Reliability ~ €7-8k

Inviere

Hi folks

Looking to spend between 7/8k, and reliability is what I'm after.
Must be petrol
No VAG

Am thinking Mazda 3 or Civic? What are the 1.3 litre engines like in the Civic? I heard the 1.8 wasn't too perky, and was more geared toward economy, so where does that leave the 1.3?

colm_mcm

The 1.8 is 140bhp and does 0-60 in 8.6 - that’s far from slow.
In comparison the 1.4 is 100bbp and takes 12.6 seconds to do 0-60.

Even if you go for a 1.6 petrol Mazda3 it’s 103bhp and takes 11.6 to get to 60.
The 1.4 Mazda is very slow, 82bhp and 0-60 in 14 seconds.

quenching

A MKII Toyota Prius will be difficult to beat for reliability.

grogi

If you're focused on reliability and economy, Prius will be hard to beat. It is enjoyable to drive, especially after upgrading suspension - but requires a bit of getting used to.

If you're focused on reliability and enjoyment, I would look further than Civic or Accord.

Inviere

I hadn't though the Prius would be within the price range, interesting. I wonder if it'd be worth saving a tad more & dropping the extra on a MkIII Prius?

quenching

Inviere wrote: »

I hadn't though the Prius would be within the price range, interesting. I wonder if it'd be worth saving a tad more & dropping the extra on a MkIII Prius?

I wouldn't bother, I've driven the MKII and its a harder ride and seems more cramped for the driver and front seat passenger, I'm sure its not but it seems that way. I had a 05 MkII Prius for 5 years and it was faultless, now have an 08 MKII Prius and its the same.

Only consider a Prius with a full Toyota service history, they may cost a little more than one that's been serviced outside the dealer network but they tend to be the better cars. Toyota dealer servicing is very reasonably priced, they offer fixed price servicing which they tend to stick to as the Prius rarely needs anything doing it.

*I'm selling the 08 Prius at the moment so I'm slightly biased

grogi

quenching wrote: »

I wouldn't bother, I've driven the MKII and its a harder ride and seems more cramped for the driver and front seat passenger, I'm sure its not but it seems that way. I had a 05 MkII Prius for 5 years and it was faultless, now have an 08 MKII Prius and its the same.

I must agree - the central console in MkIII looks cool, but is not a practical solution and eats a lot of space.

biko

Top 100 reliable UK cars
www.reliabilityindex.com/top-100