Economical vs leisure driving

Yoknek

I need advice on buying a used car. My car of 16 years just got written off my wife's car has two more years of finance and I need a car for work. At the moment I can only afford to spend €1000 or less or at a push a little over €1,000.

I am attracted to audi A4 and Volkswagen passat and there are cars on adverts and donedeal that fits the budget. The years ranges from 2002-2005.

I have spoken to one mechanic that told me to stay away from them because of repair cost and recommended ford fiesta, focus and opel astra for that budget. I have spoken to another mechanic i know that says it doesnt really matter what car if im buying more than 10yr old car.


Just want to ask if the Audi A4 years 2002-2004 and Volkswagen Passat 2001-2005 expensive to repair, labor and parts versus an opel astra 2001-2003 or a Ford Focus 2000-2004. And what car would you recommend for a budget of €1000 or less.

Any advice would be appreciated.

colm_mcm

I would say a 1.6 Avensis would be much less of a risk than a Passat or A4.

alan partridge aha

I have 2002 TDI Bora from new, it's a phenomenal car and I'd like a change but can't get the end of it. Too good to get rid of.

737max

Find a clean 1.6 mk1.5 Focus which runs well on the test drive from amongst all the dirty ones.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, your really in Japanese petrol territory. Buying any diesel yoke or ageing VAG is likely to be a money pit.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Buy an 02> Civic saloon 1.4. They're well within your budget, will do 40+mpg all day every day and are ultra reliable.

A work colleague of mine was in a similar position to you 4 years ago but had slightly bigger budget. He bought an 04 Civic saloon which had 100k miles on it and 2yrs NCT. He paid €2500 for it. It's still going strong and has never given one moments trouble. It gets an oil and filter and plug change once a year and there is currently 210 miles on it. He says he's going to drive it till it dies which is probably a long way off at this stage.

https://www.donedeal.ie/view/15842141

Matty.C

I think for a run around you cant beat a old VW. But only with the 1.9tdi engine AWX/AVB and 5 speed manual gearbox. I have had several over 250,000 miles with little trouble! The DMF can fail on some with very high mileage examples and is expensive to rplace ( a sign of a wearing flywheel is a heavy clutch pedal)and the front suspension is a very complicated setup with various aluminum arms which can be costly if theres a few to replace. But overall there a dead solid car with one of the most reliable engines ever made and good fuel economy. Timing belt need to be changed every 60k mls and regular servicing will ensure it remains bulletproof. Another one to consider is the Skoda Superb, cheaper than Passat although shares the same parts an are far more spacious with a better spec usually. There a nice car to drive too!

To answer your second question , compared to a astra /focus overall running costs. Parts for the VW can be quiet expensive but not that much goes wrong with them aprt from the few bit I mentioned earlier. I depends on the mileage your doing if its high the economy of a tdi will save back the extra tax ect but if your doing small mileage a small petrol is a good bet perhaps something like an Octavia 1.4 or civic 1.4 would be a good choice.

CJhaughey

Matty.C wrote: »

if your doing small mileage a small petrol is a good bet perhaps something like an Octavia 1.4 or civic 1.4 would be a good choice.

The Octavia 1.4 isn't really in the same league as the Civic 1.4 to be honest, the VAG petrols of that era are slow and not particularly powerful or economical.
The Honda engine is a good few steps ahead of the VAG in this instance.