Can anyone recommend a good relaible daily driver for motorway commuting?
Criteria:
Sub £1000.
Sub 1549cc to get the cheaper tax.
Must be pre-March 2001.
Swinging towards a Pug 106 Diesel. Although there underpowered, they'll do the magic 60 to the gallon.
Are there any small vans along the same lines?
Thanks,
Pat...
[Edited on 2/1/07 by Avoneer]
The 1400cc Pug 106 diesel had a very weak head gasket, and the 1500cc had a fairly weak head gasket, not so good for peace of mind on the motorway.
Pug 205 diesel? My mum used to have one and it seemed to go forever without filling it up. Pretty sure it's a small (1.4?) engine as well.
306 non turbo diesel ,can be a bit pov spec but will go on and on
citroen zx, dont rust ugly go forever
oh and very cheep
CITROEN BERLINGO VAN
or a skoda van
Punto 55, 1108cc, go like hell, great on fuel and group 2 on insurance. Remember petrol is about 25p/gallon cheaper than diesel.
my little ax 1.0 petrol is just fine on the motorway. Flat out is about 85mph, with more available if you dont care about bouncing valves! 
Thats
just enough to not be embarassed. I bought mine for £300 and ive put 24000 miles with barely any work on it.
Avoid tiny hatchbacks like the 106 if you are doing lots of motorway miles. Bigger cars at this budget offer much better value for money and will be
far more relaxing to drive.
If you are convinced you need a diesel then have a look at the following:
Pug 406 DT, not exactly a rocketship but a decent motorway car and plenty of room to lug stuff. If you can find one the 2.1 diesel actualy has fairly
decent performance.
As a real budget blaster the ZX is pretty good, but get a turbo diesel as economy is hardly any different and it can actualy keep up with motorway
traffic! Interior trim will disintegrate in front of your eyes however. The Pug 306 is the same car underneath, much nicer looking but you pay more
for it.
Audi 80 (or 100) TDi, tough as old boots, far better built than some of the modern stuff.
Don't laugh, but the Rover 600 is really not a bad car, and a decent one can be had for peanuts. The SDi diesel is tough, if a little unrefined
compared to modern units.
Personaly I would avoid the Mondeo TD, the cars are fine but the engines are dinosaurs compared with Citroens/Peugeot or even Rovers offerings. If
you would consider a petrol engine then a 1.8 or 2.0 Mondeo makes a decent motorway car.
None of these are sub 1549cc, but honestly, the difference spread over a year is pretty tiny for the improvement in the quality of transport you get
from bigger cars.
[Edited on 2/1/07 by MikeRJ]
Another vote for Citroen ZX 1.9D , 45-50mpg , mine's done 155k bought it at 85k , engine good , but watchout for rust.
Around the front subframe mounts /chassis rails.
front anti roll bar links break fairly often.
Cheeeeeep car now , or you could pay a little more and get a Xsara 1.9D
Obviously now I've said this it will explode on the way home today!!!
[Edited on 3/1/07 by Surrey Dave]
How's about a 1.9 Xantia?
Pat...
Same engine as the ZX, 406, 306 etc. so that bits fine, but they do have Citroens legendary hydraulic suspension which can have reliability issues. They are dirt cheap to buy because of it tough.
I'm with Snoopy, I hammer my Berlingo a thousand miles a week, and have done for 42,000 miles. It had 108,000 when I got it and will pass 150,000 tomorrow. It's had a clutch at 130,000 and a wheel bearing at 138,000 and that's it. It does 600 miles per tank, which is £50 to £55 and has room in the back for loads of crap. Cost me £1500 with full service history and had been used as a delivery van for a music shop, so it was as clean as a whistle for a short while anyway. Can't really recommend it enough and it shares lots of bits with the ZX and 306.
Sold my ZX recently for £200. 100% reliable over the 4 years I had it, had done 250k miles and still sounded sweet as a nut (non turbo).
Look for a 3 door though those 5 doors are sooooo fugly!
bought/sold/driven both the 306 TD and the 406 TD. both fantastic on motorways, and great round town. both cruise at 70 to 100 easily, and return very
good mpg... and both were on 150,000 to 180,000 and were still going very strong......
petrol wise, avoid small hatches, great towners, but naff mile muvchers with comfort, the engines scream like banshees on motorways.... stick with
1600+........ renault laguna 1800 are good, but i had a 2.0 laguna for a few months and found that great on fuel and long runs.... comfy to...... and
easily within your budget mate... the 2.0 being a better drive than the 1.8 that i found a little sluggish........
hope thats of some help.... 
[Edited on 6/1/07 by Dazza]
I've had BX's in the past , people are worried about the susp ,thats why they are cheeeeeep.
If you 've got a friendly local citroen chappy they are no prob , you have to replace or charge the suspension spere's every now and again.
no big deal at 2nd hand prices , bit like getting a mini or allegro pumped up.
And they are V.comfortable for mileage work
i ahve a small coupe, 1.5i. but needs to be £1200, nice drive. see it in the for sale section..... drove it on the motorway last week and returned
over 100 miles for a tenner. not bad. toyota reliability to.....
How does an R reg 1.9TD SX Xantia sound for £500 with 12 months mot and 2 months tax.
130K miles though.
3 owners.
Hmmmmm..
Pat...
Looking on the bright side it won't have had many days off the road to clock that up so should be reasonably well maintained??
My car is P and just on 128k- just commuter mileages and occasional long trips
quote:
Originally posted by Avoneer
How does an R reg 1.9TD SX Xantia sound for £500 with 12 months mot and 2 months tax.
130K miles though.
My brother runs an old zantia turbo diesel and it has about 240k on the clock .He has had no bother at all from it apart from having to renew a couple
of spheres which is an easy job.
Most diesels will easily do over 200k before any major engine work as long as they have regular oil changes..
Paul.
quote:
Originally posted by Avoneer
How does an R reg 1.9TD SX Xantia sound for £500 with 12 months mot and 2 months tax.
130K miles though.
3 owners.
Hmmmmm..
Pat...
If/when you get it clean out the hydraulic reservoir and filters, put in hydraflush fluid and run for 1000 miles. Clean out reservoirs and filters refill with LHM fluid. Lubricate hieght sensings valves and you should be OK . If you find suspension hard at any end then spheres probably need changing. Recharged units are available for not too much money and aren't too difficult to change .
I did look at Pugs, but I can't justify the higher preimum for a car of the same age and mileage.
I reckon for £500, it's worth the risk!
Rusty, any idea where you can pick up the spheres and/or fluid????
Cheers,
Pat...
the little toyota coupe just passed the mot. £1300 drives it away...
Citreon spheres from www.gsfcarparts.com
I run a Skoda Octavia 1.9tdi - dead boring but still gives 60mpg and people tend to go quiet on the 'reliability' thing when you mention
it's just about to break 200k.
asking £795...... ono......
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