What car to buy next (tax & insurance cost and reliability)

DarraghR

Hi there. I have been driving a Nissan Primera 2004 1.6 for about 2 and a half years. I really love the car but can't afford to run it with €550 tax every year and petrol costs.

My knodlegdge of cars wouldn't be amazing but I am looking to get a Nissan, Mizsubishi or Toyota. Any other suggestions would be great once parts are cheap. Budget wise I should be able to get something between €1250 and €1500 after selling my current car.

The look of the car isn't mad important but it would be nice to have decent leg room as I'm 6.3. Something that would have low tax but I have heard this can depend on how new it is and the emmisions output.

Finally what car would have a low insurance cost? I am paying about €780 at the moment. Learner permit license holder, 4 years no claims and male 30 years of age

Daaryl

Toyota corollas are great cars, Cheap tax, depends on your insurance, cheap parts and are a very reliable car, I had one for a few months and only trouble it gave me was a loose shock in the back and that's it! Parts are dirt cheap and you'd pick a clean one up for 1000 euro or even less.

Alanstrainor

DarraghR wrote: »

Hi there. I have been driving a Nissan Primera 2004 1.6 for about 2 and a half years. I really love the car but can't afford to run it with €550 tax every year and petrol costs.

My knodlegdge of cars wouldn't be amazing but I am looking to get a Nissan, Mizsubishi or Toyota. Any other suggestions would be great once parts are cheap. Budget wise I should be able to get something between €1250 and €1500 after selling my current car.

The look of the car isn't mad important but it would be nice to have decent leg room as I'm 6.3. Something that would have low tax but I have heard this can depend on how new it is and the emmisions output.

Finally what car would have a low insurance cost? I am paying about €780 at the moment. Learner permit license holder, 4 years no claims and male 30 years of age

Your current car surely can't be that bad? And the tax really isn't too painful all considered. What kind of economy are you getting out of it?

Getting a reliable car, with lower tax for your budget is going to be a tall order in my opinion. And a crazy idea considering you have a reliable, relatively fuel efficient car to begin with.

Do your homework, and you'll see that changing isn't going to see you any better off really.

bazz26

If your current car is not giving you any trouble then the best thing to do is keep it. Money wise you will not get much for an 11 year old Primera and with the limited funds in cash you have to put on top of what you get for it, you could be buying someone else's trouble. You also will not be saving a whole lot in motor tax either.

DarraghR

A year later and I have had a ridiculous amount of problems with my Primera. Now on the hunt for another car that is reliable. Ford Mondeo and Focus have been suggested. Any other recommendations. Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota

kerten

At that budget range, I would restrict my searches to %100 Japanese brands(Toyota/Honda/Mitsubishi/Suzuki)

colm_mcm

What's your budget now?

Senna

Did you at least get your full licence in the last year?

AMKC

A Mitsubishi Lancer maybe or a Honda Civic but you might be going back a few years to get one in budget. Is your budget still the same or has it increased any?

TeaBagMania

Nissan build quality has been going downhill for the last 15 years. Company I worked for purchased a fleet of Nissans and they were falling apart within a year.

Mitsubishi is the bottom of the barrel Japanese brand, I would never purchase one.

I had the opportunity to drive a Kia Soul last year and was very impressed with the build quality, fit &finish, performance, and ease of maintenance.

DarraghR

Yeah I have my full license now. NCT is due and it will cost 250 euro to fix my driver side window. Plus whatever problems I may not have found yet. I know a friend of a friend that will run a diagnostics for free so might see if its worth keeping.

My budget is 2000 maybe 2500 and thats hoping I get 1000 for my current car

JohnBoy26

DarraghR wrote: »

Yeah I have my full license now. NCT is due and it will cost 250 euro to fix my driver side window. Plus whatever problems I may not have found yet. I know a friend of a friend that will run a diagnostics for free so might see if its worth keeping.

My budget is 2000 maybe 2500 and thats hoping I get 1000 for my current car

A 02-04 Toyota Corolla would be my choice on that budget or a 2001-2005 honda Civic saloon would be another good option.

kala85

DarraghR wrote: »

A year later and I have had a ridiculous amount of problems with my Primera. Now on the hunt for another car that is reliable. Ford Mondeo and Focus have been suggested. Any other recommendations. Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota

What problems did you get with the primera as a matter of interest? What kind of mileage do you have on it?

DarraghR

Had to replace an engine coil, battery and the most expensive which is still not fixed would be my window regulator. Mileage is about 120,000. Theres a nasty dent on the back right on the panel that goes across the windows so would have to panel beat that

Senna

DarraghR wrote: »

Had to replace an engine coil, battery and the most expensive which is still not fixed would be my window regulator. Mileage is about 120,000. Theres a nasty dent on the back right on the panel that goes across the windows so would have to panel beat that

Who is quoting you €250 for a window regulator? €20 from a scrap yard or €60 from eBay. Fitting is a 20 minute job.

colm_mcm

good luck finding a good primera regulator in a scrapyard

DarraghR

Senna wrote: »

Who is quoting you €250 for a window regulator? €20 from a scrap yard or €60 from eBay. Fitting is a 20 minute job.

I heard its quite a difficult job to do. I have some experience changing break pads, removing callipar, oil filter etc.

If the job is doable then I have no problem having a go

colm_mcm

It's a piece of cake to do on them. easier than most cars.

Senna

DarraghR wrote: »

I heard its quite a difficult job to do. I have some experience changing break pads, removing callipar, oil filter etc.

If the job is doable then I have no problem having a go

Not at all, there's 4 rivets to drill and that's the hardest part (once you do one, it's a doddle). If the old motors is OK, it just fits onto the new assembly.
If you've done pad, callipers before then window regulator is a walk in the park. Probably a how-to on YouTube for it as well.

acronym Chilli

DarraghR wrote: »

Had to replace an engine coil, battery and the most expensive which is still not fixed would be my window regulator. Mileage is about 120,000. Theres a nasty dent on the back right on the panel that goes across the windows so would have to panel beat that

That's not a lot to have had to do on car in a year. Any car you buy at low end of market is likely to need a couple of "consumables" replaced (battery, pads, disks, wipers, tyres). At least you know where you're at with your current Nissan.

DarraghR

I brought the car to a mates boyfriends garage and he had a look over for me. New regulator with labour will be 130. The clips on the window are still bound and the motor is working. It would cost me 60 euro minimum online for a new regulator. He said he would fit a second hand one for 30 euro. I just dont want to have a go myself and mess things up even more. Think i read somewhere a lad had a go but damaged his handle on the door

colm_mcm

Don't bother with a second hand one.
Can't remember the handle being an issue but it's a few years ago when did one.

bear1

DarraghR wrote: »

I brought the car to a mates boyfriends garage and he had a look over for me. New regulator with labour will be 130. The clips on the window are still bound and the motor is working. It would cost me 60 euro minimum online for a new regulator. He said he would fit a second hand one for 30 euro. I just dont want to have a go myself and mess things up even more. Think i read somewhere a lad had a go but damaged his handle on the door

8 months and you still haven't fixed the regulator?

DarraghR

Has anyone ordered parts from www.mister-auto.ie? The driver side regulator is 60 euro and are BOLK brand. ACROLCAR brand is also listed near enough the same price but out of stock.

http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/front-window-regulator/nissan-primera-hatchback-p12-1-6-106hp_v16921_g900003.html

DarraghR

The driver side regulator is 60 euro and are BOLK brand. ACROLCAR brand is also listed near enough the same price but out of stock.

http://www.mister-auto.ie/en/front-w...1_g900003.html

DarraghR

Got one in the end from a local motor factor. Cost me 70

DarraghR

Would it be a good idea to buy a second had car through a dealer and get trade in on my current car or scrap deal? I know buying privately is cheaper but I will find it hard to sell my car privately in its condition.

bmwguy

DarraghR wrote: »

Would it be a good idea to buy a second had car through a dealer and get trade in on my current car or scrap deal? I know buying privately is cheaper but I will find it hard to sell my car privately in its condition.

Honestly your car is worth nothing to a dealer. Sell it for whatever you can get even if it's 200 quid and then haggle a few hundred off your new purchase on a cash sale.

bazz26

You may get more for it under a scrappage deal but that usually means you have to buy a brand new car which costs more money. Also there are certain conditions with the scrappage scheme like it has to have a current NCT or be upto a certain age. The scrappage deal really only works depending on how much you have to spend.

If the car is not fit to sell privately then it's going to be worth even less to a dealer outside a scrappage deal. In that case I'd take it out of the equation and sell it privately in it's current condition for whatever someone will offer you for it. Buying a newer car off a dealer with no trade-in is always better as you can haggle a discount off the newer car when buying straight. Whatever you get for your old car privately will be a bonus and can go towards the cost of taxing the new car.

acronym Chilli

I suspect the "scrappage scheme" terminology helps to confuse matters.

Once upon a time, there was a government funded scheme, which really could represent a bit of "free money", like the way the SSIA did (you obviously know about this bazz26 since you've explained it yourself http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057509783, so not preaching at you!). Manufacturers at the time added further incentives on top of that.

Nowadays, there's no gov't scheme, only dealer/manufacturer "schemes". But they're still called "scrappage schemes", instead of having a more informative title like "minimum trade in value" or the like. I think that allows them to implicitly hook onto the associations of the old government scheme, and not look like the marketing tool they are.

The assumption has to be: if you're apparently doing well on the "scrappage", the dealer will make it up elsewhere in the deal (e.g. by not relenting when you ask for a discount). That is, unless you manage to drive a really great deal and push the balance of power your way in the negotiations (i.e. opposite of walking onto forecourt, asking for sticker price and then keeping quiet, putting your money down and driving away). Bottom line number is only one that really counts: all-in cost to change the car from A to B.