New Car Advice

[Pandabean]

Folks, just wondering if anyone can give some advice on cars?

My current Punto is on its way out and driving me insane with costs on fixing it, had the car overheat due to the fan & fuse dying, followed by a hole in the exhaust and now its going to a garage again for a loud creaking noise when driving. :viking: lets just say I am ready to drive it into the sea.

Anyways I am trying to look for a new car before the MOT expires in April, I have been told I can get around £2000 for a trade in on the punto. My budget is up to £10,000 at the very most, including trade in.

I was looking at a 4x4, but in that price range it would be about 4-6 years old but started to add up the costs of running it/tax/insurance and its made me think again. Its a case of I would like one but don't necessarily need one.

I am looking for suggestions on good small cars (1.4-1.6l) , that are up to 2 years old as the tax/insurance etc will be cheaper.


Would anyone have any info on the following or rate them?

Pugeout 207
Vauxhall Astra (New model)

Also considering I have a daily commute of 50miles all in and the roads out here can be bad in the snow, which the punto handled reasonably well.

Sorry, think I have waffled on a bit, but hope someone can offer some advice.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[v-ness]

I can recommend the nissan Almera for a smaller car.

We're terrible for neglecting it and it never fails to start. The only time it ever got stuck in the snow was when the snow was too deep for it to go forward. It handles pretty well in the wet too.

You should be able to pick one up in your price range for nearly new.

Good Luck with your car hunt

Cheers
Ness

 

[Pandabean]

Thanks Ness I will have a little look into them. I have heard Nissans are having a good rep the now especially with the Quashqi and X-Trails.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Assuming you've been happy enough with the Punto until it started costing too much, I'd stick with Fiat and have a good look at the Panda 4x4s.

 

[locum76]

My 1.4 diesel Citroen C3 is an excellent wee car. Lively, fun to drive, £20 per year to tax, 65mpg and £40 to fill the tank. The cons are that I've had to replace 2 coil springs in 2.5 years (no other repairs though) and there isn't much room in the back behind me (although I am 6'6'').

It handles very well in the snow with winter tyres on.

 

[Silverback 1]

If you are interested in a 4x4 and not too worried about a smaller car why not consider a Suzuki Jimni, never had one but apparently very reliable and the dogs dangly bits off road, you will be well within your budget,best of both worlds.

 

[harrisp]

Astras are excellent and if you are after that size car the the focus is well worth a look.
If you want a smaller car but 4x4 then as mentioned the jimnys are excellent and ive seen some VERY capable off road with very few mods.

 

[Pandabean]

I did have a look at Jimny's but to me they don't seem very gutsy, I have overtaken plenty while going up a hill just outside the city and my punto is a 1.2 and struggles on that hill. Plus it doesnt look like there are any on autotrader up my way.
I had a look for that Nissan almera but there doesn't seem to be a new model of it. Goes up to 06.

As for ford, I have driven my girlfriends wee fiesta and I do not like it, it just feels heavy/clunky if you know my meaning. I haven't seen a focus but heard they were really good cars.

 

[789987]

what about a civic or a mazda 3? both reliable and a bit of grunt to them

or you could get a hilux.,,,

 

[johnnytheboy]

If you want abit of fun, i'm sure Alfa are about todo a great finance deal on the mito for about £10k

If you want something reliable and good on the fuel, VW polo Diesel, great cars and nippy, thats what i'd buy if i were to be buying a car

4x4 Toyota Hilux, plenty good ones for that money, plus they are bomb proof.

I'm personally staying in my company car scheme, but this Volkswagen Amarok might just tempt me out of it, cant release it in the UK because they cant make them fast enough for the rest of the world!!!

 

[JDO330]

Are you into brands? If not i can highly recommend anything from skoda. Very reliable and you should be able to get a lot of car for your cash. Failing that, vw golf or focus. Both excellent if you get the right engine. Seat ibiza, my wife has one. Very good, plenty of poke, well built and cheap to run.
As for 4x4s, the suzuki vitara is a good vehicle as is the x trail, honda crv, toyota rav4.

Plenty out there in your budget and if you buy smart you could minimise your depreciation.

Atb, Jon.

 

[Xunil]

Nissan Micra Diesel

63mpg average, quick (it's a 1.5 TDi), super-low road tax due to low emissions, easy to drive and comfortable even for tall people, and no self-respecting car thief would be seen dead nicking one

I 'dropped' from my 20-odd year old affair with Audi to a Micra diesel about 5 months ago for all of the above reasons. I figured if I didn't get on with it I'd reserve the option to plant my feet firmly back into the Audi camp but, so far, I have no intentions of doing so. I reckon over 2 - 3 years the amount I'd have lost on an Audi is almost what the Micra cost to buy outright. I do about 45 - 50 miles a day and I fill up every 9 or 10 days or so.

Another fringe benefit is that if you ever find yourself on the receiving end of a frank exchange of driver opinion (blaring of horns, obscenities shouted out of windows, flashing lights behind you and so on) it is always pleasing to note said driver's reaction when someone like me (6' 4" and 16 1/2 stone) gets out of a Micra they usually seem to mistakenly assume is driven by someone a lot smaller...



Also keep in mind that fuel prices are set to go through the roof, so if you do miles then consider buying smart and go for economy. A friend of mine works for one of the big petroleum companies and he reckons that by the summer petrol will be around £1.75 per litre in the UK.

Everything is a trade-off. Brands cost, small cars (generally) work out more economical to buy and own, big cars are like driving an armchair, blah, blah, blah.

One side to the Micra I hadn't counted on was how much driver space there is. For such a tiny car the people in the front are very well catered for. Those in the back, not so much, but there is only ever me on my own or me and my young daughter and the pooch in the car, so I can also fit fishing gear, shooting and camping stuff and all kinds of other nonsense in, which was a pleasant surprise. I had half expected a box of hankies to overload the thing, but I am surprised at just how much gear you can get into a small car, if you put your mind to it.

At the moment the boot of mine containes three laptop bags (complete with laptops ), a Paramo jacket, two gore-tex jackets and a pair of gore-tex pants, a windstopper fleece, a pair of trainers and a pair of walking boots, assorted hats, gloves and scarves, a couple of large CD/DVD wallets of software, half a dozen external USB hard disk drives of various capacity, a Venom tuned Weihrauch HW95K and pellets, a folding landing net and two fly rods, a trout bag with fly reels, boxes of flies, spools of leader and so on, a yoke and two army side pouches filled with assorted stuff I just know I might need one day a Coleman sleeping bag, a kipmat, a Grasfors Scandinavian Forest Axe, an abseiling rope and harness, a bow saw, various books, puzzles, colouring things and whatnot for Charlotte, dog lead, bowl and bottle of water, and...

... you get the idea...

My former other half drives a Nissan Note and has had excellent results with it. Boring, but bullet proof reliability and loads of room for a small family car.

This summer I plan on having a towbar fitted - I already have a small trailer with bars for bikes and/or a roofbox that sits atop the trailer, and I'm curious how a small car will cope - based on my experiences so far I think it will be just fine.

Do I like the MIcra ?

Yes.

Would I buy another one ?

Yes.

Do I miss not having an Audi A5 3.0 Quattro.


YES !!!

*sigh*




Basically though, this is all just anecdotal evidence and you need to identify your own priorities and then try to work out something that also fits your preferences.

 

[jamin]

then you need a ford fiesta pall. 1.4 tdci get about 60 to the gal. 30 quid road tax a year. insurance g 6. spot on car

 

[Alfredo]

What about a Fiat Sedici?
I found this i.e.
http://padova.bakeca.it/auto/vendesi-fiat-sedici-19-yzqr21019160
is October 2008, 4x4, the cost is 14450euro = 10182£
I never had one of them, but some of my friends had good experiences.

 

[Pandabean]

Cheers for the advice folks. Garage couldn't find the noise

Hilux might be a bit too big for my liking to be honest


JDO330 - not really had much thought about skoda, but I am not particular to any brands, just that I am useless with cars and not very knowledgeabloe about them either.

Xunil - sorry but I hate the new design of the micra. I had one of the old ones while at uni and was surprised that it could fit 3 students plus luggage for a 5 week geology trip to Skye. It survived there and back, with an added journey of there and back in the middle. Sadly it went to car heaven.
I hear you about the petrol price, I too work in the Oil sector, more on the service company side than the operators but I can seethe prices rising and rising. £1.50 by the summer around here I reckon. I heard on the radio that oil hit the $100 mark the other day.
So that is one reason I changed my mind about a 4x4, I have heard people at work complain about filling their tanks up and paying £80 each time, currently I am around £40 for a full tank.


One question though is diesel much better than petrol and I understand that its good MPG for long journeys? Generally its a bit more to pay at the pump for it and I do do a 50 mile round commute Mon-Fri and I rarely spend much time driving round town.

 

[Xunil]

... Xunil - sorry but I hate the new design of the micra....

I didn't say I liked it - it is a very considered use of limited space though, and a very capable small vehicle.

From a purely practical standpoint you only really feel the benefits of diesel over petrol if you do above average miles per year, otherwise the cost of buying a diesel (typically around £1000 - £2000 more than a same-model small petrol car) is more or less written off.

That said, diesels tend to hold their value a little better and are often more in demand. I reckon that they make a better buy if you want to realise a higher return when you come to re-sell or trade in, but you may still not get back the extra you put in (talking mainly about buying from new here).

They also deliver more torque so you often get a better bet if you do a lot of driving in hilly areas or when pulling a trailer or similar load.

If you don't mind going through the gears a lot more then the small petrol cars are fine.

Do the maths and work your own best buy out.

Example:

12000 miles per year divided by 45mpg = 266.66 gallons.

266.66 gallons x £5.81 (the current average price per gallon for petrol) = £1549.29

The same set of numbers for a diesel (based on my own car) would be:

12000 miles per year divided by 63mpg = 190.47 gallons.

190.47 gallons x £5.99 (the current average price per gallon for diesel) = £1140.91

Ignoring insurance variations, road tax costs and so on, the fuel differential is £408.38 per year in favour of the diesel.

Provided servicing intervals (and costs) don't incur additional charges then over 3 years you are £1225.14 better off driving the diesel based on today's fuel prices. Obviously you will barely break even on the additional cost of buying a diesel in terms of saved fuel, but you may find it loses less over your term of ownership and will be worth more than a petrol model when you are ready to sell it on.

Where you really start to see a difference is if you re-run the numbers based on, say, 20,000 miles per year. This gives you:

£2582.22 total cost for petrol.

£1901.56 total cost per year for diesel.

£680.64 per year less expensive to fuel the diesel.

£2041.92 saved over three years by driving the diesel.

Again, you have to keep in mind servicing intervals and costs, road tax and insurance to do a proper and fair comparison.

What you want to do is a TCO exercise where you calculate the probable Total Cost of Ownership over the term you expect to keep the car. Get insurance quotes, servicing intervals and costs, and road tax costs for the make/model you are interested in a run the numbers yourself based on the miles you expect to do, which should point you in the right direction.

As I said before "you need to identify your own priorities and then try to work out something that also fits your preferences". What you need may not necessarily be what you want, but it could still work out a smart choice...

 

[fred gordon]

Assuming you've been happy enough with the Punto until it started costing too much, I'd stick with Fiat and have a good look at the Panda 4x4s.

I would second that. I live in a remote area, lots of snow and rough roads. Plenty Fiat panda 4x4's here abouts.

 

[Pandabean]

Right narrowed it down to two that I like.....the Astra 1.4 Club 59 Reg or the Fiat Punto Evo Active 1.4 10 Reg. Difference is £500. Any tips on either?

Couldnt really find a panda 4x4 round here.

 

[789987]

had an astra before was pretty bulletproof

would pick that over a fiat

 

[harrisp]

I would go for the 1.9cdti astra if you can stretch to it, both are nice cars though.