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Ten k car recommendations?

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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,581
1,785
Cumbria
Finally sold a camper and now considering family car that can carry more camping kit than our pug 208. Thinking Kia Sportage but Dacia duster was mentioned. That's 4x4 I think. Are 4x4s more expensive to maintain due to the all wheel drive?

I've read chains instead of timing belts, is that really an issue these days?

There's 1.0 l engines on cars that I've were 1.6 or 2.0l. £10k isn't a lot of money for cars. Prefer petrol too. I've already ruled out Skoda and ford. I hate our pug. Gears are wrong. Gear 5 is right up and reverse is right down without any lift or push down on the gear knob. A dodgy design IMHO. I'm used to 6 speed with reverse up left with a pull up to reach it. I nearly forgot the pug had no 6th gear once when I first drove it!
 
I thought you bought old Land rovers to spend your time fixing them!

I had a mate with an old army one who said he knew every part in his. I no told him it must be good to have a hobby. He replied saying he hated fixing cars but owning a LR meant you had no choice but to spend half your free time keeping it going! I asked why he didn't just sell it, he replied saying he's in too deep into it.

As a 21 yo he was regional secretary or organiser for some LR owners club. I guess you must get used to the smell of diesel from a surplus LR extended range fuel tanks you're sitting on when you're up front, but I didn't like it!

So as someone who only wants to go from a to b in relative comfort I think an LR is also out.
 
Paul_B said:
Finally sold a camper and now considering family car that can carry more camping kit than our pug 208. Thinking Kia Sportage but Dacia duster was mentioned. That's 4x4 I think. Are 4x4s more expensive to maintain due to the all wheel drive?

I've read chains instead of timing belts, is that really an issue these days?

There's 1.0 l engines on cars that I've were 1.6 or 2.0l. £10k isn't a lot of money for cars. Prefer petrol too. I've already ruled out Skoda and ford. I hate our pug. Gears are wrong. Gear 5 is right up and reverse is right down without any lift or push down on the gear knob. A dodgy design IMHO. I'm used to 6 speed with reverse up left with a pull up to reach it. I nearly forgot the pug had no 6th gear once when I first drove it!
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Have you considered an unfashionable large Estate car? The SUV type of vehicle doesn't seem to carry as much and often costs more in fuel.

TIming belts: it's not just belts vs chains, but also dry belts vs wet belts- be very, very careful with some wet belt engines. Check the motoring press/forums about models you are interested in, certain makes/models have a bit of a reputation for issues with wetbelts (both petrol and diesel engines). Timing chains are all well and good, but some have plastic tensioners which fail, and even with a timing chain, there may be a critical auxiliary belt. For example, the Hilux has a timing chain, but there's a big accessory belt that needs changing at 100k miles.

Also consider spares cost. I loved a Hyundai that I had, but got rid when it got to an age where it started needing stuff changed and I realised how expensive the parts were as can only get Hyundai parts. Whereas Ford/Vauxhall have a good aftermarket OEM spares availability for a sensible price, other brands may not... I was once quoted £700 for a replacement Hyundai air con compressor (the garage- a good independent- eventually sourced a second hand one from a well known auction site for £100, but it was a lesson....). A £10k vehicle will probably be of an age where this is a consideration.

Mileage: whilst there's typically a premium for low mileage older vehicles, I prefer to look at how the vehicle was used. A higher-mileage car used for lots of m-way miles where it's running to temp is typically a better bet than one which has low miles but thas only been used for short runs.

Finally- have you considered a combination of a medium-size family car with a towbar, plus a small trailer, rather than a larger vehicle?

GC
 
As a demonstration of a high milage vehicle thats almost always run upto temperature each time its started my battered Toyota Hiace has done quarter of a million miles but is still on its original exhaust.

Short runs where it's not warmed up are bad for engines.

And yeah, I've heard wet belts are about as dumb an idea as it gets.
 
Paul_B said:
There's 1.0 l engines on cars that I've were 1.6 or 2.0l. £10k isn't a lot of money for cars. Prefer petrol too. I've already ruled out Skoda and ford. I hate our pug. Gears are wrong. Gear 5 is right up and reverse is right down without any lift or push down on the gear knob.
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That would rule out Dacia, the Duster has reverse under 5th (bizarrely the manual tells you to lift a ring on the stick before selecting reverse but there's no ring there!). The 1.0l engined Duster was good value at little more than £10k new but the 3 cylinder engine is a bit under powered for the gearing IMO, it is also only 2 wheel drive and a bit basic for a family.
 
Am I alone in thinking that reverse being near the top end of the gear stick is a bad idea? The Pug we have there is no lift ring or push down on the knob at all. it is possible to push down on the gear stick into reverse gear position (or as near as you can get before something bad happens). How is that even allowed on safety grounds? Operator error perhaps but there is more than a little complicity from the engineers and designers IMHO.

Two solutions, put the reverse at the other end and second put a lift collar or push down action to get into reverse. It is not rocket science but common sense surely?

BTW what other cars have reverse being down from top gear? If anyone knows please post so I can rule them out!!
 
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Newer Dusters are 6 forward, 1 reverse, with reverse being extreme top left with lifting ring to select, short shift from 1st to 2nd as there is no low/Hi range, I quite often just set off in 2nd unless towing.

Not all Dacia Dusters are 4x4, and you can only get the 4x4 in diesel flavour. Great car, selectable 4x4 so you get th ebest of both worlds, general driving around in 4x2, select Auto and it will kick 4x4 in if needed or full time 4x4, if in 4x4 mode though you are limited to 50mph.

A lot of car for what you pay, we've had ours for just over two years and really like it.
 
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Most five gear cars without the lift or press down to allow reverse selection have reverse on the bottom right.

My van has, it's not really an issue. Whe I take it out of fifth to select fourth or third I allow the lever a bit of freedom and it finds its centre neutral position and its either down for fourth or up for third.

My wifes Vauxhaul Corsa has the lift collar for reverse which is up and a bit further over to the left than first. Think a few Vauxhauls do that but after a few drives they're pretty much second nature to change from my van to my wifes car now.
 
Stew said:
I think any car that has reverse in sixth also has an internal lock out that you can’t engage reverse if the car is also travelling at a speed that would have warranted being in fifth before hand.
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I found that crunching noise in my pug 208 when I first tried to go into 6th makes me think there is nothing like that in this car. Fortunately I kind of didn't really try to go into 6th and the light pressure was not enough to cause any damage. It was just like when you have not fully engaged a gear sort of a sound.

I have always had 4 or 5 speed cars, the last vehicle was a van and that had 6 speeds. I do not recall any of the 4 or 5 speed ones having reverse to the right. Fiesta, Escort, astra and altea IIRC had the reverse on the left. IMHO a much better location. I do not think a no lift or press reverse selection that is down from top gear can in any way be thought of as a good design, when it is possible to do something different and there are many cars doing such different.
 
Paul_B said:
I found that crunching noise in my pug 208 when I first tried to go into 6th makes me think there is nothing like that in this car. Fortunately I kind of didn't really try to go into 6th and the light pressure was not enough to cause any damage. It was just like when you have not fully engaged a gear sort of a sound.

I have always had 4 or 5 speed cars, the last vehicle was a van and that had 6 speeds. I do not recall any of the 4 or 5 speed ones having reverse to the right. Fiesta, Escort, astra and altea IIRC had the reverse on the left. IMHO a much better location. I do not think a no lift or press reverse selection that is down from top gear can in any way be thought of as a good design, when it is possible to do something different and there are many cars doing such different.
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I prefer to get rid of the car and put the trade in value with our cash to get a better car but OH wants to keep it and get a cheaper main car.

So instead of a Toyota hybrid we might be getting a Dacia Duster!! No, seriously not. We are looking at Kia Sportage or similar. A Duster is step too far.
 
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