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Car to Commute In ? - On a Budget
perksy - 20/10/14 at 09:53 PM

What would folks recommend as a decent car to commute in ?

Cheap to insure and run, Needs to be Petrol, Hatchback and a Budget under 2 grand.

This would be a second car and solely used for travelling approx 20 mile round trip everyday.

Sports models not required


Micra ?

Punto ?



Thanks in advance for your suggestions...

nick205 - 20/10/14 at 10:02 PM

Set your budget and keep local on Autotrader and see what's out there. Better not to restrict yourself on make model I always think.

david_hornet27 - 20/10/14 at 10:16 PM

Just got the wife one of these...

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=162&i=30503

Great little car.

Acc8braman - 21/10/14 at 06:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by david_hornet27
Just got the wife one of these...

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=162&i=30503

Great little car.


Had one of these for 6 months as a temp car, hated it!! wobbles all over the place and very tinny

JC - 21/10/14 at 06:58 AM

You might sneak into a C1 at that money - I ran one for 5 years and loved it! A nice 3 pot engine, Toyota mechanicals and nothing expensive inside to go wrong - manual windows even!!!

whitestu - 21/10/14 at 07:14 AM

Might be a bit old for you but if you can fine one that hasn't done starship mileage and isn't rusty get an older Toyota Corolla.

We have a '98 1.3 model that has been in the family from new and has literally never had anything go wrong with it, other than service parts. When its previous owner was getting a bit forgetful he got MOTs confused with services and it went 4 years without the bonnet being lifted.

It is ultra simple and so easy to work on. For example a cambelt change took about 45 mins and cost £19 for the belt.

It'll do 20 miles a day until hell freezes over!

mcerd1 - 21/10/14 at 08:06 AM

quote:
Originally posted by JC
You might sneak into a C1 at that money - I ran one for 5 years and loved it! A nice 3 pot engine, Toyota mechanicals and nothing expensive inside to go wrong - manual windows even!!!


or you could just get a 106 / saxo - with a £2k budget you'd have your pick of the low mileage ones with the more economic engine and they are very simple cars to work on too

my little 1.0 carb'd version did me 45000 miles of mostly short runs with no major issues (and mango added lots more miles to it before it eventually died) it got me 37mpg while revving the nuts off it too - but you can do much better with the later EFI cars and a careful right foot !


the ye olde non-turbo 1.5 diesels get some very good fuel economy without any of the modern expensive stuff to go wrong - the down side is they aren't exactly quick.....


2K could even get you a 106 gti or a rallye


[Edited on 21/10/2014 by mcerd1]

big_wasa - 21/10/14 at 08:24 AM

The Mondeo I bought for its Duratec got a reprieve for our holiday as the a/c was perfect and then an extended reprieve when I broke the gearbox on the Scooby.

Back to bangernomics

v8kid - 21/10/14 at 08:27 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Set your budget and keep local on Autotrader and see what's out there. Better not to restrict yourself on make model I always think.


Good advice I ended up buying a CRV of all things for £750 on eBay and have run it for two ultra reliable hard years as a commuter. I nearly even like it now

coozer - 21/10/14 at 06:08 PM

Another vote for the 106, dead easy and cheap to work on, all parts from 106's and saxo's fit. Mine had the 59bhp 1.5D. Not too shabby and gave me back 75mpg round the doors.

Only thing I didn't like was no pas PW but newer ones have this.

ettore bugatti - 21/10/14 at 06:30 PM

Can't go too much wrong with a little Peugeot.

But the 205 has more charm than a 106 and a 205 GTI 1.6 wont loose you money.

Otherwise a singlepoint 1.4 106 is a nippy runabout.

ian locostzx9rc2 - 21/10/14 at 06:45 PM

Petrol Citroen c1 peugoet 107low insurance goup and tax and will do 50 to 60 mpg and reliable

[Edited on 21/10/14 by ian locostzx9rc2]

BenB - 21/10/14 at 07:03 PM

I used to have a micra. Then I watched the EuroNCAP crash tests. Scary. Why take risks? It's not like having a 5* rating on EuroNCAP makes a car worth more.... So when I'm choosing a car it's EuroNCAP and mpg first and everything else afterwards...

whitestu - 21/10/14 at 08:42 PM

quote:
I used to have a micra. Then I watched the EuroNCAP crash tests. Scary. Why take risks? It's not like having a 5* rating on EuroNCAP makes a car worth more.... So when I'm choosing a car it's EuroNCAP and mpg first and everything else afterwards..


How does driving your ST fit in with this reasoning!

dickie b - 21/10/14 at 09:54 PM

Our family's 2004 Honda Jazz has been owned from new and just clocked up 82,000 miles. It's the (ahem..) Sport model , 1.4 petrol . CD player, aircon,alloys and leccy roof and windows .

The only thing that has ever gone wrong with it was a broken rear number plate lamp fitting.

I get around 55mpg on a daily 40mile round trip commute.

Fairly dull to drive and people assume you are an OAP ..but the most reliable thing I have ever owned.

jossey - 22/10/14 at 08:06 AM

Mini

Edwardo - 22/10/14 at 12:17 PM

My cheap KA runaround rotted away a couple of months ago so was in the same positon as you. I looked locally for cars under 1k and picked up this bog standard Saxo VTR for £600.

It's done 106,000 and the gearbox is rather 'crunchy' - but it's an absolute scream to drive, handles like a little go cart and the bodywork is superb for a 12yr old car. Insurance is about the same as the KA was, but the best thing is - it seems to be fantastic on fuel even though I can't seem to drive it without booting it around like a teenager lol!

Would def recommend keeping an eye out for one:-


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snakebelly - 22/10/14 at 03:33 PM

KISS Nice little Fiesta, just bought an 08 plate ST150 with 49k on it for £2200, a bit unloved but a full service has transformed it and its an absolute hoot! Best thing is that parts are cheap as chips, just bought a brand new OS drive shaft, the long one with the extra bearing, brand new for £95! Wont repeat what my wife and kids said about a 50 year old buying a hot fiesta.....

coozer - 22/10/14 at 04:53 PM

I had a look round Gumtree after reading this thread last night and the amount of sub 2k cars is massive.

And couldn't find a saxo or 106 (apart from £2200 for an ancient rallye) above the £1500 mark.

Very nice 106D on an 02 plate for £695 and tons of vtr's for around £1k.

perksy - 22/10/14 at 09:06 PM

Thanks everyone, Some really good suggestions and a few I hadn't even thought about.

Brilliant site this, Everyone is always helpful, Thanks again

mk85 - 23/10/14 at 07:07 AM

Why does it have to be petrol. I had a passat 1.9tdi it cost less to run highermpg than the KA I had.

coyoteboy - 23/10/14 at 12:03 PM

That just means your KA was naff

mk85 - 23/10/14 at 01:43 PM

Heres my daily car/work horse. Its a 1.1 converted to lpg serI get roughly 1100miles to 100ltrs of lpg cost me £240 with a years tax and mot. It has 420,000 miles drives like crap cost naff all to run and saves me ££££££ that I spend on my kitcar.

mk85 - 23/10/14 at 01:43 PM

mk85 - 23/10/14 at 01:44 PM

beaver34 - 23/10/14 at 04:16 PM

1.0 yaris, we have had one in the family for 10 years done 130k and only need a wheel bearing and a backbox and always did above 53mpg