Reliable economical mid-size car

Ceist Beag said:
Should be possible to get a decent 09 Focus for the top end of that budget, or an 08 at the lower end. There are a couple of Carzone at the minute, [broken link removed] or [broken link removed]
Plenty of room for haggling in the current climate if you're paying with cash.
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Thanks - I see a lot of cars on Carzone with UK plates - is that ever a concern?

A friend of mine did advise me to find a dealer that will source/order a specific car for you in the UK.
 
Teatime said:
Already have an Octavia. The Mondeo is a bit big and Polo a bit small - will look at a few Focus diesels though.
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Are you sure a diesel is a good idea for a car doing such low mileage?

Modern diesel cars with diesel particulate filters aren't really suited to short-hop driving where the engine doesn't properly get up to temperature and into a cruising mode... http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056088431

So for the mileage you're talking about a petrol might fit the bill better, and more economically in the long run.
 
Teatime said:
Thanks - I see a lot of cars on Carzone with UK plates - is that ever a concern?

A friend of mine did advise me to find a dealer that will source/order a specific car for you in the UK.
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I've done this twice Teatime (once directly myself and once via a dealer). If you go with a SIMI registered dealer and get a 12 month warranty with the car I wouldn't have any real concern. That said with the way the exchange rate is going I think there is less value to be got from importing from the UK these days so it's not such a great option anymore for good value. You can always check the history of UK registered cars via the likes of cartell as well.
 
I was out with 4 self employed mechanics recently and discussion came up about what was most reliable family sized car. All 4 of them voted for a 1.6 Focus diesel. I am told though, that you would need to be clocking 25k + miles/yr to make cost of purchasing a diesel economical.
Just a note that my vote was a Toyota corrolla, We had one for 13 yrs with hassle free driving :)
 
Teatime said:
25,000+ miles a year? Is that true?
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Well the cost of buying a diesel is higher than the cost of the petrol version of the same model. The economy is achieved through greater MPG. So if you're not doing a lot of mileage then you've got a lot less fuel to be saving money on, and it will take you a lot longer to recover the extra money you've forked out up front... (and a large part of the economy is from driving the engine at cruising speed 80-120 kmph, rather than in urban traffic conditions).
 
My father is a retired mechanic. he told me the other day that the brand of car with the highest success rate in passing NCT's is suzuki. Not sure where he got this nugget of info from. :)

for what its worth he drives a Honda civic 2001 and I a Honda accord 2001. very little trouble with both. still going sting touch wood.
 
mandelbrot said:
Well the cost of buying a diesel is higher than the cost of the petrol version of the same model. The economy is achieved through greater MPG. So if you're not doing a lot of mileage then you've got a lot less fuel to be saving money on, and it will take you a lot longer to recover the extra money you've forked out up front... (and a large part of the economy is from driving the engine at cruising speed 80-120 kmph, rather than in urban traffic conditions).
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That doesn't factor in the resale value of a diesel over a petrol, plus a diesel will last much longer than a petrol (if you are looking to hold onto it for a long time).
 
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