First time buyer with an irrational hatred of hatchbacks.

jill_valentine

I'm about to get hold of a little lump sum of money and I think it's long past time myself and Dublin Bus parted ways.

I've looked around briefly and seen stuff like Micras heartily endorsed as the go-to first time car, and I've no doubt they're fine, but... if I had a totally mad dislike for little hatchbacks and wanted to be a choosy beggar, what would be my options in a saloon-ier profile? I've seen a few Hondas and Mondeos around, but I'm wary of Hondas insurance wise these days and I've heard horror stories about Fords of a certain age.

On a more useful note: I'd be looking for a weedy-to-midrange diesel between 1500 and 2500. I'm not too fussy about the luxuries or comforts so long as the thing runs reliably or breaks fixably.

Moneymaker

Toyota Corolla is the only choice really.

You could also look at a P11 Primera or Honda Civic/Accord Saloon.

Edit: Like Bazz says, it's hard to find a good diesel at that price. You don't need a diesel unless you do a ton of miles. Better off with a petrol unless you're doing thousands of motorway miles.

bazz26

Diesel cars costing between €1500 and €2500 will most likely have big mileage on them and their best days behind them. Does your annual mileage and driving style suggest you need to buy a diesel. Any savings in fuel could easily be erased with a nasty repair bill. Your money will also go a lot further with petrol offerings these days.

ianobrien

Also, generally cars in that price range are taxed as per engine size. Generally diesels in that price range are older and are about 2l in size. Petrols can be 1.4/1.6/1.8 in the same model meaning lower tax bill. The old Corolla had a 2l diesel and the petrol was a 1.4 (and bloody unbreakable)

In that budget go Japanese and as some have pointed out, go Toyota, Nissan or Honda petrol.

Supergurrier

Corolla or civic saloon in petrol.

jill_valentine

Moneymaker wrote: »

Toyota Corolla is the only choice really.

You could also look at a P11 Primera or Honda Civic/Accord Saloon.

Edit: Like Bazz says, it's hard to find a good diesel at that price. You don't need a diesel unless you do a ton of miles. Better off with a petrol unless you're doing thousands of motorway miles.

Tricky to judge to be honest - during the week, I'd just be running around the city, but I could do quite a bit of distance at weekends is the thing, so I'm not really sure where I'd fall on the continuum.

Probably going to just resign myself to the mandatory starter Corolla by the looks of it. :cool: Although out of interest, if I stumble over a decent Primera or Accord worth bumping up my budget for, are there any giant glaring known issues to be wary of on those two?

Supergurrier

Very easy to judge tbh.

You use car for town driving 75% of the time its gotta be a petrol plus I doubt you will do more than 20k miles seeing as you are managing on public transport ATM.

Also i wouldn't opt for a primera over a corolla/civic accord mainly (but do you need a car that size ?)

chicorytip

Nissan Almera - cheap to buy and run,
bombproof. Mazda 3 also worth considering.

JohnBoy26

chicorytip wrote: »

Nissan Almera - cheap to buy and run,
bombproof. Mazda 3 also worth considering.

The old 95-00 almera, yes very reliable excellent car but most are rusted to bits now due to nissans use of less than adequate rust protection.

the newer n16 00-07 almeras aren't a good car at all. They give their fair share of issues and the build quality is poor enough.

the mazda 3 is a pretty reliable car in petrol form and is based on a ford focus chassis which isn't a bad thing at all.

the thing is, while their build quality isn't bad, they are a bit off the quality of the corolla and civic.

the interior feels cheap in them and they rust underneath. The 1.4 is also sluggish in them.

jill_valentine

Supergurrier wrote: »

Very easy to judge tbh.

You use car for town driving 75% of the time its gotta be a petrol plus I doubt you will do more than 20k miles seeing as you are managing on public transport ATM.

I suppose so. Lots of driving on weekends is still < a week's worth of short drives.