Advice needed.

obi604

Need some of your helpful advice. It's a somewhat strange kind of car I'm after but I'll continue.

The car will be doing 2 very different types of driving

1. During the week = very short journeys around Dublin city during PEAK hours. Lots of traffic lights and starting and stopping. Average speed on these journeys could be as low as 10 mph, traffic lights encountered on a 3 mile trip are about 10.

2. EDIT : Every 3rd/4th weekend, will be doing a motorway drive, round trip of 250 miles. Cruise control on 75 mph scenario.


EDIT : Annual mileage, about 9,000 miles.

As you can see, 2 very different styles of driving. The car needs to be a family sized car with a big boot. I'm talking at least a boot size of 400 litres plus. Due to the city driving scenario, would like automatic.

Suppose I'm thinking along the lines of best from an MPG point of view and best car from a driving style point of view.

I don't want to pay a fortune on tax either.

My thoughts ;

- A diesel will be good for mpg on motorway but not great in the city, also the city driving will not be great for a diesel. My annual mileage does not warrant a diesel.

- A small petrol engine sounds good but I'm looking for a family car with a very decent size boot. Small petrol engines are usually on smsll cars. Also a small petrol engine will struggle on motorway with a full load IMHO.

- yes I know my miles are low. But I don't want suggestions like : just buy yourself a 10 cylinder jaguar, get an m5 etc.

- I don't want a plug in car.

- I don't want suggestions of buy a bike as I have to drive the city run.

So any suggestions of a super car that is good in the city and also good on a motorway from an mpg point of view.

Also, I hate overly slow cars, looking for one with a 0-60 of about 10 seconds.

And the budget is between 10 and 15 thousand euro.


P.S. Long post I know and a bit pedantic but I know if I don't state exactly what I'm after ( and not after ) that the thread will go off track.

Horse1920

Ok.. If I had a variable like that I'd prob say an 11/12 Skoda superb diesel 1.6 greenline or a 9/10 avensis petrol.

But for my money the few extra bits you'd get in a superb I'd be thinking the Skoda over the better resale of the avensis
Huge boot and rear seat area, now OK u in might think Octavia but the 400ltr is maxed in my opinion. Just my 2c.. Good luck

anthony4335

For the points you have listed a Prius would suite you perfect.

Henry Ford III

A petrol engined car I'd suggest. 1.6l maybe.

Not sure how many of those are "motor tax friendly".

testicle

Honda Insight.

MuppetCheck

If you're doing 250 miles motorway every weekend I would have no issue with buying a diesel over a petrol. You will have ample opportunity to burn off the DPF. Your mileage may not immediately point to a diesel but your intended usage is fine for it.

I wouldn't however pay a huge premium for one, it depends on the car you go for as to whether there was a petrol equivalent available as many manufacturers didn't both with them post 2008.

goz83

1.6 focus hatch? Decent tax. Decent space. Parts readily available within a stones throw away from anywhere. Low maintenance. Decent prices too pre 2008.

obi604

MuppetCheck wrote: »

If you're doing 250 miles motorway every weekend I would have no issue with buying a diesel over a petrol. You will have ample opportunity to burn off the DPF. Your mileage may not immediately point to a diesel but your intended usage is fine for it.

I wouldn't however pay a huge premium for one, it depends on the car you go for as to whether there was a petrol equivalent available as many manufacturers didn't both with them post 2008.

But will all that start and stop traffic not be bad for a diesel.

Note ive modified my weekend driving, it will only be every 3rd or 4th weekend.

MuppetCheck

Every 3rd or 4th weekend makes a difference alright. I wouldn't bother with a diesel in that case. You won't realise much of a fuel saving to make the risk worth it.

obi604

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Every 3rd or 4th weekend makes a difference alright. I wouldn't bother with a diesel in that case. You won't realise much of a fuel saving to make the risk worth it.

Get ya, so Petrol seems to be the car for me based on my relatively low mileage and lots of start and stop driving.

Which one though

Del2005

obi604 wrote: »

Get ya, so Petrol seems to be the car for me based on my relatively low mileage and lots of start and stop driving.

Which one though

Get a hybrid.

obi604

Del2005 wrote: »

Get a hybrid.

Which one ?
I presume all hybrids are petrol ?

Del2005

obi604 wrote: »

Which one ?
I presume all hybrids are petrol ?

No idea which one as there aren't that many I'd try to test drive them all. Yeah all hybrids here run on the good stuff not devil juice.

quadrifoglio verde

Alfa 159 1750 tbi with ti spec. :cool:

With the 159's I'd normally say go for a diesel, but your mileage is so low that it isn't worth paying the premium. And a nicer engine in it than the jts. I don't think they came with an auto box though

obi604

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Alfa 159 1750 tbi with ti spec. :cool:

With the 159's I'd normally say go for a diesel, but your mileage is so low that it isn't worth paying the premium. And a nicer engine in it than the jts. I don't think they came with an auto box though

are these reliable though ?

JohnBoy26

Honda Civic 1.8 i VTEC petrol. Decent enough power for the motorway, economical and extremely reliable.

quadrifoglio verde

obi604 wrote: »

are these reliable though ?

They're fairly reliable alright. A lot of the problems of the 156 were sorted out, however the result was a less fun car to drive. If you do go to look at one check for rust as some are uk imports. Same goes for any car that's a uk import though.
Alfas in general are reliable. My 18 year old gtv has 144000 miles on the clock and both drive excellently. Likewise my 12 year old156 v6. Service them on time like you should with any other car and they'll be fine!

obi604

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

They're fairly reliable alright. A lot of the problems of the 156 were sorted out, however the result was a less fun car to drive. If you do go to look at one check for rust as some are uk imports. Same goes for any car that's a uk import though.
Alfas in general are reliable. My 18 year old gtv has 144000 miles on the clock and both drive excellently. Likewise my 12 year old156 v6. Service them on time like you should with any other car and they'll be fine!

They could be hard enough on the aul juice though in around the city, its a relatively heavy car like

obi604

So the concensus seems to be that petrol is the best way to go and then maybe a hybrid.

Any more suggestions ?

jca

I got a 09 Skoda octavia 1.4 TSI with the DSG gearbox and I must say I really love it. My driving is almost identical to yours on the short journeys I get 33-36 mpg and on a recent long journey where approx 200 km was the short journeys and the rest of the full tank was motorway 100-120 km/h driving it did 44 mpg. My mpg figures are accurate brim to brim of the fuel tank all the time although the figures given by the car's computer are very close to the actual figures. The petrol is super silent after driving diesels for 10 years and the auto is a dream to drive. Having the newer generation turbo petrol engine it's no slouch on the motorways either. The 1.2 TSI would be more common in Ireland I got lucky to source my one but give the 1.2 TSI a try too. The tax is €390 for my one, the 1.2 might be cheaper. The 1.2 TSI is €280 tax I just looked it up.

obi604

Excellent reply jca - thanks. And they have a very big boot too I think : )

I've heard some horror stories about DSG going wrong though - mechatronic units etc and that sometimes the DSG at slow speeds gets a bit confused and hunts for for gears a lot.

jca

obi604 wrote: »

Excellent reply jca - thanks. And they have a very big boot too I think : )

I've heard some horror stories about DSG going wrong though - mechatronic units etc and that sometimes the DSG at slow speeds gets a bit confused and hunts for for gears a lot.

The boot is massive alright. Mine is the 7 speed DSG which weren't as troublesome as the earlier 6 speed. I honestly can't say I've noticed it hunting for gears and I often have to look at the dash display to see what gear it's in. I know this sounds really stupid but it seems to learn your way of driving and it's like it can see the road ahead... A lovely car to drive. I drove up the Conor pass in Kerry last week and it kept between 4th and 5th on the steeper sections and that was on the 44 mpg tank of juice. I've surprised a few drivers with its good turn of speed especially in sports mode:D

obi604

jca wrote: »

The boot is massive alright. Mine is the 7 speed DSG which weren't as troublesome as the earlier 6 speed. I honestly can't say I've noticed it hunting for gears and I often have to look at the dash display to see what gear it's in. I know this sounds really stupid but it seems to learn your way of driving and it's like it can see the road ahead... A lovely car to drive. I drove up the Conor pass in Kerry last week and it kept between 4th and 5th on the steeper sections and that was on the 44 mpg tank of juice. I've surprised a few drivers with its good turn of speed especially in sports mode:D

Did you buy it in the Uk ?

Or was it originally from the UK ?

Ridiculous really that a the irish only buy max 1.2 tsi as the 1.4 tsi is 100 quid more to tax !

jca

obi604 wrote: »

Did you buy it in the Uk ?

Or was it originally from the UK ?

Ridiculous really that a the irish only buy max 1.2 tsi as the 1.4 tsi is 100 quid more to tax !

I bought it from a local dealer. I was so lucky to get it as I'm usually the one who arrives as the car is being driven away by its new owner:mad: I was being delivered the bad news by my mechanic about my last car when he said to me a guy had just traded in the car and it was a nice spec one too. One owner Irish car full dealer service history, I couldn't believe my good luck for a change. The 1.4's are very scarce. Don't be tempted to get the older 1.4 because it's a thirsty slug.