials-for-sale/ford-focus-zetec-van/6189762

Bpmull

ironclaw wrote: »

If your doing plenty of start / stop in city with a diesel, you'll quickly kill it. Mileage is also on the low side for want of a diesel.

I only seen he's a delivery driver there now. That would mean a good bit of stop start driving. 25,000 km is enough mileage to justify a diesel IMO a dpf won't be an issue. I suppose it really depends on how far the op drives to college if it's a long trip then diesel would make savings specially on a motorway the likes of a 1.4 focus screaming its way up the motorway can't be doing much in terms of mpg. But if it's short trips to college along with short trips doing the deliver then the savings from a diesel may not be as substantial as they do tend to take longer to warm up than petrols.

minihey

ironclaw wrote: »

If your doing plenty of start / stop in city with a diesel, you'll quickly kill it. Mileage is also on the low side for want of a diesel.

Do you mean that a diesel wouldn't be better for stop/start city driving? that's where most of my driving will be done.

sawdoubters

diesel would be better


http://cars.donedeal.ie/find/cars/for-sale/Ireland/?filter%28max_engine%29=Max+Litres&filter%28max_mileage%29=100000&filter%28max_price%29=3000&filter%28max_year%29=Max&filter%28min_engine%29=Min+Litres&filter%28min_mileage%29=Min+KM&filter%28min_price%29=2000&filter%28min_year%29=Min&multiFilter%28fuelType%29=Diesel&source=private

kerten

while your mileage justifies diesel, stop/start usage will kill a 3k euro diesel quickly unless it is old school diesel.

I would consider something younger, more reliable(petrol) and lighter for less total running costs.

Yaris, Fiesta, etc

padma

I did take away deliveries for a long while. Corolla or yaris. Id go with the yaris

ironclaw

padma wrote: »

I did take away deliveries for a long while. Corolla or yaris. Id go with the yaris

Yaris would be my choice around the cities alright. The old body one (1999 - 2005) is a great little car and you'd easily pick one up in the €3k range. They hold their value pretty well. The 1.0L engine in them is great and is far superior to the new body Yaris of the same spec. Granted you probably don't want something that small but if costs are your ultimate goal and you have no motorway sections, its not a bad car to consider. You'd easily average 35 to 40+MPG in city driving. If you fancy some fun, try find a T-Sport version (1.5L)

minihey wrote: »

Do you mean that a diesel wouldn't be better for stop/start city driving? that's where most of my driving will be done.

Yes. Diesels prefer a long warm up time and a decent sustained cruise (Its where they are most efficient). You could liken delivery driving to taxi drivers, there are few if any diesels being used as taxi's for this reason.