€5k budget for commuter car, what to get?

Turbulent Bill

Looking to replace an old Civic as my commuting car, rough requirements as follows:

€5k budget
Car will do less than 10,000km annually, almost all motorway.
99% of the time I'm the only occupant, so only need something Civic/Golf/Focus sized or smaller.
Nice interior.
Ideally something with decent poke, don't want to have to thrash it at motorway speeds.
Ideally nothing too bland looking.

Any suggestions?

UnknownSpecies

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

Looking to replace an old Civic as my commuting car, rough requirements as follows:

€5k budget
Car will do less than 10,000km annually, almost all motorway.
99% of the time I'm the only occupant, so only need something Civic/Golf/Focus sized or smaller.
Nice interior.
Ideally something with decent poke, don't want to have to thrash it at motorway speeds.
Ideally nothing too bland looking.

Any suggestions?

BMW 3 series maybe? Either E9x or E46 if you'd prefer even cheaper again. A bit bigger than you asked for, but they're going pretty cheap. They're a nice place to be and with ok power too. Links are just examples

Petrol
https://www.donedeal.co.uk/cars-for-sale/08-bmw-318-m-sport-nct-19-3795/17650276

Diesel
https://www.donedeal.co.uk/cars-for-sale/bmw-320d-m-sport-e46/17148462
https://www.donedeal.co.uk/cars-for-sale/bmw-320d-nct-9-18/17669136

Turbulent Bill

Thanks, was thinking an E90/E92 might be a runner. It would need leather and a decent engine; what's the 318i like to drive?

E46 is too old at this stage. I'd like to keep the car for a few years rather than a just as a stopgap.

JohnBoy26

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

Looking to replace an old Civic as my commuting car, rough requirements as follows:

€5k budget
Car will do less than 10,000km annually, almost all motorway.
99% of the time I'm the only occupant, so only need something Civic/Golf/Focus sized or smaller.
Nice interior.
Ideally something with decent poke, don't want to have to thrash it at motorway speeds.
Ideally nothing too bland looking.

Any suggestions?

Another civic. A 2008-2009 hatchback should be got within budget.

UnknownSpecies

I haven't driven the E90/92 for an extended time period, so can't comment personally. A friend of mine had a 318i and the only negative he mentioned was fuel economy. For under under 10k kilometres a year, it's probably not the biggest issue though. The msport leather seats in his were lovely too.

Turbulent Bill

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Another civic. A 2008-2009 hatchback should be got within budget.

Love the look of the hatchback, and obviously a bit of a Boards favourite.

Is there any link to the trim levels on these for Irish cars? I think it's EX > ES > SE, but there are some SEs with leather that are confusing me.

kirving

Should easily get a Volvo 1.8 Se Lux for that money. Not great efficiency wise but you'll barely notice at 10k km per year. They're 125bhp.

Very little to go wrong compared to a diesel of the same age, but most importantly the seats are top class. You'll get heated electric seats as standard on an SE Lux model.

KFed

I have an e92 but doubt youd get a good one with leather for 5k.

The n47 engine had a timing chain issue in the diesels in certain years so be wary of that. I paid a bmw independent 2k to replace it. Youd want to ensure that job was done if buying an n47 320d.

E90 should be a lot cheaper to buy. Cant speak for petrol but e92 320d a cracking car. 177bhp, 45mpg, lots of torque. Id try find one in m sport with leather and its a great car.

listermint

Get another civic. Loving BMW's myself but I wouldn't go out recommending them for your budget you'll possibly get money pit cars people do not look after their cars in this country and the 320 needs love and regular oil changes.

Get the civic again

gillen

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Should easily get a Volvo 1.8 Se Lux for that money. Not great efficiency wise but you'll barely notice at 10k km per year. They're 125bhp.

Very little to go wrong compared to a diesel of the same age, but most importantly the seats are top class. You'll get heated electric seats as standard on an SE Lux model.

fake news