Spec me a car, circa £1300

[Rain Man]

Basically im looking for a replacement for the GTI-6. Its costing me a fortune to insure and im now commuting a fair bit so its costing me about £10 a day in fuel.

I will be spending a few quid on a good car when I can save up so this is going to be a stop gap for around a year. It needs to be a fairly reliable car with good mpg, not fussed if its got high mileage aslong as its fairly reliable.

Ive got about £1300 to spend. Im looking at 306 HDI's but im open to any suggestions.

Cheers

 

[Scania]

e36 BMW 318i

Reasonable on fuel, should be reliable if you find a good one.

And its not French.

I bought mine (which is a 328i so not so reasonable fuel wise) as a 12 months stop gap around 15 months ago.....

My first e36 was a 318i that I ran from 125 to 175k over 3 years and it was in that time, very reliable.

A nicer place to be than a similar budget Ford / Peugeot etc imo, you take your choice.

And its RWD into the bargain.

Yes it probably will sting you for something or other over the period of ownership, as many cars could well do at this budget.

Throw it away if it breaks in a big way and bring forward the real replacement.....

 

[MikeHiow]

No idea on the difference fuel wise, but make sure its an is if you do go that way, the 8v lump is truly terrible - my friends E46 318 8v made our 1.0 Yaris feel quick

Neither are really going to save you much on fuel mind, and they aren't the cheapest to insure either.

If you know and like the 306s then I wouldn't think there would be any reason to deviate too far, but it might be worth considering a petrol alternative - you should be able to pick up a reasonable MK1 1.6 Focus for the full budget.

 

[Scania]

No idea on the difference fuel wise, but make sure its an is if you do go that way, the 8v lump is truly terrible - my friends E46 318 8v made our 1.0 Yaris feel quick

The Yaris felt quick because its a rollerskate disguised as a car.

It has a top speed of about 98 iirc - even an 8V e36 318 can crack 120MPH and its about 4 seconds quicker to 60 than your "Quick" Yaris.

I got around 35MPG from my 318, I'd guess a Yaris betters it considerably there, sure.



Well built cars rarely feel that "quick" imo.

 

[mjt]

If you're looking at 306s, check out the other French usual suspects like the Xsara and the 406.

 

[s0ck]

I think you've already chosen the best car for your budget

 

[Spamalot]

406 coupe no other reason other than I like them and they are cheap.

 

[Eliot]

im sorry but i wouldnt consider a bmw with 318i on the back unless the i was promptly followed by a s.. my fiesta is nearly as fast as a bloody 318i they are GOD AWFUL SLOW, i would get the hdi if i was you.

thing is 35 mpg for a car that does 0-60 in 11.5 seconds is pretty bad.
306 diesels will give you something like 55mpg and be cheaper to insure... granted they will be just as slow as a 318 but with a turbo diesel that can be easily sorted

 

[Dreadi]

I'd say a prelude as they are cheap and have the 'omg honda reliability' with it but would you settle for the 2l or 2.3 over the fuel loving vtec? (if you would settle for any that is?)

 

[( |-| |2 ][ $]

I don't know about your money situation but the fuel saving isn't going to be that great.
I'd pay £4 per day (max possible saving) just so I didn't have to pick up the black pump.

I can't see the insurance saving being more than a couple of hundred?

 

[Darryl_1983]

£4 a day, 5 days a week is still £1040 a year.

I myself went from a 306 xldt to a vectra sri, the difference is fuel cost was almost doubled,

It makes a big difference when you're only spending £1000 on a car, granted it's totally different when you're buying a £20k car to think about saving a few pound a day on fuel. I really don't understand why people always put the two together.

I'm now driving a punto sporting, cost me £1000, cheap on insurance, maintenance and i can get between 40 & 45 mpg if i try. Small engined, small cars might be worth considering too as they can be more fun than a diesel.

 

[Phoebs]

I don't know about your money situation but the fuel saving isn't going to be that great.
I'd pay £4 per day (max possible saving) just so I didn't have to pick up the black pump.

I can't see the insurance saving being more than a couple of hundred?

Im 22 years old and to insure my gti6 tpft is £1000 a year, a hdi is £500

I found a couple of cheap VW Boras on autotrader but they're all 120k plus mileage, whereas the equivalent 306 diesels are mostly under 100k, but German reliability etc.

EDIT: This is RainManUK2 on the girlfriends acount

 

[s0ck]

bora prolly a bit better to drive and nicer interior mind...


looks like ass of course