Cheap Runaround - suggestions?

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 11:06AM #1

Hey all.

I'm going to be picking up a second car as it'll lessen the petrol bills of the S2000 & also will be handy to have extra space for people, animals & trips to Ikea.
The S2k is grand as a daily driver, but my mileage (300 miles per week) might be increasing - even if it stays the same, I'm putting €75 petrol into her per week.

Anyways, I need a motor that has the following:

Cheap enough to buy - budget is prob €2000 - €2500 max
Good MPG - most driving will be motorway
As reliable as possible
More than 2 seats :pac:
Engine size of 1.6 MAXIMUM, preferably lower
Decent space
Anything else is a bonus

So, what would you recommend?

Max Power1 · 22-05-2012 11:08AM

Peugot 406/407 hdi? The 407 comes in 1.6 diesel anyway. Should pick up an earlier model privately for 2k

ShadowHearth · 22-05-2012 11:15AM

406 1.8 or diesel. I linked one in bargain thread which was 1k asking price, but you could drop it.
I won't be alone to tell you how comfortable and how reliable these things are. I know tax is over 1.6, but you won't need to spend a fortune on car it self. 1.8 petrol andinge is very economical and 2.0 diesel is even better.

colm_mcm · 22-05-2012 11:17AM

Love how when someone is looking for a car smaller than 1.6 we always suggest bigger engines

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 11:19AM

In fairness, I'm wary that because I'm on the motorway a lot a smaller car might not be too economical at those speeds, but I'm open to correction there.

Remember lads, I'm not letting the side down, I am keeping the S2000!
Just need a cheap motor that I can pick up and run cheaply.

ShadowHearth · 22-05-2012 11:27AM

If you don't like the 406 idea then get one of these mk2 ford mondeo 1.6. I did a thread on it awile ago. Long story short: bought for 500eu, 200eu service, few things sorted out and nct, then drove a year and spend 35eu on wipers and mirror - nct for another year.

I was driving to Dublin airport - cork and at steady 120-130km/h I got almost 40 mpg.

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 11:35AM

At the moment I'm averaging 28-31 MPG in the S2k, so ~40MPG from the 406 or Mondeo isn't the step up I'm looking for... the 407 with the 1.6 engine is quoted as 57MPG, so even considering it's dropped to 50MPG, it's still a good step up.
Or am I missing something about the 406's economy?

22-05-2012 11:36AM

A 106 or saxo diesel if you can put up with the small package would fit the bill nicely.

22-05-2012 11:40AM

You would be mad not to get some sort of diesel at that mileage. you could nearly double your mpg rather than just getting a bit of improvement with another petrol.

Something like a 307 1.4hdi. They can be picked up cheap, the tax is low and they are extremly economical. My dad averages around 55mpg on his. Yes it slow as hell but its a nice comfortable car, good size (you couldnt live with a saxo etc everyday), have good spec usually (auto wipers, lights etc) and despite what you hear are have good reliability. He is on his 2nd one and has 260k kms on his current one from new. Only problems were wheel barings and the cat converter went recently which are really wear and tear items.

ShadowHearth · 22-05-2012 11:49AM

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

At the moment I'm averaging 28-31 MPG in the S2k, so ~40MPG from the 406 or Mondeo isn't the step up I'm looking for... the 407 with the 1.6 engine is quoted as 57MPG, so even considering it's dropped to 50MPG, it's still a good step up.
Or am I missing something about the 406's economy?

407 is a hit and miss reliability wise. I would better buy way cheaper 406 diesel 2.0 and on saved money pay the tax then.

E39msport ( boardsies name ) just bought one of these as runaround, ask him, he is very very happy with it. He could tell you better about real world mpg.

22-05-2012 12:03PM

You're looking at potentially a two year period before the savings cover the expenses.

ShadowHearth · 22-05-2012 12:08PM

RoverJames wrote: »

You're looking at potentially a two year period before the savings cover the expenses.

That too. 28-32mpg is not that bad... Spending 2k on car then an extra insurance and tax bill. Will that be worth it?

If op does need a 4 door car then it would be thing to do, but if op is looking only to save money on petrol, then that can be a bad idea.

22-05-2012 12:10PM

RoverJames wrote: »

You're looking at potentially a two year period before the savings cover the expenses.

You have to start somewhere though, if you keep putting it off you keep spending money on petrol and further extending how far away the savings are.

Also personally, Id rather pay 1 or 2k upfront from saving or whatever and reduce the weekly spend on fuel, even just psychologically its much nicer not to be forking out loads of money on fuel every week.

There is also the fact of keeping the miles and wear and tear down on the s2000. Its not a common car so having a good example for selling on will be a big help down the road.

ShadowHearth · 22-05-2012 12:12PM

Carson Many Threat wrote: »

You have to start somewhere though, if you keep putting it off you keep spending money on petrol and further extending how far away the savings are.

Also personally, Id rather pay 1 or 2k upfront from saving or whatever and reduce the weekly spend on fuel, even just psychologically its much nicer not to be forking out loads of money on fuel every week.

There is also the fact of keeping the miles and wear and tear down on the s2000. Its not a common car so having a good example for selling on will be a big help down the road.

You buy a car for yourself, so you can enjoy it as much as you want. Last thing I would ever be worried about is resale value and well being of next owner.

22-05-2012 12:19PM

Unless the miles increase over 300 per week I don't see the point in spending a grand or two up front and than having the associated costs of running two cars to half at best a 75 euro a week fuel bill.

22-05-2012 12:19PM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

You buy a car for yourself, so you can enjoy it as much as you want. Last thing I would ever be worried about is resale value and well being of next owner.

I'm not a person who worry's about the next owner at all, but its still no harm keeping it in mind. Even for your own driving its nicer to keep a car like that fresh rather than racking up miles commuting.

Doing 300 miles every week in a petrol car is madness, never mind a car like an s2000 which will be very heavy on petrol.

I drive cork-galway return fairly regularly. Its about 280 miles return, add in driving around home during the weekend that's at least 300 miles the weeks I go home. I'm doing it in a Golf GTI and only for the fact I dont do it every week I couldn't stomach the cost in fuel, bearing in mind on a long run like this fuel economy is better than on a commute type journey.

To be brutally honest, I wouldn't have bought the s2000 in the first place if I knew I was going to be doing 300 miles every week, same as I wouldn't have bought my own GTI if I was doing that sort of mileage every week.

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 12:24PM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

That too. 28-32mpg is not that bad... Spending 2k on car then an extra insurance and tax bill. Will that be worth it?

If op does need a 4 door car then it would be thing to do, but if op is looking only to save money on petrol, then that can be a bad idea.

Hmm... well I'm probably shooting a bit high with my budget. What I had in mind was (to put it bluntly) a cheap reliable ****box, ala a Toyota Carina or something similar. Hence, very cheap to buy, tax and insure.

Carson Many Threat wrote: »

You have to start somewhere though, if you keep putting it off you keep spending money on petrol and further extending how far away the savings are.

Also personally, Id rather pay 1 or 2k upfront from saving or whatever and reduce the weekly spend on fuel, even just psychologically its much nicer not to be forking out loads of money on fuel every week.

There is also the fact of keeping the miles and wear and tear down on the s2000. Its not a common car so having a good example for selling on will be a big help down the road.

The thing is, I do hold back driving the S2k a bit as I know it's my daily driver. With a second car, that'll suck up the long boring miles cheaply, and then I've
the S2k to drive properly when I'm in it.

The plan is to keep the S2k for good though - I can't see myself wanting to sell it, nor am I willing to let it go for nothing which is how things have gone here in Ireland. I'm not saving it for a second owner, but I would like to keep wear and tear down a bit if possible.

22-05-2012 12:26PM

Carson Many Threat wrote: »

.......

Doing 300 miles every week in a petrol car is madness, never mind a car like an s2000 which will be very heavy on petrol.

I drive cork-galway return fairly regularly.

But he's getting close to 30mpg from the car, its not very heavy on petrol at all.

smash · 22-05-2012 12:26PM

CRX... they get good mpg don't they?

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 12:28PM

smash wrote: »

CRX... they get good mpg don't they?

Mid-30's MPG plus they're an insurance nightmare.

smash · 22-05-2012 12:29PM

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Mid-30's MPG plus they're an insurance nightmare.

I was talking to an owner there 3 weeks ago and his insurance is next to nothing on it.

Gracie_S203 · 22-05-2012 12:32PM

Nissan are always my choice of car...Almera are 1.5L petrol however on that milage a week..the petrol bill could be through the roof...the 307's come in 1.4 diesel and my brother in law swears by their one for fuel economy and reliability!!!!

22-05-2012 12:39PM

RoverJames wrote: »

But he's getting close to 30mpg from the car, its not very heavy on petrol at all.

The majority of people would count 30mpg as very heavy on petrol. I get around this myself and as I said I'm happy enough with that considering the amount of driving I do and the amount of fun the car is but it doesn't change the fact its heavy on petrol.

I would have to be getting 40mpg+ (in normal driving) to stay sane if I was doing 300 miles or even less than that every week without fail.

Tell my dad who gets 55mpg+ that 30mpg isn't heavy and he will fall over laughing. Any thing below high 30's I would call heavy personally.

smash wrote: »

CRX... they get good mpg don't they?

Unless he aims for a diesel which is going to almost double his mpg its not worth it imo, gaining 10mpg by changing to another petrol is pointless. Diesel is also cheaper to buy so savings are also greater than just in mpg.

Now, having defended the op's idea of buying a second car I dont know if I would do it myself. Personally I would probably sell the s2000 and buy a nice diesel with a bit of power, with mpg somewhere in the middle between the 30's in the s2000 and the high 50's from very under powered, small engined diesels. That said I have always had the idea of having a few cars at some point so maybe I would buy the cheap runabout, who knows.

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 12:52PM

As a side-note, I'm more than happy to move to diesel on this one!

Pdfile · 22-05-2012 12:56PM

how big a space do you actually need and does badges really matter ?

an s2k is so cool you could justify owning a skoda fabia or something rather uncool like that ( throw bbs's on it, be grand

)

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 12:59PM

Pdfile wrote: »

how big a space do you actually need and does badges really matter ?

an s2k is so cool you could justify owning a skoda fabia or something rather uncool like that ( throw bbs's on it, be grand )

Not much space, its along the lines of being able to throw a big weekly shop into it, or something from Ikea. Anything bigger than a 2 seater convertible will do the job space-wise!

And I'm open to drive ANYTHING, whatever the badge or drivability. Like I said, I thought someone would have mentioned the famed Toyota Carina already :pac: And that WOULD be an option!

Pdfile · 22-05-2012 01:08PM

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3395396

classic boards marmite mobile...

miles are high and its over priced but surely everythings up for barter...

22-05-2012 01:16PM

What mgg would you expect out of a 1.6 carina?

skyhighflyer · 22-05-2012 01:20PM

I would recommend a Saxo or 106 1.1. Amazingly economical, the 1.1 started life in the Peugeot 104 and is a very tough and well-proven engine. We had a Saxo for 8 years and never gave any bother once serviced. There's also a load of room if required as the back seats and bench fold flat, helped transport a friend's drumkit a few times no bother. They have a surprisingly high fifth gear so not too bad on the motorway.

Downsides: don't crash it.

Jimmy Bottlehead · 22-05-2012 01:22PM

RoverJames wrote: »

What mgg would you expect out of a 1.6 carina?

Quite honestly I don't know... I was mentioning it mainly because when someone wants a cheap old car that will go on forever, it's usually brought up.

smash · 22-05-2012 01:26PM

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

As a side-note, I'm more than happy to move to diesel on this one!

Sadist!

Cheap Runaround - suggestions?

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