First time owner

Creamy Goodness

I'm looking to buy a car for myself for the first time. I'm 30 held a licence since I've been 19 but my commute was on the dart line so it meant that driving was limited to weekends so was never really economical to have had a car of my own.

That commute is going to change so I'm looking for something to call my own. I'm looking for something that's got cheap tax, easy running, easy to fix if stuff goes wrong etc. I'd also like for bluetooth to be standard. My list of wants isn't exactly high but the above would suit or am I pretty much looking for a unicorn but for under €10k.

My commute will be 40k per day (20k each way), am I mad to be looking at diesels like a 2008 BMW 1 series? or could I do better for my money?

If you had that budget what would you be buying?

Thanks in advance.

punisher5112

You need to be looking at petrol.

Diesel will only break your heart with such little mileage.

grogi

punisher5112 wrote: »

You need to be looking at petrol.

Diesel will only break your heart with such little mileage.

But that's roughly 10kkm yearly for the commute alone... That's not small mileage.

punisher5112

grogi wrote: »

But that's roughly 10kkm yearly for the commute alone... That's not small mileage.

10k is around 6k miles that is nothing.

Diesel needs to be doing a lot more do not get caught up on the cheaper tax from 2008.

A lot of new cars sold these days are a mix but in 08 nearly all were diesel.

You would need to be doing minimum 20k and more a year. Even that's low....

grogi

punisher5112 wrote: »

10k is around 6k miles that is nothing.

Diesel needs to be doing a lot more do not get caught up on the cheaper tax from 2008.

A lot of new cars sold these days are a mix but in 08 nearly all were diesel.

You would need to be doing minimum 20k and more a year. Even that's low....

Diesel does not need anything, apart from occasional stretch on the motorway to burn out the DPF and not switching it off when the active burn is in progress.

Agreed - it might not reach the advertised efficiency, but that's it.

punisher5112

grogi wrote: »

Diesel does not need anything, apart from occasional stretch on the motorway to burn out the DPF and not switching it off when the active burn is in progress.

Agreed - it might not reach the advertised efficiency, but that's it.

You lost me there with diesel needs nothing????
at 20km car won't have even got up to full temp.

Dpf will be a definite and costly problem among other things.

Modern diesels are in no way designed for constant stop/start and short trips.

Good luck with the diesel though.

grogi

punisher5112 wrote: »

Modern diesels are in no way designed for constant stop/start and short trips

Yet all of them are sold with S&S systems right now.

The petrol are better suited for short journeys, sure - but just don't daemonize the diesels.

punisher5112

grogi wrote: »

Yet all of them are sold with S&S systems right now.

That's to cut emissions doesn't actually mean its good for the car.

Creamy Goodness

must reiterate, I pretty much know next to nothing about cars, bar being able to drive safely. The Diesel was recommended to me by my brother but thinking about it he does do 40-50k a year (he's a rep). I'm by no means heart set on a diesel but it was more to show the kind of car I'm interested, BMW 1series, Audi A3, Golf, Ford Focus etc. Decent hatchback.

grogi

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

must reiterate, I pretty much know next to nothing about cars, bar being able to drive safely. The Diesel was recommended to me by my brother but thinking about it he does do 40-50k a year (he's a rep). I'm by no means heart set on a diesel but it was more to show the kind of car I'm interested, BMW 1series, Audi A3, Golf, Ford Focus etc. Decent hatchback.

You need to think about the insurance, as you don't have any experience...

I would go with a petrol - as they are simpler and easier to get right if you know nothing about the cars.

I would think about Octavia/Leon/Golf 1.2TSI. Or even better a Prius...

IrishZeus

punisher5112 wrote: »

That's to cut emissions doesn't actually mean its good for the car.

Jaysus lads, back on topic. He's looking for car recommendations - not the detailed merits of diesel engines.

@OP - have a you a got a year in mind that you would not be willing to go below? E.g. a 2010, 2012, 2014 car etc.? Anything you would rule out from the offset so we don't recommend those?

Creamy Goodness

IrishZeus wrote: »

Jaysus lads, back on topic. She's looking for car recommendations - not the detailed merits of diesel engines.

@OP - have a you a got a year in mind that you would not be willing to go below? E.g. a 2010, 2012, 2014 car etc.? Anything you would rule out from the offset so we don't recommend those?

I'd prefer to keep the car under 10 years old (2006 and over) and preferably 8 or under (2008). And I'm a guy so preferably no peugeot 207's or WV beetle's :pac:

Ashbx

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

must reiterate, I pretty much know next to nothing about cars, bar being able to drive safely. The Diesel was recommended to me by my brother but thinking about it he does do 40-50k a year (he's a rep). I'm by no means heart set on a diesel but it was more to show the kind of car I'm interested, BMW 1series, Audi A3, Golf, Ford Focus etc. Decent hatchback.

I can vouch for an a3. Pretty easy going on the petrol. I would only drive at the weekends myself but €50 petrol would easily last me a few weeks. I have had my car for 7 years and the only money I put into it was a new battery, a new set of tyres and new brake pads. Great cars and very reliable. Im set on audi's now....wouldn't drive another car tbh!

punisher5112

Op you looking for something sporty or just as cheap as possible.

I would recommend Civic, focus, golf, a3, Octavia or Fabia,

Are you restricting engine size ?

Creamy Goodness

punisher5112 wrote: »

Op you looking for something sporty or just as cheap as possible.

I would recommend Civic, focus, golf, a3, Octavia or Fabia,

Are you restricting engine size ?

Not looking for anything hugely sporty but looks do kinda come into it, I hate ugly dashes current, cars I drive are a peugeot 307 (2008) - ugly dash - and a Golf TSI (2013) - nice dash. I guess what I'm trying to say is something that isn't just a boring grey dash but something that's not walnut dash of a jag if you get me .

I might look into the Octavia's they seem like they are built like tanks. although I'm trying to keep to the hatchback size as I feel like space may be limited where I live for parking.

The Bishop Basher

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

My commute will be 40k per day (20k each way), am I mad to be looking at diesels like a 2008 BMW 1 series? or could I do better for my money?

Not at all.

Ignore the group think on here. Diesels are a great option and your annual mileage is irrelevant once your doing a few decent runs. I drove petrols for years but my last 4 cars have been Diesel and it's worked out a lot more economical for me while doing only 10k miles a year.

I could never go back to petrol, especially in the larger engines as it breaks my heart watching the needle drop like a stone every time I go for a spin.

Don't get me wrong, I love the refinement, sound and responsiveness of petrol but not at any cost.

I'd suggest asking a few friends that actually drive Diesels what they think. You'll likely find few if any have experienced the supposed "endless problems" that will be mentioned on here... You already have the opinion of your brother...

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

If you had that budget what would you be buying?

I'd also be looking at 2007 for starters. You'll get a lot more car for your money with the premium on 08 low tax cars. Personally for that kind of cash i'd be getting a 3 series but appreciate you might be limited by insurance if you haven't had your own policy up to now.